HISTORY 



OF 



HUMBOLDT COUNTY 
CALIFORNIA 



WITH 



Biographical Sketches 



OF 



The Leading Men and Women of the County 

who have been Identified with its Growth 

and Development from the Earl^ 

Days to the Present 



T 



History by Leigh H. Irvine 



ILLUSTRATED 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 



HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 

19 15 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
The Origin op the Name California 17 



Its alleged formation from two Spanisli or Latin words — First appearance of 
the name — Result of E. B. Hale's investigations. 



CHAPTER II. 



Jfl' 



The North Was Slow to be Discovered 19 

Knowledge of Humboldt count}^ vague prior to war of Rebellion — Indians 
and wild beasts only tenants — First white inhabitants — Causes of slow 
development — The Laura Virginia Association — First expedition of the 
Laura Virginia — H. H. Buhne discovers mouth of Klamath river — Interesting 
experiences with Indians in cr,(ssing Mad river — Entrance to Humboldt Bay 
discovered. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Discovery of Humboldt Bay.. 24 

Authentic information regarding early explorations — Cabrillo and Ferrelo — 
Sir Francis Drake — Robert Dudley — Humboldt Bay not known to the 
Spaniards — Vancouver's explorations — Discovery of Bay by water due to 
activities of Russians — Capt. Jonathan Winship, an American, true dis- 
coverer — The Laura Virginia continues her cruise — Capt. H. Buhne — D. L. 
Thornbury summarizes his conclusions. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Land Discovery op Humboldt Bay 28 

Fascination attaching to exploits of Pioneers — The thrilling adventures of 
L. K. Wood and party — David A. Buck's contribution — Indians show friendly 
interest in the explorers' activities — Hardship and lack of food daily 
experiences — Wood's summary of the discovery — Life and death struggle 
with Grizzly bears — Some early explorations. 

CHAPTER V. 

Unique Early History 46 

Early history of Humboldt county shows no trace of Spanish influence — The 
county still in its infancy as compared with what has been accomplished 
in the south — County not settled until after Mexican war — The scene of 
General Grant's early military services — Influence of Panama Canal, Hum- 
boldt Bay jetties and Northwestern Pacific Railroad — Resources of county 
unlimited — Rapid settlement after land discovery of Humboldt Bay — Mining 
more attractive than agriculture — Union, Bucksport and Eureka. 



V i CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI. 

Gold Mines Lure Men to the North 50 

Early settlers inured to hardships — The lure of gold a powerful magnet — 
Influence of the discovery of gold on Humboldt county — Major P. B. Reading 
— Search for the mouth of Trinity river — Cruising expedition of the Cameo. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Grant's Career in Humboldt County 52 

Fort Humboldt the quarters of U. S. Grant in 18.53 and 1854— Two accounts 
of his life while at the Fort — Colonel Buchanan and Captain Grant not 
the best of friends — In those days only a mule trail connected Fort Hum- 
boldt with Eureka — An episode that gave rise to unfavorable comment — Mrs. 
Shields' account of Grant's voyage to Fort Humboldt — In spite of disagree- 
able experiences at the Fort, Grant had nothing but kind words for his 
associates. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Early Troubles With the Indians.. 62 

Humboldt county formerly a part of Trinity county — The Klamath river 
an attraction for gold hunters — 111 feeling between old-timers and Indians — 
Interesting recollections of Mrs. R. F. Herrick — Her predictions regarding 
Indian war come true — The Klamath war of 1855 — Other battles and raids — 
Indian reservations. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Life and Times in the Early Fifties... 75 



"The days of old, the days of gold, the days of forty-nine" — John Carr's 
account of those days — Mail delivery — Crude habitations of settlers — Peril 
from rattlesnakes more disturbing than from bear or wild lion. 

CHAPTER X. 

Organization of Humboldt County.. 77 

When state was divided into counties, in 1850, the northern region was not 
taken into account — Trinity county divided in 1852, again in 1853 — Humboldt 
county the western division — Humboldt and Siskiyou acquire territory of 
old Klamath county — Contest for county seat — Court of Sessions and County 
Court. 

CHAPTER XL 

Russians in Northern California 81 

The ship Ocean visits Humboldt Bay early in nineteenth century — Russian 
ship anchors in bay of San Francisco in 1806 — Rezanof and his exploits — His 
romance woven into poem by Bret Harte — Captain Sutter takes over Russian 
holdings — Mexican Congress passes stringent laws against foreigners — Tom 
Gregory's account of Fort Ross situation — Close of Russian power in Cali- 
fornia. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Topography, Climate and Scenery 85 

Natural barriers of mountain and forest made the county undesirable for 
settlement — Spanish priests preferred the milder climate of the south — G. A. 



CONTENTS V i i 

Kellogg's description of physical appearance of the county — Weather observa- 
tions of A. H. Bell — Many improvements under way to build better roads — 
The scenery of the county extremely picturesque — Much of the county still 
a virgin wilderness — Bull creek forest — Rivers, creeks and streams a boon 
to fishermen — Birds of the county. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Early Towns and Villages of Humboldt County ; 94 

No great increase in population during 1851 and 1852 — Areata the only 
exception to the rule — Bucksport — Eureka — Trinidad — Hydesville — Rohner- 
ville — Eureka becomes county seat in 1856 — City waterworks built — Com- 
pletion of state highway to work a transformation in county. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Early School and Educational Activity 99 

No historical data of educational matters in early days obtainable — First 
school organized in 1852 — Schools at Bucksport, Eureka and Areata — A 
number of eminent professional men in state were educated in Humboldt 
county — School system has been extended throughout county — High schools 
— Bitter fight between Areata and Eureka for site of normal school — Areata 
won. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Early Churches in Humboldt County — —.101 

Ten years before Civil war churches existed in the county — First meeting 
appointed for worship at Bucksport in 1850 — First Methodist Church building 
in Eureka dedicated in 1859 — Rohnerville Methodist Chui'ch organized in 
1852 — Congregationalists organized churches in Eureka and Ferndale — 
Presbyterian, United Brethren, Roman Catholic and Christian Science 
churches. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Gold Mining in Humboldt County 106 

Early mining excitement bears an important part in making historj-- — Placer 
mining followed with success in early days — The famous Orleans bar — 
Starvation times on Salmon river — Thousands of acres of gold-bearing land 
awaiting the miner with modern facilities for utilizing fine gold — Gold Bluff — 
Humboldt county claims some of the richest possibilities for platinum in 
the United States. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

History of the Lumber Industry 109 

Redwood forests and the lumber industry have an important place in the 
county's history — Science tells of great age of trees — Durability of redwood — 
History of manufacture of lumber dates from 1850 — Steady improvement 
in methods and facilities — Record of shipments and values — Non-combusti- 
ble qualities of redwood — Other trees of value in county — Wages of woods- 



men. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Activity in Many Towns 121 

Early day industries as compared with the present— Activities stimulated 
by reason of projected highway and completion of railroad — Plans for im- 



V i i i CONTEXTS 

provement of towns and Iniilding of new ones — Like Switzerland, Humboldt 
county has many hotels and resorts — Rev. William Rader's observations — 
Areata and its outlook — Port Seward — Commercial activities of Eureka — 
Perndale — Fortuna — Loleta — Rohnerville — Trinidad — Hydesville — Alton — 
Metropolitan — Rio Dell — Scotia — Shively — Pepperwood — Dyerville — Blocks- 
burg — Alderpoint — Korbel — Blue Lake — Samoa — Carlotta. 

CHAPTEK XIX. 

Promotion Activities 140 

Education of public sentiment an important factor in community develop- 
ment — Interest in county aroused through magazines and other publica- 
tions — Development organizations discussed — Campaign undertaken, in 
behalf of community development — The work in charge of R. R. Wilson — 
Farm adviser installed in office in July, 1913 — Good roads — Humboldt Pro- 
motion and Development Committee — Chamber of Commerce of Humboldt 
county — Value of organized effort. 

CliAPTER XX. 

Past and Prospective Humboldt Agriculture 148 

No attempt at agriculture in early days — Radical change in conditions — 
Clover at one time king of agricultural products — Coming of Professor 
Christiansen and the organization of farm bureau arouse new interest — 
Humboldt Land and Development Company — Notable advance made In dairy 
industry — Humboldt's apple belt — Summary of conditions and possibilities 
by A. E. Etter. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Humboldt's Bench and Bar ----- 156 

[History of Bench and Bar in California always regarded as romantic and 
unique — Impress made by settlers from Canada and New England — OIBcial 
Court Reporter W. K. Strong gives entertaining account of early conflicts 
in court — Pioneer days in Humboldt county. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Eureka Free Library.... 116 

By H. A. Kend.vl 

First public reading room originated among members of Methodist Episcopal 
Church— Movement had steady growth from first— First board of library 
trustees appointed — Eureka Library Association turns over its property to 
appointed trustees of Eureka Free Library — Movement started to secure 
Carnegie Library. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

How THE Fifth Division, U. S. Naval Militia, Came Into Existence 170 

By A. B. Adams 

Meeting called for organization of a military company — Officers elected — 
Anniversary of organization observed with appropriate ceremonies — Present 
officers of the division. 



INDEX 



A 



Adams, Adolph B 268 

Aggeler, John A 1093 

Albee, John C 806 

Albee, Joseph C 1129 

Albonico, Thomas 1107 

Allard, Frank and Charles 1217 

Allen, George R 854 

Ambrose, R 904 

Ambrosini, Ferdinand 11 10 

Ambrosini, Frank 1 109 

Ambrosini, John D 1102 

Ambrosini, Martin 977 

Ambrosini, Rudolph D 1120 

Ambrosini, Victor 1094 

Anderson, Axel 946 

Anderson, Horace C.-. 687 

Anderson, James P , 482 

Anderson, Jasper 347 

Anderson, John P 1198 

Anderson. Peter 851 

Aquistapace, Rocco 1236 

Arnhart, Sterling P 1276 

Ayer. Fred Y - 1195 

B 

Backenstose, Edward - 556 

Bagley, Joseph 252 

Bair, Fred S - 1238 

Bair. Thomas 349 

Baird, John R 279 

Baird, Thomas 279 

Baker, Leon 820 

Baldwin, Daniel A 924 

Banducci, Amato 1103 

Barber, Herbert A 837 

Barkdull, Joseph C 1057 

Badoggi, Louis 1 192 

Barnes, Alfred - 439 

Barnum, Fred B 716 

Barnwell, William H 622 

Barry, Airs. Mary 1137 

Baumgartner, Fred 645 

Beckwith, Caroline C 593 

Beckwith, Frank W 594 

Beers, Isaac A 514 

Belcher, Frank W 705 

Belcher, Peter.. 225 

Bendixsen, Hans D 809 

Bernardi, Cipriano AI.'. 615 

Bernardi, Frank J '. 505 

Bertain, Louis A 660 

Berti. Charles 937 



Berti, Isaac 706 

Bertsch. Frank H 1181 

Bettazza, Antonio 1 183 

Bettencourt. Sam 1230 

Bettigieo, Emillio 1104 

Biasca, Attilio 1159 

Biasca, B. J 1101 

Biasca, Gervaiso and Angelica 1118 

Biasca, Ralph.... 759 

Biondini, Eugene 1182 

Blackburn, .\rthur W 621 

Blackburn, James F 435 

Blake, John H 1241 

Bloemer, John H 578 

Bohmansson, Robert H 1232 

Bonomi, Angelo 1102 

Bonomini, James 1017 

Bonomini, Joseph... 1016 

Bonomini, Joseph 1118 

Bowden, John W 975 

Bowden, William H 1131 

Boj'ce, James 275 

Boyes, George 951 

Boyes, William 1153 

Boynton, Rollin D 1171 

Brambani, Agostino 1009 

Branstetter, Joseph 1033 

Bravo, Henry 1196 

Brazil, John 1226 

Brazil, Manvel 1224 

Brice, George M 426 

Briceland, John C 1190 

Briggs, Herbert X 243 

Brightman, Emory A 498 

Brizard, Alexander 175 

Brown, Clyde A 1169 

Brown. James B 291 

Brown, James D. H 769 

Brown, John H 1044 

Brown, Lot M 1128 

Brown, Thomas AI 276 

Brown, William A 1172 

Bruner, Francis AI., M. D 1075 

Bryan, John W 970 

Bryan, Lloyd, M. D 424 

Bryant, Charles C 1010 

Bryant, Rolla 1060 

Buchanan, Charles D 1055 

Buhne, Capt. H. H 1282 

Buhne. Henry H 237 

Bull, John C. Jr 1220 

Bullock, Nathaniel 1048 

Bullwinkel, Conrad 612 

Burgess, George W 590 

Burnell. Joel S 534 

Burns, Thomas M 363 



Burrill, Walter L 866 

Byard, Robert E 678 

C 

Cain, Frank L 693 

Cairns, John J 1092 

Cameron, Edwin H 1066 

Campbell, Duncan 720 

Canclini, Pietro 1 103 

Carland, Patrick E 1017 

Carothers, James 700 

Carr, Thomas 313 

Carr, Thomas K 734 

Carroll, Matthew 1100 

Carson, William 607 

Cartwright, Arthur E 1073 

Casacca, Joseph 977 

Cathey, Andrew J 1215 

Cathey, David ....1216 

Caton, Alice E 829 

Caton, Joseph 830 

Cave, Hugh L 490 

Celli, Giocondo 1064 

Chain, John N., M. D 502 

Chamberlain, Mrs. Dixie 271 

Chamberlain, Joseph D. H 196 

Christen, Edward 1 105 

Christensen, Hans C 500 

Christensen, John 403 

Christensen, Peter H 859 

Christiansen, Andrew H.... 264 

Christiansen, Charles 1277 

Christiansen, Jorgen C 394 

Christie, Alexander 1228 

Christie, Charles J 195 

Church, Walter M 703 

Clark, Hon. Jonathan 744 

Clark, Walter E 410 

Clark, William S 331 

Clausen, Jens E 1046 

Cleary, James T 1058 

Cloney, Frank E 569 

Close, George H 241 

Cobb, Mrs. Margaret S 952 

Coggeshall Launch and Tow Boat Co. 298 

Colwell, William H 1257 

Comisto, Silvio 1 170 

Connick, Hon. Clifton H 261 

Connick, John M 1247 

Cook, George W 464 

Cook, Levant 467 

Cook, William E 262 

Coombe, Donald P 471 

Cooper, Edgar C 302 

Cooper, George W .....1201 

Copeland, James C 1260 

Copland, Robert 1243 

Coppini, John W 715 

Cornwell, George E 1275 

Cottrell, Augustus 596 

Cottrell, Charles C, M. D 1019 

Cottrell, E. Lester, M. D 1023 

Cottrell & Shields 544 

Counts, George W 844 

Cousins, Euphronius 808 

Cousins, Henry H 275 



Cowen, Harry 879 

Cox, George H 448 

Cox, Henry 766 

Craigie, May R 842 

Crain, Judson W 1088 

Crivelli, Mark C 1187 

Crivelli, Secundo 1116 

Cronin, James J 1112 

Cross, Charles 1096 

Crowe, George 'A 570 

Crowley, William 869 

Cummings, Amos M 1028 

Cummings, Frank J 771 

Curless, Biar 698 

Curless, George G 835 

Curless, Wright S 348 

Cutler, Fletcher A 542 

Cutten, Charles P 1079 

Cutten, David P 640 

D 

Dale, Jeremiah 756 

Daly Brothers 1179 

Daly, Cornelius D 1180 

Damgaard, A 556 

Davies, Jasper N 1205 

Dean, John E 849 

Dean, Samuel R 848 

Decker, Jacob H 895 

Delaney, Peter 1 140 

DeMello, Manuel E 961 

Deming, Byron 408 

Deuel, Frank 519 

Devlin, Elmer L 1090 

Dickson, Robert 698 

Dinsmore, Albert M 675 

Dinsmore, Frank W 316 

Dinsmore, Fred A 1203 

Dixon, Ernest W 1229 

Docili, Otto 743 

Domenighini, Silvio 1119 

Dorais, Louis P., M. D 3S2 

Drewry, Irvin H 516 

Dukes, Mrs. Minnie F 775 

Durnford, Ernest M 711 

Dusi, Albert 1184 

Dusi, Basilic 1106 

Dusina, Dan 985 

E 

East, Daniel J 1218 

East, Lewis S 297 

Eckart, Emil B 1194 

Edmonstone, George 1082 

Ehreiser, W 1163 

Engstrom, Frank 1280 

Enos, Antone 989 

Epps, C. S 1261 

Erickson, Leven C 794 

Eriksen, Martin 423 

Eskesen, Christen 781 

Essig, Frank 963 

Etter, Albert F 627 

Etter Brothers 631 

Evans, Lee E 1132 



INDEX 



Everding, Charles 560 

Everts, John.. 776 

F 

Falk, Charles C, AI. D 526 

Falk. Charles E 1235 

Falk, Curtis O., M. D .. 417 

Falk, Elijah H 339 

Falk, William S 1198 

Falor, Mrs. Arrabelle H 788 

Falor, Frank E 1126 

Farley, James M 337 

Fasoletti, Peter 1119 

Fay, Charles S 748 

Fearrien, Albert L 1274 

Felt, Rae, M. D 1137 

Felt, Theodore D 214 

Ferguson. James 618 

Ferndale Bank 640 

Ferrara, Giuseppe 742 

Ferrara, Peter E 1040 

First National Bank of Areata 308 

Fisher, Adolph, Sr 1248 

Fitzell, Joseph A 684 

Fitzgerald, Edward L 920 

Fleckenstein, George 1 165 

Fleckenstien, Frank J 1251 

Flint, Benjamin F 1088 

Flocchini, Celeste.; 1091 

Flocchini, Giacomo 1050 

Forbes, Edward S 874 

Foster, Ambrose N 778 

Francisconi, Felice 208 

I'Vank, Seth A 417 

Franzen, Andrew P. H 1216 

Fraser, James T 601 

l<>edrickson, Thorwald and Wm. H...1189 

Freeman Art 690 

French, Dick K 897 

French, James E 885 

French. Orel B 1206 

Fritz, A. L 634 

Frost, Elmer J 201 

G 

Gallacci. Alessio 1107 

Gallia, Andrew 1 113 

Gamboni Brothers 1 105 

Gasser, Dr. Anna B 323 

Gates, Oscar J.. 1283 

Gatliff & Thompson 872 

Genzoli, Bernardino 1106 

Georgeson. Franklin T 456 

Georgeson, Hon. Frederick W 282 

Georgeson, George R 727 

Gift. John H 1135 

Giulieri, Charles C 980 

Giulieri, Fred M 1159 

Giulieri, Stephen 803 

Giuntoli, Santi 1213 

Gleeson, Rev. J. J 1208 

GobJe, Saint L 1204 

Godf-ey, Mrs. Lydia M 1001 

Gof¥, Charles F 982 

Gofif. Joseph B 501 



Gondola, Xapoleon 1187 

Graeter, Luther D.. 1266 

Graham, Edwin 599 

Graham, Frank 199 

Graham, William .M 1191 

Grandy, Henry 1188 

Gratto, George Al 914 

Gray, George H 391 

Grazioli, Paul 1069 

Green, Richard A 359 

Gries, Harry A 1087 

Groom, Thomas A 1275 

Gross, Harold G.. M. D 281 

Gross, Alartin 1258 

Gross, Reuben, M. D 189 

Grothe, Leopold F.... 876 

Grundt, Xiels P. A 1039 

Guglielmina, Fedele 810 

Gustafson, Augustus 560 

Gyselaar, Mrs. Rose C 765 



H 



Hackett, William 864 

Hadley, James A.. M. D 309 

Hadley, Warr.en L 681 

Haight, Edwin W 805 

Hale. James W 1255 

Hallaran. Daniel 579 

Haltinner, John U 294 

Hamilton. Herbert W 721 

Hamilton. John and Hugh 947 

Hamilton. John W 1139 

Hansel!, Amos 1029 

Hansen, Carl F 948 

Hansen, Mads P 689 

Hansen, Niels J 981 

Harbers, Henry F 786 

Harpst, Charles 1 507 

Harpst, John 550 

Harrington, Fred A 726 

Harris, Robert L 936 

Harris, Valentine F 1117 

Harris, Zaccheus M 1197 

Hauck, Nathan 383 

Haugh. Martin 1 174 

Havens, William C 1228 

Haw, William H 1234 

Hellard, John H 804 

Hellard, W. H 804 

Helmke, Frederick M 792 

Helms. John F 870 

Helwig, Charles E 358 

Henderson, James W 739 

Henry, Hiram 754 . 

Henry, Robert 335 

Herrick, Frank E .....1284 

Herrick, IMartha J 193 

Herrick, Hon. Rufus F 187 

Hill, Hon. Arthur W 207 

Hill, Clarence E 1278 

Hill, Earl W., M. D 1175 

Hill, George R 677 

Hill, James B 513 

Hill, John B 427 

Hiller, George 1233 

Hinch, Thomas 225 



Hinckley, Fred G 1218 

Hinman, Harry T 270 

Hitchings, Charles W 182 

Hitchings, Henry B 650 

Hodgson, Joseph E 442 

Hoffman, John 994 

Holm, Frederick H 753 

■Hooper, Obadiah C 993 

Hope, Victor 605 

Horel, Francis R., M. D 376 

Hoskins, G., M. D 393 

Hotchkiss, Luther L 559 

Hough, Frank A 436 

Hufford, Frank L 1147 

Hufford, George W 260 

Humboldt Brewing Company 573 

Humboldt Cooperage Company 455 

Humboldt Standard 1178 

Hunt, Albert N 319 

Hunter, Elias 807 

Hunter, Ellis 515 

Hunter, George W 814 

Hunter, James H 254 

Hunter, John H 1'246 

Hunter. Walker S 814 

Hunter, William J 1278 

Hurlbutt, Harry E 546 

I 

Inman, Edwin J 1034 

Inskip, Prof. P. S 414 

International Correspondence School 656 



Jackson, Harry W 304 

Jacobs, Frank B 396 

Jacobson, John R 799 

Jeans, Harry C 1156 

Jensen, Christian N 458 

Jensen, Capt. Peter 1006 

Johansen, Peter 793 

Johanson, Alexander 749 

Johnson, Hon. Darlington J 266 

Johnson, Capt.' John E 535 

Johnson, John E 1245 

Johnson J. L 1027 

Johnson, Tosaldo 1031 

Johnson, William E 1008 

Johnston, Charles A 370 

Johnston, Robert 666 

Jones, William' J 918 

Jordan, John H ._. 1227 

Jorgensen, Sophus N 555 

K 

Kane, John E 819 

Karlsen, Oluf 783 

Kay, Fred M 836 

Keating, Patrick 645 

Kees, Jacob M 696 

Keesey, Bert Q 968 

Kehoe, Frank L 902 

Kehoe, Hon. William 579 



Kellogg, George A 718 

Kemp, John W 709 

Kendal, Henry A 381 

Kennedy, Rev. Lawrence 1084 

King, William W 430 

Kingsbury, Lewis B 1244 

Kinsey, Charles H 822 

Kinsey, Louis T 231 

Kjer, Axcel 1252 

Kjer, Mads 1253 

Klepper, Loren M 653 

Knapp, Gilman C 428 

Knight, George A 585 

Knudsen, Oscar L 1038 

Kramer, Edward G . . 1240 

Krohn, J. J 455 

L 

Lamb, Alexander 9.30 

Lambert. Jules A 1217 

Lane, Jefferson R 570 

Lane, John A., M. D 623 

Langford Brothers 646 

Lanini, Rafael 1185 

Larsen, Abraham 1259 

Larsen, John 978 

Larsen, Martin 385 

Larson, Charles A 521 

Larson, Lewis 1024 

Laughlin, Frank 1239 

Leach, Fred A 392 

Leaver, James M 1052 

Lentell, Jesse N 326 

Leonardi, Zacharias 1118 

Lewis, Artemus H 893 

Lewis, Edward L 660 

Light, Edwin A 1042 

Light, William 873 

Lind, John E ....1186 

Lindley, George C 485 

Lindow, William E 1281 

Linser, Ernest R 907 

Loewenthal, Jacob :.... 616 

Logan, John W 916 

Lord, William 557 

Lorentzen, L. C ..1223 

Lowrey, Charles 1214 

Lucas, Monte 1264 

Lucas, William 997 

Lundberg, Albert 1121 

Luther, Christopher 183 

Luther, Frank W 242 

Lyster, John S 1020 

M 

McCann. Willard 178 

McCIellan, Hugh W 321 

McClellan, Hon. John W 452 

McCloskey. Alexander G 838 

McConnaha. Burr P 704 

McConnaha. Clarence J .....1270 

McCready, James - 5ii 

McCready, John 259 

McDade, William P 561 

McDaniel, Lewis L ,.. 957 

/ 



INDEX 



Thompson, Cornelius 1051 

Thompson, Craig R 694 

Thompson, James F 1012 

Thompson, Robert 1059 

Thomson, Ira B 221 

Timmons, James W 1193 

Tobin, Thomas M 1011 

Tomasini, Battiste 1065 

Tonini, Ferdinando M 1175 

Toroni, Bert H.. 1116 

Travis, J. A 1028 

Trigg. John 401 

Tristao. J. M 1104 

Turner, Daniel J 1077 

Turner, Jasper N 1219 

Turner, William J 926 

Tuttle, Frederick A 1264 

Tuttle, Lucius C 1014 

U 

Underwood George 330 

Underwood, James 667 

V 

Vance, John 1167 

Vance, John M 181 

Vance, Thomas 633 

Vandusen, Frank L 1114 

Van Duzen, Albert, Jr 600 

W 

Waddington, Martin T 278 

Waldner, Andrew S 447 

Waldner, Gustav A 451 

Walker, Charles W 474 

Walker, George 470 

Walker, Jesse 462 

Walker, Joseph M 858 

Wallace, WilHam H., M. D 1145 

War, William H 1002 

Ward, William H 1242 



Warner, Matt L 969 

Warth, Samuel 1085 

Wasmuth, W. E 732 

Watson, George W 529 

Way, Henry 380 

Weaver, Hon. John H. G 286 

Weber, Christopher J 1256 

Week, Frank A 453 

Weiss, Joseph J 525 

Werner, Robert L 656 

Wescott, Charles 932 

West, Wilbur P.. 1260 

White, Albert W 1242 

Widnes, Carl W 913 

Williams, Frank G 763 

Williams, Hon. George 615 

Williams, George W 942 

Williams, James H 521 

Wood, Charles W 1254 

Wood, Lewis K 8?" 

Wood, Wilson 972 

Woodcock, George F 1025 

Worthington, James F 985 

Woten, Claude S 354 

Wright, Charles H 177 

Wrigley, George E 1149 

Wrigley, Winfield J 1152 

Wyatt, John A. T 671 

Wynn, Clark M 1199 

Y 

Yermini, Mrs. Teresa 1123 

Young, George R 999 

Young, James A., M. D 1269 

Z 

Zana, Antone 1009 

Zanone, Domingo 205 

Zanone, Domingo A 206 

Zanotti, John B 990 

Zehndner, Edward A 1188 

Zehndner, George 213 

Zehndner, John Jacob 219 



HISTORICAL 

CHAPTER I. 
The Origin of the Name California 

Almost everybody knows that the discussion concerning the name California 
waxed warm for a number of years. Norton, the author of a recent book on 
California, tells us it is interesting to note that most school children are famiHar 
with the discussion which has heretofore taken place as to the origin of the name. 
He says many people are famiHar with its alleged formation from two Spanish 
or Latin words meaning a hot furnace; but unfortunately for the theory that this 
is the true derivation, it must be remembered that to the early Spaniards who 
first used the name in connection with the country, California was not a hot 
country, but in comparison with those through which they had to come to reach 
it, a cold one. The name first appeared in the written' record as appHed to 
Lower (Baja) CaHfornia in Preciado's diary of UUoa's trip down the coast of 
that peninsula in 1539. But it is used there as if it were already in common use. 
And it is probable that it was first given to the country by Cortes or some of his 
followers either at Santa Cruz or La Paz between 1535 and 1537. 

In his History of the Nezv California the author of the present work (Leigh 
H. Irvine) discusses the origin of the name somewhat at length. He says that 
Prof. Josiah Royce, of Harvard, Winfield Davis, and other historians, now 
accept Edward Everett Hale's conclusion that the name CaHfornia was derived 
from an old romance and appHed by Cortes to the peninsula he discovered in 1535. 

Mr. Hale made his investigations in the year 1862, while reading the old 
romance entitled "Sergas de Esplandian," by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, the 
translator of Amidas. In this connection it is worth while to give some of the 
statements of the eminent Dr. Hale, for there have been a number of theories 
as to the origin of the name. He says : "Coming to the reference in this forgotten 
romance to the Island of California, very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, I saw 
at once that here was the origin of the name of the state of California, long 
sought for by the antiquaries of that state, but long forgotten, for the romance 
seems to have been published in 1510 — the edition of 1521 is now in existence — 
while our California, even the peninsula of that name, was not discovered by 
the Spaniards until 1526, and was not named California until 1535." 

Not long after this discovery Mr. Hale invited the American Antiquarian' 
Society to examine the evidence, and in March, 1864, he translated for the 
Atlantic Monthly all the parts of the story that relate to the Queen of CaHfornia 
(Califia), and in 1873 he published a small volume on the subject, in which he 
said : 

"The name California was given by Cortes, who discovered the peninsula 
in 1535. For the statement that he named it we have the authority of Herrera, 
It is proved, I think, that the expedition of Mendoza, in 1532, did not see Cali- 
fornia; it is certain that they gave it no name. Humboldt saw, in the archives 
of Mexico, a statement in manuscript that it was discovered in 1526, but for this 
there is no other authority. 



18 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

"It is certain that the name did not appear until 1535. No etymology of 
this name has been presented that is satisfactory to the historian. Venegas, the 
Jesuit historian of California, writing in 1758, sums up the matter in these words: 
'The most ancient name is California, used by Bernal Diaz, limited to a single 
bay. I could wish to gratify the reader by the etymology of the word, but 
no etymology of the name has been presented that is satisfactory. In none of 
the dialects of the various natives could the missionaries find the least trace 
of such a name being given by them to the country, or even to any harbor, bay, 
or small part of it. Nor can I subscribe to the etymology of some writers, who 
supposed the name to have been given to it by the Spaniards because of their 
feeling an unusual heat at their first landing here; but they thence called the 
country California, compounding the two Latin words califa and fornax, a hot 
furnace. I believe few will think the adventurers could boast of so much 
literature.' Clavigero, in his history of California, after giving this etymology, 
offers as an alternative the following as the opinion of the learned Jesuit Giuseppe 
Compoi : He believes that the name is com.posed of the Spanish word cala, 
which means 'a little cove of the sea,' and the Latin fornix, which means 'the 
vault of a building.' He thinks these words are thus applied, because, within 
Cape St. Lucas there is a little cove of the sea, towards the western part of 
which rises a rock, so torn out that on the upper part of the hollow is seen a 
vault, as perfect as if made by art. Cortes, therefore, observing this cala or 
cove and this vault, probably called this port California or Cala fornix — speaking 
half in Spanish, and half in Latin. Clavigero suggests as an improvement on 
this somewhat wild etymology that Cortes may have said Cala Fornax, meaning 
cove furnace, speaking as in the Jesuit's suggestion, in two languages." 

Towards the close of this romance of the Sergas de Esplandian the various 
Christian knights assemble to defend the Emperor of the Greeks and the city 
of Constantinople against the attack of the Turks and Infidels. In the romance 
the name appears with precisely our spelling in the following passage : 

"Sergas Chapter 157: 'Know that, on the right hand of the Indies there 
is an island called California very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, which was 
peopled with black women, without any men among them, because they were 
accustomed to live after the fashion of Amazons. They were of strong and 
hardened bodies, of ardent courage, and of great force. The island was the 
strongest in the world, from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their arms were 
all of gold; and so were the caparisons of the wild beasts which they rode, after 
having tamed them ; for in all the Island there is no other metal. They Hved in 
caves very well worked out; they had many ships, in which they sailed to other 
parts to carry on their forays." 

The name appears in several distinct passages in the book. Mr. Hale 
adds : "This romance, as I have said, is believed to have been printed first in 
1510. No copies of this edition, however, are extant. But of the edition of 
1519 a copy is preserved; and there are copies of successive editions of 1521, 1525 
and 1526, in which last year two editions were published — one at Seville and the 
other at Burgos. All of. these are Spanish. It follows, almost certainly, that 
Cortes and his followers, in 1535, must have been acquainted with the romance; 
and after they sailed up the west side of Mexico, they supposed they were 
precisely at the place indicated, 'on the right hand of the Indies.' It will be 
remembered, also, that by sailing in the same direction, Columbus, in his letters 
to the sovereigns, says : 'He shall be saiHng towards the Terrestrial Paradise.' 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 19 

We need not suppose that Cortes believed the romance more than we do ; though 
we do assert that he borrowed a name from it to indicate the peninsula which 
he found 'on the right side of the Indies, near to the Terrestrial paradise.' * * * 
In ascribing to the Esplandian the origin of the name California, I know that 
I furnished no etymology for that word. I have not found the word in any 
earlier romances. I will only suggest that the word Calif, the Spanish spelling 
for the sovereign of the Mussulman power of the time, was in the mind of the 
author as he invented these Amazon allies of the Infidel power." 

It will be seen that there have been many discussions on the subject, and 
whether true or false the little romance is now accepted as the most likely explana- 
tion of the origin of the word. 



CHAPTER II. 
The North Was Slow to Be Discovered 

It should be borne in mind that the vaguest imaginable knowledge of the 
Humboldt country existed until within a few years of the beginning of the War 
of the Rebellion. A. J. Bledsoe tells us, in his Indian Wars of the Northwest, 
that as late as the year 1850 a coasthne of seven hundred miles between Fort 
Ross and the mouth of the Columbia river was practically unknown to the world, 
except in a vague way. Topographical knowledge and information concerning 
cHmate and resources were almost nil. Even the most prominent headlines of 
the very rugged coast were without accurate designations, for marine charts were 
little more than guesses. The designated points had been uniformly named 
merely as signboards for the instruction of seafaring men. The shores were 
deemed thunderous and inapproachable. In an area of more than seven hundred 
miles of shore line there was not even one white settler. Indians and wild 
beasts were the sole tenants of the land. As a result, the entire field was one 
of open adventure, and it naturally drew a large and sturdy class of people. A 
mining population, consisting of a good many hundreds, already existed in 
Trinity and Siskiyou counties, but it was dependent on slow and interior routes 
of transportation, the sea being entirely useless for navigation by reason of the 
ignorance of the navigators concerning places for ports and suitable roadsteads 
for making connection with the land. 

Bledsoe tells the story graphically as follows, on page 107 of his work : "It 
was believed that a coast route by water would make a diversion of this trade 
by land. San Francisco, of course, was to be the starting point for enterprises 
of this kind, and of the required capital to conduct them. Each of the several 
expeditions by sea sent out from San Francisco in the winter of 1849 and 1850 
had for its leading inducement the hope of discovering coastwise communication 
with the mines in the mountains by some navigable stream, and, perhaps of found- 
ing new cities that should thereafter shine as brilliant settings of this remote 
rim of American territory. 

"Among the first expeditions for the exploration by sea of the Northern 
coast was one made under the auspices of The Laura Virginia Association. The 
association was organized with two boards of trustees, one to reside in San 
Francisco, one to go with the expedition. 

"The trustees residing in San Francisco were Capt. Joseph L. Folsom, 
U. S. A., president; Charles B. Young, secretary; C. B. Gallagher, and a Mr. 



20 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Simmons, whose first name is not known. The trustees accompanying the expedi- 
tion were E. H. Howard, president ; W. H. Havens and Robert T. Lamott. The 
members of the Association, but recently arrived from the East and elsewhere, 
were adventurous in spirit and bold in enterprise, and they projected a voyage 
of general discovery, having special reference to the selection of some harbor 
as a depot for the distribution of merchandise to the mining districts of Northern 
California. The mines of the Trinity and the Klamath, far up those streams, 
were even then famous for their real and reputed wealth. They were isolated, 
and hemmed in by stupendous mountain chains. To reach them by way of the 
Sacramento valley and Shasta was to endure the perils and suffering of a long 
journey to an unsettled country. As yet no road had been blazed through the 
forest to the sea, nor had the Gregg party made known the results of their 
voyage of exploration. The Trinity was supposed to empty directly into the 
sea, as the Klamath did, and the mouths of neither had been located. Situated 
in the basin of the Trinity, ninety miles from the sea, was the mining camp of 
Weaverville, and still a little farther north and east were other regions rich in 
mineral wealth. 

"To these remote localities the transportation of supplies was chiefly carried 
on by way of Red Bluff, the outlying settlement of the Sacramento Valley, and 
thence by pack mules over a succession of rugged mountains that swarmed with 
hostile Indians. To divert the extensive trade of that part of the state into 
a more economical channel, and to discover a landing place from the sea, was 
the primary object of the Laura Virginia Association. An ocean voyage, 
prompted in some degree by love of adventure, but more by love of gold, was 
to be the first visible effort of the Association to win renown." 

The Laura Virginia was a seaworthy boat that had been built in Baltimore, 
a sturdy craft of one hundred and twenty tons burden. She then lay in San 
Francisco bay, where she was promptly chartered and made ready for her voyage 
to the North. The Association took its name from the ship. 

Lieutenant Douglass Ottinger, of the United States Revenue Cutter Frolic, 
then on leave of absence, was induced to command the vessel. The expedition was 
off for its adventure late in March, 1850, the exact date being still in dispute. 
There were fifty passengers and the ship carried food for a fifty-day voyage. 
The party found no break in the coast line anywhere between San Francisco 
and Cape Mendocino. The voyage north of the Cape brought revelations of 
rugged mountains, with a sweeping curve to the northward. 

It is interesting to recall the fact that Lieutenant Ottinger beheld the mouth 
of the Eel river, and anchored two miles off the bar. It is said that the next day 
three other vessels anchored not far away and a boat from the General Morgan 
crossed the bar and entered the river. The success of the Morgan's little boat 
emboldened Lieutenant Ottinger to launch two of the Laura Virginia's boats for 
the same purpose. He commanded one, Albert Swain the other. 

Swain's boat was soon capsized in a heavy swell, whereupon Ottinger returned 
to the ship and told H. H. Buhne, the second officer, just what had occurred, 
and dispatched him to hasten with a crew to the aid of the capsized boat, to which 
the men were still clinging and struggling desperately for their lives. Incidentally, 
this same Buhne was the founder of the prominent Buhne family of Eureka 
and Humboldt county, business and social leaders of today. The intrepid second 
officer saved four of the five men, but J. S. Rowen was lost. Those saved were 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 21 

L. M. Burson, N. Duperu, and Albert Swain, and a man of the name Bell, 
the latter's given or Christian name having been lost to history. 

Ottinger was discouraged, after which he soon headed his vessel to the 
North and gave up all hope of exploring Eel river. He saw the waters of the 
bay also, but could not discover any entrance thereto. It is believed that the 
heavy breakers on both the Northern and Southern spits had completely hid the 
channel from the view of the Laura Virginia party. 

Sailing toward Trinidad and a point fifty miles farther north, Ottinger soon 
found himself in the roadstead about where Crescent City is now located. He 
found a vessel called the Cameo at anchor, and another, the Paragon, stranded 
on the beach. Dispatching a boat toward the shore, he learned that several 
little boats had been capsized while trying to make a landing several days before, 
and three or four persons had lost their lives. Searching the beach revealed 
the lifeless body of one member of the unfortunate party. Lieutenant R. Bache, 
who had been attached to the United States coast survey for several years. A 
funeral was at once arranged, and Lieutenant Ottinger read the ritual service 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, burying his comrade in a plain wooden 
cofifin. After a few days the lieutenant decided that he should make down the 
coast toward Trinidad. His crew noticed a fresh body of water making out 
from the land, and the lieutenant dispatched second officer Buhne to sound the 
bar, taking a small boat, but gave positive instructions that there should be no 
attempt to cross, owing to the great danger of loss of life. It was during this 
voyage that Buhne discovered the mouth of the Klamath river. 

E. H. Howard, H. W. Havens. Samuel B. Tucker, Robert Lamott, S. W. 
Shaw and a Mr. Peebles were dispatched to explore on foot the coast line south 
to the bay and find out just what the country looked like, their points of view 
having been obtained from sighting while aboard the ship. After about four 
hours' marching the party came to the crossing of the Mad river, whose southern 
bank they saw was lined with canoes drawn up on dry land. In the background 
they saw a number of Indian inhabitants and heard yells ringing out from the 
rancheria when the white men appeared on the opposite shore. 

A large number of excited natives came thronging to the water's edge. 
Women, commonly called squaws, with their papooses, scampered from their 
lodgings, and the warriors, who were very numerous, grasped their bows and 
arrows and assembled for a pow-wow on the bank. In the absence of the ability 
of either party to make the other understand it by spoken language, it was 
decided to resort to pantomimes or the old sign language. The white adven- 
turers soon gave the Indians to understand that no harm was meant, their 
desire being merely to cross the rancheria and see what the country below looked 
like. The natives were much surprised at the appearance of the white men and 
their clothing, and great expressions of wonder marked the occasion. 

For a long time the Indians refused to take the six white men across the 
river at one time in their canoes. They made known, however, that they desired 
them to go one at a time. This brought the white men to a puzzling problem, 
for they feared that to go one at a time might be to expose the iirst man to 
treachery and possibly to death by torture. After much parleying, however, the 
Indians reluctantly consented to do as the white men had requested. When the 
whites had crossed they were soon surrounded by men, women and children 
who looked closely at them, rubbed their clothing, and touched their bodies 



22 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

as much as to feel and ascertain whether they were looking upon the spirits 
of dead men returned to earth, or upon actual living creatures. 

A surveyor's compass was here ingeniously used by the white men to 
impress the natives with the fact that the whites were a race possessing a strange 
amount of power. They sought to make the Indians believe that even six white 
men could besiege hundreds of Indians in battle^ this by reason of supernatural 
powers and devices such as the little compass. 

Bledsoe describes this interview entertainingly as follows : 

"The compass is placed on the ground, and as the needle trembles and 
flutters on its pivot the Indians watch it with increasing wonder. The white 
medicine man takes his knife and moves the blade slowly around the disk of the 
compass. Slowly, with quivering stops like warning fingers pointing at individual 
braves, the needle follows the knife blade around the circle. Filled with a profound 
feehng of awe, the warriors see the knife withdrawn and the needle settled to 
its quiet rest. 

■ "The white medicine man lifted the instrument to his ear, as if com- 
municating with the Great Spirit. The Indians themselves draw nearer, eager 
to catch a stray whisper from the unseen world, although it be in an unknown 
tongue. The medicine man withdraws the instrument and gravely endeavors 
to make them understand that all their secret thoughts and purposes are 
revealed to him through its agency. The ruse is successful. The untutored mind 
of the savage, deriving from all nature continual additions to his superstitious 
lore, sees in the little mechanical instrument a revelation of wisdom and power. 

"He regards the whites with an awe which is not unmixed with reverence." 

Although one experiment might have been enough to keep the Indians from 
attacking the whites, it was beheved advisable to give the Reds a few further 
exhibitions of the prowess of the whites, therefore a target was put up, and 
bullet after bullet was shot into it at a distance of about sixty yards. A flock 
of geese was seen flying over the company, and one of the best shots in the 
party directed his fowling piece toward the flying birds and brought one fluttering 
to the ground. 

The Indians had become thoroughly convinced of the supernatural attributes 
of the whites, and showed no evidence whatever that they were the least bit 
hostile towards the visitors. 

When the white men started south they were followed along the beach 
by a number of Indians, who eagerly watched them to see what would become 
of them, and they seemed to be so much excited over the disappearance of 
the whites that it was believed for a time that the Red men expected to see 
their visitors depart into the sky. 

Late that afternoon the white men beheld the entrance to the bay. On 
the next day the adventurers anchored in the harbor and the ship's boat was 
sent to take the party on board. On the 9th day of April, 1850, second officer 
Buhne, who possessed all of the brave quahfications necessary to leadership, was 
appointed to command the boat and make an effort to cross the bar and bring 
the ship within the bay. It is well known that he was a good sailor and accustomed 
to the hardships of the sea, also that he was a man of great common sense. 
His selection as the leader to pioneer the boat over the bar was a wise and 
judicious proceeding. His feat is thus described by Bledsoe: 

"Between ten and eleven o'clock on the morning of the 9th of April the 
boat was launched, and Buhne with William Broderson, James Baker, an English- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 23 

man named Palmer, and one other man, whose name has been lost to history, 
for his crew, started across the bar. Skillful seamanship carried the boat into 
the harbor. The crew landed at a point opposite the entrance, for many years 
known as Humboldt point, and now called Buhne's point, where they remained 
until one o'clock in the afternoon, when, taking advantage of high water, the 
boat was headed for the sea. Buhne made soundings on the bar and found four 
and one-half fathoms of water in a well defined channel. Going on board the 
ship he reported to Lieutenant Ottinger what he had seen and done, and it was 
decided that another trip should be made on the same day, this time with two 
boats loaded with passengers, tents, provisions, etc. The two boats, Buhne 
commanding the one in advance, then crossed the bar and landed on the north 
beach at half past seven o'clock. On the next morning the whole party went 
across to the point and pitched their tents. 

"Here they all remained for three days. On the twelfth a vessel was seen 
ofif the bar, and Buhne with his boat's crew went out to her, supposing that she 
was the Laura Virginia. It was not that vessel, but was the Whiting, sailing toward 
Eel river, and eager to be the first vessel to enter that stream. The captain of 
the Whiting, Hke the officers of a rival vessel, the J. M. Ryerson, believed that 
this river was the Trinity, and if they had observed the basin to the north with 
any interest, it was only indicative to them of a shallow lagoon or basin. It was 
late in the afternoon, and Buhne and his crew boarded the Whiting, remaining 
there all night.. They were reticent of their own previous movements. It would 
not do for them to relate where they had been or what was their success. The 
members of every expedition then exploring the coast considered themselves 
morally bound to keep a profound secret of any discovery or location made by 
them. Precisely why this was so cannot be easily accounted for at the present 
day. A lively imagination can indeed surmise various reasons for secrecy. Each 
expedition was animated by a more or less envious jealousy of every other 
expedition, and every commander of a vessel was firmly convinced that the 
honor of first sailing into a bay or river ought to belong to him." 

Further along in his account of this interesting adventure, Bledsoe says : 
"Wishing to come up with his own vessel as soon as he could, Buhne parted 
company with the Whiting and proceeded north in the small boat. In the after- 
noon the Laura Virginia came down from the north, took Buhne and his crew 
on board, and stood ofi: to sea during the night. The tide and wind being favor- 
able at noon of the next day, April 14, 1850, second officer Buhne took the wheel 
and guided tlje Laura Virginia into the bay, where she anchored near the point 
on which the tents of the passengers were plainly visible. 

"The fourteenth of April was a proud day for the Laura Virginia Associa- 
tion. Captain Ottinger and every one of the officers and members of the expedi- 
tion felt highly elated because of the success which had attended their voyage. 
What grand castles they built in the air is not for our generation to know ; and 
perhaps it is well that we draw not back too rudely the curtain of time that 
hides them from our view, for in the very act of exposing the unsubstantial 
glory of their hopes we might perchance uncover to the world some day dreams 
of our own. The company as a matter of course thought their fortunes were 
made, and they proceeded to take possession of sufficient land for the site of the 
city that was to be. After considerable discussion the bay was christened, likewise 
the city. Both were named Humboldt in honor of the distinguished naturalist of 
that name, at the earnest solicitation of a member of the expedition whose 



24 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

enthusiastic admiration for the illustrious Prussian was as boundless as the 
latter's knowledge. Afterwards the Association voted to give the Baron von 
Humboldt the choice lot in the city of his name, and a deed to the same was 
written and sent to him, with a full account of the adventures of the company, 
for which the Association in due season received his kind acknowledgement 
over his own signature." 

A number of interesting events here occurred, but our space will not justify 
going into detail. Let it suffice to say that the first summer brought a great 
increase in the population of the bay and of Humboldt City. Those members of 
the Laura Virginia Association who remained did everything they could in the 
way of rational community development. Public works of various types were 
undertaken, and many obligations on the part of the members of the Association 
were entered into to pay for the work. The conclusion of the story is thus 
graphically told by Bledsoe : 

"Humboldt City for a year or more kept in advance of any other town of 
the bay. Stores, pack trains, mechanics' shops and saloons gave unmistakable 
signs of business progress. But that could only last while the town could control 
the trade with the mines. The advantage of a newer route, and an Indian trail 
from the head of the bay that was practicable without costly improvement, settled 
the rivalry in favor of Union, now Areata, as against Humboldt City. The castles 
in the air built by its founders soon tumbled down about them. Union and 
Eureka divided the business of the bay, the city that was to be faded from the 
visionary projects of the adventurers' dream. Humboldt City succumbed to the 
inexorable decrees of fate, and today the scene of its once bustling life is aban- 
doned to its original pastoral simplicity." 



CHAPTER III 

The Discovery of Humboldt Bay 

Although the general public seems to know little concerning the history of 
the early navigators who first discovered the splendid body of water afterwards 
called Humboldt bay, there is authentic information on this phase of history, and 
the elements of romantic adventure and dangerous encounter with unfriendly 
Indians enter into the story. The late Prof. George Davidson, for many years 
in charge of the Geodetic and Coast Survey office at San Francisco, a learned 
geographer as well, made a careful investigation of these voyages. . Being a true 
scientist, he verified every fact as far as possible before he published anything 
concerning the matter under discussion. 

In order to appreciate the perils and difficulties of early Pacific coast explora- 
tions, as well as to understand the lure of gold, the spell wrought by strange 
lands and peoples, one should grasp the main points concerning early adventures 
on the Pacific . First, then, let it be borne in mind that the first explorers along 
the Pacific coast of the United States were Cabrillo and Ferrelo. The fact that 
Ferrelo was Cabrillo's second in command, and later his successor, gave him 
the advantage of Cabrillo's experience. 

In November, 1542, Cabrillo, so the old Spanish records say, was driven 
from sight of the wooded and high shoulder of land behind Fort Ross, in latitude 
38° 30' north, by a heavy and characteristic southeaster. It is probable that he 
caught a fading glimpse, through mists and clouds, of the heavily timbered Coast 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 25 

Range, some twenty-two hundred feet altitude, to the northward. There is 
nothing in the records to indicate that he saw or suspected the existence of 
Point Arena, latitude of 38° 57' north. When the storm had abated he directed 
his course to the eastward until he had made the same "landfall," after which 
he continued southward to his winter anchorage, the historic el Puerto de la 
Poseion, now Cuyler's harbor. This is merely a slight indentation in the northern 
shore of San Miguel Island, the westernmost of the Santa Barbara Islands. It 
was here that the bold navigator passed away. 

The fate of Cabrillo's party was thereafter in the hands, to a great extent, 
of Ferrelo, who sailed in January, 1543, to the north, where he made what is 
now known as the Fort Ross anchorage. He saw Point Arena, but was driven 
off shore by a terrific gale from the southeast. He was driven south again, but 
finally got as far north, it is believed, as latitude 44°. Cabrillo probably got 
no farther north than latitude 421/4 degrees. 

Sir Francis Drake, the famous English navigator, figures conspicuously in 
voyages affecting the Pacific coast. On June 5, 1579, he reached the Oregon 
coast in the vicinity of Rogue river, in latitude 42° 30' north. Drake had a 
leaking ship, which, with heavy winds and annoying fogs, caused him much 
delay and annoyance. He patrolled the coast from Oregon to Crescent City's . 
latitude — 41° 50'. He also reconnoitered in the vicinity of Cape Mendocino 
and was also near Trinidad head in latitude 41° 03'. He was attracted close to 
the shore here, and Professor Davidson finds some evidence that he saw Humboldt 
bay from the masthead, looking over the low, narrow sand dunes at its entrance, 
especially on a favorable day with a good glass. Davidson says, however: "In 
the stretch between Trinidad head and Cape Mendocino, the discolored waters 
passing through the clear ocean depths would indicate the existence of rivers 
or bays; but Mad river, north of the bay, and Eel river, to the south of it, do 
not offer any well defined marks to betray their entrance to the navigator." 

Nobody will ever know just what Drake discovered in the vicinity of Hum- 
boldt bay, for there are no definite manuscripts on the subject. It should be 
remembered, however, that Francis Fletcher, his chaplain, left an account of the 
voyaging. It is far from satisfactory in its handling of the Humboldt situation. 
The conclusion is inevitable that Drake's search of three hundred miles for a 
safe harbor brought him no adequate reward. 

Robert Dudley, who was known in Italy as the Duke of Northumberland, 
lays down Drake's course as ranging from the Rogue river to latitude 38°. Noth- 
ing in either Fletcher's manuscripts or Dudley's maps and speculations can be 
strained, says Davidson, into evidence that Sir Francis Drake discovered the 
land-locked waters of Humboldt bay. Similarly, Professor Davidson, after 
examining records in the State Department at Washington, ignores the old story 
that Vizcaino could have seen Humboldt bay, although he navigated in the 
vicinit^V in 1603. And after the voyages of Vizcaino the work of Spanish 
explorers was practically in abeyance for one hundred and sixty-six years. Bodega 
discovered Trinidad bay, and Portola (or Portala) discovered San Francisco 
bay, but Humboldt bay was not seen, nor was its presence positively even 
suspected by the Spaniards. 

In April, 1792, Vancouver followed the California coast line northward 
from latitude 38° 15', but strangely he never suspected the existence of Humboldt 
bay. He seemed to think that the coast was all mountainous, without place for 



26 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

protection in the way of even a slight harbor. He was anchored for a time at 
Trinidad bay, which he calls a nook. 

The discovery of Humboldt bay by water was the result of the activities 
of the Russians between 1803 and 1806. The discovery was actually made by 
Capt. Jonathan Winship, an American, in an American vessel, with an American 
crew — but all were temporarily in the service of the Russian American Company. 
In an explanatory volume and atlas compiled by Tebenkof, a Russian, in 1848, 
an account of the bay is submitted, credit being given to Winship. It is 
described as eight and a half miles from the port of Trinidad, lying to the south- 
ward from that port. It was known as the Bay of Indians, because of the great 
number of hostile Indians adjacent to it. "This bay has not been surveyed," says 
the narrator, "but it is known to be of considerable size, and somewhat resembles 
the Bay of San Francisco, except that the entrance to it for vessels of large class 
is not convenient, and with strong southwest winds it is even impassable for 
vessels of any kind. The depth of water on the bar at the entrance is two 
fathoms, and then the ocean swell breaks on the bar." 

Winship had charge of a sea-otter party for the Russians. The bay was 
for a time called the entrance of Resanof. The direction of the channel, as shown 
by the charts, is that which prevails at the present time. The soundings, however, 
showed two and a half fathoms at the entrance. Professor Davidson speaks 
as follows of the chart and description : "The location of the Indian villages 
is the same as we found them thirty-nine years ago (about 1851) ; and the 
soundings up the bay to the northward, to the location of Eureka, with Indian 
Island directly abreast of it, show nearly the direction of the present main channel. 
There is a small stream which enters the northeast part of the upper bay that 
may be intended for Eureka slough. The vessel anchored in the main channel 
abreast the southern end of Indian Island. The southern area of the bay is 
shown, and the relations of both parts of the bay and the shores of Red Bluff 
to the entrance are plain and satisfactory. Trinidad head is well represented, 
and so is Little river. The distance of this head from the entrance to the bay 
is eight and a half miles by the given scale; but it is seventeen and a half miles 
on the chart of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Notwithstanding 
the error of distance, the bay is at once recognized as that of Humboldt, when 
errors are taken into consideration." 

It has always been more or less of a wonder how it chanced that the bay 
was not discovered earher by the seafaring expeditions that so often came close 
to it. It is indisputable that Cabrillo and Ferrelo failed to see the land as far 
north as Cape Mendocino ; that Vizcaino, or his second in command, placed a 
great bay just north of Cape Mendocino, without the peculiar land-locked char- 
acteristics of Humboldt bay; that Bodega, who surveyed Trinidad bay in 1775, 
and who there discovered the peculiar type of our tides, and who also had much 
intercourse with the natives, failed to see or learn of its existence; that Van- 
couver twice passed it by without a sign that he recognized it ; and that it was 
left to Captain Winship to make the discovery in 1806. 

Professor Davidson has made interesting researches into the history of 
subsequent explorations. He concludes that after the discovery of Winship, 
especially after the decrease of the, sea-otter catch, in 1812, there was no voyage 
of exploration along the Oregon and CaHfornia coast for a long period of years. 
But in October, 1837, Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., when leaving Nootka 
sound, proposed to enter the Columbia river, and then coast southward to San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 27 

Francisco. Rough weather, however, compelled him to keep his offing and make 
the best of his way to San Francisco. 

In the fall of 1841, Capt. Charles Wilkes, U. S. Navy, commanding the 
United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1841, voyaged along the coast in the 
vicinitv of Humboldt bay, but did not enter it. 

In September, 1846, Capt. Henry Kellett, R. N., in the Herald, left the 
Strait of Fuca, and approached the land near Cape Mendocino. In March, 1850, 
several vessels left San Francisco for the mouth of the Trinity river, where 
mining operations were rather active. On the 26th the lookout on the schooner 
Laura Virginia, under Captain Ottinger of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service, 
discovered from the masthead the waters and mouth of Eel river, and the waters 
also, but not the entrance of Humboldt bay. Dr. Josiah Gregg's land party had 
previously made the same discovery, plus the entrance, but this was not known 
to the Laura Virginia party. 

The Laura Virginia continued her cruise along shore to the northward, 
beheving that there was no entrance to the bay. At that time the wind and sea 
were high and the breakers terrified the navigators. They found Mad and Little 
rivers, and afterwards anchored in Trinidad bay for some days. They also 
examined the Klamath river, after which they returned to Trinidad bay and 
anchored there for some days. The party searched by land for an entrance to 
the bay and finally found it at the north point. Some days thereafter the 
schooner anchored off the south breakers^ abreast of the southern point. 

On April 8, Capt. H. Buhne, whose name afterwards figured in the history 
of the county, and whose descendants are prominent today, attempted a passage 
through the breakers. He was second officer of the Laura Virginia, and his boat 
was almost swamped several times in the south breakers. A party of Indians 
signaled to the party to make the north passage, but he finally reached the Siwash 
channel through the southern entrance, and through that reached the main channel 
and entered the bay. Buhne then ascended Red Bluff and clearly saw the direction 
of the channel between the two lines of breakers, and a smooth bar outside. 

The schooner again went northward and remained there for about five days. 
On her return Buhne went out to her through the channel, sounding in almost 
four fathoms of water on the bar. He piloted the schooner into the harbor 
and to an anchorage off Humboldt point. It was the Laura Virginia party that 
gave the bay its name in honor of Alexander von Humboldt, though there were 
many who wanted to name it for Mr. Buhne. These facts were obtained from 
Captain Buhne by Professor Davidson in 1890, when Buhne was still piloting on 
the bay. 

D. L. Thornbury, former superintendent of public schools at Eureka, made 
a careful study of the ocean voyages in and around the bay. In a paper sum- 
marizing his conclusions, he says in part : 

"There is no doubt that Capt. Jonathan Winship made the first authentic 
discovery of Humboldt bay, in 1806, while commanding a ship named Ocean. The 
ship was under the control of and working for the Russian American Company, 
chiefly engaged in the fur trade, the sea-otter being the main purpose of its 
voyages. The ship sailed down the coast to Trinidad, which headland had been 
known to the Russians for several years. With the party were a hundred or 
more Alute Indians, with fifty-two small boats, and as they were spread out 
over the country in search of gam.e, the bay was sighted by the Indians and news 
of the fact reported to Winship. He set out and eighteen miles to the south 



28 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

discovered the entrance of what he called the Bay of the Indians. He sounded 
at the entrance, which he named Resanof, and found a depth of fifteen feet, which 
was enough to float his ship. He crossed the bar and came up the channel, which 
was about the same as at the present time. He anchored the Ocean at the 
southern end of what is now known as Gunther's Island, half way between the 
island and the Samoa peninsula. 

"His Indians spread out over the bay and neighboring rivers and discovered 
four Indian villages, one on the north peninsula, the second close to Brainard's 
point, a third a short distance south of Bucksport, and the last on the end of 
the south spit. The Indians did not welcome the newcomers because they were 
destroying the sea-otters, which abounded in the bay, disturbing geese and ducks, 
and annoying the clam diggers. Several conflicts occurred, and the Indians 
refused to trade with the Russians. Captain Winship took observations of the 
position of the bay, and his figures were not far wrong, as will be seen: Correct 
latitude, 40° 45'; correct longitude, 124° 14'. Winship's latitude, 40° 59'; 
Winship's longitude, 124° 08'. He also made a map of the surrounding country, 
which is remarkably correct. The soundings show almost the present channel, 
with three islands. The small stream may be intended for Jacoby creek." 



CHAPTER IV. 
Land Discovery of Humboldt Bay 

So long as men continue to have a strain of the boyish love of adventure in 
them, a certain fascination will attach to stories that pertain to what pioneers 
have done in new countries. Parkman's histories of the adventures of sturdy 
pioneers among the Indians of Canada and the United States, Winthrop's stories 
of canoe and saddle among the rivers and forests of Washington, pictures of the 
lone Oregon trail, and even the scenes depicted by Fenimore Cooper, have their 
counterpart very largely in the events that culminated in the land discovery of 
Humboldt bay, which was more than half a century after its discovery by Captain 
Winship and his party, in command of the Russian ship Ocean. 

It was not until many thrilling adventures had been experienced that L. K. 
Wood and his party looked upon the great wall of breakers at Humboldt bar. 
Days and nights of weary marching, experiences in wild camps, and battling 
with the elements were the prelude to the discovery. The story has been simply 
and beautifully told by the late L. K. Wood, a prominent member of the party 
that made the discovery. 

According to his narrative, the month of October, 1849, found him on 
Trinity river, at a point now called Rich bar. He was there poorly provisioned 
and poorly clad, at the beginning of the winter season, which is one of heavy 
rains and impassable roads except where civilization has tamed the elements, 
bridged the streams, and bade the torrents to leave the well-built roads un- 
molested. In 1849 winter meant raging torrents that could not be crossed. 

The little company at Rich bar numbered some thirty persons, every one 
of whom was in about the same condition as that of Mr. Wood — ill fitted for 
the season. Not far from the bar was an Indian ranch, the inhabitants of which 
often visited the white men. It was here that the members of the party first 
learned that the ocean was only about eight days' travel from Rich bar, also that 
"a large and beautiful bay existed, surrounded by extensive prairie lands." 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 29 

In spite of alternating rain and snow this story impelled a number of the 
party to conceive the idea of a journey to the bay thus described. If the camp 
had been well provisioned, perhaps, there would have been no such thought at 
that particular season but food and supplies were pretty well exhausted, and there 
seemed little probability of replenishment. It was therefore necessity, in part, 
that determined some of the company to make a strike for the south, where they 
might find game and a camp for the season. 

Josiah Gregg, a physician from Missouri, was the first and most active pro- 
_moter of the expedition. He had with him compasses and "the implements neces- 
sary to guide us through the uninhabited, trackless region," says Mr. Wood, 
"and no one seemed better qualified to guide and direct an expedition of this 
kind than he. Upon him, therefore, the choice fell to take command." 

Accordingly twenty-four men determined to make a start for the region 
thus glowingly described by the ranchmen. Dr. Gregg made arrangements with 
the chief owner of the ranch to engage two of his workmen as guides, as they 
were more or less familiar with the country. It was decided that the start should 
be made on November 5 if the torrential rains that had long been falling should 
abate. 

But November 5 brought no improvement in the weather, for the rain had 
by that time turned to snow and the resolution of some of the party choked 
within their breasts. They had not the courage to make the start. To add to 
the confusion the Indian guides decHned to leave their homes, stoutly maintaining 
that the terrific rains along the river had been heavy snow storms in the 
mountains, and that by reason of the depth of the drifts the lives of the entire 
party would be endangered. The Indians were right in assuming that the journey 
would be a perilous one. Their judgment disheartened all of the party but 
eight, which consisted of the following persons : Dr. Josiah Gregg, captain of 
the company; Thomas Seabring, of Ottawa, 111.; David A. Buck, of New York; 
J. B. Truesdell, of Oregon; one Van Duzen, whose Christian name has not been 
preserved and whose native land is not known; Charles C. Southard, of Boston; 
Isaac Wilson, of Missouri; and L. K. Wood, of Mason county, Ky. 

An examination of the food supplies indicated that there was barely enough 
flour for ten days, while of pork and beans there v/as scarcely enough for so 
long. Undeterred by the appearance of the commissary department, the restless 
little party broke camp and made the start. Mr. Wood remarks : "Here com- 
menced an expedition the marked and prominent features of which were constant 
and unmitigated toil, hardship, privation, and suffering. Before us, stretching 
as far as the eye could reach, lay mountains, high and rugged, deep valleys and 
difficult canyons, now filled with water by the recent heavy rains." 

But the intrepid little band started away from the fires of the old camp, 
leaving the river and the rains for the snows and perils of the mountains, over 
which the ascent was steep, tedious, and extremely difficult. Hunger, danger 
and fatigue were the ever-present companions of that historic march. Often 
there was no trail "or guide save the path of elk or the dim signs of an old 
Indian route. The undergrowth in the forests was dense, and the ground was 
completely saturated with water. After the company had plodded its weary way 
out of the slippery mud, its members beheld a great stretch of snow in all 
directions, with no sign of road or trail. The narrator adds: "We now had 
to grope our way as best we might. Slowly and silently we continued to ascend 
the steepest part of the mountain in order to shorten the distance." 



30 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

A feeling of desolation and inexpressible fear seized the party as it gazed 
upon the great wastes from the summit. As they looked upon the untrodden wilds 
that stretched in all directions, they realized that great piles of snow-crested 
mountains lay between them and the valley they would reach. But it was realized 
that the time for reconsidering the choice was over. The duty of the hour lay 
in marching on. 

It was now sunset and preparations were made for rest and food. Camping 
on that bleak and lonely mountain, where bhnding storms and terrible gales 
might come at any moment was an experience that tested the courage of the 
brave men of the party. 

The animals were speedily unpacked, after which men and beasts were fed. 
Then the adventurers took their saddles and blankets from their horses and 
threw them on the snow, pillowed thus through the lonely watches of the first 
night. Mr. Wood does not go into details as to food, conversations and minor 
matters. His narrative indicates that everybody was intent on making an early 
start the second day. He simply tells us that at an early hour in the morning, 
having breakfasted, the journey was resumed. 

The second day's journey was to descend the mountain, and to do this with- 
out deviating more than necessary from the course that led to the bay. Owing 
to the fact that the course lay almost west and that the mountains and the coast 
paralleled each other in a line running from north to south, it was necessary to 
pass over a constant succession of mountains, now over the top of one, then 
through the deep valley beneath, and again climbing the steep sides of another. 
Mr. Wood adds : "Nothing worthy of notice beyond the weary routine of con- 
stant traveling by day, and stretching our weary hmbs upon the snow or cold, 
wet ground by night occurred during the succeeding four days." 

But more stirring events were soon to break the monotony of the journey. 
Mr. Wood says : "Toward evening of the next day, while passing over a sterile, 
rugged country, we heard what appeared to be the rolling and breaking of surf 
upon a distanct sea shore, or the roaring of some mighty waterfall. A halt was 
therefore determined upon, and we resolved to ascertain the cause of this before 
proceeding farther, and here we pitched our camp." 

David A. Buck either volunteered or was detailed to make his way toward 
the sound of the breakers. He made his start the next morning. Just before 
night he returned to the camp, bringing with him a quantity of sand which, 
from its appearance, as well as that of the place from which he gathered it, he 
thought indicated the presence of gold. As the party was not on a gold-hunting 
expedition at the moment, but in search of the bay, it was decided to press toward 
the coast. But it should be explained that Mr. Buck really found the source of 
the noise. It was a stream which rushed with swollen violence over a steep 
descent. He had discovered the south fork of the Trinity river. The company 
found it impossible to cross until the junction of the stream with the Trinity was 
discovered. 

The river was crossed, whereupon the company came suddenly upon an 
Indian ranch. Men, women and children fled. The scene was somewhat 
ludicrous all round, as the party itself had no suspicion that Indians dwelt there. 
The firearms of the party were wholly unfit for use, being soaked with rain. 
The narrative of Mr. Wood as to the episode with the Indians here follows : 

"The scene that followed wholly divested our minds of all apprehension of 
danger, for as soon as they saw us, men, women and children fled in the wildest 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 31 

confusion, some plunging headlong into the river, not venturing to look behind 
them until they had reached a considerable elevation upon the mountain on the 
opposite side of the river, while others sought refuge in the thickets and among 
the rocks, leaving everything behind them. As soon as they had stopped in their 
flight, we endeavored, by signs, to induce those yet in view to return, giving them 
to understand, as best we could, that we intended them no harm; but it was all 
for a time to no purpose. They had never before seen a white man, nor had 
they received any intelligence of our coming; and to their being thus suddenly 
brought in contact with a race of beings so totally different in color, dress, and 
appearance from any they had ever seen or heard of, is attributable the over- 
whelming fear they betrayed. 

"Our stock of provisions was now nearly exhausted, and what portion of 
our journey had been accomplished we were of course entirely ignorant. One 
thing, however, was apparent — that from then forward, upon Providence and 
our good rifles our dependence for food must rest. 

"Having failed to induce the Indians to return, and observing that they had 
considerable quantities of salmon in their huts, which they had obtained and 
cured for their subsistence during the winter^ we helped ourselves to as much 
as we wanted, leaving in its' place a quantity of venison that had been killed by 
some of our party a short time previously, invoking as a justification for so 
doing the old adage 'a fair exchange is no robbery,' and pressed forward on our 
journey with all diligence. 

"We had hoped that the Indians would not care to become better acquainted 
with us, and would allow us to pass unmolested. Imagine our surprise, then, 
when we were about camping for the night, there came marching toward us 
some seventy-five or eighty warriors, their faces and bodies painted, looking like 
so many demons, and armed and prepared for battle." The guns and ammuni- 
tion of the little company were soaking wet and worthless except as clubs. It 
was a grave question what to do, but it was quickly decided to assume an air 
of indifference. When they came within a hundred yards of us, however, we 
motioned to them to halt," says the narrator, "and they obeyed. Two of the 
company then advanced holding up to the view of the savages a number of beads 
and other fancy articles which the travelers were fortunate enough to possess. 
The warriors seemed greatly pleased with the articles, soon after which they 
were persuaded that the invaders were friendly and had no desire to hurt the 
Indians. The savages soon became friendly. They represented that their people 
were very numerous and that the travelers were at their mercy. They made it plain 
that they could at any moment slaughter the entire company. We soon started 
to convince them that they were mistaken and that a small company like ours 
could do wonders with our weapons." 

Their curiosity was roused, and they wondered how the weapons were used. 
In order to accomplish their purpose, the white men gave them to understand 
that the guns could kill as many of them at a single shot as could stand, one 
behind another. They were not satisfied and expressed their doubts. They de- 
manded to see the effect of shooting at a mark. The white men, knowing of the 
unfit condition of their weapons, agreed to make a display of their power the next 
morning. 

"Prudence and due regard for our safety compelled us to keep a careful 
watch during the night," runs the story of Mr. Wood, "but notwithstanding this, 
and the fact that some of the company felt little inclined to sleep, one of their 



Z2 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

expert thieves, aided by the pitchy darkness, crept to the spot where we were 
camped and took from beneath a pair of blankets a Colt's revolver without detec- 
tion. This was surprising to all, especially to the owner of the revolver, who 
could not sleep and was doubtless awake while the Indian was at his side." 

It was the intention of the company to escape at dawn, but the Indians, 
anticipating this course, had gathered in great numbers, bringing their women 
and children to the spot. It was then decided, as the ammunition had been dried 
and the guns prepared, to give the promised demonstration. Here is the way 
the event culminated : 

A piece of paper some two inches in diameter was handed to an Indian, who 
was asked to fasten it on a tree about sixty paces distant. It was explained that 
the marksman would shoot and that the ball would strike the paper. The Indians 
were arranged in a circle, full of curiosity. It was purposely not explained that 
the weapon would make any noise, so when the explosion occurred the entire 
party was panic-stricken. The women and children set up a terrific shrieking, at 
the same time dispersing in all directions. They feared that the warriors had 
been slain, but when they saw that nobody was hurt they returned to see what 
had happened to the tree. They carefully examined the hole in the paper, noting 
also that the bullet had penetrated the tree and disappeared in its depths. 

"They now seemed disposed to treat us with greater respect," says Wood. 
"Taking advantage of the impression thus created, we tried to convince them that 
our small company was able to cope with all they could bring against us, and 
explained the force of a bullet thrown from one of our guns." It was also 
explained that the power of the gun was as much greater than the power of an 
arrow as its noise was louder. 

The Indians then warned the company that the course it was pursuing would 
bring it in conflict with Indians who would interfere. It had been intended to 
go along the river, but the Indians advised the party to strike for the west. This 
advice was taken, and the party at once began the ascent of the mountain that 
lay in its path. 

The only provisions left by this time were flour and a paste made therefrom. 
It was devoured with avidity, but on the night of November 13 the party went 
to bed dinnerless. The animals had been without food for two days, but were 
now eating grass. 

Marching under these conditions, hungry and tired, it was sometimes thought 
best to try to return, but the suggestion was always overruled, for it was 
believed that the coast must be closer than the old camp. After picking their 
way carefully for a day, through a dense forest, a prairie was discovered. On 
the morning of the next day every member of the party started in search of 
game. Several deer were killed, and the half-famished company broiled the 
steaks in the ashes of the camp. It was determined to rest a few days to 
recuperate. During the stay a good quantity of venison was cured. 

This venison was consumed during the march, and three days of fasting 
followed for men and beasts. Now and then trees were cut down in order to 
give the animals a chance to eat the leaves. Two of the horses were so famished 
that they were abandoned to die. At this apparently hopeless stage of the march 
a fertile prairie was again discovered. It afforded rich food for the horses, 
while plenty of venison was obtained for the men. A delay of three days was 
decided upon, during which a quantity of venison was prepared to be taken along. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOrDT COUNTY 33 

As two animals had been left behind, it was necessary to load those remaining 
pretty heavily with provisions. 

At the end of ten days the food was again exhausted and no living game 
was in sight. For several days the party lived on bitter nuts which looked like 
acorns. Only a few could be eaten, however, as they proved an emetic in larger 
doses. Mr. Wood says : "Not one experience for days was without its hard- 
ships, privations, and almost starvation. At last we reached another opening in 
this wide forest, and without first selecting a camping place, as was usual with 
us, we hastened to search for food." 

It was not long before a band of elk was observed, likewise deer in another 
direction. The party separated and resolved to attack the elk from different 
directions. 

Mr. Wood soon heard some shots in quick succession, whereupon he hastened 
to the spot and found that Van Duzen had killed two grizzly bears and broken 
the back of a third one which lay near at hand. Two other grizzlies snarled and 
growled close at hand. These twq were killed, one by Wood, one by Wilson, 
who had come upon the scene after hearing so much firing. The elk were lost, 
but several deer were brought to camp before nightfall. A delay of five days. 
for rest and the curing of venison saw the party ready to proceed on its perilous 
journey once more. 

It was found that the party had not averaged more than seven miles a day 
in its traveling, but the mountains were less steep and it was believed that a 
level country was not far away. The journey was resumed with lighter hearts 
and more buoyant hopes than for some days. It was believed that the coast must 
be within twelve or fourteen miles of the last camp, and this surmise was correct. 
Heavy redwood forests were encountered, and it was found that some of the 
trees were fully twenty-two feet in diameter. It was found impossible to travel 
more than two miles a day through the forests. Fallen trees were the chief 
impediment. No animals were encountered in the deep forests. 

On the evening of the third day from our bear camp, as we called it, our 
ears were greeted with the welcome sound of the surf rolling and beating upon 
the sea shore. There was no doubt or mistake about it this time. The lofty tops 
caught the sound, which the deep stillness of a night in a forest rendered the 
more plainly audible ; and echoed it back to our attentive ears. 

The following morning Messrs. Wilson and Van Duzen proposed to go to 
the coast in advance of the company, and at the same time to mark out the best 
route for the animals ; to which proposition all agreed, and accordingly they 
left camp. In the evening of the same day they returned, bringing the glad 
tidings that they had reached the sea shore, and that it was not more than six 
miles distant. 

At an early hour in the morning we resumed our journey with renewed 
spirits and courage. For three long days did we toil in these redwoods. Ex- 
haustion and almost starvation had reduced the animals to the last extremity. 
Three had just died, and the remainder were so much weakened and reduced that 
it constituted no small part of our labor and annoyance in assisting them to get up 
when they had fallen, which happened every time they were unfortunate enough 
to stumble against the smallest obstacle that lay in their path, and not one single 
effort would they make to recover their feet until that assistance came. At 
length we issued from this dismal forest prison, in which we had so long been 



34 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

shut up, into the open country, and at the same instant in full view of that vast 
world of water — the Pacific ocean. 

Never shall I forget the thrill of joy and delight that animated me as I 
stood upon the sandy barrier that bounds and restrains those mighty waters. 

It seemed like meeting some dear old friend, whose memory with joy I 
had treasured during long years of separation^ and as the well spent surf glided 
upon the beach, bathing my very feet, a thousand recollections like magic flooded 
my mind. I felt as though there was yet some hope of deliverance from these 
sufferings. What a precious gift to man is hope! To no one is it denied, nor 
under any circumstances ; it throws a ray of li^ht over the darkest scene ; it is a 
pleasure as lasting as it is great — it may be deferred but it never dies. To me, 
at times, its rays were as bright as the beams of a noonday sun, and anon 
obscure as the faint and uncertain glimmering of a dim and distant Hght. 

Our appetites, having again been sharpened by more than two days of 
fasting, soon awakened us from our pleasing reveries, and reminded us of 
the necessity of immediately going in search of food. Not long after we 
had separated for that purpose, Van Duzen shot a bald eagle, and Southard, 
a raven which was devouring a dead fish thrown upon the beach by the surf. 
These they brought into camp, and all, eagle, raven and half-devoured fish, 
were stewed together for our supper, after partaking of which we retired to 
our blankets and enjoyed a good night's rest. 

Our prospects for a meal the next day were anything but flattering. Dr. 
Gregg therefore requested me to return to my mule which had fallen down 
the day before and been left to die, and take out his heart and liver and bring 
them to camp. I accordingly went, but judge of my surprise, when approaching 
the spot where I had left him, to find him quietly feeding. I determined at once 
not to obey my orders, and, instead thereof, drove him into camp. 

The point at which we struck the coast was at the mouth of a small stream 
now known by the name of Little river. From this point we pushed on northward, 
following the coast line about eleven miles, when a small lake or lagoon arrested 
our progress. Finding it impossible to proceed further without encountering 
the redwood forest, which we were not in the least inclined to do, it was 
determined that we should retrace our steps and proceed south, following the 
coast to San Francisco, if such a course was possible. Traveling south about 
eight miles, we made a halt at a point or headland, which we had passed on our 
way up from where we first struck the coast. This we called "Gregg's Point", 
and is now known as Trinidad. 

During our journey over the mountains the old Doctor took several obser- 
vations in order to prevent as much as possible a departure from the general 
course given us by the Indians. As we advanced, and our toil and sufferings 
accumulated, we gradually cultivated a distaste for such matters, and at an 
early day regarded his scientific experiments with indifiference, while later in our 
journey they were looked upon with contempt. It was not unusual, therefore, 
for us to condemn him in most unmeasured terms for wasting his time and 
energies about that which would neither benefit him nor us in the least, or be 
of any service to others. 

From an observation taken on this plateau, where the town of Trinidad is 
now situated, this point was found to be in latitude forty degrees, six minutes 
north. This the old gentleman took the trouble to engrave upon the trunk of a 
tree standing near by, for the benefit, as he said, of those who might hereafter 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 35 

visit the spot, if percliance such an occurrence should ever happen. Here we 
remained two days, hving on mussels and dried salmon, which we obtained from 
the Indians, of whom we found many. 

Again we resumed our journey. In crossing a deep gulch, a short distance 
from the point, the Doctor had the misfortune "to have two of his animals 
mire down. He called lustily for assistance, but no one of the company would 
aid him to rescue them. We had been annoyed so much, and detained so long, 
in lifting fallen mules (some remembered the treatment they received when in 
a similar predicament) that one and all declared they would no longer lend 
assistance to man or beast, and that from this time forward each would constitute 
a company by himself, under obligations to no one, and free to act as best 
suited his notions. 

In obedience to this resolve I immediately set about making arrangements 
in regard to myself. Having for some time noticed the rapid strides the com- 
pany were making toward disruption, and anticipating a result similar to that 
which had just transpired, I visited the chief of a tribe of Indians who lived 
close at hand, and explained to him as best I could what I wanted and intended 
to do, provided we could agree. I gave him to understand that I desired to 
remain with him awhile, and that if he would protect me and take care of my 
mule, and give me a place in his wigwam, I would furnish him with all the 
elk meat he wanted. To this he readily acquiesced, and in addition returned many 
assurances that nothing should harm either me or mine. 

When the company were again about starting — for they all seemed bound in 
the same direction^ whether in conformity to an agreed plan, or involuntarily, I 
did not know — they discovered that I was not prepared to accompany them, and 
demanded to know why I did not get ready. I then informed them of my 
determination, and the agreement I had made with the Indian chief. All were 
violently opposed to the agreement, and urged as a reason why I should not 
persist in such a determination that when all together we were not sufficiently 
strong to pass through this Indian country in safety, should they see fit to 
oppose us, and that to remain with them would be to abandon myself to certain 
destruction, while at the same time it would lessen the probability of any of 
them reaching the settlements in safety. I told them I had no horse that could 
travel, that I was not able to walk, and that I would as soon be killed by the 
Indians as again to incur the risk of starvation, or, perhaps, that which was worse, 
fall a victim to cannibalism. 

Truesdell, who had two animals left, offered to sell me one of them for 
$100 if I would continue with them. I finally accepted the offer and proceeded 
with them. 

Little river was soon recrossed, after which nothing occurred to interrupt 
our progress until we reached another stream, which was then a large river, 
being swollen by the heavy rains. Its banks ran full, and its waters, near the 
mouth, appeared deep and moved so slowly and gently that we concluded it 
must be a navigable stream. Our next difficulty was to cross this river. Here 
the harmony that had existed for so short a time was again disturbed. 

The Doctor wished to ascertain the latitude of the mouth of the river, in 
order hereafter to know where it was. This was of course opposed by the rest 
of the company. Regardless of this opposition, he proceeded to take his 
observation. We were, however, equally obstinate in adhering to the determina- 
tion of proceeding without delay. Thus decided, our animals were speedily 



36 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

crossed over, and our blankets and ourselves placed in canoes — v^^hich we had 
procured from the Indians for this purpose — ready to cross. As the canoes 
were about pushing off, the Doctor, as if convinced that we would carry our 
determination into effect, and he be left behind, hastily caught up his instruments 
and ran for the canoe, to reach which, however, he was compelled to wade 
several steps in the water. His cup of wrath was now filled to the brim, but 
he remained silent until the opposite shore was gained, when he opened upon 
us a perfect battery of the most withering and violent abuse. Several times 
during the ebullition of the old man's passion he indulged in such insulting 
language and comparisons that some of the party, at best not too amiable in their 
disposition, came very near inflicting upon him summary punishment by con- 
signing him, instruments and all, to this beautiful river. Fortunately for the old 
gentleman, pacific councils prevailed, and we were soon ready and off again. This 
stream, in commemoration of the difficulty I have just related, we called Mad 
river. 

We continued on down the beach a short time^ when night overtaking us, 
we camped. So long a time had elapsed since our departure from the Trinity 
river, and so constant the suffering, toil and danger to which we had been exposed, 
that the main object of the expedition had been quite forgotten, and our only 
thought and sole aim seemed to be, how we should extricate ourselves from 
the situation we were in, and when we might exchange it for one of more 
comfort and less exposure and danger. 

Immediately after halting. Buck and myself went in search of water. It 
had been our custom, whenever night happened to overtake us, there to camp — 
the almost ceaseless fahing of the rain affording us a continual supply of water. 
This night, however, we camped in some sand hills, about a mile back from the 
beach without giving a thought how we should get water. A short distance 
from camp we separated, Buck going in one direction and I in another. I soon 
found slough water, which, although not altogether agreeable and pleasant to 
the taste, I concluded would answer our purpose, and returned with some of it to 
camp. Not long after, Buck came in and placed his kettle of water before us 
without anything being said. The Doctor, not relishing the water I had brought, 
and being somewhat thirsty, was the first to taste the other. The suddenness 
with which the water was. spat out, after it had passed his Hps, was a sufficient 
warning to the rest of us. The Doctor asked Mr. Buck where he got that water. 
Buck replied, "About half a mile from here." The Doctor remarked, "You cer- 
tainlv did not get it out of the ocean, and we would like to know where you did 
get it." Buck answered, "I dipped it out of a bay of smooth water." This excited 
our curiosity and Buck seemed, at the time, to be rather dogged and not much 
disposed to gratify us by explanations. It was dusk, and he could not tell the 
extent of the bay. This was the night of the 20th of December, 1849, and was 
undoubtedly the first discovery of this bay by Americans, notwithstanding a 
Capt. Douglass Ottinger claims to have first discovered it.* We gave it the name 
of Trinity bay, but before we could return to it, Captain Ottinger, with a party 
by water, discovered it and gave it the name of Humboldt bay. 

The next morning, by dayhght, we were up and moved our camp over to the 
bay, and stopped there during the day. This was opposite the point where 
Bucksport now stands. We encamped, the night previous, under a group of 
small trees in the sand hihs lying between the bay and the ocean, on the strip 



*See chapter on discovery by Captain Winship in IJ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 37 

of land now known as the Peninsula or North Beach. The reason we had not 
discovered the bay the day previous, in traveling down from the mouth of Mad 
river, was because we followed the beach — it being hard sand and easy traveling — 
and the low hills and timber on the strip of land, lying between the ocean and 
the bay, shut out the latter entirely from our view. 

During the day we remained here, the Indians came to our camp, and we 
learned from them that we could not follow down the beach on account of the 
entrance of the bay, which was just below us. Mr. Buck, however, to satisfy us, 
took an Indian with him and started down to the entrance. When he returned 
he reported quite a large and apparently deep stream connecting the bay with 
the ocean, and considerable swell setting in, which he thought would make it 
dangerous to attempt to cross. The Indians also represented that it was deeper 
than the trees growing on the peninsula were tall ; so we abandoned the idea of 
attempting to cross it. 

Where we camped was the narrowest part of the bay, being the channel 
abreast of Bucksport, and the Indians assured us that we could swim our animals 
across there, and offered to take us over in their canoes. Most of the party, 
including Dr. Gregg, were of the sanie opinion, but some of the company 
opposing the project, we packed up next morning and started northward, keep- 
ing as near the bay as the small sloughs would permit, for the purpose of heading 
it. After making the way through brush and swamp, swimming sloughs and 
nearly drowning ourselves and animals, we arrived toward night on the second 
day, after leaving our camp opposite Bucksport, on a beautiful plateau near 
the highland and redwoods, at the northeast end of the bay. At this point, 
which commands a fine view of the bay, stretching out to the southwest, we 
made a halt, and it being nearly night, pitched our camp. This plateau is the 
present site of the town of Union (now Areata). 

Our camp was near the little spring, about two hundred yards from the east 
side of the Plaza, towards the woods. I have seen some of the old tent pins, 
still remaining there, within the last year (1872). 

As soon as we had unpacked some of the party started in search of game, 
and soon came across a fine band of elk, a little north of our camp, about where 
the cemetery now is, and fired several shots, wounding two or three, but they 
succeeded in reaching the thicket in the edge of the redwoods, and dark setting 
in they could not be found. We therefore did not get any supper that night. 
The next morning, early, some went in search of the elk and found one of them 
in the brush, dead, and brought it to camp. 

The next morning, December 25th, we roasted the elk's head in the ashes 
and this constituted our Christmas feast. This was my first Christmas in Cali- 
fornia, and, having been reduced so often to the point of starvation, we enjoyed 
this simple fare, yet, you may rest assured, it was not that "Merry Christmas" 
I had been accustomed to in Kentucky with the "old folks at home." This day 
we moved down to the point of high prairie, near the mouth of Freshwater 
slough at the east side of the bay, and there camped. 

The next day we made our way through the woods, following an indistinct 
Indian trail, back of where the town (now city) of Eureka is situated, and came 
out at the open space in the rear of where Bucksport now stands, which place 
derives its name from one of our party, David A. Buck. We pitched our camp 
near the blufif, on the top of which is at present Fort Humboldt. 



38 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The next day we followed down the bay, crossing Elk river, to Humboldt 
Point. Here we were visited by the chief of the tribe of Indians in the vicinity 
of the bay, who was an elderly and a very dignified and intelligent Indian. He 
appeared friendly and seemed disposed to afford us every means of comfort 
in his power. He supplied us with a quantity of clams, upon which we feasted 
sumptuously. The evening we arrived here some of the party went out on the 
slope of prairie to the east of our camp and killed an elk, and while there taking 
care of it we sent a note over to them and received one in return, by this chief, 
who would not allow any other Indian to carry it, but insisted upon being 
the bearer himself. He seemed anxious to arrive at the secret of this means 
of communication, and would watch to see what effect the piece of written paper 
would have on the one to whom he delivered it. This old man's name we learned 
was Ki-we-lat-tah. He is still (1872) living on the bay. and has always been 
known as a quiet and friendly Indian. 

It had been our intention at the outset, if we succeeded in discovering the 
bay, and provided the surrounding country was adapted to agricultural pur- 
poses, and was sufficiently extensive, to locate claims for ourselves, and lay out a 
town, but the deplorable condition in which we now found ourselves, reduced in 
strength, health impaired, our ammunition nearly exhausted — upon which we 
were entirely dependent, as well for the little food we could obtain as for our 
defense and protection — and destitute of either farming or mechanical implements, 
induced us to abandon such intention, at least for the present, and use all 
possible dispatch in making our way to the settlements. 

Accordingly, having remained at this camping place one day, we turned 
our faces toward the south. Our progress was extremely slow, as the rain was 
falling almost incessantly, rendering travel difficult and fatiguing. 

The third day after leaving the bay we reached another river, which arrested 
our advance in that direction. Upon approaching this river we came suddenly 
upon two very old Indians, who at seeing us fell to the ground as if they had 
been shot. We dismounted and made them get up, giving them to understand 
that we were their friends ; but it was with difficulty that we succeeded in quiet- 
ing their fears. They were loaded with eels, which they informed us they ob- 
tained from the river. Our appetites being in just such a condition that anything, 
not absolutely poisonous, on which a meal could be made, would be palatable, with- 
out asking many questions, we helped ourselves to nearly the whole of their 
load. Near where we met these Indians, we got them, with their canoes, to set us 
across the river, which was at this time a large stream, the water being high. We 
swam our animals as usual. The point where we crossed was just below the 
junction of Van Duzen's fork, which latter stream takes its name from one of 
our party. Here we remained two days, during which time we lived upon eels 
obtained from the Indians. In exchange for these we gave them some beads and 
some small pieces of iron. They sefmed to value these pieces of iron more highly 
than anything else we had to dispose of. I took an old frying pan, that had been 
rendered comparatively useless, having lost its handle and being otherwise con- 
siderably damaged, and broke it into small strips. With these I kept the com- 
pany suppHed with eels during our stay, often obtaining as many as three 
dozen for one piece. We gave to this stream the name of Eel river. 

At this camp a controversy arose among us in relation to the course now 
to be pursued. Some contended that we should follow the coast down to San 
Francisco. Others again, urged as the shortest and most advantageous route 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 39 

to proceed up this river as far as its course seemed to suit, and then leave it and 
strike southerly for the nearest settlement. 

Neither party seemed inclined to yield to the other. Not all the arguments 
that the most peaceably disposed members of the company could adduce could 
quell the storm that was gathering. Harsh words passed, and threats were inter- 
changed. As all prospects of a reconciliation had been abandoned, Seabring, 
Buck, Wilson and myself resolved to continue on our journey together, over the 
route we had advocated. Accordingly we separated, and although the rain was 
falling in torrents, we left the camp. 

As before stated, our intention was to continue along the river, believing 
that by so doing our progress would be more rapid, and that the chances for 
obtaining food would be better. In this, however, we were sadly disappointed, 
for as we advanced, the country became more and more uneven, and at last moun- 
tainous. The spurs from the mountains extending down to the river's edge, 
became so abrupt and the ravines between so deep, as to render it extremely 
difficult to get our animals over them. We toiled along, however, until the third 
day when we determined to leave the river. Our hope was to find some moun- 
tain ridge leading in a southeasterly direction — that being about the course we 
desired to take — and with this view we ascended the mountain. 

The day after we left the river it commenced snowing, which, in a short 
time, so completely obhterated all there was of a trail, and shut from our view 
every land mark that could guide us in our course, that we were compelled to 
camp. Our situation now was indeed deplorable. At no time before had we been 
so completely destitute, and never had our prospects been so gloomy and dis- 
heartening. Fast being hemmed in with snow, without food either for ourselves 
or our animals, it seemed to us inevitable that our only alternative was to apply 
to that resource which we had with so much trouble and care preserved and kept 
with us — namely, our mules. We had for some time passed thought that a 
misfortune like that which now seemed imminent, might overtake us, and there- 
fore looked upon them as serving us in additional capacity of food, when neces- 
sity might compel us to resort to them. 

While the snow was yet not too deep, the animals, with their feet, pawed the 
grass bare, and thus obtained all there was to eat. We, too, were fortunate enough 
to kill a small deer. Five days elapsed before we were able to move from this 
camping place, and then not in the direction we desired, for the great quantity 
of snow that had fallen presented an impassable barrier to our progress, conse- 
quently we were compelled to return to the river. 

The small supply which the deer afforded us was not more than sufficient 
to soothe the hunger pains with which we had, with little interruption, been suffer- 
ing; and by the time we had extricated ourselves from our unfortunate situation 
in the snow, nothing remained of the deer but the skin. 

We continued our course up the river as best we could, sometimes aided by 
an Indian or elk trail, at others Hterally cutting our way along. Upon passing from 
the forest into a small opening, we came suddenly upon five grizzly bears. Wilson 
and myself immediately went in pursuit of them, but unfortunately met with 
no further success than to wound one of them severely. The day following this, 
while traveling over a piece of mountain prairie, and passing a small ravine or 
gulch, we espied a group of no less than eight more of these animals. Although 
exhausted from fatigue, and so reduced in strength that we were scarcely able to 
drag ourselves along, yet we determined to attack these grim customers. 



40 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

For several days all that we had or could obtain to subsist upon was the deer- 
skin which we had saved, and a few buckeyes. The former we cut up and boiled 
in water, and afterward drank the water and chewed the hide. 

Wilson, Seabring and myself prepared for the conflict, which it was alto- 
gether probable we would have, before the matter ended, and advanced toward 
them. While yet a long distance from them Seabring sought shelter for him- 
self by climbing a tree, not wishing to hazard the chances of a hand to hand con- 
test with bruin. Wilson and myself advanced until within about one hundred 
yards of the nearest of them when a consultation was again held in relation 
to the mode of making the attack. 

It was arranged that I should approach as near as possible and fire, then 
make the best of m)' way to some tree for safety. The latter part of the arrange- 
ment I did not assent to, for one very good reason — I was so completely pros- 
trated from exposure and starvation that had I the will to run, my limbs would 
scarcely have been able to execute their functions. We continued to approach 
our antagonists until within about fifty paces, when I leveled my rifle at the one 
nearest me, and after careful aim, fired. The shot was, to all appearances, a fatal 
one, for the huge monster fell, biting and tearing the earth with all the fury of one 
struggling in death. As soon as I had fired, Wilson said to me, in a low tone of 
voice, "Run ! run !" Instead, however, of yielding to his advice, I immediately 
commenced reloading my rifle. Wilson now discharged his gun at another with 
equal success. 

When I had fired, five of the bears started up the mountain. Two now lay 
upon the ground before us, and a third yet remained, deliberately sitting back 
upon her haunches and evidently determined not to yield the ground without a 
contest, looking first upon her fallen companions and then upon us. 

Wilson now thought it about time to retreat, and accordingly made the best 
of his way to a tree. Unfortunately for me, I could not get the ball down upon the 
powder, and in this predicament, so soon as Wilson started to run, the bear 
came dashing at me with fury. I succeeded, however, in getting beyond her 
reach in a small buckeye tree. I now made another eft'ort to force the ball down 
my rifle but with no better success than at first, and was therefore compelled 
to use it to beat the bear off as she attacked the tree, for the purpose of breaking 
it down or shaking me out of it. She kept me busy at this for two or three 
minutes, when to my astonishment the bear I had shot down, having recovered 
sufficiently from the effects of the wound, came bounding toward me with all 
the violence and ferocity that agony and revenge could engender. No blow that 
I could inflict upon the head of the maddened monster with my gun could resist 
or even check her. 

The first spring she made upon the tree broke it down. I had the good 
fortune to gain my feet before they could get hold of me, and ran down the 
mountain in the direction of a small tree, standing about thirty yards distant. 
Every jump I made I thought must be my last, as I could distinctly feel the 
breath of the wounded bear as she grabbed at my heels. I kept clear of her 
while running, but the race was a short one. On reaching the tree, or rather bush, 
I seized hold of the trunk of it and swung my body around so as to afford the 
bear room to pass me, which she did, and went headlong down the hill some 
twenty paces before she could turn back. I exerted all my energies to climb the 
tree, but before I could get six feet from the ground, the hindermost bear caught 
me by the right ankle and dragged me down again. By this time the wounded bear 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 41 

had returned, and, as I fell, grabbed at my face. I, however, dodged, and she 
caught me by the left shoulder. The moments that followed were the most 
critical and perilous of my life. Here, then, thought I, was the end of all things 
to me ! That I must perish — be mangled and torn to pieces — seemed inevitable. 
During all the time I was thus situated, my presence of mind did not forsake me. 

Immediately after the second bear had caught me by the shoulder, the other 
still having hold of my ankle, the two pulled against each other as if to draw me 
to pieces; but my clothes and their grip giving way occasionally, saved me. In 
this way they continued until they had stripped me of my clothes, except a part 
of my coat and shirt, dislocated my hip, and inflicted many flesh wounds — none 
of the latter, however, being very serious. They seemed unwilling to take hold 
of my flesh, for, after they had divested me of my clothes, they both left me — 
one going away entirely, and the other (the wounded bear) walking slowly up 
the hill, about one hundred yards from me, and there deliberately seated herself 
and fastened her gaze upon me as I lay upon the ground perfectly still. After 
several minutes I ventured to move, which, I suppose, she must have seen, for 
the first motion brought her pell mell upon me again, roaring at every jump 
as loud as she could roar. At this moment, I must confess, my presence of mind 
nearly forsook me. I knew that if she again attacked or took hold of me it 
must be upon my naked flesh. No sooner had she reached me than she placed 
her nose violently against my side, and then raised her head and gave vent to 
two of the most frightful, hideous and unearthly yells that were ever heard by 
mortal man. I remained perfectly quiet, hoping that by so doing she would 
leave me, and in this hope I was not disappointed, for after standing over me a 
short time she again walked away. I now thought she had left for good, and 
determined to place myself, if possible, beyond her reach, should she, however, 
return again. 

Up to this time I was unconscious of the extent of the injury I had received; 
that an accident had befallen my leg I was well aware, but not until I attempted to 
get up was my true situation manifest to me. I then found that I could not 
use my right leg, and supposed it was broken. 

Turning to look about me, to assure myself that my enemy had retired, 
imagine my surprise at seeing her again not more than one hundred yards 
distant, sitting back upon her haunches and her eyes glaring full at me. With 
my leg in the condition I have related, I dragged myself to the buckeye bush, 
from which I had been pulled down by the bear, and after much difficulty suc- 
ceeded in climbing up about eight feet. So soon as Wilson had discovered me 
up the tree, he left his tree and came to me. The bear seeing him, came bounding 
toward us with great ferocity. Wilson cried, "What in the name of God 
shall I do?'" I replied that he could come up the limb of the adjoining tree, and 
he was barely able to get beyond reach, before she arrived. She deliberately seated 
herself immediately beneath us, and kept her eyes steadily upon us, and as either 
one or the other of us happened to move, she would utter an angry growl. I 
observed Wilson present his rifle at her, and not shooting immediately, I said : 
"Shoot her — for God's sake, shoot her — for she is the beast that did me all the 
injury I have received !" He watched her eyes closely for a moment with his aim 
still fixed upon her, and when I again repeated my request for him to shoot, he 
replied: "No, sir; let her go — let her go, if she will." 



42 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

After having detained us in this situation for a few minutes, she went away, 
and disappeared altogether, much to our joy and rehef — thereby giving me an 
opportunity to get down from the tree. 

Now that all fear of further interruption from our late visitor was passed, 
I began fully to realize my true condition. The wounds I had received became 
momentarily more painful. As soon as the remainder of the party came up, I was 
carried some distance down the mountain to a place suitable for camping. Here 
we remained twelve days, subsisting entirely upon the meat afiforded by the bear 
Wilson shot in the late encounter. 

It now became a source of much anxiety to know when and how we 
should leave this place, or what disposition they would make of me, as I seemed 
to grow worse, instead of better. It was thought by remaining in camp for ten 
or twelve days my wounds would have so far healed as to enable us to resume 
our journey; but no one, not even myself, supposed that the injuries I had 
received were of so serious a character as they now proved to be. Finding, how- 
ever, at the expiration of that time, that my condition had in nowise improved, 
they consulted me in relation to the course that should be adopted. That it was 
necessary, absolutely so, that no more time should be lost, all insisted, as we were 
entirely stripped of clothing and without shoes to protect our feet from the 
thorns and briers that were ever in our path. All were becoming aware of the 
fact that their strength and health were fast faihng, and although we had, from 
the outset, been gradually trained to bear cold, hunger and pain, yet it was too 
evident that our powers of endurance were seriously impaired. They urged, as 
a further reason, that our ammunition was now nearly or quite exhausted, upon 
which our sole dependence rested for the scanty supply of food that we could 
obtain. The meaning of this was obvious to- me, and in reply I said to them, 
that they had remained with me as long as I could expect or ask ; that they were 
bound to save themselves if they could, and that they ought not to allow me to be 
in their way; but as they had seen proper to speak of the matter, I would ask 
of them one other favor. I suggested two ways in which they could dispose of 
me, either of which I would prefer to being abandoned to my fate in the con- 
dition and place in which I- now was. The first, was to induce the Indians, who 
had visited us during our stay here, to take care of me until they could go to a 
settlement and return ; and the second was, to put an end to my sufferings. They 
cheerfully sought the chief of these Indians, and explained to him what they 
desired to do, and in turn what they required of him, to all of which he appar- 
ently readily assented, and promised faithfully to attend to me and supply me 
with food until they could return. He agreed to come the next morning and 
convey me to his ranch, which was about three miles distant, and situated upon 
the river. 

At the appointed time the old chief presented himself, together with three 
of his men, and expressed his readiness to fulfill his agreement. One of them 
gave me several varieties of herbs, which I accepted and ate, and gave him to 
understand that they were very good. Before taking me, however, they de- 
manded some presents as a compensation for the services they were about to 
render. All the beads and trinkets in our possession were gathered together and 
given them. These, however, were not sufficient, and more were required. Their 
demand for more was repeated, and compliance on our part yielded, until every- 
thing we had, save such things as necessity absolutely required us to retain — • 
even blankets that had been allotted to me — were given up to him, in order, if 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 43 

possible, to avoid offending them. At length they seemed satisfied that they 
had gotten all they could, when the chief very cooly turned to his men and bade 
them to return to their homes, he following after them, leaving us to regret the 
folly and indiscretion committed, in reposing too much confidence in a race of 
beings known by all experience to be totally unworthy of it. 

While these preliminaries were being arranged, I was busied in dragging 
myself upon a litter that had been prepared for me. This was a difficult task. 
I could not endure assistance, my leg was so much swollen and inflamed, and so 
exceedingly sensitive in getting upon it. I, however, finally succeeded, and had 
prepared myself to bid farewell, most likely forever, to my companions who had 
so patiently submitted to the great delay to which they had been subjected, 
through the misfortune that had overtaken me, and who had so calmly and quietly, 
without a single murmur, endured intense sufferings. When, however, I saw 
these treacherous villains leave us with their ill-gotten booty, my heart for a 
moment ceased to beat. The first thought that possessed my brain was that my 
fate was sealed — that death awaited me. Either I should be abandoned in these 
desolate solitudes, to endure the gnawing pangs of hunger, and at last to perish 
alone, a victim of starvation, or they would release me from these accumulated 
tortures by shooting me ; for in this light I viewed it, and therefor preferred the 
latter alternative. 

A solemn and profound silence now prevailed with all — a silence which 
no one seemed disposed to interrupt. I turned my face from my companions, 
that they might not be embarrassed in their consultation, or in carrying into exe- 
cution any determination that they might arrive at, particularly if it should be to 
relieve me of my sufferings by shooting me. 

The conversation was carried on in a low, indistinct tone of voice, for some 
time. Occasionally detached portions of sentences would reach my ears ; enough, 
however, to satisfy my mind that there was a difference of opinion in relation to 
the course they should now adopt. At length, Wilson's voice rose above the 
rest, saying, "No ! I will not leave him ! I'll remain with him, if it is alone, or I 
will pack him if he is able and willing to bear the pain !" This terminated the 
conversation, and a_ few moments after Seabring came to me and inquired 
what should be done. I told him they might pack me to the river, where they 
had hacked out a canoe for the purpose of crossing, and I would then tell them 
whether I could continue with them, and in the event of my being unable to 
endure being packed further, all I had to ask of them was to leave me in the 
canoe to drift whither fate might direct. 

He said, "We cannot pack you, for you have never allowed us to touch 
you even ; how then can you bear to be placed upon a horse and packed ?" "You 
are not to consult my wishes in the matter," I replied. "If you have decided 
not to abandon me, you must do with me as you will. Much longer delay in this 
place and at this season of the year, may prove fatal to all; self-preservation, there- 
fore, must demand an immediate resumption of our journey, if it be at the risk, 
and even expense of the life of one." 

Wilson then requested me to select whichever animal I preferred ; I, how- 
ever, chose my own. They now lifted me into the saddle, and spent much time in 
placing me in a position that would give me the least pain. None, however, seemed 
to suit, and I asked Seabring, as a particular favor, to exchange saddles, for I 
thought his would make me more comfortable, and was certain that it could not 
be worse than mine. They laid me upon the ground, changed the saddles, and 



44 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

again placed me upon my horse. I said nothing, but the agony I suffered no 
language can describe. The exchange of saddles aggravated my misery, but I 
had determined to be satisfied with this, let it be as it would. Seabring led my 
horse down the mountain, and after a long and tedious march, we reached the 
river. Here we camped. 

When the bear that Wilson had killed in the late encounter had been cut 
up and brought into camp, the entrails were likewise brought in, carefully cleaned 
and preserved ; the blubber or fat was boiled out and put in these skins and laid 
aside. On resuming our journey these were taken along, and this we were com- 
pelled to drink, as a substitute for other food, before we reached the settlements. 

The next morning I was again consulted, and asked if I were able to con- 
tinue on with them. I replied that as long as I lived, if it so pleased them, I desired 
to have them pack me, and should I die, that they could cut the cords that bound 
me to my horse and pass on. I could not ask or expect them to bury me, for 
there were no tools among the company with which to dig a grave. 

Again was I bound upon my horse and packed until another camp was 
reached, enjoying only an occasional respite, to allow my benumbed limbs to 
recover from the effects produced by being confined in one position for so long a 
time. 

In this manner we continued on, with little or no change in the occurrences 
that happened, for the period of ten days — following down the Russian river 
a long distance, and then striking across toward Sonoma. At the expiration of 
this time, we arrived at the ranch of Mrs. Mark West, about thirty miles from 
the town of Sonoma, on the 17th day of February, 1850. Here I remained about 
six weeks, until sufficiently recovered to proceed to San Francisco, and was treated 
with the greatest kindness by every member of the family. 

I must now tell you something of the other four — Messrs. Gregg, Van- 
Duzen, Southard and Truesdell — whom we left on Eel river, and within twenty 
miles of the bay or coast. 

They attempted to follow along the mountain near the coast, but were very 
slow in their progress on account of the snow on the high ridges. Finding 
the country much broken along the coast, making it continually necessary to 
cross abrupt points, and deep gulches and canyons, after struggling along for 
several days, they concluded to abandon that route and strike easterly toward the 
Sacramento valley. 

Having very little ammunition, they all came nigh perishing from starvation, 
and, as Mr. Southard related to me, Dr. Gregg continued to grow weaker, from 
the time of our separation, until, one day, he fell from his horse and died in a 
few hours without speaking — died from starvation — he had had no meat for 
several days, had been living entirely upon acorns and herbs. They dug a hole 
with sticks and put him under ground, then carried rock and piled upon his grave 
to keep animals from digging him up. They got through to the Sacramento valley 
a few days later than we reached Sonoma valley. Thus ended our expedition. 

Some Early Explorations 

It has been only two short generations since the feet of white men first 
touched the virgin soil of the great region now known as Humboldt county. 
It is generally believed that the Gregg party, consisting of Dr. Gregg, L. K. Wood 
and their brave companions, were the first white men to reach Humboldt. That 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 45 

they were the very first of al! organized explorers may be conceded without ques- 
tion, but there are strong reasons for beheving that the forests were explored and 
many vistas trodden by the hunters and trappers of older and even bolder times. 
These old trappers — men of heroic and somewhat antique mold — were doubtless 
attracted by deer, antelope, elks, and the bears whose furs were of great value 
in those times. It must not be forgotten, too, that the streams were then alive 
with beaver and other fur-bearing animals. 

A glance at some of the conditions of the long ago, as revealed in the light 
of Elliott's oldest history, may not prove uninteresting. Many careful investi- 
gators now believe that the Jedediah Smith party were the first Americans who 
ever entered the limits of the great territory now known as Humboldt county. 
Smith was the first white man that ever led a party overland to California. It 
seems that in the spring of 1825 he led a band of more than forty men into the 
Sacramento valley, where he collected a large amount of furs and established his 
headquarters on the American river^ not far from Folsom. He trapped in the 
San Joaquin in 1826. He started, early in 1827, with a bold band of explorers 
and trappers for the Columbia river, passing through what is now Yolo county, 
"up the Cachet creek, and arrived at the ocean near the mouth of the Russian 
river and followed the coast line as far as Umpqua river," near Cape Arago, when 
all of the company of forty except himself, Daniel Prior, and Richard Laughlin, 
were cruelly massacred by a band of Indians. All the stores and furs of the 
company were taken by the savages. The survivors escaped to Port Vancouver 
and told of their misadventure to Dr. John Loughlin, agent of the Hudson Bay 
Company. It was the policy of the Hudson Bay Company to punish native 
tribes whenever they committed flagrant crimes of this character, so the company 
readily Hstened to the survivors and acceded to their request when Smith", as leader, 
proposed to the agent that if he would send a party to punish the Indians 
and recoA"er the stolen property he would conduct that party to the unusually rich 
trapping grounds in the country he had just left. After Smith took his leave on 
Lewis river^ Ogden's party continued southwest to Utah and Nevada, and entered 
the San Joaquin valley through Walker's pass. They trapped up the valley and 
then passed over the coast and then up to \"ancouver by the route which Smith 
had formerly traveled. 

In the spring of 1832 Michael La Framboise entered the Sacramento valley at 
the head of a party of the Hudson Bay Company's trappers. "They visited 
many streams and forests off- Tulare lake and returned by trail over the usual 
route along the coast for Vancouver the following spring." 

Elliott says there can be no other conclusion than that the Smith party 
must have visited Humboldt bay at that time. They could not well have avoided 
it, but as no historian accompanied them, and as their reports were given at head- 
quarters only and in a general sort of way, no definite description is given to us 
of the exact road traveled. But it seems impossible that the party could have 
covered the distances named without passing through Humboldt county. 

After reaching the mouth of the Russian river it is hardly probable that they 
followed the coast or their route would have led them to some stream bearing 
north, though we must suppose they reached the headwaters of the Eel river 
and thus followed down that stream to the ocean and thence to Humboldt bay. 
These several parties mentioned no doubt tapped the Eel, Trinity, and the 
Klamath river. The Russians were at Fort Ross for thirty years, and it is 
highly likely that they visited Humboldt bay, but this is only a supposition. 



46 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Captain Smith sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain Company in 1830, 
and in 1831 he met death by being treacherously killed by Indians while he was 
digging for water in the dr}' bed of the Cimarron river near Paos, N. M. He was 
buried there by his companions. This is the last resting place of the first pioneer 
overland traveler to the wonderful valleys of California, and of the first American 
who ever gazed upon the grand forests of Humboldt or trod its grass-carpeted 
valleys. But whether these parties actually visited Humboldt bay is not positively 
known, so we must give credit to the discovery party of 1849, whose interesting 
adventures and discoveries have been graphically portrayed by L. K. Wood and 
his companions of those early days. 



CHAPTER V. 

Unique Early History 

Humboldt county's early history is unique in the annals of Californian 
counties in that it is without the slightest trace of Spanish influence. 
Junipero Serra, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, and all the romance that 
breathes throughout the pages of Southern California's history — these are 
as foreign to rugged Humboldt as if they had characterized ancient Spain 
or the Land of the Lotus Eaters. The galleons of Perez the Majorcan, the 
Santas and Sans, the comandantes and dons, the alcaldes and the missions 
— all these are realities undreamt of in the most altan parts of Alta California. 

Centuries passed in the North without one influence to disturb the soli- 
tude of her untrodden wilds. While missions for the conversion of the 
natives were being founded by the Spaniards of the South, those persistent 
colonizing bands that sought to Christianize the Indians, the wilds of Hum- 
boldt were given over to the deer, the antelope, the grizzly and their rude 
Indian foes. Elsewhere in California problems of religious, military and 
civil control were being solved generations before the hardy pioneers of 
Humboldt were born. Caspar de Portola, the military and civil governor 
of California, and Junipero Serra, the illustrious father-president of the 
Franciscans, knew as little of Humboldt county as the people of Humboldt 
today know of the heart of Fiji. At the time when Crespi and his associates 
were founding missions dedicated to San Diego de Alcala, or planning 
campaigns for the conversion of the Indians, the Pacific thundered on 
Humboldt bar, hearing no sound save her own dashings. In a sense this 
is not strange, since the great activities of the Spanish in the South were at 
their full height long before the Declaration of Independence was written. 

Such sweet names as Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles (our lady of the 
Angels) and Santa Clara were spoken and known by the world long before 
the silence of the North was broken by the invasion of white men. How 
young Humboldt history seems when we hark back to Serra and his great 
work in the South — Serra, whose career lay between 1749 and 1784! 

For these reasons there is nothing in the story of Humboldt county's 
discovery and early development which can be explained by referring to the 
growth of other parts of the state. Humboldt was not settled until long 
after the Mexican war, and then only sparsely. Her pioneers were men of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 47 

brawn, largely from Main and Nova Scotia. The gigantic redwood forests 
demanded special treatment, so the pioneers were recruited from a timber 
country. The pioneers of Humboldt came for the most part from a land 
where almost half the men went to sea, the other half to the woods. It is 
for this reason that Humboldt county, much of which is still a picturesque 
wilderness of mountain streams and tangled wildwood, where bears, elk and 
deer abound, is a virgin field for the historian as well as for the writer of 
romance. Everywhere the background is unique and the story of man's 
ventures is interesting. 

From the rugged coast around Trinidad head to the peaceful horticul- 
tural areas around Etterville and Briceland, the country teems with the 
poetry of circumstance and the thrill of adventure. Much of the unwritten 
history of this part of the state clusters around great names, for scores of 
the early players in the theater of human achievement in Humboldt did 
not go to their last sleep before they had written their names on the scroll 
of fame. 

Humboldt was the scene of General Grant's early military services, the 
place where Bret Harte first dreamed of fame. For a long time it was a 
troubled arena of bloody Indian wars. While the sturdy pioneers were 
carving their fortunes from the primeval forests the red men were not 
strangers to the war dance and the poisoned arrow. 

Now that California's "uttermost west" is about to come into closer 
relations with the world, by reason of the approaching completion of the 
Panama canal, the Humboldt bay jetties, and the Northwestern Pacific rail- 
road, Eureka, the largest city in the United States without a through 
railroad, will take on new importance. The many thriving little towns in 
the valleys, the hamlets in the mountains, and even the lonely cabins of 
hunters and trappers will develop new life and activities — but it will be 
the historian who will preserve the story of Humboldt's unique and romantic 
past. It will be the old residents of the county who will aid him to tell how 
the founders struggled through hardships during the noisy years of effort 
that have long ago become the silent years of history. 

The story of the sufferings and trials of the pioneers — the fascinating 
history of trade, transportation, hunting, trapping, lumbering, fishing, manu- 
facturing, agriculture; an account of the development of schools, churches, 
courts, newspapers ; a description of the daily life of the people — these and 
scores of like interesting features of times long passed away, must prove 
interesting to the children of a later day. 

The resources of Humboldt county are unlimited, and great credit is 
due those who inaugurated the promotion movement that in this later day 
is but the beginning of the development of its wonderful possibilities. In 
leaps and bounds it has passed from a comparatively poor and sparsely 
settled territory to one of great productiveness and wealth. The future 
looms bright, and new conditions are at hand. In spite of this fact, the 
past should not be forgotten. The story of its hardships and conquests 
should be preserved. 

But before coming to a detailed discussion of the history of Humboldt 
county it may be well to take a birdseye view of the state as it was less 
than one hundred and fifty years ago. The history of no county can be 
understood without some intelligent appreciation of the development of 



48 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the state in which it is situated. Let it be understood at the outset, then, 
that prior to the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall, on January 24, 
1848, only small portions of California had been visited by the descendants 
of the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, and other white races. True, the padres 
had made history for the church of Rome, but their numbers were few and 
their work had lain among the Indians. 

It was the discovery of gold that changed the world's conception of 
California. Until then, even the name had no lure. It suggested something 
dreamy, unreal, and far away. In spite of slow methods of transportation 
and tedious delays of the mails the news of Marshall's discovery set the 
world afire. John Carr's "Pioneer Days" gives tis the picture of the "gold 
fever." In the winter of '49 and '50 Carr was in Peoria, 111., "ironing off 
California wagons intended to cross the plains the following summer." 
He adds that "at that time the whole West was in a blaze. Everybody had 
the California fever" and everybody who could obtain money sufficient for 
the journey "across the plains" was on his way for the West. It was then 
that California became known to all the world. A few years later the 
Trinity and Gold Bar excitement led to the discovery of Humboldt bay by 
the Gregg land party, as described by the late L. K. Wood in a previous 
chapter. 

During the five or six years following the land discovery of Humboldt 
bay there was a rapid settlement of the region contiguous, chiefly by mining 
men and soldiers of fortune. Among those who came were scores of the 
pioneer type — strong, brave men and women of character and ambition — 
the class too seldom seen in these softer times of lightness, ease, and luxury. 
Many of the homeseekers were not permanent in their plans, however. 
They were fond of excitement. Mining ventures, the dream of ingots and 
sudden fortune — these were the incentives that moved men. The great 
Eel river country, the stock-raising areas, and the bay shore settlements 
were undergoing slow changes from 1851 to 1854. There is fine material 
for romance in the annals of these faraway times. Some day a bold story- 
teller will invade this field and give the world a masterpiece. Attorney J. F. 
Coonan, of Eureka, is gathering material for such a tale. 

The wildernesses were being tamed very slowly, for mining activities 
occupied the attention of most of those who first came to the great regions 
in and above Humboldt county. It is for this reason that the transition 
period was one of considerable duration, and the process was far from a 
rapid one. 

Bledsoe tells us that gold mining Avas in the full tide of its ascendency 
and it was only in mining communities that the white people were assembled 
together in sufficient numbers for protection against the Indians, who were 
quite savage, and against the inclemency of the winter weather. 

It is evident that the agricultural population was very small. The 
farmers, being isolated, had to be content with difficulties which none but 
the boldest of pioneer spirits would dare to face. It is evident that villages 
were far apart and were separated from one another by high mountain 
ranges, great rivers, and impassable forests. The roads were merely trails, 
and the dangers that faced the pioneers on every hand were numerous. 
Every obstruction which the wildness of nature puts in the way of men who 
desire to tame it here abounded, and every danger attending the conflicts 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 49 

between the savages and the whites was in evidence to deter and discourage 
the early settler. 

Away back in those early days, however, Eureka, Trinidad, and the 
town of Union (now Areata) were quite flourishing. They drew their 
population, which was one of an enterprising character, from the great army 
of men in search of riches in the mines. The mines, it has been said, were 
the great arteries through which the towns drew their sustenance. But 
Bledsoe tells us that many ships laden with articles for the use of miners 
crossed the bar of Humboldt bay or anchored in the roadstead of Trinidad. 
Long lines of heavily laden mules struggled over the mountains, valleys, 
and marsh lands, crossing rivers and making their way to the Trinity river 
mines. Gold excitement occasioned periodical seasons of rapid growth and 
feverish prosperity, and through it all the times were growing riper for a 
more sober and permanent settlement. 

We sometimes hear of jealousy and bitterness between towns in Hum- 
boldt and other counties, but the old days saw a great deal of this. His- 
torians tell us that there were many seasons of bitter rivalry between the 
sundry towns of Humboldt county and adjacent counties. Trinidad, Crescent 
City, Union, Bucksport, and Eureka each laid claim to being the natural head- 
quarters for supplies for miners and each contended that it would be the one 
great metropolis of the North. 

It is said that this jealousy was very bitter between the three towns 
of Union, Bucksport, and Eureka. Each felt that with impending greatness 
it should have more consideration than the other, and every one of these 
toAvns desired above all other things the dignity of being the county seat. 
The fight for the court house and jail was one of the bitterest of those days. 

In a general way it may be said that the county was organized in 
18.53, Union being then the county seat. Bucksport and Eureka did not 
give up their rivalry in their battle for the honor for a long time, and a 
contest w^as begun which resulted in two elections in 1854 to determine the 
relative claims of the three places. 

It is recalled by old-timers that there had never been so bitter a battle 
as that one. Union got the largest vote and was declared to be the county 
seat, but the agitation of the matter continued, the charge of fraud on the 
part of Union township being frequently and persistently asserted. The 
supervisors absolutely refused to build a court house in accordance Avith 
the wishes of the Union townspeople, and the controversy flamed high until 
it was finally decided by the Legislature of the state, when a law was passed 
at the -session of 1855-56 removing the county seat to Eureka, where it has 
remained ever since. 

In these times the Indian population was greatly in excess of the white, 
though it was impossible, because of the unstable character of the white 
settlements along the river and gold bearing streams, to make a very close 
estimate of the number of the whites. The Indians had not yei received 
orders from white men to go away from their reservations, and their 
ranches presented somewhat of a permanent aspect. They certainly con- 
tained a more permanent population than could be found in any of the 
towns occupied by the pioneers. Their numbers had not been reduced by 
death and disease, and there were no restraints of their liberties and no 
restrictions on their method of living. The reservation system had not yet 



50 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

been enforced by the Government, nor had the miUtary powers extended to 
them in even the remotest degree. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Gold Mines Lure Men to the North 

The atmosphere of early Humboldt county was that of the true pioneer. 
The early settlers were inured to hardships and accustomed to the difhculties 
of canoe and saddle, of wind and flood. They knew what it was to go to 
bed hungry, to escape from the perils of Indian warfare, to trap the bear, 
and slay the deer. 

But the lure of gold had more than anything else to do with the men 
of 1845, 1846, and 1847. It was Trinity and its pictures of Monte Cristoan 
wealth that cai:sed the bold explorers of 1845 to brave the terrors of the 
unknown North and blaze their way to her rugged fastnesses. 

After all, the search for gold is sure to be the dream of aggressive men 
as long as the present economic ideals obtain; but one must talk with the 
pioneers of the late '40s if he would understand the overpowering influences 
which moved men in ante-bellum days. Those were times of comparative 
poverty, for the crudest imaginable conditions surrounded most of those 
who lived in rural regions. Homespun and small wages were almost 
universal. Agur's prayer, "give me neither riches nor poverty," had been 
partly answered, for none were rich, but many indeed were poor. Wages 
for common labor and almost everything else were triflingly small, the 
hours of toil were long, and the supply of men for every demand was great. 

In the very midst of these conditions the sleeping world heard of ingots 
in the foothills of California, of glistening gold, the idol of the ages, in the 
creeks, rivers, and sands of California's hills and mountains. No wonder 
that the name California became the magical word that was on every tongue. 

The entire East at once became a supply and outfitting station for the 
bold adventurers, who immediately began to cross the plains in great 
numbers. 

Just here it might be said that so long as man shall covet wealth, under 
an industrial system that makes a bank account the very symbol and pass- 
port of . power, the story of the accidental discovery of gold in far away 
California must appeal to mankind with the weird and luring freshness of 
romance, and the detailed accounts of the finding of the first particles by 
the discoverer on January 24, 1848, the history of the smelting that produced 
the first ingots, the memory of the "dust" first used as legal tender — all 
this will ever remain the greatest human interest story of the nineteenth cen- 
tury — a story rivaling the tales of Sinbad, the feats of Aladdin, the luck of 
Fortunatus. 

Though never a great mining county, Humboldt was brought into 
civilization by the romantic feat of Marshall. The trail of Marshall's fol- 
lowers led to the Trinity, the Klamath, and finally to Humboldt bar, as we 
shall see as the story is unfolded. The Sutter creek romance made an 
empire of a wilderness, turned the heads of sturdy men the world over, and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 51 

worked wonders with thousands of humble persons. Through that dis- 
covery the lowly were Hfted to places of power, and the cap of Fortunatus 
was placed on the heads of many lucky pioneers. The way that the 
discovery of gold lifted many humble men into positions which made them 
famous in the later days is one of unceasing interest. 

The marvel of this entrancing story lies partly in the fact that so many 
generations of gold-hunting expeditions had passed away before anybody 
learned that the earth was filled with gold, as when the first men ate of it, 
according to the legends of Gautama, and found it deliciously sweet. That 
which must have been seen and handled by many generations in California 
still lay hid and unknown up to the time of Marshall's discovery, as it had 
lain unknown and unseen throughout the generations of Spanish conquest. 
From Ximenes, Cabrillo, and their compeers to the days of Marshall and 
the Bonanza Kings, it is indeed a far cry, yet the gold of California and 
Nevada had lain practically undeveloped until the era of the Comstock. 

How wonderful it seems that it remained for a humble millwright to 
discover, quite by accident, in the glittering gravel of a tailrace, that which 
had been unobserved throughout the ages of Spanish civilization — a dis- 
covery destined to revolutionize the history and commercial development 
of men and countries. 

This fact brings us to the influence of that discovery on Humboldt 
county itself. In order to understand the meaning of the claim that 
Marshall's discovery affected Humboldt it will be necessary to make a 
brief study of the Trinity gold excitement. 

To Major Pearson B. Reading belongs the credit of leading the first 
band of trappers and explorers into the mining territory of Trinity, in 
Shasta county, in 1847. Reading left Sutter's Fort in the spring of 1845, 
taking with him thirty men and one hundred pack horses. It was his pur- 
pose to trap the streams of California and Oregon. By May he was 
crossing the mountains from the Sacramento river near a divide now known 
as "the backbone," and twenty or thirty miles from there he discovered 
the Trinity river, and supposed that it flowed into Trinidad bay, as it had 
been thus marked on an old Spanish chart. 

The party remained on the river for about three weeks, engaged in 
trapping, but in all that time they discovered no known ledge of gold. In 
June, 1849, however, Major Reading, then a rancher in Shasta county, 
went on an exploring expedition, accompanied by a small party, and made 
a great many examinations of the earth in the vicinity of the Trinity river. 

Gold-bearing gravel bars, which afterwards made the river famous, 
were then discovered. When these explorers visited the Sacramento river, 
the following August, they brought the news of the discovery of gold, and 
the famous rush for Trinity county began. The canyons and rivers of the 
country in the Trinity vicinity were then explored and a regular gold rush 
set in. The search for the mouth of the Trinity then began in real earnest, 
and there was a general opinion that the river discovered by Reading 
emptied its waters into Trinidad bay. 

It was supposed that the best road to the mine would be by way of 
the river from the ocean. Many expeditions were fitted ■ out to find the 
mouth of the Trinity river. The Cameo sailed up the coast in December, 
1849, but had to return to San Francisco with the report that no such place 



52 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

as Trinidad bay could be discovered. Soon after this many contradictory 
reports were received and the Cameo again sailed North, followed in quick 
succession by half a dozen or more steamers. In March, 1850, the harbor 
of Trinidad was discovered by the Cameo and was soon thereafter entered 
by the Laura Virginia, the James R. Whiting and the California. At 
San Francisco the news of the discovery of Trinidad was received with 
great ei:ithusiasm, and much excitement followed. Soon thereafter a number 
of little cities sprang up in the vicinity of the supposed magical Trinidad bay. 
The old historian tells us that the first townsite located on the bay was 
Humboldt City, named by the Laura Virginia Association in April, 1850. 
After this the towns of Bucksport, Union, and Eureka were established 
and when the survivors of the great Gregg party reached Sonoma, and 
after L. K. Wood had recovered from his injuries and sickness, thirty men 
started to return overland to Humboldt bay. On April 19, 1850, this party 
reached the bay, having occupied about twenty days in the trip from 
Sonoma. In Mr. Wood's narrative, published some years thereafter, he 
speaks of having seen the Laura Virginia inside and tells how Humboldt 
point was occupied by her party. In the month of April, 1850, Eureka was 
established on the south side of Humboldt bay, and Trinidad, which was 
first known as Warnerville, was located at Trinidad harbor. One of the 
ephemeral little towns of the time, born of mining excitement, was Klamath 
City. It did not last long, being of a mushroom character. Like some 
other little towns of the time, every evidence that it had ever existed has 
been wiped away. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Grant's Career in Humboldt County 

Few persons beyond the borders of California, possibly few outside of 
Humboldt county, know that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, afterwards president of the 
United States, spent a part of the years 1853 and 1854 at Fort Humboldt, in 
Humboldt county, then the most dreary and isolated billet, perhaps,' in all the 
United States. D. L. Thornbury has looked into the Humboldt county career of 
the man who afterwards played so important a part in the history of his country, 
and so has Mrs. Clara McGeorge Shields. The author is indebted to the historic 
sketches of these painstaking investigators for most of the facts and for much 
of the narrative presented in this chapter. Old residents and their descendants 
have been consulted, however, but it has been discovered in almost every instance 
that some of the traditions affecting Grant's private life lack evidential corrob- 
oration, being based on ancient and shadowy rumor. 

It is clear that there can be no error in the main facts concerning Grant in 
Humboldt, for the indisputable records of the war department give the bold 
facts unerringly. Thornbury thus summarizes the saHent facts : 

"During the fall of 1853 the war department promoted Lieut. Ulysses S. 
Grant to the grade of captain as a recognition of excellent service in the Mexican 
war, and assigned him to the station at Fort Humboldt, in California. He ar- 
rived about the end of October, 1853, and remained only five months. During 
his stay, there was a great deal of rainy weather which made him despondent; 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 53 

he was unable to agree with his superior officer at the Fort, and his wife and 
children were in .the East. He left the county in 1854, having resigned from the 
army." 

These being the conditions surrounding his career in the remotest section of 
the United States, Mrs. Shields is well justified in writing as follows : 

"Grant's stay at Fort Humboldt was one which, in after years, the great 
general must have looked back upon as a nightmare that he would blot from life and 
memory. His memoirs make no mention of it, nor do any of his biographers 
give any account of the iive months which he spent at dreary Fort Humboldt, 
the most western garrison of the United States, which was more remote and iso- 
lated in 1853 than the sealing stations of the Aleutian Islands are today. The 
fort itself has disappeared. About 1907 the last gray shingle was carried away by 
souvenir seekers and the parade ground was ploughed and platted into town lots. 

"Grant returned to civil life after his services in the Mexican war, although 
retaining his commission as Heutenant. He was married to Juha Dent. One 
child had been born to him and another was expected, when he received orders 
to accompany his regiment, the Fourth United States Infantry, to California, by 
way of the Isthmus of Panama, leaving New York in July. 1852. 

"His financial affairs had not prospered ; he had nothing but his lieutenant's 
pay on which to support his family, and in the uncertainty of the long separation, 
he was obliged to let his wife and child return to her, father's home while he 
turned his face westward with every heart string pulling him from the path 
of duty. 

"The future seemed dark. Before him yawned the grave of mihtary am- 
bitions, for buried in an insignificant Pacific garrison, there was little hope of 
advancement or renown. Worse than time wasted seemed his years of prepara- 
tion at West Point and his term of service in the Mexican war. While his 
meager pay was insufficient for his needs, worse than that to him was the de- 
teriorating eft'ect of a lonely garrison life which might stretch on indefinitely, 
the only escape being his resignation of his commission." 

According to some of those who either knew him or knew the reputation 
he bore at this time, it is said that it was during this period that he sought 
consolation in the flowing bowl and seemed happy only when under the exhilara- 
tion of a few drinks. That he was not an abstainer seems clear beyond dispute. 
There is grave doubt, however, whether he ever drank to the extent ascribed by 
some of the rumors that have been exaggerated during the last half century. 
A vast amount of cloudy tradition has grown up regarding his stay in Humboldt. 
Some old rumors give him a large family of half-breed Indian descendants, while 
others attribute to him impossible deeds. 

Thornbury tells us that when in Humboldt county Grant was a stout, 
rugged young man about five feet eight or nine inches tall. His nose was large 
and straight, his eyes were firm and steady, and he wore a short, rough sandy 
beard. His face was ruddy and he looked rougher than the common 
West Point graduate of the time. When he had duty at the Fort as officer of 
the day or conducting the drills, he wore the regulation officer's uniform and 
performed his duty as a soldier should. When off duty he usually wore the 
private's clothes consisting of canvas trousers, canvas coat and an old straw hat. 
Socially he was sometimes a hail fellow well met, but he was a better Hstener 
than a talker, and generally a man of reserved habits and was not given to talking. 
He belonged to Company F of the Fourth United States Infantry. Fort Hum- 



54 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

boldt was established in the winter of 1852-53 as a military post for the protection 
of the people of the county from the Indians. As Eureka was small and its 
location then wet and swampy, the fort was located back of the town of. Bucks- 
port, which seemed to give promise of becoming the largest town on the bay. 
Fort Humboldt Heights, as the location was long called, is now within the city 
limits of Eureka. The street cars run past the spot, which enables one easily to 
visit it. 

The position of the post is a sightly one, on a plateau thirty or forty feet 
above the sandy beach of Humboldt bay. It is naturally intended for a fortifica- 
tion and gives plenty of ground for parade and drill. The barracks and the 
officers' quarters were erected in 1852 in the usual quadrangular form around 
three sides of the parade grounds, leaving the west side open, and looking out 
toward the Pacific ocean and the bay. 

Fort Humboldt consisted of about a dozen buildings. Three of them were 
of good size and were used as barracks, being two stories high. The smaller 
buildings were one story in height, with porches in front. Grant's quarters were 
the second on the left or north side — one of the smallest houses of all. The 
forests of redwood and fir in the rear made a background to the picture and 
furnished abundance of timber. The buildings were put up by the work of the 
soldiers in the command. Their plan was to build a frame, fill in with logs, then 
weatherboard and plaster inside. The first house was built in this manner, 
but it was found expensive and unnecessary in this cHmate. A good weather- 
board house, plastered inside, was sufficient protection for the coldest weather. 
Buildings of this latter type were easily worn out and blown down. By the year 
1907 the elements had almost demolished the few ruins that remained, wind and rain 
having proved great destroyers during more than half a century of uninterrupted 
havoc. Eurekans did not realize the historic importance of the place nor the 
great value that the preservation of Fort Humboldt would have proved as a 
tourist asset. For a few years after 1906 one reconstructed building remained 
and was used as a warehouse. Around it were slabs and shingles from the ruins 
of other sti-uctures, but these monuments to community neglect were wholly 
obliterated about the year 1911. 

The commanding officer during Grant's time was Colonel Buchanan, who 
was about the only cultivated and refined man there. Most of the soldiers located 
at Fort Humboldt were a rough looking set, and were not respected by the 
settlers. 

Captain Grant reported for duty in October, 1853, and the post thus became 
the scene of one of the early military services of a man who was later to become 
a famous general and a Nation's hero. 

Colonel Buchanan and Captain Grant did not get along very well, and there 
was considerable friction between them. This grew greater as time went on, 
and almost led to a courtmartial. This is probably one of the reasons that induced 
Grant to resign from the army service. It is only fair to say that the salary of a 
captain was low at that time. When the gold excitement was at its height, wages 
of the ordinary laborer were large and the price of food was great. The pay of 
the officer, while perhaps good in the East, was a mere pittance on the Pacific 
coast, so small in fact as to place the officers in the category of the very poor, 
whom anv hewer of wood and drawer of water might look upon as unfortunate. 
Tradition states that when he was leaving the county in order to avoid further 
trouble with the commanding officer, he said that they would hear from him 




Win'i-r CrntT.ilUniiil.llmi Cii/il.iiii.n.it .i.;l,oi,nl in mr>:i - ^ . 




FORT HUMBOLDT TODAY 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 55 

afterwards. During the Civil war, Grant as superior officer met Buchanan, then 
his inferior. He assigned Buchanan some hard work in order to even up the 
scores contracted at old Humboldt. 

The Indians gave no trouble, but were friendly, visiting the garrison and ex- 
changing meat and fruits for flour and hard tack. 

No military expeditions away from Humboldt were undertaken while Grant 
was here. There were practically no roads, and when the soldiers went out, they 
had to cut tlieir own trails. The privates did not have much to do, and the life 
there was rather monotonous. As Grant was an officer, his hours of duty were 
not as long drawn out as those of his subordinates. He made many trips to 
Eureka. 

In those early days only a mule trail led from Fort Humboldt to Eureka, 
passing close to the marsh, which was then subject to tidal overflow, and along 
under the bluff to what is now South Park. From that place it became a partial 
road to the waterfront. Broadway and Summer streets are the modern repre- 
sentatives of this old road. 

Eureka in 1854 experienced a depression in the lumbering and other lines 
of business; and the population was considerably diminished. In all Eureka there 
were not more than four hundred people. The only streets were First, called 
Front, and Second, and these were but three or four blocks in length. The 
timber came down to the very edge of the water, but the trees near the shore 
were scraggly and wind blown. There were but two wharves and three saw- 
mills. The spruce and fir were the only kinds cut, as the redwoods were too large 
to handle. Its wood was not considered worth much. The people were engaged 
in lumbering and there were few women, hence no society to serve as a counter- 
acting attraction to the saloons. Of these there were three or four, the principal 
one being conducted by R. W. Brett, who started one on the bank of a little 
stream that flowed into the bay below the corner of First and F streets. There 
vv'as but one church and one general store. 

Grant usually hung around the saloons, and he is not to be blamed much for 
tlii^, because they were practically the only places offering recreation, good lights, 
convivial company, and the opportunity for social converse among men. Here 
he would meet friends, sailors, and new arrivals. There were some billiard 
tables and he sometimes amused himself playing at that game. He cared nothing 
for the lower class of women ; the saloons and a game of cards with boon com- 
panions being seemingly his first and greatest love. 

One evening he walked to Eureka, and at one place the road crossed a slough 
which used to run about where Fourth and E streets now are. A large log 
served as a bridge. Across this log for many years thereafter pedestrians walked 
in order to reach the vicinity of Christ Church, the old Episcopal house of worship 
which still exists and stands where it has stood since it was erected in 1869. When 
Grant started to cross the log, a drizzHng rain was falling, so he slipped and fell 
into the slough. He at once went to Brett's saloon, ordered a drink, and quietly 
dried his clothing before a blazing log fire. Captain Grant was accustomed to 
ride a mule to Eureka and one night he failed to return to the Fort, whereupon 
a party went in search of him. They found him asleep in a thicket about where 
the alley alongside Christ church is now located. His favorite mule was browsing 
close at hand. 

Mr. Thornbury adds : "These incidents, together with the fact that he 
frequented the saloons, have given rise to many false stories concerning Grant's 



56 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

drinking. In order to have committed all the breaches of sobriety credited to 
him by the stories I have personally heard, he would have had to live here four 
years and do nothing else." 

Mr. Thornbury thus concludes his narrative: "Grant was a frequent guest at 
the homes of Dr. Jonathan Clark, James T. Ryan, Captain Maloney and the Duflfs. 
He made Duff's place a secondary headquarters, where he often slept. He bor- 
rowed their big roan horse to ride. This animal would just as soon run away 
as not, and that suited Grant. He would ride out into the woods and jump the 
horse over logs and obstructions. The usual course he took was along a corduroy 
road, which lead to a charcoal making camp. This was located at about Seventh 
and G streets, and the charcoal was for the use of the blacksmith shops. 

"Grant also visited the points of interest in and near Bucksport. No doubt 
he went boat riding on the bay, for we are informed that all the officers had 
boats. At one time they took a walk to Buhne's Point and from there looked 
upon the beautiful scene spread out before them. To the north was the expanse 
of the main bay, shut off from the ocean by the low sand dunes of the north 
peninsula, which at that time did not extend so far south, thus leaving a wider 
entrance. To the south lay the lower bay, which is really a big lagoon almost 
entirely enclosed by the sand pits. Beyond the region, five miles away, was Table 
Bluff. To the rear and east were the spurs of the coast range covered with red- 
wood, of which Grant speaks in his memoirs as a 'species of red cedar of im- 
mense size.' 

"Spread out in front to the west and northwest lay the beautiful blue expanse 
of the Pacific, which laps the shores of the peninsulas with its combers and 
white foam. Directly in front was the bar and entrance of Humboldt bay, 
marked by the long swelling breakers coming from two directions — over the 
south shoals and from the northwest. The exact spot upon which Grant stood 
while gazing upon this scene is not now in existence. The ceaseless lap of the tide 
and waves has worn Buhne's Point back for a distance of over two hundred 
feet. The hero worshiper can only content himself by viewing the same scene. 

"On a hill back of Bucksport still stands a low one-story house formerly 
occupied by the Heustis family. Captain Grant was a guest in this house and 
slept one night in the south room. A visit can be paid to it. The room is twelve 
feet long, ten feet wide and about eight feet high. The window to the south faces 
the Elk River valley. The window on the west overlooks the bay. There is the 
little closet where he may have hung his clothes." 

It might be added that Grant and his regiment came to the Pacific coast by 
way of Aspinwall. Conditions on the Atlantic side, on the old steamer Ohio, 
were crowded and unsatisfactory, while the Aspinwall of that time was a spot 
of plague and abominations. 

Andrew Foote, an old resident of Humboldt county, was the last survivor 
of those on duty at Fort Humboldt while Grant was there. He remembered for 
many years the chaos and terror of the Aspinwall-Pacific voyage. 

No provisions had been made for the arrival of the troops or the journey 
which they must take to reach the Pacific coast. The Panama railroad was 
completed only a small part of the way to the point on the Chagres river from 
whence the passengers were conveyed in boats propelled by native rowers to 
Gorgona, from which place they took mules to Panama. The government agent 
at Aspinwall had assured the army officials that mules had been secured for 
transportation of commissary supplies and baggage, but on arrival at Gorgona, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 57 

it was found that no such provision had been made. The price of mules had 
increased far beyond the government contract price and the contractor had failed 
to fill the quota. 

Cholera had broken out at Aspinwall before the soldiers reached that port 
and some of the men had come down with the dread complaint even before 
reaching Gorgona, and during the delay which ensued before transferring to the 
steamer. 

Mrs. Shields has gathered many interesting facts concerning the early stages 
of the voyage to Fort Humboldt. Her narrative is in part as follows : 

"Jungle fever and cholera thinned the ranks terribly, and men and officers 
were panic stricken and demoralized. Amid this fear and suffering, Grant, acting 
quartermaster, was a tower of strength and resource. His superior officers gladly 
allowed him to assume their powers if he took the danger and risks incurred 
with them. He improvised temporary hospitals, placed the men under strin- 
gent rules regarding eating tropical fruits and exposing themselves to the fever 
fogs which arose from the jungle marshes at night. On his own responsibility he 
purchased mules to remove the sick, and, without orders, marched a division 
of men from a death-camp where two-thirds of their number had died of cholera 
and fever, to a more sanitary station, and later to Panama. Mr. Foote asserted 
that many a time Grant took from his own slender purse the money to procure 
care and shelter for fever-stricken soldiers. Amid all this disorder and misman- 
agement Grant performed one kind of service which has never been accredited him. 
He took every means possible to keep a correct account of each death and the 
circumstances surrounding it, as far as could be obtained, and where the bodies 
were buried. These records were sent to the relatives of the dead men. That 
death trail across the Isthmus was studded with soldiers' graves, and relatives 
at home might never have known the fate of their loved ones had it not been 
for the patient thoughtfulness of the quiet quartermaster who kept his head 
when others did not. 

"Soon after the settlement of Humboldt county, differences arose between 
the natives and the aggressive white settlers. A few sharp lessons from the guns 
of the latter impressed the Indian with a wholesome respect for the white man 
and his methods. There was little to fear from attacks on the settlements, but 
to the lone herder, hunter and rancher, the lurking savage was a constant menace. 
A heavy belt of redwood timber encircled Humboldt bay and back of this was a 
large area of grazing land, rolling hills and fertile valleys. Naturally cattle- 
raising became the chief industry of the settler and cattle-steahng a profitable em- 
ployment for the Indians. So great were the depredations that many hundreds 
of cattle were killed and not a few people murdered. 

"In answer to an urgent appeal, the government at Washington established a 
small fort on Humboldt Heights and soon after the arrival of the troops at 
Benicia companies B and F were ordered to this post. The fort was built on a 
bluff overlooking the bay. Behind it stretched miles of unbroken forests of 
giant sequoias, the dense shade of which was never penetrated by any ray of sun- 
shine. The lofty tops were never at rest. Even in the calmest days of sum- 
mer they were swaying and sighing in dreary sadness, while under the stress 
of wintei gales they would almost scream in madness. A dusty ribbon of road 
ran along the foot of the bluff and beyond it mud flats reached to the waters of 
the bav. 



58 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

"The companies arrived at Fort Humboldt late in January, 1853, Col. R. C. 
Buchanan commanding. In August of that year the death of Captain BHss caused a 
vacancy to fill which Lieutenant Grant was promoted to the rank of captain and 
ordered to Humboldt. 

"In October, the beginning of the rainy season, Grant reached this outpost 
of civilization where, with leaden skies overhead, mud and flood under foot, the 
gray bay in front and the dismal forest behind, with ever the vision before him 
of the cruel miles between him and his loved ones, he took up the petty duties 
and spirit-killing routine of garrison life. 

"Among Grant's associates at the fort were Quartermaster Rundell, Lieu- 
tenants Crook, Collins and Underwood. Underwood was accompanied by his 
wife, and a Httle son was born at the fort, who was about the age of Grant's 
second son, whom he had never seen." 

Mrs. Shields often talked with Major Howard, an old resident of Hum- 
boldt, who died in 1904, regarding Grant's career in the county. The reminiscences 
are interesting because they throw a light on conditixDns then existing as well as 
by reason of the future career of Grant. 

When asked for reminiscences, he said: "You must bear in mind that how- 
ever great he afterwards became, at the time of his residence here, he was com- 
paratively unknown except to his military associates. We had never heard of 
him and the only thing that may have attracted attention was the death of Cap- 
tain Bliss and the promotion of his successor. 

"I lived, at that time, on a ranch two miles from the fort and was acquainted 
with all the officers and they frequently visited my house. The first time that I 
met Captain Grant was early one foggy morning soon after his arrival. Lieu- 
tenant Collins called at my home to borrow my gun to shoot ducks and he was 
accompanied by Captain Grant. Collins seemed to be showing the new comer 
around and making him acquainted with the limited sports of the country. They 
had driven down to the ranch and Grant sat in the buggy while Collins came in 
for the gun. I went out to the road and was introduced to Captain Grant. 
He was an ordinary looking man with firmly set mouth and deep, searching eyes 
that seemed to take me in at a glance and then turned indifferently away. He 
was a very quiet man, in strong contrast to the joking, fun-loving Collins. For 
all that Grant was so quiet himself, I think he enjoyed the lively company of 
CoIHns, as he seemed to favor his society more than that of any of the other 
officers. 

"There were few amusements at the fort, but sometimes I would receive an 
invitation which read 'Come up to the post this evening to a gutta-percha ban- 
quet.' On account of my young family and their unprotected condition, I could 
not always accept these invitations, yet when I did, the entertainment was quite 
enjoyable. A 'gutta-percha' banquet was so called from the chief article of the 
refreshments, which was a delicacy consisting of small bay mussels pickled in 
vinegar and served in a widemouthed bottle from which they were harpooned with 
an iron fork. 

"Cards was the only entertainment and nothing more exciting than 'Old 
Sledge' was played. On one particular evening the card quartette included Quar- 
termaster Rundell, Lieutenants Underwood, Collins and myself. Grant did not 
play, but reclined on the bed smoking a cigar. He seldom volunteered a remark, 
yet when addressed always answered pleasantly. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 59 

"We were all laughing heartily at something, I have forgotten what, when 
Grant said, 'Well, boys, you can see a deal more fun in that than I can.' 

"Rundell replied, 'Grant, I am afraid that you were born without a sense 
of humor.' 

" 'Perhaps I was, but that is not the only sense that I lack.' 

"The bed on which Grant lay was something of a curiosity. It was an im- 
mense structure made by one of the men for Rundell, who was six feet, six inches 
in height. The bed was seven feet long and the same in width, having a head- 
board which reached to the ceiling and was carved in leaf and scroll design with 
considerable skill. I afterwards came into possession of the bed and removed it 
to my home, but after I left the ranch and it was in the hands of a tenant, my house 
and its contents were destroyed by fire. 

The last that I saw of Grant was just before his departure. One morning 
I was going to Eureka and at the foot of the hill where the road turns toward the 
post, I met Captain Grant and Lieutenant Collins. They were in a buggy and 
Grant's face was partly hidden by a high coat-collar. He did not notice my 
salutation which was returned by Collins. I did not know at the time that he 
contemplated a change. I always found him gentlemanly in manner, treating 
all witli quiet courtesy." 

Another old friend and admirer of Grant was F. S. Dufif, from whom remin- 
iscences were obtained. At the time of Grant's service in Humboldt, there were 
not over two-score houses in Eureka. Mr. Duff owned a sawmill, lodging house 
and store, and furnished the lumber and many supplies for the fort. All the 
officers frequented the Duff home and put up at his lodging house when in Eureka. 
Mr. Duff was one of the very few intimate friends Grant made during his stay 
at the garrison. 

"Many a stormy night when it was too dark to ride back to the fort, did 
Captain Grant share my bed," said Mr. Duff. "I furnished the lumber to build 
many of the houses at the fort and I have enjoyed many evenings with the 
officers there. In fact, it was my usual custom to drive down to the post Sundays 
and dine with them. 

"The officers' quarters and the furniture in them were hand made, rude and 
rougli. There was no society in the ordinary sense of the word; hunting and 
fishing become tiresome even with the most enthusiastic sportsmen, which Grant 
was not. 

■ "I never heard him complain, yet I could see that he was filled with an intense 
desire to be with his family. One day he lost his wife's ring, which he wore. 
The intrepid soldier, who preserved his coolness in the bloodiest battles, was 
completely unstrung. The next morning half of the command was turned out 
and the parade ground was 'panned' until the ring was found." 

Grant's relations with his commanding officer were inharmonious, to say the 
least. Colonel Buchanan was extremely punctilious and something of a martinet. 
Grant was a plain, practical, thoroughly drilled soldier, and he had little use, for 
the fuss and frills of military etiquette. His easy methods and carelessness of 
dress were constant sources of irritation to his superior officer. Little inconse- 
quent trifles of dress and ceremony became ever recurring causes for remarks 
and unpleasantness. Yet whatever faults the critical colonel may have found, 
neglect of duty was not among them. The conscientious performance of insig- 



60 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

nificant duties of a line captain was duplicated when he had the great Federal 
army in his keeping. 

When Grant reached Humboldt he had an octagonal shaped gold piece which 
was called a "slug" and was worth $50. With this he bought a plow and vegetable 
seeds and made a large garden which supplied the post with fresh vegetables. 
Fresh beef was not always to be had, but Grant made a contract with Seth 
Kinman, a famous hunter of those days, to supply the commissary department 
with elk meat. After Grant became president of the United States, old Seth 
Kinman traveled to Washington and presented his old-time friend with a chair 
made of polished elk horns. 

While on duty Grant never forgot to look out for the welfare of his men. 
He made frequent visits to their quarters, tasting their food and inspecting sanitary 
conditions. The men felt free to go to him with complaints and grievances 
knowing that they would be given a hearing and their claims considered with 
fairness. Mrs. Shields writes : 

"Life at the post was insufferably dull. The Indians gave little trouble and 
months intervened between the arrival of the mails. There were days and days 
of rigid drilling and discipline until officers and men became stalled and wearied. 
Commissary whisky of the vilest kind was to be had in unlimited quantities and 
all partook more or less. The combination of whisky and idleness was followed 
by the usual, results. 

"Under conditions like this, trifles became causes of great moment. One 
day Captain Grant went duck shooting in the northern part of the bay some 
distance from the fort. Being absorbed in his sport, he did not notice the 
ebbing tide until his boat was stuck hard and fast in the mud, a distance from the 
shore, and he was obliged to stay there until the next tide released him. Colonel 
Buchanan made his usual fuss over the incident, but Grant simply ignored his 
fretting and bluster. Grant's indifference to the Colonel's scoldings and fault- 
findings was one cause of the friction between the two men. 

'Tn regard to the cause of Grant tendering his resignation, about which much 
comment has been made, the statements of A. P. Marble, with whom the writer 
conversed before the old soldier's death, reveals Grant in those trying times. The 
old servant denied that there was any special cause for Grant's resignation, other 
than that he was not satisfied with existing conditions. Cognizant of his own 
power and ability, he felt that his life was being wasted. His mihtary ambitions 
were blasted and his captain's pay inadequate for the support of his family. 
Besides, his environments were decidedly unpleasant. 

"Colonel Buchanan was an efiicient officer but strict in petty details to the 
verge of absurdity," said Mr. Marble. "I will relate an incident proving this. 
General Crook, of Indian fighting fame, was a lieutenant in Grant's company. 
He was a sweet-tempered fellow, about twenty years old and brimful of fun 
and laughter. 

"One morning Colonel Buchanan was standing in front of his headquarters 
and, looking across the parade grounds, saw Lieutenant Crook standing in an 
easy position with his hands in his pockets. 

"The Colonel addressed me, 'Orderly !' 

" 'Yes, sir?' 

" 'Present my compliments to Lieutenant Crook and tell him to take his 
hands out of his pockets.' 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 61 

'T approached the lieutenant and, suppressing a smile, delivered the message. 
Crook was not on duty at the time and with a pleasant smile, he replied, 'Orderly, 
present my compliments to Colonel Buchanan and tell him that my pockets are 
my own.' " 

Mrs. Shields saw in the possession of Mr. Marble a form of Grant's resigna- 
tion which had been thrown aside by him and picked up by the servant while 
putting the room in order. It probably was a first draught written out and 
discarded, as the wording is different from the one he did send, and it is addressed 
to the commanding officer at San Francisco rather than at Washington. It read 
as follows : 

"April 11, 1854. 
"Major-Gen. John A. Wool, San Francisco. 

"Sir: — I have the honor of tendering my resignation as Capt. of Co. F, 4th 
Regt. of Infantry, U. S. A. 

"Signed. U. S. GRANT." 
The resignation which was sent by Grant was as follows : 

"Fort Humboldt, 
"Humboldt Bay, April 11, 1854. 
"Col, 

"I very respectfully tender my resignation of my commission as an officer 
of the army and request that it may take effect from the 21st of July next. 

"I am. Col., 
"Very respectfully, 
"Your obt. svt., 
"U. S. GRANT, 
"Capt. 4th Infantry. 
"To 
"Col. S. Cooper, 

"Adjt. Gen. U. S. A., 

"Washington, D. C." 
The resignation went to the department at Washington at the hands of 
Colonel Buchanan, was accepted and took effect at the date requested, and soon 
thereafter Grant left for San Francisco, leaving behind him all hopes of military 
glory and a year of wasted life. 

While Grant was in Humboldt county he had two severe attacks of sickness. 
His physician was Dr. Jonathan Clark, father of W. S. Clark, banker and mayor 
of Eureka in 1913. Mrs. Shields thus concludes the interesting story of Grant 
in Humboldt : "It was after the recovery from the first illness that he tendered his 
resignation and he had just recovered from the second when the knowledge of 
its acceptance reached him. 

"When the doctor met him again he said rather sadly, 'Well, doctor, I am 
out,' then added, 'but I will tell you something and you mark my words ; my 
day will come. They will hear from me yet.' 

"These words, spoken so dehberately, almost solemnly, impressed his hearer 
as a prophecy. 

"Dr. Clark saw his friend again. When ExrPresident Grant made his 
famous journey around the world, Clark made a special trip to San Francisco to 
see his former patient. Grant was in the drawing room of the Palace hotel 
surrounded by a throng of visitors when Dr. Clark entered. The great man 



62 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

recognized his friend immediately and came briskly forward, greeting the doctor 
with cordiality and inquired after many of the people of Eureka. Unhappy as 
had been his year at Fort Humboldt, Grant had nothing but the kindest words 
for his associates there and from the pinnacle of his fame regarded them with 
the same quiet kindliness with which he had held them in the dark days of his 
residence at that dreary western garrison." 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Early Troubles With the Indians 

All accounts of early adventures by the settlers of Trinity county, from 
which Humboldt county was made, emphasize the fact that there was much 
mystery involved in the consideration of the Klamath river. That stream was 
supposed by many to be the Trinity river, while others mistook it for the Salmon. 
Its source was long unknown after its mouth had been discovered. The Klamath 
soon attracted a large number of gold hunters, and it was not long after they 
began to come into the country before the Indians along the Humboldt bay began 
to look upon them with suspicion. 

Many of the old timers were really rough and ready men, and were inclined 
to treat the Indians as if they were mere dogs. Suspicious and watchful, the 
Indians magnified all little injuries into much larger ones and entertained a 
number of small grievances. Of course, there were some men of wicked dis- 
position who, being surly and overbearing, did wrong to the Indians. 

One of the characteristics of the Indians is that they cannot particularize or 
distinguish between individuals. The result was that they held all of the 
white men responsible for any injury done to them by any one white man, being 
so constituted mentally that they were unable to distinguish between an individual 
who had done them wrong and a community of men of the same color of the 
wrong-doer. 

The old doctrine of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth found splendid 
exemplification among the Indians, for if a white man murdered an Indian he 
immediately killed the first white man he caught, not seeming to care whether 
the real culprit escaped or not. It was this habit of the Indians which caused a 
number of the most serious difficulties encountered by the early settlers of 
Humboldt county. 

A few of the old residents of Humboldt county have a keen recollection of 
perilous times with the Indians. Mrs. R. F. Herrick, an aged woman of Areata, 
has a distinct memory of some of the stirring events as late as 1859. In a letter 
which the editor of this history has been permitted to see, she says as follows : 

"We landed in Eureka on November 29, 1859, having a letter of introduction 
to the Rev. Mr. Huestus. We finally found him at Areata, and when we crossed 
the bay and viewed our surroundings we decided to go to the American hotel, 
which was then kept by a Mr. Bull. We then thought Areata was the most 
beautiful place we had ever seen in California. The Plaza looked hke green 
velvet, and the dark background of great redwood trees, I think, was the most 
beautiful I had ever seen. I then thought that the Indian name, which means 
a bright or sunny spot, was very appropriate. When I saw Areata first the sun 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 63 

was shining over it. I remained at the hotel while my husband went to look at a 
place near the mouth of Mad river. 

"I did not know anyone in the county, but Mrs. Murdock, Mrs. Bowles, Mrs. 
Culberg, and Mrs. Minor called and asked me to Mrs. Minor's, where a sewing 
society was in session, and there I made more acquaintances. 

"The tenth of January we moved to the White place. We bought some 
cows and my husband made the first cheese that was ever manufactured in 
Humboldt county, and the firm of Coddington & Bowles shipped this cheese by 
pack-train to the Trinity mines. 

"I was very much afraid of the Indians, especially one who was known as 
Sore Eyed Tom, a big Indian, who came to my house in a sneaking sort of way. 
All the clothing he wore might be described as a knife about two feet long 
attached to his neck by a buckskin thong. I was very homesick and lonesome, and 
he came in one day and he said he was hungry and wanted what he called whago 
bread. 

"I had set some of this bread to rise and did not have any baked at the 
moment. I was then paring potatoes, so I told the Indian that I did not have 
any bread ready. He said, 'Too much He.' That was too much to hear, so I 
forgot my fear and started for him with the butcher knife raised as if to strike 
him. I never in my life saw anyone run so fast as that Indian did. He did not 
wait to open the gate, but jumped over the fence, and as far as I could see him, he 
was running. I was never afraid of Indians again." 

This respected lady says she often went with neighbors to minister to the 
sick. Among others she met one who was known as Coonskin's daughter, who 
was very sick. The Indians seemed to appreciate everything which the white 
ladies did when they carried her up to their house and cared for her and cured 
her. The father was the chief of the Indians. He mixed his blood with that 
of Mrs. Herrick's, which was the ceremony that gave her the right to be known 
as an adopted daughter of the tribe. All the Indians were instructed to look out 
for her and her family. There was at this time no Indian trouble in the county. 

On the second day of February, 1859, the lady heard some shooting and the 
screams of women and children down by the river. Her husband wanted to 
go down, but it was before daylight and it was believed imprudent to go. 

Men, women and children came tumbling over the fence and on to the 
porch for protection by the household. After daylight her husband went down 
to the river and there found one young Indian man dead at the water's edge and 
an old man lying dead just outside of the house. 

Mr. Herrick told her they were going to bury them that afternoon, and two 
graves were dug just inside of the sand dunes in a green, grassy glade. The 
corpses were tied in deerskins, like mummies. The young Indian had one wife 
and baby. She sat patting the corpse and waiting the death-song to come, a 
pathetic wail that, once heard, can never be forgotten. 

About that time Mrs. Herrick and her husband saw twenty or thirty Indians 
dancing, with war paint on them, and all armed with bows and arrows strapped 
across their backs. Mrs. Herrick told her husband that if the white people did 
not desist from abusing the Indians there would be an awful Indian war. Her 
words proved prophetic. 

We have gone a little ahead of our story in order to give a glimpse of con- 
ditions as reported by Mrs. Herrick. It should be said, however, that what was 



64 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

known as the Klamath War occurred in 1855. It was the first serious trouble 
between any very large body of Indians and the whites, and its origin may be 
traced indirectly to chfficulties that had long passed. These were local and per- 
sonal, but they conveyed the intelligence to the mountain tribes that the white 
people were trying to drive them away. 

An example of the superstitions of the Indians is well worth citing. One day 
a captain of the name of McMahon met a few Indians and inflicted chastisement 
on them, by the aid of his company, for some petty tliieving and other wrongs 
which they had done. The rancheria of the Indians was inadvertently fired on 
by the troops, and one old squaw was killed thereby. The captain then left with 
his company, and the Indians were very serious, as one might know they would 
have been, over the occurrence. They suspected Robert Walker and three of his 
companions who lived on the Klamath river. This was in 1851. 

It was not long after this event, which resulted in the death of the squaw, 
before Walker and his com^panions noted that several hundred Indians were 
holding a pow-wow around his cabin. One grave old Indian came and told 
Walker that it was the behef of the tribe that he and his companions had killed 
the squaw. The Indians proposed to give the white men. a fair trial, as they 
said, by taking them up to a place under a certain mysterious tree. A fire was 
to be built near the tree, and if the smoke were to be wafted towards the cabin 
in which the white men had lived it would be a sign from the Great Spirit that 
the men were guilty ; but if the smoke were to go in any other direction than 
towards the cabin it was to be a sign that the men were innocent. 

Walker was much surprised, but was a man of cool nerve. He recalled that 
he had often noticed that along toward noon the rising heat was such that a 
breeze always took the smoke from his cabin up toward the hills, so his problem 
was to get the Indians to postpone the trial for an hour or two. He forthwith 
began to entertain them by stories and to delay them by asking a number of 
questions. The chief said 'he would appeal to Mowena, the Great Spirit of his 
tribe, who would unerringly judge righteously for white men and Indians alike. 
Then, as the hour grew near. Walker said he was ready to go and he knew, he 
said, that the Great Indian Spirit would be just to him and his companions. So 
deeply were the Indians impressed by the efficiency of their fire-tests as a means 
of communicating with the Great Spirit that they quickly went to the cabin and 
tendered their friendship to Walker and his companions. 

The great fire was built and the breezes carried the smoke away from the 
cabin, thereby convincing the Indians that they had made a mistake in accusing 
these men of murder. After this peculiar trial had convinced the Indians that 
they were wrong, Walker presented the spokesman with a lion's skin, and in 
a week thereafter the Indians returned and gave him and his companions a 
present of smoked salmon. These Indians long bore in mind the trial and long 
maintained friendly relations with Walker. Other events, however, served to 
inflame the Indians, who were occasionally imposed upon and cheated by some 
of the worst of the early settlers. Sometimes those who had no authority from 
Uncle Sam would deal with the Indians and swindle them outrageously. 

In the fall of 1852 Colonel McKee, the government's first Indian superin- 
tendent for California, went up the Klamath river with a hundred mules loaded 
with presents for the Red Men. These presents consisted of beads, knives and 
handkerchiefs of gay and varied colors. Cheap articles of rich color appeal to 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 55 

the natives of the great forest. Colonel McKee, like nine out of ten employes 
of the Indian department, had very little knowledge of the Indian character and 
very Httle regard for the obligation of any agreement he might make with them. 
It is said that he unloaded his mules and distributed his presents, calling to his aid 
as interpreter the same Robert Walker whose Hfe had been saved by the fortunate 
culmination of the trial by smoke. It is said that a large company of Indians 
flocked into the camp of Colonel McKee and were very much pleased with the 
presents which he distributed. 

These Indians said they wanted to hear his proposal for continued friendship 
and peace with the whites, after which a day was set for the making of a treaty 
which was to be lasting and effective proof of the seriousness and earnestness 
of the friendship. A large number of Indians were present, and then Colonel 
McKee, with the pomposity of one high in authority, made a grandiloquent speech, 
telling the Indians that the white men were as many as the leaves on the trees, 
and that if the Reds did not remain peaceable their property would be destroyed, 
but if they remained quiet and inoffensive they would be protected in their lives 
and property. In conclusion, he said he wanted them to be good Indians until he 
could go back to San Francisco and return, and when he came back, which was 
to be in so many moons, he would do more than he had ever done to prove the 
friendship of the Great Father at Washington. 

He turned to Robert Walker and commanded him to interpret the speech 
to the Red Men. It appears that Walker then had established a ferry across the 
Klamath river, and in order to make it profitable it was necessary to have the 
co-operation of the Indians in time of high water. As when he conceived the 
idea of detaining the Indians in his cabin until the noon breeze should carry the 
smoke from their trial of fire up the river and away from his home, so now 
there came to him another happy suggestion. He would make Colonel McKee's 
speech do a good turn, for he knew the Indians would neither understand nor 
appreciate the speech if it were literally translated, so he might in reality do 
Colonel McKee a great service by changing it to suit his own ideas. He therefore 
began his translation by saying that the white men in San Francisco were more 
plentiful than the leaves on the trees, and wound up by an assurance from Colonel 
McKee of perpetual friendship, provided that the Indians would take care of 
the ferry until Colonel McKee could go to San Francisco and return. Well, 
Colonel McKee did not return, nor did anybody keep that part of the promise 
which Walker translated into the treaty. Walker having finished his translation, 
the Indians held a consultation and answered that they would accept the proposal, 
whereupon Walker immediately reported to Colonel McKee that his proposition 
was accepted and that the Red Men would be good Indians until his return. 
Colonel McKee appeared to consider that his entire duty was not yet done, and 
he immediately proceeded to lay out a reservation, drawing lines from Weitchpec 
down the Klamath many miles, including a section of country which lies between 
the Hoopa and Klamath reservations as at present located. Having accomplished 
this, he packed up his mules and rode away. And that was the last that was 
ever seen of Colonel McKee. 

The Indians kept their part of the treaty as it was translated to them by 
Walker, sacredly observing their agreement to assist in operating the ferry, and 
were in fact on their good behavior during the four or five months that McKee 
was away, but when they found they had been lied to, and were firmly of the 



66 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

opinion that Colonel McKee and Walker possibly had been in collusion to deceive 
them, they began to have serious misgivings. 

It would have been easy at this time to have a general war, but there were 
a number of strong-minded Indians who prevented this. One known as Trinity 
Jim, and another one who was his associate, did a great deal to prevent the 
serious outbreak in 1852, when a large number of white persons would have 
been killed and their property destroyed. However, trouble had been brewing 
for a long time, and it was inevitable that there could be no settlement of their 
differences, except a contest for the possession of the Klamath river. 

There were many faults on both sides. Many Indians would steal cattle and 
occasionally a murder would be committed, accompanied with robbery and 
slaughter, and in this connection some of the white men mistreated the Indians 
very badly. A terrible murder was committed in the year 1852 on the Klamath 
river about twelve miles below Weitchpec, at what was known as Blackburn's 
ferry. A trail had been cut through from Trinidad to this point, and a man 
by the name of Blackburn had built a ferry there, together with a stopping-place 
for settlers. One night when Blackburn and his wife, with five or six tourists, 
were sleeping in their tents, the Indians made a silent and barbarous attack. The 
five men in the tent slept on the floor with their heads outwards, touching the 
bottom of the tent. Silently, with deadly intent, the Indians crept up and 
tomahawked them from the outside while they slept. They then attacked the 
inmates of the house, but Blackburn was prepared for defense, and while his 
wife loaded one gun, he fired another, thus keeping the Indians at bay until day- 
light. Up in the mountains not far away there was a camp of eight white men, 
and when they heard th€ firing they went down to the ferry and drove the Indians 
away. It is easy to realize that this was the beginning of serious trouble. Black- 
burn and his wife escaped without injury, but there was a strange and sad 
incident m connection with them. Blackburn had been expecting his father to 
arrive from the East and made preparations to receive him. On the morning 
after the attack on his house he went to a rancheria, owned by supposedly peaceful 
Indians, situated a few hundred yards above on a bench of the mountains. There 
he found the body of his father, who had been murdered almost within sight of 
the house he had nearly reached. Whether the murderers were ever punished is 
not now known, but a volunteer company of miners was raised and several 
Indians' residences were attacked and burned. This was probably the extent of 
the punishment that the Indians received. It is not known whether the real 
murderers were those who fell under the fire of the miners. 

In 1853-54, while there was a great deal of talk of Indian warfare there was 
no general uprising, but many indications pointed to an approaching outrage, so 
that the superintendent of Indian affairs of the state paid some attention to the 
Indians of this section. Colonel Buchanan was stationed at Fort Humboldt near 
Eureka with a portion of the United States forces then doing nothing of special 
importance or advantage. It was about this time that General Grant had his sad 
and lonely experience in this part of the country. 

In January, 1855, there was much anxiety and suspense among the miners 
on the Klamath and Salmon rivers, for they heard from many sources that the 
Indians were preparing for a general outbreak. The miners were so anxious, and 
in many cases so alarmed, that they deserted their claims and collected at different 
trading posts on the Salmon river. At some points the rancherias were visited 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 67 

and firearms were taken away by bands of whites, while at other points the 
Indians obtained information of the intention of the whites, so their squaws and 
children were sent into the mountains with whatever firearms the warriors present 
did not have to carry with them. 

Another danger which menaced the whites was the practice of certain un- 
scrupulous traders to sell arms and ammunition to the Indians, as well as to repair 
their guns. Miners at Orleans bar, knowing the great danger from this practice, 
on the sixth day of January held a public meeting and pledged themselves to do 
everything in their power to stop the traffic. It was decided that all persons 
detected selling firearms to the Indians should be sentenced to have their heads 
shaved and receive twenty-five lashes and thereafter be driven away from camp. 
It was also decided to make an attempt to disarm the Indians in the vicinity of 
Orleans bar. In pursuance of this object the head men of the rancherias in the 
neighborhood were notified that failure to comply with this request would be 
visited with death to any Indian carrying weapons, and a notice was given that 
all who refused to surrender their arms would have until the nineteenth of January 
to give them up. The Orleans Red Caps and a few other tribes refused to 
give up their arms, and matters stood largely this way until the middle of January, 
when a number of miners organized for the purpose of destroying the rancheria 
of the Red Caps. On the same day the company marched to the rancheria and 
demanded its surrender. Thereupon there was a volley of shots which killed 
William Wheeler and Thomas O'Neil and wounded several others. The death of 
these men demoralized the miners, who retreated to Orleans, and immediately a 
messenger was dispatched to Colonel Buchanan, in command at Fort Humboldt, 
asking him for assistance. He ordered Captain Judah and twenty-five soldiers to 
the scene of the difficulty. They were accompanied by Dr. Simpson of the medical 
staff. A party of volunteers on horseback also left the bay for Weitchpec. 

By this time the entire Indian country was beginning to assume a warlike 
attitude. The Indians knew every ravine and mountain path, as well as every 
stream which they could ford. Being children of nature, inured to all sorts of 
hardship and accustomed to a simple life, sometimes going hungry for days, they 
had many advantages over the whites, who were much disconcerted by the swift 
and swollen streams and deep mountain fastnesses that confronted them on 
almost every hand. By this time the Trinidad Indians and those on Mad river 
and Little river began to desert their rancherias for the mountains. Not long 
after this a volunteer company of white men, composed of miners and others, 
killed Tharash, a bad Indian leader of great cunning and boldness. The war was 
now on, for the Indians were stealing cattle, robbing and murdering the white 
men, burning houses and running wild in general. There were at least three 
thousand five hundred of them, about half of them being armed with pistols, 
revolvers or guns. 

Orleans Bar was the scene of many bitter hostilities, and it was not long 
before two white men were killed and several were badly wounded in that 
vicinity, the Indians meantime growing bolder and bolder, and their boldness was 
accompanied by great treachery. Dunham and Proctor were killed while at work 
near Orleans Bar on their mining claims. Lamm and Johnson were wounded 
at the same time and in the same vicinity, the offenders being Red Cap Indians. 

Captain Judah arrived at this moment and opened negotiations with the 
friendlier of the Indians. He consulted the leaders of the mining men as well. 



68 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and was of the opinion that peace might be obtained if the parties on both sides 
would Hsten to reason, but the miners were strongly for war, desiring if possible 
to exterminate their foes. About this time the Weitchpecs surrendered to Captain 
Judah. - A company from Union, commanded by Reason Wiley and F. N. John- 
son, arrived at the opportune moment. Peace failed, however, because Colonel 
Buchanan, a man of changing purpose and moods, ordered Captain Judah 
to return to Eureka. By reason of this unwise course an era of bloodshed that 
might have been prevented had Captain Judah been allowed to carry on his 
sensible plan, forthwith ensued. The Salmon river miners, hearing of the 
trouble below, at once joined their Klamath brethren for the purpose of hunting 
the Red Men. The Salmon miners, however, refused to join in an indiscriminate 
attack on all tribes of Indians, as they were requested to do by their friends. They 
said that it would be the height of folly to attack all Indians, whether friendly or 
hostile. Strife arose between the miners because of these conflicting views, and 
this was greatly to the advantage of the Indians. 

Captain Buzelle and his company arrived on January 24, 1855, and at once 
prevented a number of miners from killing peaceable Indians. Capt. U. S. Grant, 
later of Civil War fame, was at that moment at the mouth of the Salmon river, 
where several tribes had surrendered to him. The military men, as a whole, 
Captain Grant co-operating with them, prevented a number of hot-headed men 
from massacring a number of friendly Indians. The same cool-headed military 
men confined the hostilities of the whites to a fight against the treacherous Red 
Caps, who were the leaders of the Indian forces. 

About this time Capt. F. M. Woodward and some of his men were led into 
an ambush by unfriendly guides whom they were obliged to kill. No harm was 
done to the soldiers. Woodward's party soon thereafter killing twenty warriors 
and taking almost as many prisoners of war. 

News of the war had by this time spread throughout the settlements of the 
county, and those living away from the hostilities made up their minds to do 
everything in their power to help the men in the field. Merchants immediately 
opened their stores to the fighters and to the volunteers who passed through Union 
and the other settlements, whereupon long pack trains of mules began to carry 
provisions to the mines. Mining was then a very risky business and was almost 
abandoned, for there was no safety whatever for the men engaged in it. Nobody 
could travel or work without the aid of armed guards. About this time some 
malcontents attacked a rancheria of friendly Indians and killed a number of 
them. This .was a deplorable event. Some miners and others on New river, 
moved by a motive that surpasses our comprehension at this late day, and which 
the people of that time could not understand, sold firearms to the Indians, thereby 
causing the death of many brave pioneers. The events following may be briefly 
summarized in paragraphs as follows : 

March was a hard month of rain, snow, and heavy floods — no hope of relief 
from the governor or from the superintendent of Indian affairs. Both were in- " 
different. No representative of either the State or the Nation was on the ground 
to speak with authority, or nobody had been appointed to succeed Captain Judah. 

Volunteers remained close to camp— only a little desultory fighting— occa- 
sional lonely cabins or miners in isolated positions were attacked and the miners 
were killed. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 69 

The Hoopas and Weitchpecs, also some other Indians, offered to help the 
whites in their contest with the Red Caps, if the white men would protect the 
rancherias of the Indians while they were engaged in the warfare. 

April brought good news. F. G. Whipple was appointed Indian agent and 
he proved to be a man of considerable ability, and was honest. He was influential 
enough to have the commander at Fort Humboldt reassign Captain Judah to the 
command in the Klamath. The Indians believed in him, because he was a man 
of influence. He called a council of the friendly Indians and decided to do all 
he could to help the whites. 

By this time only about fifty Red Caps were left, but within twelve or four- 
teen days sixteen of them surrendered. Unfortunately, Captain Judah was again 
ordered to report to Eureka. It seems that a very curse of recalls followed this 
able man's footsteps. Captain Jones succeeded him, and Jones proved to be a 
very good man. He and Whipple at once started the Klamath reservation plans 
which proved successful for a time. The Red Caps, much reduced in number, 
consented to live on the reservation and were glad to accept reservation life as 
a good escape from the harassing position into which the whites had forced them. 

The miners, too, rejoiced because they were able to return to the bar and 
pursue their vocation without the danger of being killed. 

By 1856 the military authorities again showed signs of great negligence, and 
the Klamath tribes, growing restless under superstition, began to grow hostile 
again. They were swayed by superstitious beliefs of all kinds, and their imagina- 
tions were inflamed by reason of a number of earthquakes which then occurred. 
There was some excitement in the Hoopa Valley at this time and the reservation 
began to give evidence that it Avould be a complete failure. 

The Hoopa Indians were all good shots. There were two hundred of them, 
and it was the general opinion that they were more than the equal of any two 
hundred white men among the miners. Various tribes began to grow restless 
and hostile. For this reason a number of white famiHes became so alarmed that 
they left and made their homes nearer the settlements around the bay. About 
this time a few cattle were killed by the hostile Indians at Angel's Ranch. 

Soon after this Captain Snyder was sent up to the Klamath to pacify the 
Indians. They had confidence in him and he explained that the white people 
desired to know that the restlessness of the Indians did not presage a general 
outbreak. The Indians soon surrendered a number of guns to him, and peace 
was assured for a long time. In August there was a little uprising on Redwood 
creek, but it did not amount to very much. 

Occasionally Indians were flogged for stealing or some other little offense 
of that kind, though some of the bolder pioneers, even then, would have hanged 
them to the first convenient tree. The whites were often in a perilous position 
because there were so few of them, also because the Indians were numerous and 
restless, appearing to be eager to exterminate their foes. 

The Indians often tried and sometimes succeeded in ambushing and even 
killing the settlers. The settlers, however, were rather wary and often escaped 
from being slain by using their brains and avoiding the snares of the Indians. 

A number of atrocities occurred here and there during those times — notably 
one or two in the Eel River Valley country. David and Adolphus Cooper were 
slain by Indians and their bodies were mutilated by the wolves, for example. 
They were two of a family of five brothers who had come from Canada and who 
had trusted the Indians a little too far. 



70 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

We cannot pause to give a minute description of tlie trying events of those 
times, and must liasten on to matters of more importance. 

We might take a httle glance at the conditions surrounding a bold tribe 
known as the Win-toons. They were a desperate race of hardy Red Men who 
peopled the Bald Hills country and thronged in places remote from large streams. 
Bledsoe, the entertaining writer of Indian warfare, tells us that the Win-toons 
were a hardy race subsisting on game and nuts. As their principal occupation 
was hunting, unlike the lower or valley tribes who lived on fish, they early 
became accustomed to the use of firearms and were very clever shots. Even 
before Dr. Gregg and his notable company ascended the Trinity river there were 
a few guns in the possession of the higher mountain tribes of Indians, and when 
the valley Indians were using them ignorantly and with poor effect the Win-toons 
had become proficient in their use and this was anything but encouraging to 
travelers along the lonely trails. 

It may have been that their early acquaintance with the white men induced 
them to remain friendly as long as they did, for as long as they were friendly 
they could obtain firearms, also whiskey. For several years after the Klamath 
war they committed occasional depredations on the property of stock-raisers in the 
Bald Hills country, and when they saw their old hunting grounds deserted by 
the deer and the elk, the devil that is naturally in an Indian's composition began 
to assert itself. Revenge was sweet to the savage, no less than to the civilized 
man, and with a Wind fury, characteristic of the race, theirs was then cruel and 
atrocious. 

About this time several men were murdered in the mountains, one on 
Trinity trail near Grouse creek. This was a murder of a very heinous character. 
About July 1 three companies volunteered to go out after the Indians on Redwood 
creek and the upper Mad river, for they had been acting in a very hostile manner, 
having attacked a Grouse creek rancheria. Murderous white men were also on the 
rampage in the wildest way imaginable. They had shot several Indian boys, also 
others, and were in the habit of looking upon the Indians as their legitimate prey. 
Unfortunately they were men of so depraved a nature that they had no 
respect whatever for the rights of the primitive inhabitants of the forest. They 
hunted down good looking young squaws as if the squaws had been mere animals 
created for their own enjoyment, and often forced these young women to submit 
to their passionate desires. A number of half white children resulted from these 
forays of the men who thus violated Indian maidens, who were often regarded 
as worthless creatures except for rapes of this character. It is said that bands 
of white men, consisting of three or four depraved wretches, would often catch 
a young squaw or two and detain them for several days or weeks at their cabins 
and then permit them to make their way home as best they could. 

All this naturally inflamed the Indian's desire for revenge and many murders 
of white men followed in the guerrilla warfare that resulted from this conduct. 
The Indians began to plan as best they could to circumvent their white foes. There 
were many lonely trails and canyons, veritable death traps, into which the Indians 
often lured their foes. 

While citizens were raising many volunteer companies for the purpose of 
attacking the Red Men, the Indians were far from idle. Mass meetings were 
being held among the white men at Union, but meetings in the woods were being 
held by the Indians. While the white men were discussing the question of 
exterminating the Indians, the Indians, on the other hand, were discussing the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 71 

question of harassing the whites. At Union the sentiment for a time was that 
the only hope was in the total extermination of the Indians, but the Win-toons 
were also busy, and the plan to exterminate them seemed one that could not be 
carried out. 

The unprovoked murder of one Paul Boynton inflamed the white men and 
stirred them to action. About this time people were aroused by rumors of 
atrocities and decided to go along rational lines of warfare. Forty-eight soldiers 
arrived from Fort Humboldt and this, unfortunately, checked the popular move- 
ment against the Indians and the entire result proved later to be rather disastrous 
to the whites and was in the nature of fuel added to the flames. 

Governor John P. Weller, sitting at Sacramento in comfort, was slow to 
act. A. Wiley, then editor and publisher of the Times, pleaded for help and 
showed the necessity for action, but even then the Governor did not call for 
volunteers, nor did he seem willing to do anything to help the settlers in the 
Northwest. Fort Humboldt, strangely, was equally slow and sleepy — a mass of 
inactivity and stupidity at Sacramento and the same at Fort Humboldt. 

Here a peculiar event occurred. Suddenly news came from some Indian 
that a horrible massacre had occurred. It was reported that hostile Indians had 
murdered many families of peaceable Indians in the Mad River country and 
that the tribes of Indians friendly to the whites were in great danger. It was 
reported that the women and children of the peaceable tribes were wholly at 
the mercy of the more ferocious of the Red Men. The people of Union and the 
surrounding country at once began to hunt everywhere possible for firearms, 
desiring to go to the aid of the Indians, but just as the settlers were about ready 
to go forth to rescue the friendly Indians it was discovered, by reports from some 
ranchers and others, also by news from a scouting party, that there was nothing 
in the story. It was either a joke or a lie started by a few stray Indians. Stories 
of this character were frequent and the public was often excited by all sorts of 
rumors. 

Finally, after a long period of warfare which we cannot describe more 
fully here, the war came to an end. Hard pressed and half famished, the Win- 
toons were forced to surrender, but not until many lives were lost on both sides. 
General Kibbe and his troops had suffered terrible hardships for five and 
a half months. The settlers and the state owed them much, for they came to 
the rescue many times when it was believed that little help, if any, would be 
afl:orded to the settlers. The state of California finally paid them $52,000 as a 
mark of appreciation of their services. The Win-toons' went to their reservation, 
but did not remain there long in happiness. They began to feel the call of the 
wild and the desire to rove. They grew weary and began to desert the softer life 
of the reservation for the high country in the mountains, their native environment. 

As the situation developed the outlook for peace became more and more 
gloomy, for it was evident that neither the army nor the state would master the 
situation with any degree of celerity ; but the effective work of Kibbe and' his 
brave soldiers had now become only a memory. True, the Win-toons and others 
had been brought under the power of military force, and they knew that the 
military forces were strong when well directed, but the Indians were beginning 
to learn how to fight with their foes and they grew bolder as time wore on. 

A strong force like that which General Kibbe commanded could have sup- 
pressed the uprisings which were now inevitable, but the delay in paying volun- 
teers, owing to the sleepiness and redtape at Sacramento, had had an evil effect 



72 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

on the people and had warned the vokrnteers not to rush in where angels might 
fear to tread. 

About this time some of the bolder Indians began to commit murders in the 
Mattole valley and elsewhere. It was not long after this until the blankets, 
ammunition and arms of the murdered men were found on a rancheria and several 
Indians confessed that they had committed the deed. The case was one of 
peculiar atrocity, for the bodies of the murdered men were chopped up and 
thrown into the surf. 

It was evident that the only way that could be devised for rectifying these 
conditions would be for volunteers of the pioneers to go after the Indians without 
any hope of assistance or reward from the state. The news of these events spread 
throughout the county and caused a great deal of excitement, especially as the 
stories were exaggerated as they were passed along. 

By the beginning of February, however, there was a strong organization to 
go out and fight the Indians, and it was manifest that the Red Men were to be 
met with great firmness. In vain the volunteers appealed to Sacramento for 
arms, but no requisitions from the people in the lonely outpost of Humboldt were 
honored by the Governor at Sacramento. Not only was no attention paid to the 
petitions and the earnest oral requests, communicated by travelers who chanced 
to reach Sacramento, but the war claims, for some mysterious reasons, were not 
paid. Citizens who had rendered valuable services and furnished suppHes in 
good faith, and where every consideration of honor and of public policy should 
have prompted Congress at Washington to make necessary appropriations to 
cover the losses, were doomed to disappointment. It is no wonder that Bledsoe 
tells us that the farmers and settlers, hemmed in by innumerable difficulties, 
exasperated and maddened beyond control, were prepared to sanction the most 
desperate enterprises if they contained even the slightest promise of relief. 

Those who live in Humboldt county today, isolated though it be, can have 
no appreciation of the terrible difficulties that confronted the pioneers of the first 
ten years in the history of Humboldt county. It was about this time that one 
of those mysterious leagues which are sometimes formed by civilized man was 
hatched and began to plan its awful work of destruction which was fated to be 
executed upon the Indians. It will be best to speak of this briefly and to say 
that on Saturday evening, February 25, 1860, the most remarkable massacre ever 
known in Humboldt county occurred on what was then known as Indian Island, 
being now known as Gunther's Island. More than two hundred Indians of all 
ages and of both sexes were engaged in worshiping, dancing, feasting, and enjoy- 
ing themselves. Sometime during the night their stealthy foes, maddened beyond 
all imagination by knowledge of the treachery and continuous warfare that had 
harassed them, went to the island and killed every Indian there. When the sun 
rose oh the morning of February 26 its bright rays shone on a scene of death and 
desolation. Old men and women lay dead with their heads split open or their 
hearts pierced with daggers or bullets, while by their side, young in hfe's great 
battle, boys and girls alike lay peacefully sleeping in the sleep of death. Terrible 
was the destruction which had fallen vipon all these for the crimes that had been 
perpetrated during the year preceding. 

At other places throughout the county simultaneously similar deeds of 
violence had been perpetrated upon the Indians. At last the white men had 
become more barbarous than the savage, and every member of the mysterious 
league had sworn to keep the secret until his death. In the years that have passed 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 73 

no lip has ever whispered the story of the great massacres which then occurred. 
This deed excited great condemnation among a large class of the white people, 
but it stirred the Indians to the very depths of revenge and destroyed every hope 
of peace at that time. In the three massacres which then occurred more than 
three hundred Indians met their death, and the news of the uprising of the whites 
soon spread throughout the county. Immediately thereafter the county grand 
jury tried very hard to ascertain the names of the persons who were responsible 
for the killing of the Indian children and women, but their reports concluded that 
after a strict examination of all the witnesses nothing was elicited to enlighten 
them as to the perpetrators. They expressed their condemnation of what they 
called the outrage and regretted that their investigations met with a result so 
deplorable and absolutely void of facts. 

Three months of trouble and Indian warfare quickly followed in the wake 
of these massacres and some of the most terrible of all events of those times were 
then perpetrated by both sides in this warfare. It will thus be seen that the year 
1860, while it was one of war for the nation, it was one of a peculiarly atrocious 
war for the people of Humboldt county. At no time during the year was there 
anything like an abatement of the difficulties which had so long confronted the 
settlers — difficulties of the character which have been described in these pages. 
The Indians began to leave the reservations for the Klamath country, and those 
in the Hoopa valley showed signs of dissatisfaction. Evidently there were many 
conferences among the Red Men and they had decided to do all they could to 
harass and avoid the whites. It was not long before hostile tribes throughout 
the county were on the warpath in deadly earnest. A veritable reign of death 
followed. Many murders were committed during the last half of the year and 
they left a profound impression on the people. The community was startled out 
of any idea of peace that might have been entertained at the beginning of the 
year, for the Indians had entered on a fanatical attempt to exterminate the white 
people or drive them from the settlement. This naturally caused the people to 
hold mass meetings and take more active measures against the Indians. A two 
years' war ensued and many bloody deeds characterized this fighting. The 
Hoopas were the leaders in the fight on behalf of the Red Men, and Captain 
Flynn of the United States Army has been given the credit for leading the first 
actual engagement of the war, which occurred a few days before the massacre 
at Stone Lagoon in April, at a place called Big Ben^ on the North fork of Eel 
river. 

There was a notable raid at Trinidad, a terrible battle at Redwood creek, 
and a number of engagements between scouting parties and Indians followed. 
The mountaineers were the most active of the whites in pursuing the Indians at 
this time. They had enough to do when pack trains had to be escorted across the 
mountains and houses had to be guarded, for swiftly moving bands of savages 
had to be trailed over deserted hills and through dangerous canyons. The moun- 
taineers proved themselves to be very effective, and it was through their able 
battling with the reds that victory finally came to the white men. August and 
September brought desolation and death to the whites and reds alike in the 
vicinity of the Trinity mines. Bledsoe's history gives a wonderfully interesting 
account of this two years' war, and the reader who may be interested is referred 
to it. Not only so, but Bledsoe's wonderfully interesting volume should be con- 
sulted by any person desiring to know more minutely the facts concerning the 
Indian wars of the northwestern part of California. 



74 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

We have given the foregoing account, with some local color, simply to give 
the reader a general idea of the conditions which confronted the pioneers who 
founded Humboldt county. In -conclusion it may be well to give a view of the 
ideas entertained by those who have given careful consideration to the Indian 
question. 

It is the opinion of a number of investigators and men who have had a long 
and intimate acquaintance with the pioneers that the wars with Indians were 
caused very largely by the overbearing and criminal conduct of a comparatively 
few men. It is said that one of the most flagrant of the early incidents which 
led to the war was that of a man who attempted to assault a beautiful young 
Indian woman as she was going along with her boy. He allowed his passion 
to get the best of him and demanded that the woman yield to him. She refused 
and her son clung to her garments, whereupon the bully, made angry by the 
outcry of the boy, shot him down by his mother's side, after which he proceeded 
to carry her away to his tent. After this her people killed an ox and did some 
other deeds in revenge, and it was not long before the community was in an 
uproar. In speaking of these early Indian troubles, J. Ross Browne says : 'T am 
satisfied, from an acquaintance of eleven years with the Indians, that had the 
least care been taken of them, these disgraceful massacres and wars would never 
have occurred. A more inoffensive and harmless race of beings does not exist 
on the face of the earth, but wherever they attempted to procure a subsistence 
they were hunted down; driven from the reservations from the instinct. of self- 
preservation ; shot down by the settlers upon the most frivolous pretexts, and 
abandoned to their fate by the only power that could afford them protection." 
The massacre of the Indians still continued, and in February, 1861, thirty-nine 
Diggers were killed by the settlers on main Eel river above the crossing of the old 
Sonoma trail. A few settlers at Kentinshaw, at the beginning of the winter, in 
order to avoid danger to their stock from snow, moved down on main Eel river 
at the point named. Not long thereafter some of them returned to look after 
their houses, and found that the Indians had destroyed all of them. Thereupon 
a company started in pursuit of the offenders, taking along some friendly Indians 
to assist them. They found the band that committed the damage and killed the 
Indians, to the number stated above. The Indians at once retaliated as best they 
could and the settlers were driven from the interior. It was estimated that nine 
thousand head of cattle were killed by the Indians. Another war was at once 
started in which local volunteers participated. 

For many years, it is evident, that the Indians of the state in general were 
abused and defrauded of their natural rights and sometimes cheated out of 
government bounties. Their domestic happiness was disturbed by lawless adven- 
turers, and they were driven from their favorite fishing grounds and hunting 
places under a pretense of Indian hostilities, when the primary object in some 
cases was to get possession of choice locations and obtain money from the govern- 
ment for quelling disturbances. This statement will not apply as an indictment 
against the whole or even against a very large part of the early settlers ; but 
it is known that there was a large number of unscrupulous men who acted as 
here indicated. It is not strange that these encroachments upon the natural rights 
of the Red Men aroused their passions and inflamed their savage nature into a 
veritable fire, until they were driven to become dangerous foes to the white race 
and forced to cause much suffering. For a long time they retarded the growth 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 75 

and prosperity of the country, but it has been a good many years since there was 
any outbreak. 

A httle glance at the reservation question will show that under the act of 
Congress passed in 1864, it was provided that not more than four reservations 
should be set apart for Indians in Cahfornia^ and that these would be under 
two superintendents. The Hoopa valley, in Humboldt county, was of course one 
of the settlements. 

Congress, in July, 1868, authorized the abandonment of some Indian farms 
on Smith river in Del Norte county and removed the Indians to the Hoopa valley 
in Humboldt county. A resident of Humboldt county was employed, being an 
experienced mountaineer, well acquainted with the routes, to bring the Indians 
to the reservation in Humboldt county. 

The Hoopa reservation has an area of about thirty-eight thousand acres, and 
the valley is estimated to contain about two thousand five hundred acres of arable 
land. With the assistance of the Smith river reservation Indians, through sys- 
tematic and expert operation, a large crop of grain and vegetables was raised 
in the valley soon after they came there. The reservation was under a fine state 
of cultivation almost immediately and the government report indicates that it is 
now one of the best in the country. Where all was once bloodshed and Consterna- 
tion, peace and plenty now prevail. Those wars and those times are now only a 
memory, yet they are a part of history. 



CHAPTER IX. 
Life and Times in the Early Fifties 

One of the first things that impresses one who talks with an intelligent 
pioneer of '49 or '50 who retains a vivid recollection of "the days of old, the 
days of gold, the days of forty-nine" is that he was in the very morning of fife 
when he crossed the plains or rounded the Horn. The picture of a company of 
young men, each a bold soldier of fortune, is the inevitable impression left on 
the investigator after interviewing a pioneer, whether he came to Sutter creek in 
1849 or to Humboldt county in the early '50s. 

John Carr gives a vivid account of those who were his associates in those 
times, in his entertaining Pioneer Days in California. He tells the reader that 
he was always amused when he read the wholly incorrect accounts of pioneer 
days, as set forth by writers of later years. Their story books and newspaper 
articles were often illustrated by woodcuts of "rockers" and "long toms," while 
the portraits or cuts of the miners themselves were such that he sometimes 
imagined that the miners must be disturbed in their graves. It will be interesting 
to quote him, thus : "I sometimes think that, if it were allowed to the spirit of 
man to come back to this world, some outraged miner who sleeps his last sleep on 
the mountain side, or in the flats of California, would rise from his grave and 
haunt the artist who drew such caricatures of the early Californian miners. Most 
of the miners that I see in the woodcuts appear to be old, haggard looking men, 
with bent backs, slouch hats, and wrinkled faces, more like the picture of the 
tramp of 1890 than the honest miner of 1850. 

"As a rule the first immigrants that came to California were young men — • 
the very flower, physically speaking, of the United States ; and the pictures in 
the modern woodcuts no more represent them than they do Chinese. It has been 



1(> HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

my endeavor to give a correct history of the times and doings of the men and 
women of the past who were the pioneers of our civihzation and who planted 
American manners, customs, and laws in the great state of California." 

The sturdy young men who blazed the way for civilization in Humboldt 
county met with many hardships among the Indians and beasts of the forests. 
Not only so, but they had almost no social life. There were neither women nor 
children in the North until 1851, when Mrs. Joseph Ewing, long thereafter a 
resident of Eureka, had the honor of being the first woman to arrive in Trinity 
county. She became popular with "the boys" and was looked upon as the mother 
of the camp. She and her husband started the United States hotel and were 
followed by Richard Johnson and his wife, who lived for many years in the 
Bear River country. They also started a hostelry which they called Sidney Mill. 
Boys were also a rarity. The writer remembers talking with an old man of 
the name David Dean, a resident of Freshwater, who said he was the first boy 
who ever saw Eureka. He came from the East with his parents when very young. 
''I attracted as much attention as a circus," he said, "as some of the men followed 
me around as if they had never seen a boy before. They all treated me well." 

There was a rude form of justice, accompanied by force. It seems that 
about until the summer of 1851 nobody paid much attention to either poHtics or 
civil law. The miners made their own laws, civil and criminal. It seems that 
the Legislature of '50 and '51 passed the act creating Trinity county. Carr tells 
us that Shasta county was then the most northerly county of the state, and very 
little attention was paid to the state laws there. Under the act creating Trinity 
county, the whole of the territory embracing Trinity, Humboldt, Old Klamath 
and Del Norte, was embraced within the limits of Trinity. Nobody cared much 
about nor paid much attention to the act of the Legislature until the middle of 
the summer, when a crowd of men were seen riding into Weaverville by the 
astonished natives. 

Mr. Carr says : "They did not look Hke miners, and looked too honest to be 
gamblers. The query was, 'who were they?' We were not long in suspense, 
for they announced themselves as candidates for the offices of the newly made 
county of Trinity. They were residents around Humboldt Bay." 

It seems that Blanchard ran for county judge, C. F. Ricks for county clerk, 
John A. Whaley for assessor, Tom Bell for county treasurer, Dixon for sheriff, 
John A. Lyle and John H. Harper for senator, McMiUan for the Legislature. 
The list was almost complete. It was then that Mr. Ricks began his memorable 
fight for the county seat. He was anxious to get the vote for Eureka, and Whaley 
for Areata or Union Town, as it was then called, made the other fight. Buck- 
sport had many friends, but it did not amount to very much in the contest. 

It is interesting to go back to those early times for evidences of the social 
life and economic conditions in general. It seems that in those early days the 
United States mails were very uncertain and very costly, but whenever new mines 
were discovered or a new camp was located it is said that some enterprising person 
would go around and obtain all the names of the people in the camp. Soon there- 
after he would start a pony express and it was not much trouble to induce each 
man to take some kind of a newspaper. It is said that the Western men would 
usually take the Missouri Republican or the Louisville Courier- Journal, while the 
Eastern men took the New York Herald or the New York Tribune. The news- 
papers sold for fifty cents each, and the postage on each letter was $1. Men did 
not begrudge the $1 and were glad to receive mail at that price. It is said that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 77 

one could seldom go into a miner's tent or cabin without finding some of the 
newspapers mentioned. 

The houses of those times Vv^ere very crude. From four to six men were 
usually found in each habitation, and the same number were usually present at 
each "mess." Honesty was the rule, the only trouble, or almost the only trouble 
about property, being the theft of small articles now and then by wandering 
Indians. It was this habit of steahng among the Indians, in part, which caused a 
great deal of bitter warfare in later years. 

It was common to see stray horses and oxen wandering around camp. Some- 
times they would upset the unprotected barrels of sugar and. flour, or play havoc 
with the food, much to the amusement or disgust of the miners, according to the 
plentifulness of the aforesaid articles. But as there was generally a great scarcity, 
the funny side of the situation did not appeal to the miners until some years 
thereafter. 

The single house of a miner^ often situated near a spring or creek, was 
frequently the forerunner of a town. Those houses were hardly worthy of the 
name, being crude and having no floors except the earth itself. The beds were 
usually made of logs, which were squared so as to be comfortable, and lined 
with gunny bags or potato sacks. Fern leaves and hay were frequently used to 
spread over the log and soften it for a bed. The covering was of blankets, and 
on this the miners were rather comfortable and would have remained so but for 
the habits of those who did not use sufficient water and precaution with them- 
selves, for which reason many of the camps were infested with vermin. 

One of the comforting features of those houses consisted of large fire-places, 
which, in cold weather, always had roaring fires. They were built usually 
of granite or slate and were very capacious, being at least six feet wide. This 
great size enabled them to accommodate good sized logs and saved the miners 
and others of the camp from cutting the wood very short. 

Frying pans were frequent and flapjacks were common. The camp men 
frequently took turn about as to the cooking, or frequently one who was more 
good-natured than the others, or who was an expert at the culinary game, presided 
as cook. When a man would act as cook he was usually given good service by 
the others, who would bring him water and do the washing of the dishes. Some- 
times it was a great problem to find good food aside from the flapjacks and 
hardtacks of old times, but frequently quail, rabbit, coon, squirrel, deer, and hare 
were found. At times the meat was so scarce that miners, feeling a great desire 
for it, would eat coyote or even in some instances, a hawk. This condition was 
rare, however, and few of the old-time miners can recall times so hard as this. 

One of the great perils in many camps was from rattlesnakes, which were 
very numerous. A snake would cause consternation in a camp where bruin and 
the wild lions of the hills would be laughed at or hunted to death. 



CHAPTER X. 

Organization of Humboldt County 

In order properly to understand the early days and organization of 
Humboldt county the reader should gain some idea of the organization of 
the state and its first election. It should be understood that the first elec- 
tion held in California, in 1849, was not participated in by the residents of 



78 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the north, if there were any. In 1849 the state was not organized, and the 
election precints were established only in those interior towns and mining 
camps that had sprung into prominence during the few months after the 
great gold rush following the discovery by the immortal Marshall. Up to this 
time the adventurous feet of prospectors had not passed the beautiful ver- 
dure-clad hills of the northern latitude. Of those who were destined to be- 
come the founders of the county some were then in the Southern mines, 
others were toiling wearily westward or tossing upon the bosom of ocean 
around the Horn eager to reach the land of gold and sunshine. Many others 
were in. their Eastern homes with hardly a thought of the far-away land 
that was to beckon them to its shores. 

Elliott tells us that upon the subdivision of the State into counties in 
1850 Mr. Wathall, a member of the Assembly and of the delegation from the 
Sacramento district which includes the Sacramento valley as far as the 
Oregon line, proposed the names of Shasta and Trinity for the northern 
part of the State, which at that time included what is now Del Norte, 
Trinity, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Shasta, and a part of Butte 
county. 

It is interesting to reflect that when the State was divided into counties 
by the act of February 18, 1850, the northern region was generally an un- 
known land to the Legislators. The excitement in Trinity county was at 
that time at its very height, but still very little was known of the entire 
region, the population having progressed but little beyond the diggings 
on the Sacramento river and Clear creek, and about Shasta. All the north- 
eastern part of this territory was erected into one county called Shasta, with 
the county seat at Reading's ranch. The northwestern part was called 
Trinity county, with the county seat at Trinidad, and thus the territory was 
divided into Trinity and Shasta counties. 

All that portion of the State lying west of Shasta county and that 
which was afterwards formed into Trinity, Humboldt, Klamath, and Del 
Norte counties was created and known as Trinity county, but as it was yet 
a comparatively strange land it was attached to Shasta for judicial pur- 
poses. This action was taken because it was expected that a large popula- 
tion would soon be found on Trinity river and about the bay of Trinidad. 
Trinity county was divided in 1852, all south of a line due east of the mouth 
of Mad river being Trinity, and all north of that line being Klamath county. 

The California Legislature of 1850-51 provided for the organization of 
Klamath county and ordered an election to be held on the second Monday 
in June, 1851. The act was approved on May 28, 1851. 

The ofificers were duly elected and the county government took effect 
immediately thereafter. This act recognized Trinity county, and the ter- 
ritory consisted of Klamath at the north and Shasta at the east. The 
Legislature appointed commissioners to designate election precincts and 
superintend the election. Five commissioners were appointed, none of 
whom were from what is now Trinity county ; two were from Humboldt City, 
two from Eureka, and one from Union, the old name for Areata. 

The following were the first officers elected for Klamath : county judge, 
Dr. Johnson Price ; district attorney, William Cunningham ; county clerk, 
John C. Burch ; sherifif, William H. Dixon ; assessor, J. W. McGee ; treas- 
urer, Thomas L. Bell. 



HISTORY OF HUAIBOLDT COUNTY 79 

By act of the Legislature, approved May 12, 1853, Trinity county was 
divided into two parts. The western portion was organized into Hum- 
boldt county, and the eastern portion retained the old name of Trinity. 
The clerk of Trinity county was required to restore to the clerk of Hum- 
boldt county, the books, records, maps, and papers held by Trinity county, 
and the same became a part of the records of Humboldt county, includmg 
maps of the towns of Union (Areata), Eureka, and Bucksport. This change 
in boundaries made the territory into five counties as follows : Klamath, Siski- 
you, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta. 

The act provided that its boundaries should commence at a point in the 
ocean three miles due west of Mad river, thence due east from the point of 
beginning to Trinity river, thence up the Trinity river to the mouth of 
Grouse creek, thence south to the north line of Alendocino county, and 
thence to the ocean. This boundary was rather indefinite and caused con- 
siderable trouble thereafter. In 1874 Humboldt and Siskiyou counties ac- 
quired the territory of old Klamath county, and it no longer appears on 
the maps. In 1874 it was disorganized, divided, and attached to Siskiyou 
and Humboldt. Much the larger part was attached to Humboldt, and at 
this date the territory of the original two counties has become seven coun- 
ties, and one has disappeared. There at once arose a number of contests 
regarding the location of the county seat of Humboldt county. Rival towns 
along the bay did all in their poAver to obtain the coveted prize, and much 
bitterness of feeling resulted as the contest went on, as has been said else- 
where in this history. The town of Union was designated as the seat of 
justice, but Bucksport and Eureka were far from being reconciled. In fact 
they became jealous rivals. At the first contest for location of the county 
seat, people of Eel River, in conjunction with all the rural districts of that 
part of the county, joined with Bucksport and supported that place for the 
location, but Union, or Areata, bore off the prize. The air was filled with 
charges of fraud and dishonesty. 

A petition signed by more than one-third of the voters of Humboldt 
county was put in circulation and an application was made for another con- 
test, and this was entered into with great bitterness on both sides. In order 
to settle the matter an election by popular vote was immediately called. 

It is interesting to recall the claims which were set forth by Bucksport 
at the time of the second contest. In a signed argument the proposition 
appeared in the following language : "That Bucksport is the most appro- 
priate place for county seat in Humboldt county. It has the best townsite, 
the best natural advantages for a commercial city, and by far the best water 
off the bay for shipping purposes. That it is the nearest central of any of 
the places proposed, and most accessible ; that it will accommodate the 
citizens generally better than any other place, produce more general quiet, 
and that, when once established, will be far more likely to remain perma- 
nent than any other place on the bay; are facts of so general notoriety and 
so well established in the minds of the public, that arguments in sub- 
stantiation are unnecessary." 

In the Humboldt Times of October 14, 1853, is published a conveyance 
from William Roberts to the committee for the purpose of laying such 
honorable motives before the public as shall secure the selection of Bucks- 
port for county seat. Mr. Roberts agreed to convey by deed to the trus- 



80 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tees named by him a large portion of his quarter section of land at Bucks- 
port on which is situated that most beautiful plateau overlooking the bay. 
The deed provided for surveying the tract into lots 50x100 feet and that 
every citizen of the county "outside of Bucksport precinct shall be entitled 
to a lot of that size for the nominal price of $1 if he shall support Bucksport 
for the county seat and it be selected as such." 

The result of the matter was that neither place received the majority 
of the votes cast. Union retained the location until the act of the Legisla- 
ture in 1856, removing it from that place to Eureka, which act took effect 
on May 1, 1856. 

The board of supervisors at a special meeting April 12, 1856, accepted 
the proposal of R. W. Brett to furnish the county with a court room, two 
jury rooms, clerk's, treasurer's, and sheriff's offices, at Eureka for one year 
from the first day of May, 1856. Mr. Brett reserved to himself the use of 
the court room, and with this reservation furnished the rooms mentioned 
for $200 per annum. 

On Thursday, the first day of May, L. K. Wood, the county clerk and 
ex-officio recorder, removed the records, books, files, a safe, and other 
property belonging to those two offices to Eureka, in accordance with the 
act declaring Eureka the county seat of Humboldt county from and after 
that day. 

R. W. Brett, who owned the building at Eureka occupied by the 
county for court room and offices, had them improved by January, 1857, by 
having the court room extended through to the front of the building the 
same height and width, making the various spaces to some 25x25 feet and 
sixteen feet high. These rooms were used until the court house was built. 

In 1860 Humboldt county purchased a block of ground lying between 
Second street and the bay, being above the termination of First street and 
between I street on the west and K on the east, with a large frame building 
thereon built at that time. 

The contract was then entered into for placing this building on the 
block, adding wings thereto for a court house. The main building was 
eighty feet in length, parallel with Second street, by twenty-four feet deep. 
There was a front projection for entry way at the center extending towards 
Second street 12x26 feet. 

The affairs of the county were managed by what was known as the 
court of sessions from its organization in 1853 until 1863, when they passed 
into the hands of the board of supervisors. The county judge, as chief 
justice, and two justices of the peace as associate justices, composed the old 
court of sessions. Annually the county judge convened the justices of the 
peace of the county, who selected from their own number two who should 
act as associate justices of the court of sessions for the ensuing year. 

The duties of the court of sessions at first were chiefly to administer 
the affairs of the county, a function which is now always discharged by the 
board of supervisors. In time a radical change was made in the powers 
of this court by conferring upon it the criminal jurisdiction previously ex- 
ercised by the district court. It had the power to inquire into all criminal 
offenses by means of a grand jury and to try all indictments found by that 
body except those for murder, manslaughter, and arson, which were certified 
to the district court. In 1863 the court was abolished and its powers were 



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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 81 

conferred upon the county court. This was the highest local tribunal of 
original jurisdiction, embracing chancery, civil, and criminal causes. As at 
first created it had original cognizance of all cases in equity and its civil 
jurisdiction embraced all causes where the amount in question exceeded 
$200, causes involving the title to real property, or the validity of any tax, 
and issues of fact, joined in the appropriate court. 

This court had power to inquire into criminal offenses by means of a 
grand jury and to try indictments found by that body. In time the Legis- 
lature took from this court its criminal jurisdiction and conferred it upon 
the court of sessions, leaving it the power of hearing appeals from that 
court on criminal matters, and the power to try all indictments of murder, 
manslaughter, arson, and any causes in which the members of the court of 
sessions were interested. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Russians in Northern California. 

It will be recalled that the good ship Ocean visited Humboldt bay early 
in the nineteenth century. Its coming was at the time when sea-otter hunt- 
ing was attracting a large number of Russians to the northern shores of 
California. It is interesting in this connection to digress for a moment and 
consider the status of California with regard to the world at large during 
those early years of silence and comparative isolation. 

Though the Spanish did not visit Humboldt county, they regarded it 
as under their protecting wings. Mexico consulted Madrid concerning 
everything pertaining to the rights of nations in what was known as Alta 
California. There was a time when the northern part of California was the 
subject of parleying and negotiations between St. Petersburg and Madrid. 
Russia wanted to buy it or lease it for a long term of years. What would 
have become of Humboldt county if the Czar of Russia had bought North- 
ern California? This interrogation carries us far from the current of his- 
tory, but it is worth a moment's reflection. 

It should be borne in mind that under the Spanish rule commerce with 
the great world outside was strictly forbidden, but many ambitious naviga- 
tors from other countries began, early in the nineteenth century, to direct 
their ships toward the Pacific coast with a view to getting a foothold in the 
new world, of which they were hearing a great many glowing stories. La 
Perouse was probably the first foreign visitor. He arrived in 1786, and m 
1792 Vancouver saw the Pacific coast. In 1796, however, the Otter, a 
Boston ship, appeared at Monterey. 

One of the most remarkable visits from a foreigner was that in 1806, 
at which time a Russian ship came from Sitka, Alaska, and anchored in the 
bay of San Francisco under the command of Rezanof, an officer of high 
degree. He remained in the state for some time and made himself popular 
by reason of his learning and courteous manner. Incidentally, the sad story 
of Rezanof furnished Bret Harte with material for one of his most beautiful 
poems, which is known as "Dona Concepcion." It deals with the love affairs 
and the romantic ending of the courtship between Rezanof and Dona Con- 
cepcion Arguello, daughter of an illustrious Spanish commander. Rezanof 



82 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

became betrothed to the daughter of Arguello, who was then comandante 
of the Presidio, and this close relation enabled him to do a great deal of 
trading with the people, under a suspension of the old rule against such 
traffic, which had long been prohibited. 

Rezanof, or Razanofif, as it is often spelled, went to Russia on a mission 
of state, also to obtain the consent of the Czar to his marriage to Miss 
Arguello. He promised to return and lead the beautiful and trusting girl 
to the altar, but he died on his way across Siberia, perishing in a lonely hut 
to which he had been carried, after injuries received by being thrown from 
a horse. He arose from his bed too soon, being eager to join his bride, 
sufifered a relapse, and soon died alone and far away. Miss Arguello waited 
for many years, but the lover of course could not return, nor did she receive 
news of his death until the roses had faded from her cheeks and her eyes had 
often been wet with tears. Harte's poem shows how the maiden watched 
and waited throughout the lonely years, hearing in happy dreams the foot- 
steps of his return. And when the shadow at last fell across her life — 
when she heard that her faithful lover had died without being able to send 
her even a whisper — she became heart-broken and took no further interest 
in the affairs of the world. It was then that she became a nun in the 
Roman Catholic Church. She died in a convent, at Benicia, in 1857, having 
long served as on*e of the Sisters of Visitacion. 

Thus it will be seen that the ancient drama of the human heart had a 
beautiful setting in those far away times of adventure. It was the old 
grand pas,sion that unlocked the gates of San Francisco to the Russians, the 
same drama that broke the heart of the trusting young woman. It seems 
that Rezanof fell in love with the comandante's beautiful daughter as soon 
as he saw her, but when he left her it was forever. Harte thus refers to the 
patient waiting of the disappointed Concepcion : 

Long beside the deep embrasures where the brazen cannon are. 

Did she wait her promised bridegroom and the answer of the Czar; 

Watched the harbor-head with longing, half in faith and half in doubt, 

Every day some hope was kindled, flickered, faded, and went out. 

Rezanofs visit was followed, in 1812, by the coming of a number of 
Russian pioneers, whose purpose was trading rather than settling the coun- 
try. All produce that the Russians either raised or traded for was sent to 
northern Russian stations. The population, always unde- strict military 
governmient, amounted to about three hundred in 1840. It consisted of 
Aleutians, Indians, and Russians. 

Under the initiative of a large fur company they founded a trading 
station some nineteen miles north of Bodega bay, built a fort that has 
always been known as Fort Ross, although its Russian name is said to 
have been another word which sounds Uke the word Ross, and carried 
on a thriving trade with the simple aborigines, as well as with a number of 
Spaniards. The station was established in 1812 and did fairly well until 
1841, when it was abandoned. Long before this time, however, it was in 
evidence that the Russians would not try to colonize either Humboldt or 
Mendocino county, being satisfied to remain at Fort Ross and do their 
trapping and fishing from there. It should be said that the Spaniards and 
Mexicans had always looked upon that fort and the Russian settlements 
around it with disfavor. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 83 

When the Czar of Russia decided to abandon his fort he sold the Rus- 
sian holdings to Capt. John A. Sutter, an enterprising and successful Swiss 
pioneer, who played an important part in the later history of California, 
and on whose properties the famous James W. Marshall discovered gold in 
1848. It should be remembered, however, that the going away of the Rus- 
sians from Fort Ross did not mean that Russians and other foreigners were 
to be seen no more in northern California in those times. The Columbia 
and North American fur companies pooled their interests, and thereafter it 
was very common to see trappers, hunters and fur traders throughout the 
northern part of the. state, some of them visiting Humboldt county. It 
should be understood that not only the Spanish, but many of the others 
of those early times regarded the coming of foreigners with disgust, looking 
upon them with suspicion and regarding them as intruders. 

From time to time the Mexican Congress passed stringent laws against 
foreigners from every nation, not desiring them to gain a foothold in the 
territory. In spite of these measures, however, the influx of people from 
every part of the United States and from outside nations increased quite 
rapidly. Not many years had passed before Americans, English and French 
were actually in control of the bulk of mercantile pursuits. In this con- 
nection Soule tells us in his remarkable volume called "The. Annals of San 
Francisco," that runaway seamen and stragglers, as well as settlers from 
Columbia and Missouri, largely swelled the number o£ white settlers. He 
tells us that the indolent Spanish stupidly looked on while the prestige of 
their name, wealth, and influence passed into stronger hands. 

With the relaxation of the Spanish severity in the southern portions of 
the state there was naturally a large growth of outside population in every 
community, and several hundred of these worked their way into Humboldt 
county. It should be remembered that those who came to Humboldt county 
were largely from Nova Scotia and the New England States. They gave 
character to the population and the influence of their sturdy careers is felt 
unto this day. 

Tom Gregory, the poet, sage, and historian of Sonoma county, sheds 
light on the Fort Ross situation, which he has studied with much patience. 
He tells us that in 1811 Alexander Kuskoff sailed into Yerba Buena, but he 
did not appreciate or enjoy the reception he found waiting for him from the 
Spanish and local authorities, so he hurriedly departed in high dudgeon. 
As he went toward Bodega bay he saw a river flowing into the ocean, and 
promptly named it Slavianki. The name did not last long, tor General 
Vallejo christened it Russian river, which name it has always borne. 

Kuskoff halted at Bodega bay, still feeling highly insulted. While 
smarting keenly under that feeling he tried to annex the whole territory in 
that part of California to the Russian possessions, and threatened to go as 
far north as the Oregon line. He called the territory Roumiantzof. He 
thought he was doing wonders in his efforts thus to slice a large piece from 
the Spanish dominion. Russian surveyors at once began work, and before 
long had run their lines throughout Sonoma county and the Russian River 
valley. They ascended Mount St. Helena, leaving a copper-plate on the 
summit of that grand landmark, the same being inscribed with the date of 
the visit; and what is more important, the name of Princess Helena, wife 
of Count Rotscheff, commanding officer of Fort Ross. That the grant they 



84 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

bought was within the area now known as Bodega township, with or with- 
out other townships added, old records dimly show. Gregory says : "How- 
ever — and another credit to the Slavonians — this is the only instance where 
the original owners of Californian lands were ever paid anything. The 
price gladly accepted by the Indians was three pairs of breeches, three 
hoes, two axes, four strings of beads. Certainly this valuation was not a 
boom figure, but it must be remembered that California soil was then 
figuratively and literally rated as dirt cheap, preceding the arrival of the 
more modern real estate man with his florid literature." 

When Fort Ross was sold, after a long delay, and its far away day in 
court, it was purchased by Capt. John A. Sutter for $30,000, and finally sold 
to William Muldrew for about one-fifth of that amount, and for years it 
clouded the land titles from Tomales bay to Cape Mendocino. 

It should be remembered that Kuskoff's agriculturists around Bodega 
did very well. They put considerable grain land under cultivation and 
built a farm house. On his return from Sitka with a rich cargo of skins 
and glowing accounts of the mild summers, Count Baranof, the Russian 
chamberlain, was persuaded to establish a permanent settlement on the 
California coast. Gregory tells us that Russia and Spain were then as much 
at peace with each other as was possible in those stormy days, and it is 
quite possible that the Russian officer was acting under secret instructions 
from St. Petersburg. 

Baranof went nineteen miles north of Bodega bay to a place which the 
Indians called Madshuinuie. The Russians called it Kostromitinof. This 
hopelessly tangled the Spanish tongue, says Gregory, so they called the 
settlement Fuerte de los Rusos, and this finally became Fort Russ, later 
Ross, by the natural corruption of the tongue. The Russians built a high 
stockade overlooking the ocean. At one of the angles of the wall they set 
aside a space for the Greek Catholic chapel. Finally about twenty guns 
commanded the town and the sea. On September 10, 1812, by our calendar, 
the Russians celebrated the founding of their fort with the firing of guns, 
the celebration of the mass, and a period of feasting. 

The comandante at San Francisco notified Governor Arrillaga of the 
invasion of the Spanish territory by the Russians. The case went up to 
Madrid, but meantime the Indians and the Aleutians employed by the Rus- 
sians went on with their work every day, the Russians making desperate 
efforts to intrench themselves firmly in the agricultural line. They laughed 
at the very thought of anything like war. Many of the Russian soldiers 
married Indian women, a soldier officer performing the ceremony when the 
chaplain of the church was absent. 

The Russians would have been splendid farmers for the rough regions 
of Humboldt county if they had carried out their original intention of com- 
ing farther north, judging by their efficiency in Sonoma county. Few per- 
sons understand that the Russians had gained considerable of a foothold 
in Sonoma county, or begin to appreciate the magnitude and importance 
of this first Russian colony which planted the standard of its civilization 
there. Large amounts of butter and beef, lumber and fish, as well as all 
the products of the soil were sent to Sitka and the Hawaiian Islands. The 
colony was well supplied with horses, mules, cattle, swine, and poultry, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 85 

and with a fruitful continent on one side and an equally fruitful ocean on 
the other they were lords of the manor. Gregory tells us that while the 
Fort Ross garrison could have marched from Sonoma to San Diego at any 
time between 1825 and 1841 without much interference from the Spanish or 
Mexicans, the Russians began to show a disposition to leave California. 

The seal-poaching along the coast was giving out and driving the 
Russian hunters of Ross more and more inland to the farms — and farming 
as a means of wealth was somewhat beyond the desires of those then 
in charge. 

Governor Wrangell, of Alaska, the head of the fur company, realized 
that the Russians should control more territory than that immediately 
around Fort Ross, if they were to do anything. Therefore he approached 
the Spanish for the purchase of all of the country north of San Francisco, 
and west of the Sacramento river. This was getting pretty close to Hum- 
boldt county, as will be seen. There was a strong proposition made to the 
Spanish but it would seem that the officials of California had suddenly 
undergone a change of heart, as they were afraid to act. They submitted 
the offer to the authorities in Mexico. 

It is believed that the presence of the North Americans who were com- 
ing over the Nevada mountains in strong bands and planting themselves 
with all the airs of welcome visitors along the coast had much to do with 
Governor Alvarado's toleration of the Russians. 

The Californian, whether a subject of Spain or Mexico, feared and 
disliked the Americans, who had no fear, neither great love or respect for 
the greaser. 

It is worth while to bear in mind that the contract by which General 
Sutter acquired Fort Ross was signed on December 13, 1841, by Sutter and 
Kostromitinof in the office of the sub-prefect at San Francisco, this trans- 
action being thus legalized. Thus ended the power of Russia in California. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Topography, Climate and Scenery. 

Sometimes it has seemed strange that Humboldt county was not set- 
tled by white men until many years after the sweet-toned bells of Carmel 
and other missions had rung their messages to the aborigines of the south. 
The Spanish priests not only preferred the milder climate of the south, 
but it would have been exceedingly difficult for the missionaries to have 
overcome the natural barriers of mountain and forest, savage Indians, and 
climatic conditions isolating Humboldt from the world — barriers that are 
still unbroken during the winter season, in the absence of a completed 
railroad. 

It has already been shown that the early sea voyagers discovered no 
sea opening to the county, and the view they obtained was mountainous and 
forbidding. The county is the farthest north but one in the state, while 
Cape Alendocino, its most western point, is within a few miles of being the 
most western point of land in the United States. 



86 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

George A, Kellogg, for many years secretary of the Humboldt County 
Chamber of Commerce, thus describes the physical appearance of the 
county: "Humboldt county is situated nearly in the extreme northwestern 
part of California, its northernmost point being about thirty-two miles from 
the southern boundary of Oregon, from which it is separated by Del Norte 
county. Its southern boundary is the parallel of forty degrees north lati- 
tude, making its length north and south one hundred and eight miles, 
with a width averaging about thirty-five miles. Its area is 3,507 square 
miles, or in acres, 2,244,480. 

"In physical features it is a mountainous district, with over a hundred 
miles of coast line, a commodious harbor nearly midway therein, with 
numerous rivers flowing in a general northwesterly direction, and a promi- 
nent headland — Cape Mendocino. 

"Viewed from the sea, the entire county appears covered with an almost 
unbroken forest from the ocean beach to the mountain summits of its 
eastern boundary, although actually less than half of its area is forest 
proper, though much of the remainder is covered with a tangled and matted 
wilderness of brush. 

"Along or near the coast is the redwood belt — a dense and almost con- 
tinuous forest extending through the entire length of the county north and 
south, with a varying width averaging some ten miles. To some extent 
included in this belt, but principally to the eastward thereof, are consider- 
able forests of pine, oak, spruce, fir, alder, and madrone, making up an 
area nearly equal to that of the redwood. Still further to the eastward, 
and also in lesser degree within this forest region, are large tracts of bald 
hills covered with native grasses, which furnish the best of grazing lands." 

It is estimated that the redwood forests originally covered 538,000 
acres. More than forty billion feet of this, board measure, is still standing. 
Its value is so great that it has been estimated that if a circle forty miles 
in diameter were to be drawn from Eureka, the eastern half of it would 
contain more wealth of natural products than can be found in any similar 
area on the globe, not excluding the gold mines of the Rand. Of course, 
the western half of this circle would be the ocean. 

The surface of the county is for the most part hilly, even mountainous. 
The elevations begin almost immediately from the shore, increasing to the 
eastward until many of the peaks attain an elevation of from four to six 
thousand feet. From Mendocino to Trinidad Head the elevations are more 
gradual. In this depressed part of the county are found the largest bodies 
of rich, level land in the county. Here also exist the principal harbors, the 
mouths of the two most important rivers, most of the principal towns, and 
the greater part of the population. It should be said, however, that the 
completion of the through railroad, the development of Fort Seward as the 
metropolis of southern Humboldt, and some other events will change these 
conditions within the next five or six years so as to equalize the distribution 
of population. 

Humboldt county's coast line is one of rugged beauty, its aggregate 
windings north and south being about one hundred and fifty miles. In an 
air line it is one hundred and eight miles long and an average of thirty-five 
miles in width. It contains 3,507 square miles of land, or 2,244,480 acres. 
Its resources and possibilities make up a section teeming with wealth and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 87 

opportunity. Del Norte county lies between Humboldt and the Oregon line. 

Humboldt bay lies about half way between the northern and the south- 
ern boundary of the county. The bay has one of the best harbors on the 
coast, the most important but one in the state. Its tidal area is twenty- 
eight square miles ; its lineal channel is twenty-six miles. The numerous 
rivers and streams of the county flow in a northwesterly direction. There 
are many beautiful valleys in the county. Eel river, Mad river, Trinity 
river, Klamath river, Mattole river, Bear river, Van Duzen river. Elk river, 
Maple creek, and Redwood creek are all streams of importance. 

There is nothing mysterious about the climate of Humboldt county, 
which differs greatly from the climate of other portions of the state, espe- 
cially from the climate of Southern California. Places adjacent to the coast 
are never so hot as those locations either in or close to the great interior 
valleys. It should be clearly understood, however, that Humboldt county 
is directly influenced by the primal causes that give the entire state its 
equable temperature, freedom from cyclones, sunstroke, blizzards, and other 
unpleasant and destructive climatic disturbances. 

There is a wide range of temperature during the summers of Hum- 
boldt county. Eureka and the section for a few miles back of it have 
the coolest summer climate in the United States, the least yearly range 
between summer and winter not exceeding 37 degrees. Hot days are un- 
known in this favored section. A temperature of 80 degrees is regarded 
as high. In the valleys and hills, however, the thermometer reaches true 
summer proportions. The redwoods, moreover, conserve moisture and the 
woods are always cool. Like the rest of California, Humboldt county is free 
from summer rains. The prevailing winds from the west give the county 
that sea air which is the delight of the coast resorts in particular. The 
absolute highest temperature ever known in Eureka was on June 6, 1903, 
which was 85.2 degrees above zero. The lowest temperature ever recorded 
was on January 14, 1888, 20.3 degrees above zero. The average daily range 
of temperature in twenty-five years was 10.7 degrees. The average annual 
rainfall is 44.92 inches. The average winter temperature is 47.4 degrees 
above zero; spring, 50.2; summer, 55.3; autumn, 53.4. 

Thousands of persons ask "What gives California her mild climate?" 
without seeming to have the slightest idea what the cause is. For many 
years it has been taught that the Japan current is responsible for our 
weather. Everything pertaining to the verdure-clad hills of early spring, 
to the skies of blue and gold, and to the purely Californian skies, has been 
attributed to the Japan current ; but the expert climatologists regard this 
current as more of a myth than a reality. To give the cause of the climate 
in a sentence it might be said that the prevailing winds from the west are 
the fundamental cause of our immunity from excesses of heat and cold. 
The winds from the great warm Pacific are our salvation from the ills that 
afflict our eastern neighbors. Add this to the peculiar topographical ad- 
vantages, and the question is solved. 

The Federal Government has given us a scientific explanation. In 
"Bulletin L," a discussion of the climatology of California, issued by the 
Federal Government in 1903, Prof. Cleveland Abbe, of the Central Weather 
Bureau, Washington, D. C, says: "The prevailing easterly drift of the 
atmosphere in temperate latitudes, causing the well-known winds from the 



88 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

west, is one of the prime factors in modifying the climate of the coast of 
California. The coast line, stretching through ten degrees of latitude, is 
subject to a steady indraft of air from the west. In this movement, together 
with the fact that to the west lies the great Pacific ocean, lies the secret 
of the difference in temperature between the Atlantic and Pacific .coasts at 
places of like latitude." 

Incidentally, the rotation of the earth on its axis, in the whirl of more 
than a thousand miles an hour from west to east, determines the easterly 
drift of the winds in the northern hemisphere. The prevailing winds from 
the west' say at Chicago, bring the breath of winter from the fields of 
snow and ice. In the summer months the same winds from the west, fresh 
from hot and arid regions, bring sunstroke and melting heat, cyclones, and 
the many rigors of severe seasons. It is different on the coast because 
of the origin of the winds, which sweep over many thousand miles of the 
Pacific, whose average temperature is 55 degrees above zero, Fahrenheit. 
The explanation is simple. 

Aaron H. Bell, the official weather observer at Eureka, reports that the 
air off shore from Humboldt county is warmed by the ocean, this being due 
to the prevailing movement of the air currents from the ocean to the land. 
Proximity to the ocean is the principal cause of abundant rains and the 
absence of severe cold. When the air from off shore comes in contact 
with the cooler land currents, we get cloudiness or high fog, even when 
we fail to have rain. Mr. Bell continues as follows: 

"The mean temperature of the ocean water along the northern Califor- 
nia coast averages about 55 degrees, while the mean temperature of the air 
at Eureka is 51 degrees. A few miles back from the coast the climate is 
different. There, the temperature is higher and the weather mostly sunshine 
and delightfully pleasant. 

"The most important climatic elements are temperature and precipita- 
tion and the single element that appeals most directly to the sensations 
of the human body is temperature. The average seasonal temperatures 
at Eureka are as follows : winter, 47 degrees ; spring, 50 degrees ; summer, 
55 degrees; autumn, 53 degrees. The mean annual temperature is 51 de- 
grees, and the average daily range of temperature is 11 degrees. The warm- 
est month is August, which has an average temperature of 47 degrees. 
February has practically the same temperature as January. The highest 
temperature recorded at this station during the past twenty-five years 
was 85 degrees, and the lowest 20 degrees." 

Those unacquainted with the weather of Humboldt county should under- 
stand that the approach of winter is never heralded by fear; it is welcomed 
with feelings of joy. Summer wanes gradually, sometimes lingering like the 
Indian summers of the east until the halcyon days of October, or even until 
the soft brown tints of November tell that cooler nights and rains are near. 
Possibly then a gentle wind springs from the southeast, rushing toward a 
climatic disturbance in the northwestern part of the Pacific, possibly from 
off British Columbia. Soon a gentle shower begins, sometimes more like 
a mist than rain — sometimes a driving storm driven by a steady gale, but 
always without thunder, and never with cyclonic violence. Then, after a 
day or two of gentle rains the sun peeps forth from cirrus clouds, the air 
becomes clear, the foothills and mountains loom into view through the lens 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 89 

of clarified air, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and often the most charm- 
ing weeks of all the year follow the benign winter rains that mark the 
short days. 

It was not realized until comparatively recent times that the wild 
scenes abounding in the mountain fastnesses of Humboldt county are likely 
to be one of the greatest assets in its future industry, this by reason of the 
rapidly increasing tourist trade. In olden days, travel was too tedious to 
prove encouraging, but with the coming of better roads the conditions of 
yesterday are doomed to pass away. 

There are many movements under way to build better roads than have 
ever been thought of in the past. Chief Engineer Burrell, of the Federal 
Bureau of Highways, has made several visits to the county and outlined a 
system of roads that, sooner or later, will give the public a wonderful 
view of the spots of scenic grandeur. 

Every conscientious writer has always found it difficult to portray the 
splendid scenes abounding along the coast and in the mountainous interior 
of counties like Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino, without appearing 
guilty of over-statement; yet to become merely statistical in the presence of 
the sublime would be much like adding a column of figures during the 
rendering of a Beethoven symphony or during a performance of grand 
opera. The man who goes forth to picture the lights and shadows of the 
redwood forests, the beauties of the coast, will find it necessary to deal in 
colors. Nature, during the summers of Humboldt in particular, is full of 
high lights and minor chords. 

Of the delights of Humboldt county, volumes might well be written, 
for it is thronged with striking features. Most of the county is still little 
known to the masses who live within its borders. As a whole, it is a 
picturesque region as little known as any in the Golden West. It is a land 
of dreamy retreats. The isolation of some of the more rugged portions is 
almost as great as that of some of the remote fastnesses of Canadian 
North America, where primitive trapping and hunting constitute almost the 
only vocation among the hardy pioneers. 

Many parts of Humboldt county suggest such scenes as are portrayed 
by Fenimore Cooper in his descriptions of the early American frontier, 
barring the Indian warfare. Most of the remoter areas present a wide 
expanse of mountain solitudes, where long-bearded cabin dwellers amuse 
themselves by pursuing bears and mountain lions, by fishing and general 
sports — where venison, either fresh or jerked, is the staple article of diet, 
and where steel-heads and mountain trout, grouse and quail, are as plentiful 
as when Junipero Serra established the Franciscan missions in the South. 

Surely Portola, Ortega, Cabrillo, Ferrero, and Sir Francis Drake beheld 
scenes that were not much more primitive than some of those now common 
in Humboldt's wilds. Of course there were Indians when Winship discov- 
ered the great Humboldt bay in 1806, but the face of nature is in many 
places as virgin as of old. 

Nowhere on the American continent can more primeval surround- 
ings be found than in some of the remoter portions of Humboldt. Some of 
the old masters of wood lore are still unacquainted with the barber. They 
are at home with nature and the stars. These guardians of the primitive 
forests are often excellent companions and entertainers. The visit of a 



90 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tourist from the great outside world spurs them to become generous hosts 
and guides. Their rude tables are frequently laden with delicacies from 
forest and stream, tree and vine. Around their cabins grow luscious fruits 
and vegetables — food as delicious as any ever eaten in secret places. These 
brawny men of the generous west are at home amid scenes that impress 
the casual visitor with awe, or lure him like visions of Paradise. 

In a little book entitled, Humboldt, the Playground of the West, the 
writer of this chapter has tried to portray some of the striking features of 
the scenery of the county. It impressed him forcibly that painters and 
poets in common with lovers of nature, and men and women weary of the 
narrow life of cities, find rest amid the scenes that make Humboldt the 
Switzerland of North America, the playground of the Golden West. Such 
visitors stand entranced in the presence of peaks that kindle with glowing 
lights, or fade in the dissolving purples of afternoon. 

To become a sentinel on some of the crags overlooking the mighty 
Pacific, to behold the yellow shafts of morning light illumine the valleys, 
and watch the day march westward until it fades in the gloaming and de- 
parts over the sunset sea, is to become intoxicated with such day dreams as 
soothe weary nerves in a land of sleep and rest. 

To read of scenes that "set the pulses leaping" may please the timid 
and the sedentary, but the peaceful art of fireside exploring does not appeal 
to that large and increasing number of eastern and foreign tourists who 
have fallen under the lure of the Golden West, who feel toward this new 
land much as the first men felt under the spell that led them lo eat of the 
earth and call it delicious. 

To travelers in search of experiences that give an insight into primitive 
grandeur, Humboldt county, which Bret Harte called America's uttermost 
west, offers the luring variety of ancient redwood forests, mighty canyons, 
great mountain peaks, long stretches of thundering sea coast, and the 
solitary haunts of big game. Everywhere the prospect is wild and pleasing. 

There is an absence of monotony, for every turn of the trail reveals the 
unexpected. There is every variety from fertile valleys and bird-haunted 
spots of mystery to rugged mountains and roaring cataracts ; from the tem- 
pered light of the woods, "like perpetual morning," to the noisy sea-cliffs 
of picturesque old Trinidad. The vast forests alone are worth a voyage 
across the sea, for no other wooded area on the globe approaches them 
in extent and magnificence. 

The greater part of the county consists of virgin wilds, remote from 
railroads, and far from beaten paths. The summers in the forests are not 
only climatically perfect, but they are revelations of beauty, silence, and 
grandeur. Painters have noted the fact that the wonders of light and 
shadow here work their most luring spells. There is every tone from rosy 
dawn to melting sunsets and the sheen of moonlight nights. The songs of 
birds, the winds murmuring in the high branches, the music of unseen 
waterfalls, and the call of the wild beast to his mate, come over the morning 
hills of a world that is new and clean. 

Amid haunting mysteries of forest and mountain the visitor stands en- 
tranced with a picture that melts in strange weird lights. Now and then 
one catches the glint of flashing waters in cascades and pools amid the 
tangled wildwood of mountain retreats. It is not unusual to come upon 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 91 

untrodden Edens of mystery among the valleys and high plateaus; but at 
the very moment when one fancies himself alone, he is likely to meet with 
pleasant surprises, for amid the solitudes of scenic glories, lowing kine and 
bands of sheep now and then thread their way over little valleys that dip 
and rise until purling streams or crystal springs are reached. 

All forms and colors revel in the great empire of the ranges. Massive 
domes and sky-reaching peaks here and there suggest the mighty face of 
El Capitan, with phantoms of miniature Shastas and Hoods in the graceful 
distance — countless gorges and little Yosemites arresting attention along 
the way. 

From some viewpoints, especially in the vicinity of Trinidad, one may 
behold gray sea-lines afar, or cloud-capped peaks that lift their hoary heads 
toward the stars — wild prospects that stretch beyond the limits of human 
vision,, the entire spectacde unfolding vast panoramas from the yesterdays of 
geologic time. Many of the cycles in countless world-building processes — ' 
great cataclysms that changed the face of the globe — lie in strata piled upon 
strata, until the mind is bewildered in contemplation of Nature's restless 
forces of the long ago, and the changes wrought by erosion and millions of 
storms beating out their carvings through the long ages of the past. Here 
and there are mountain-high scars made by ancient glaciers, deep rents torn 
by primeval earthquakes, rock trenches, and the sculpturing of prehistoric 
floods. 

/ But over it all, like the mingling of the dawn and the dew, brood the 
gentle influences of thousands of years of forest life — for the great red- 
woods hide the geologic faults, and mantle the most rugged scenes with a 
majesty that cannot be forgotten. The spell of ancient forests is the unique 
and permeating influence of the characteristic landscapes of California's great 
northern wonderland. 

Those who like picturesque coast scenery will find it in its awful ma- 
jesty here. One must stand on the sand spits of the lagoons where the 
giant swells, coming through sixty feet of water, plunge in one mighty 
breaker as they roar and bound a htmdred feet high on the beach. This is 
the edge of the world, the Niagara of the mighty Pacific. The concussions 
rattle windows a mile away, and the booming disturbs slumber. 

Yet just back of these scenes are the mighty redwoods, tranquil in their 
hoary age. In the background are splendid trout streams that rush into the 
sea, plunging through canyons or rippling through peaceful valleys on their 
way. 

The world's greatest forest lies a mile or two from Dyerville near the 
South fork of the Eel river. This is known as the Bull creek forest. There 
are about forty trees to the acre— more than 4,000,000 feet of lumber. The 
trees are the largest in all the redwood belt. The redwood, or the Sequoia 
Sempervirens, grows in a limited area on the Pacific coast. This region 
extends from the southern boundary of Oregon to Punta Gorda in Monterey 
county. These wonderful trees are limited to the fog belt of the coast, 
rarely growing more than thirty miles from the sea or at an altitude above 
three thousand feet. Some of the largest trees reach a height of three 
hundred feet. The diameter at the base of the largest specimens runs from 
eighteen to twenty-eight feet. While the Sequoia Gigantea trees of the 
famous Calaveras Grove are taller and greater in age and diameter than the 



92 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

redwood, the redwoods are far more graceful. In some of the redwood 
specimens the diameter is great for a long distance — a hundred feet or more 
from the base of the tree. Their age carries one back at least a thousand 
years, before Columbus discovered America. 

In the one hundred twenty miles of rugged coast line of Humboldt 
county, with a land-locked bay consisting of twenty-eight miles of tidal 
area, with half a dozen rivers and scores of mountain streams flowing into 
the sea — rivers and streams fed by copious rains and always filled with 
fresh water, one finds all the favorable conditions for the sport old Izaak 
Walton loved so well that he wrote a famous book on the subject. 

In the springtime the smaller streams are a veritable Mecca for the 
lovers of the rod and reel. The wonderful brook trout are fitting objects 
of pursuit. Each of the small streams flowing into or near the bay teems 
with finny beauties running from six to twelve inches in length. One or 
two hours' run from Eureka brings the angler to Salmon creek, Elk river, 
Ryan's slough. Freshwater, or Jacoby creek. From any one of these 
streams many well-filled creels are the reward of the angler throughout the 
early months of the season. Yager creek is also a noted stream, and a 
favorite of the anglers. 

Farther away, toward the north. Mad river, Lindsay creek. Little river, 
Maple creek, Redwood creek, Prairie creek, and other streams are within 
from half a day to a day's journey. Each stream offers the finest sport 
known to fly, to troll, and to bait fishermen. To name the rivers and 
streams is to call up a train of delightful memories. The game fish in these 
streams are larger than those in the tributaries of the bay. Cut-throat 
trout sixteen inches long are common. 

Big lagoon. Stone lagoon, and Freshwater lagoon — three large brackish 
lakes, about forty miles north of Eureka — are delightful for those who enjoy 
fishing. Ordinary trout abound, but the lagoons are also filled with steel- 
heads from twenty to thirty inches long and weighing from five to fifteen 
pounds each. Rainbow trout of marvelous size and delicacy abound near 
the mouth of Maple creek. These are from twelve to thirty inches long 
and may be taken on the fly or the troll. These handsome fish are also 
found in Stone lagoon. 

South of Humboldt bay there are many excellent trout streams. Bear 
river and the Mattole, the Van Duzen, Lawrence creek, Larribee creek, the 
South Fork of the Eel and its many branches offer the very best of early 
season sport, and most of the streams named continue to yield splendid fish 
throughout the open season. 

Fly fishing for steel-head trout in Eel river is the incomparable sport of 
the county's anglers. The season begins in July and extends to the end of 
September, which is accounted the best month for this pastime. The steel- 
heads swarm the countless river pools. The open, broad river and the 
glorious background appeal to lovers of a real outing. The steel-heads, 
fresh from the ocean, are strong and vigorous. The fight they put up be- 
fore being conquered by the angler is worth a long journey by land and sea. 
These fish run from half a pound to twenty pounds in weight. Ordinary 
trout, salmon trout, chub salmon, King salmon, and some other varieties 
abound. Greig's, Weymouth, Fortuna, Alton, Scotia — these names bring 
pleasant memories to devotees of rod and reel. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 93 

The remarkable fact in Eel river fishing is that the prize may weigh 
anywhere from two to forty pounds. 

Humboldt bay abounds in rock-cod, flounders, smelt, herring, perch, 
tom cod, Alaska pickerel, sea trout and salmon. In the ocean are caught 
rock-cod, halibut, sea bass, hake, salmon, and some true salmon. 

Three or four varieties of clams abound in the bay — softshell varieties, 
razor backs, butter clams. Mussels are found on the rocks all . along the 
coast, but those at Trinidad are famous for their size and delicacy. Little 
river clams are noted for their delicacy. 

With the first rains of autumn come the runs of salmon on Eel river. 
Mad river and the Klamath. The net fisherman's season then begins. 
Crabs abound in the waters of the bay and ocean. 

The following list of the birds of Humboldt county was supplied by 
J. E. Smith, a prominent ornithologist of Eureka: Ducks — Mallard, gad- 
wall, widgeon, baldpate, green winged teal, blue winged teal, cinnamon 
teal, shoveler teal, pintail, wood-duck, redhead, canvasback, scaup-duck, 
lesser scaup-duck, ring-neck, goldeneye, bufflehead, old squaw, harlequin, 
ruddy. Geese — Lesser snow-goose, Ross's American white-fronted, Canada 
goose, Hutchins, white cheeked, cackling, black sea brant, emperor, whist- 
ling swan. Birds — American coot, California slapper-rail, Virginia rail, Wil- 
son snipe, long-billed dowitcher, knot, marbled godwit, greater yellow-legs, 
long-billed curlew, Hudsonian curlew, black-billed plover, kildeer, black 
oyster-catcher, mountain partridge, California partridge, sooty grouse, Ore- 
gon ruffed grouse, band-tail pigeon, and mourning dove. 

William Rotermund, a prominent taxidermist of Eureka, gives the fol- 
lowing list of animals to be found in Humboldt county : Coon, fox, martin, 
mink, otter, fisher (a carnivorous animal of the weasel type), civet-cat, 
weasel, wildcat, lynx, coyote, panther, black bear, brown bear, gray squirrel, 
ground squirrel, deer, elk, mountain beaver (almost extinct), mole gopher. 

One of the greatest improvements of modern years in Humboldt county 
is seen in the picturesque Trinity highway. It will be possible in the sum- 
mer season to reach either Redding or Red Bluff in the Sacramento valley, 
in from twelve to sixteen hours by automobile. In other words, the tourist 
may leave Eureka after breakfast and be in Red Bluff for a late dinner. 
He can then catch a train from Portland to San Francisco and be in the 
metropolis for breakfast the next morning. Or he can leave Redding or 
Red Bluff in the morning and be in Eureka in the evening. 

The scenery along this highway is pronounced as noble as any in 
America. In crossing the South Fork mountain an altitude of more than 
four thousand feet is reached, the summit itself being at least two thousand 
feet higher than the road. The Trinity highway begins near Mad river, 
mounting steadily until a panoramic view of great splendor unfolds itself 
beneath the tourist, in the background, or beyond his entranced vision amid 
the glories of towering peaks. 

There is not an opportunity here to specify the peaks and special points 
of the landscape in detail, but it should be said that King's peak, Yallo 
BoUas, Rainbow Ridge, and Lasseck's peak stand out in distinctive glory. 
Mountain lovers do not like to miss these remarkable elevations. Big game, 
wonderful fishing, and all that great scenery implies may be found in the 
vicinity of these landmarks. 



94 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Both President Jordan, of Stanford University, and Dr. Gilbert, his as- 
sociate in icthyology, declare Humboldt county the paradise of America for 
those who enjoy the sport of fishing. There are all sorts of opportunities 
for ensnaring the fishes of the streams and rivers with rod and line and net. 

Amid scenes of this character there are vast areas that offer the lure 
of adventure and the certainty of fortune, or at least worthy rewards, to 
men of foresight and industry^ — brawny men who ask only a fair chance. 
One who once falls under the spell of this land can understand why the 
legends of Gautama tell us that the first men ate of the earth and found it 
delicious. These Humboldt acres, beautiful yet rugged, hold hidden and 
awaiting fortunes for thousands who may soon seek the west for a perma- 
nent field of horticultural and agricultural activity. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Early Towns and Villages of Humboldt County, 

All old residents and writers on early Humboldt tell us that the popula- 
tion of the villages and settlements did not increase very fast during 1851 
and 1852, for the reason that the speculative class of people went away from 
the towns about as fast as the plodding sons of industry came in. 

Areata seems to have been the one exception to this statement, for all 
agree that its prosperity was quite marked during the time when other 
communities were suffering from inactivity. In the year 1851 business at 
Areata was unusually brisk, the population increased quite rapidly, and the 
air of prosperity was everywhere in evidence. 

About this time strong, vigorous men — pioneers in the lumber business 
— began to be attracted to the advantages of Areata and Humboldt county. 
The result was that the lumber business began to prosper as it had never 
prospered, and the nucleus of great fortunes was there and then laid. In 
spite of the fact that speculation was almost universal, a number of towns 
began to carry on their affairs along rational development lines. An old 
writer tells us that Union and Humboldt both opened trade to the mines, 
while Eureka began shipping piles and square timber. Thus, before the end 
of the year a large number of cargoes of these materials had been shipped to 
San Francisco from the waterways in the vicinity. 

Two other towns made strenuous efforts to build up a trade with the 
mining men, but in the case of Humboldt Point this effort was unsuccess- 
ful. Trains invariably left and went to Areata whenever there was no in- 
ducement offered them to go to the former place, and in July, 1851, it is said 
that the last train left Humboldt Point for the mining region, and after that 
time Areata enjoyed almost a monopoly. 

Bucksport, another important point at the time, has always been a place 
of interest in the history of the county. It was laid out in 1851, by pioneer 
David A. Buck, and it immediately took a position in the ranks of the rival 
towns of the bay. 

In 1854 the Masons erected a beautiful hall of two stories, with a school 
room on the first floor. Dr. Jonathan Clark built a handsome residence 
fronting directly on the bay there. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 95 

At this time the four towns of the bay were Bucksport, Humboldt, Eu- 
reka and Union. The first three had one store each, while Union had 
several large and prosperous establishments of this character. Bucksport 
was made the port of entry and in 1856 contained a church, two hotels, a 
saw-mill, a store, and several private residences. Fort Hamilton was built 
on a bluff in the rear of the townsite, commanding a view of the entrance to 
the harbor. 

It should not be forgotten that early in the year 1850 it was the general 
impression that Trinity river emptied into the ocean and formed a bay at 
its mouth, and as the mines on the river were reported to be wonderfully 
rich it was reasonable to suppose that if anybody could find this bay and 
lay out a town on it he would make a fortune by selling lots. It was about 
this time that a speculative mania was at its meridian in California, so 
there was no lack of men who were ready to imperil their lives and risk 
their property on a voyage of discovery for the chance of becoming pro- 
prietors of a city and consequently Monte Cristos. 

In Januar}^, 1856, several vessels were fitted out in San Francisco for 
the purpose of exploring the coast and searching for the mouth of Trinity 
river as mentioned by Buhne, Howard and others, and as spoken of here- 
tofore in this history. Humboldt bay and the mouth of Eel river were 
discovered soon afterwards and the party which discovered the latter 
thought it was the mouth of the Trinity. They therefore ran their vessels 
into the bay at its mouth and prospected for some distance in the hope of 
finding gold. These adventurers soon explored the country close to the bay, 
occupied Humboldt Point, and laid it out for a townsite in the year 1850. 

Union was settled soon thereafter and Eureka sprang into existence a 
little bit later. Each of the three places laid claim to a large tract of land 
for a site and before autumn's shades had begun to fall the entire margin 
of the bay was set forth as fit for city property and a large portion of it 
was actually surveyed into streets and blocks. 

Trinidad is another interesting place. It is said by the residents of 
Trinidad that it was the best port on the Pacific coast or at least, in the 
northern part, and they proceeded to make good the grounds of their claim. 

The location of Trinidad was considered very suitable even at that day 
for a harbor of refuge, because it is easy of access and open from the 
sea at all times. 

Pilot Rock is more than three hundred feet across the base and is one 
hundred and twelve feet above high water. The whole length of the break- 
water would be about two thousand six hundred feet with an average depth 
from shore to rock of about seven to eight fathoms. 

It was therefore said by those who watched the heavy action of the sea 
for several years that it would have been a safe harbor in all kinds of 
storms. There were many arguments brought forward to show that Trini- 
dad should be the metropolis of the county, and it is interesting at this late 
day to find that some of the arguments for the harbor of refuge are identi- 
cal with those which were put forth in those far-away times. 

Hydesville, a small place in the southern part of the county, is much 
older than many people suppose. It sprang into existence in 1858 on a 
place which was known as Gooseberry or on the Van Duzen forks of Eel 
river. The town derived its name from a Mr. Hyde, who formerly owned 



96 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the land on which it stands. Pine's Hotel was the first one built and the 
first general mercantile store in the place was built by Dr. M. Spencer, who 
conducted it for a number of years. In 1859 there was a wagon and car- 
riage shop there, also a blacksmith, a saddler, a carpenter, a shoemaker, a 
livery stable, and one store kept by I. Manheim & Co. There was a school 
which was taught by W. H. Mills, and had thirty-four pupils. Cooper's 
mills were turning out twenty-five barrels of flour a day. They were 
located about three miles distant from Yager creek and propelled by water- 
power. The town once showed, as these facts indicate, much evidence 
that it might become something far more important than it is today. After 
the first few years of flurry and apparent success the town began to lapse 
into what it is now, a mere trading point. 

Rohnerville derived its name from Henry Rohner, who resided near 
there for many years. In 1859 only one store was kept there, conducted by 
Rohner & Feigenbaum, and a hotel was erected by Brower & Woodruff. 
Its population has increased lately and the chances are that it will be a 
very good town. 

Recurring to Areata it should be said that it was formerly called 
Union. The name Areata was given to it in March, 1860. The Times of 
March 21, 1860, says: "No name could be more appropriate for a village 
containing such a sociable and fun-loving people than that of Union. Some 
romantic people about there ran away with the idea that Areata is a legiti- 
mate Digger word and means Union. This is not correct. It means a 
certain place in town where the Diggers were once in the habit of congre- 
gating, which in our language would be about the same as down there or 
over yonder. To some. Union may sound as euphonious as if called by 
any other name, but not so with us. Therefore other people may call it 
what they like, but we call it Union." Notwithstanding some opposition to 
the new name it easily stuck fast and became popular. Some of the old- 
timers insist that Areata in Indian means a bright or sunny spot. 

In 1854 we find that Areata had about fourteen stores carrying large 
stocks of goods, besides saddle and harnessmakers, jewelers, gunsmiths, tin- 
smiths, and several blacksmith and wagon shops, all of which did an active 
and profitable business. It seems that the first active officers of Areata were 
elected in April, 1856, under the order of county judge, incorporating the 
village. There were four towns on the bay in 1855 — Humboldt, Bucksport, 
Eureka, and Union. The first three boasted of a store each, while the 
latter had seven large wholesale establishments, with harnessmakers, sad- 
dlers, etc., as indicated. 

In 1856 Areata was connected with the ship channel by a plank road 
and a rail track two miles in length, passing over the intervening marsh flat. 
At the end of the rail track were built a fine wharf and some warehouses. 
By 1856 Areata had nine wholesale and retail stores, besides hotels, drug 
stores ; tin, harness and gun shops ; churches, etc. The town, unlike many 
others, was laid out after the Spanish style, with a plaza, around which are 
the principal business houses. There were two private schools in 1856, one 
for girls kept by Miss Hart, and the other for "young lads and girls," kept 
by Miss Webb. 

Eureka was originally founded in mining times and received a large 
floating population. One year it experienced a setback in lumbering and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 97 

other lines of business which made pretty hard times and decreased the 
population. 

Early in 1856 the county seat was moved to Eureka from Areata and 
business revived very much the spring thereafter. Ever since that date its 
course has been steadily onward, until now it is a city approximating 
fifteen thousand population, with excellent chances ahead of it. The town 
was incorporated on April 18, 1856, and the first election of officers resulted 
in a satisfactory manner as follows : Trustees, James T. Ryan, C. F. Ricks, 
A. F. Rollins, J. M. Eddy, and George Graham. C. F. Ricks was president 
of the board, and J. M. Eddy was secretary. 

It is interesting to know that Eureka contained a large number of saw- 
mills, general stores, hotels, boarding houses, drug stores, fruit stores, shoe- 
maker shops, blacksmith shops, livery stables, saloons, wagon and carriage 
factories, butcher shops, etc., a few years after it was founded. The first 
church was a rude structure surrounded by logs, stumps, and brush, and it 
simply had the title of "the church." It was used as the place of public 
worship for all denominations. It was a hall for the Sons of Temperance, 
for singing schools, school house, public speaking and various gatherings. 
It was not very long before a number of other churches and halls were 
built, and this was soon followed by the establishing of other institutions 
and houses for conducting business and taking care of the social welfare in 
general. The Humboldt County Bank, it is interesting to know, was estab- 
lished in 1873. In the same year John Vance built the city waterworks. 

Through many years of isolation and hope deferred Eurekans and Hum- 
boldters in general have been watching and waiting for the coming of the 
railroad which is to unite them with the world at large. Eureka has long 
been the largest city in the United States without a through railroad, but 
that condition is soon to pass away, as there is no doubt that the North- 
Avestern Pacific will be in full operation in the year 1915. (This is written in 
April, 1914.) Not only is this an encouraging sign, but the county has 
contracted to buy $1,500,000 worth of State Highway bonds, and this alone 
will guarantee close connection with the world at large. It will open up a 
wonderful field for tourists from other parts of the state as well as from the 
east, and will make it easy for those who are producing agricultural and 
horticultural crops to reach tidewater and the markets of the world. In 
conjunction with these improvements the jetties will be completed, the bay 
will be dredged, and the ships of the world, coming through the Panama 
Canal, will be able to reach the port of Eureka and give this virgin empire 
an outlet for its wonderful crops, its lumber, and all of those articles of 
use and beauty which the futtire is destined to bring forth from this rich 
country of varied resources. 

A writer on the subject has said that the completion of the railroad 
with terminal rates sure to accompany it, will make Humboldt bay the 
natural outlet of the vast territory of Northern California and Southern 
Oregon, also a shipping and manufacturing center of the first rank, for 
cheap sites, cheap power and cheap transportation can not fail to attract 
manufacturers in largely increasing numbers. 

The trip from San Francisco to Eureka by overland automobile, stage, 
or otherwise has been declared the most fascinating trip in America b}^ none 
other than the Rev. Wilham E. Rader, of San Francisco, who has seen many 

6 



98 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of the great drives and roads of the Old as well as the New World. In 
speaking of the distance of one hundred and fifty odd miles, he says that 
the entire course leads with few exceptions through nature's unbroken fast- 
nesses of forest and mountains. He adds that if one of the giant redwoods 
along this California path were set in Central Park, New York, or along the 
Thames in London it would attract more attention than the Metropolitan 
Museum or the Egyptian Obelisk. He adds : "A ride over this road in an 
automobile is a rare and exciting experience, disclosing picture after picture 
of natural magnificence, colored with nature's own brush, dipped in a magi- 
cal combination of atmospheric effect of light and shade. Variety of land- 
scape, majesty of outline in rock and mountain and vale, stretches of river 
and creek, unique geological formations, and a variety of wild flower, foliage, 
and tree life greet the eye at every turn, while now and then a deer 
crosses the path with a wondering, friendly look, as if it would recognize 
something" akin to itself in the automobile without a rifle." He remarks 
that the air is like wine, the sky like that which bends over Venice and 
Florence. The people one meets on the way are of a class which stands 
for the best in the Far West, for they are men of brawn and brains who 
have found their way into these mountain wilds, the last of the pioneers — 
for beyond their habitation rolls Balboa's Pacific Sea. To the far westward 
lies the Old East — Far Cathay — and they are made one by virtue of the 
cables, the wireless, and because of the higher affinity of commerce and 
the brotherhood of the nations. 

No wonder, therefore, that the people of Humboldt county and of 
Eureka expect to attract large numbers of tourists when the highway is 
completed. If a minister of the Gospel noted as a writer tells the tourist that 
by trusting in the skill of the gtage-driver and the providence of God he 
would reach his destination without serious troubles over this road of 
wonders it is well to take his advice. He says that if one would travel by 
rail and auto one leaves the train at Longvale and takes it again at Mc- 
Cann's. He says these metal threads are soon to be tied together when the 
tourist will substitute the train for the machine and all may enjoy scenic 
rides on the railway. Speaking of his second morning he says : "The next 
morning at seven o'clock we took the train again and in half an hour 
reached the end of the road at Longvale, where, in the depths of the forest 
we made the start in the stage for a ninety mile journey over high precipices 
and steep grades, around the sharpest turns, across sparkling trout streams, 
through groves of great trees, descending into the deep shadow of the giant 
redwoods, where we looked upon trees which stood before Christ was born. 
This road continued till we reached the Devil's Elbow six or seven hundred 
feet above Eel river at McCann's, where we descended upon a crooked road 
with breathless interest, if not fear — possibly the most thrilling and crooked 
road in all the world." 

Thus it will be seen, harking to the present from the olden time, that 
the hardships and conditions which the pioneers beheld have been swept 
away and forever. The future is destined to be much like that of other 
countries which cater to the tourist trade of the world. 

Like Switzerland, only ours is smaller, Humboldt county will give em- 
ployment to thousands of men and women as owners and employes con- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 99 

nected with hotels and resorts close to nature's untrodden wilds. The old 
order changeth and the past is passing away. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Early School and Educational Activity. 

Educators and lovers of historical data regret that there are no obtain- 
able facts regarding educational matters in early Humboldt. It is known, 
however, that the first school ever organized in the county was at Union, 
afterwards Areata, in the year 1852. Those whose memories are still vivid 
say there were about fifty pupils. Humboldt county was at that time a 
part of Trinity, and fond parents looked forward with much anxiety to the 
education of their own offspring, ever anxious that somebody should "teach 
the young idea how to shoot." 

It is reported that in the school year which ended on October 31, 1854 — ■ 
only two years after the establishment of the first school in Humboldt 
county — there had been three common schools, ordinarily called public 
schools, in operation in the county, according to the report of the school 
officers regularly constituted. It appears that there were at that time one 
hundred and eighty-six children of school age entitled to education from 
what was known as "the state school money." Mrs. A. E. Roberts, in the 
district of Union, had taught school nine months, it appears, in the year 
1854. In the Eureka district the school was kept for three months during 
1853 by a man who is remembered by the old pioneers as an ambitious 
educator — George W. Gilkey. 

Bucksport was by no means neglected, for in the Bucksport district a 
school had been kept for three months in the year by Miss Louisa Wasgatt. 
In addition to the public schools at Union there had been a private school 
kept for part of the year. The Hon. A. J. Huestis was superintendent of 
schools in the year 1855, and in November, 1855, the Bucksport school 
district was organized. This included Bucksport, Table Bluff, Pacific, and 
the Eel river towns. 

We read that Maj. E. A. Howard succeeded Mr. Huestis and that dur- 
ing his administration the formation of new school districts was a matter 
of frequent discussion and great interest, as was the obtaining of competent 
school teachers. One of the problems of much interest in that time was, 
owing to the infrequency and uncertainty of the mails, the forwarding of 
reports to the state superintendent's office at Sacramento promptly. This 
was necessary for the reason that if reports did not arrive there in time the 
county did not receive its proper proportion of the school funds. 

Referring to the first school districts, it is found that in 1856 there were 
only three schools organized under the common law — at Bucksport, at 
Eureka, and at Areata. Bucksport was quite prominent and the citizens 
there built a first-class school house — first-class for the old pioneer days — 
which answered the purpose of a village church and town hall for certain 
occasions as well. It is said that the second story was finished by the 
Masons of the vicinity and that they used it for their meetings. It is 



100 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COITNTY 

worth noting that Eureka was not behind at that time and that a school 
building was finished there at that period. Areata had not shown so much 
public spirit in this respect as she has shown in later years, although a 
school had been kept there once and the number of pupils at one time was 
greater at Areata, or Union, than at any of the other posts or villages in 
the county ; but the year after that Messrs. Jowby and Martin, of the trustee 
board, bought Henry White's house for $9000, one-half in cash, one-half to 
be paid in sixty days. The board caused this house to be fitted up tempo- 
rarily for the purposes of the school, and it was occupied by Mr. Desty for 
a school house in the year 1857. The next superintendent of schools in the 
county was Henry H. Severns, who reported in 1860 that the total number 
of districts in the county was nine ; the number of school children in Hum- 
boldt county was five hundred and two, and the funds were in the aggre- 
gate $803.04; and the expenditure for all school purposes in the county 
was $7,036. 

We read that the Rev. W. L. Jones succeeded this gentleman as super- 
intendent of the schools. It is said that he was an energetic and earnest 
superintendent and did much for the cause of education in those pioneer 
times when there was great demand for work by the boys and compara- 
tively little interest in their educational affairs. Some years thereafter Mr. 
Jones went to Hilo, in the Hawaiian Islands, where he was in charge of a 
private institution, and where, also, he made a record as a good instructor. 

J. B. Brown, at present the pioneer educator of Humboldt county, a 
prominent Mason and leading teacher, was appointed superintendent of 
schools when the Rev. Mr. Jones resigned, after which he was elected con- 
tinuously to the office until he refused to accept the position. Much in 
favor of Mr. Brown was said in those days because as a superintendent and 
teacher for more than fourteen years he had successful charge of the schools 
of Eureka, which prospered under his able supervision, and schools there 
compared more than favorably with the larger schools of California. 

FolloAving Mr. Brown's long and successful service, E. C. Cummings, 
who was the next superintendent, was engaged for a number of years as 
teacher in various parts of the county. He proved successful as a super- 
intendent, but previously to his term of office he had been an active member 
of the Board of Education and was re-elected to the office thereafter. He 
had no opposition at the first election, but at the close of his official term 
he withdrew from the profession of teaching. Perhaps it may be said that 
no county in the state of California ever developed more than Humboldt 
did during those times, for the school children increased in number and their 
parents were very much pleased to help the instructors. Twenty-four school 
districts then included all of Humboldt county — all she could boast of in 
those days, but soon thereafter the number grew to fifty-six, and more 
than eighty teachers were employed to carry on that work. The school 
aftairs of the county were thereafter ably managed by J. B. Casterlin. 

During the year 1882 the superintendent apportioned from the state 
school funds of Humboldt county the sum of $158.50 to each teacher as- 
signed to the several districts, and an additional sum from the same fund of 
$7.95 per capita on the average daily attendance as shown by the last annual 
report preceding the time involved. Ten per cent of the state fund of each 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY . 101 

district was also set apart for library purposes, and there was appropriated 
from the county school funds $13.50 for each teacher. 

In the old days considerable attention was given to debating, so-called 
rhetorical exercises, spelling, and the idea of thoroughness in the ordinary 
studies pursued in the ordinary school. 

A number of the most prominent men of California — men eminent in 
the law, the ministry, medicine, and other professions — received their educa- 
tion during those strenuous days, in Humboldt county. 

It was the custom of the old teachers to limit the studies of their 
charges to a number within the comprehension of a child's mind. The so- 
called nCAV fangled ideas did not receive much encouragement in those old 
days, but the fundamentals known as reading, writing, and arithmetic, were 
given special attention by those in charge of the education of the boys and 
girls of those distant times, many of Avhom have become prominent citi- 
zens of California in later days. 

It is impossible within the limits of a brief chapter even to indicate the 
lines of growth which have taken place in the educational field since the 
pioneer days of which we speak. Suffice it to say that the school system 
has been extended throughout the county, that the standard of efficiency 
in teachers has been increased by reason of normal schools, and that the 
press, the pulpit, and the public at large have always supported the public 
school system of the county, believing that the safety of the people de- 
pends upon the dissemination of knowledge among young men and young 
women. 

High schools have been constructed since those days, and Areata now 
has the Humboldt Normal, under the control of Prof. N. B. Van Matre, 
who was for several years a successful teacher and superintendent of city 
schools at Eureka. The new normal school has employed a number of 
eminent educators, and the outlook for educational matters is brighter, and 
the field is being enlarged, by reason of its activities. 

One regrettable occurrence must be referred to briefly in connection 
with the development of educational affairs in Humboldt within the last few 
years. We refer to the bitter fight between Areata and Eureka for the 
site of the normal school. Areata won, but not without some bitterness 
and a number of criminations and recriminations that might well have 
been omitted, to the betterment of the entire county; for.it is now generally 
believed that there can be no real prosperity if East shall fight West, North, 
South, hill, valley or any one part of the county, another. 

Eureka is now building (May, 1914) a large and modern high school at 
a cost of $150,000. Fortuna, Ferndale, and the other towns of the county, 
as well as the country districts, are enthusiastic for good schools. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Early Churches in Humboldt County. 

Fully ten years before the Civil war, when Humboldt county presented 
a wild spectacle to a comparatively small number of pioneers, many of 
whom were very wild themselves, there were churches in the county. 



102 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The doctrines of Christ were being propounded, and the sublime lessons of 
the Sermon on the Mount were being thundered from pulpits among the 
forests. Man's spiritual welfare was not neglected, for a band of faithful 
men and women worshipped at humble shrines which were rudely con- 
structed, even as they had been taught to worship at the shrines of their 
fathers. Several old men and women, now residents of Humboldt county, 
remember the first services and like to dwell on the story of the chimes as 
they were heard breaking the silence of the wilderness in the far-away 
days of Humboldt's beginning. 

There seems to be little or no doubt that the history of churches in this 
county begins with a meeting appointed for worship at Bucksport, early in 
the summer of 1850. The Rev. A. J. Huestis then occupied the pulpit and 
preached a stirring sermon. The services thereafter were held every Sun- 
day, with few exceptions, until 1853. Then as a field for missionary work 
the Methodist Episcopal Conference supplied Humboldt county by the ap- 
pointment of regular ministers or pastors, of which, at Eureka, the Rev. 
James Corwin was the first. It is said that the first Sunday school class 
in Eureka was started by a Rev. Dr. Charles Hinckley, on November 27, 
1857. "The school house now standing and still used as such on the corner 
of G and Third streets," says a writer of 1882, did duty on the occasion 
of religious exercises and lectures, for all denominations. It has long ago 
been demolished, however, and the present city hall occupies the site. 

It is said that the first Methodist Church building in Eureka was con- 
structed and dedicated in 1859. For the purpose of calling the worshippers 
the bell was obtained through the efforts of the Rev. Charles W. Hinckley, 
the pastor. It was hung at first from the top of a large redwood stump 
which was not far from where the building stood. It was Mr. Hinckley's 
custom to ring the bell himself, and also preach the sermon. It is said 
that he was an eloquent man and that the sounding of the bell was almost 
always the signal for an influx of most of the citizens of Eureka. To this 
statement there must be some exceptions, for a number of men preferred 
gambling, drinking, hprse racing, and like sports, to church. The pastor, 
however, was very popular in the olden day. 

The original building was sold and moved from the lot in .1866, thus 
destroying the interesting landmark — the first church at which services 
were ever held in Humboldt county. Another church was built and a 
heavy debt therefor was contracted, which hung over the congregation 
until 1874, when it was liquidated. The settlement of the debt Avas due 
very largely to the strenuous efforts of the Rev. Edward J. Jones, who 
was pastor and who bent every energy towards the accomplishment of his 
ambition. During the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Haswell the building itself 
was very greatly improved. There were sittings for something like six 
hundred persons in the gallery and on the main floor. The parsonage, on 
the adjoining lot, was a modest and unpretentious cottage, well furnished, 
and it afforded the usual comforts and conveniences of a modern dwelling. 
The aggregate value of the church property was then $5,500. The first 
trustees of this church were G. D. Wilson, A. J. Huestis and B. L. Waite. 
The number of members of the church up to 1882 was something like 
eighty, but the highest number reached in the times prior to that was one 
hundred. A very good library was arranged for the church and the Sunday 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 103 

school and as early as 1879 there were some three hundred volumes for 
the use of two hundred and ten scholars. 

The Rohnerville Methodist Church was organized in 1852 by Wesley 
Harrow, who preached near Eel river on a place then owned by Robert 
Roberts, a prominent churchman of those times. In 1853 the services 
were conducted chiefly by two local ministers. They were J. Burnell and 
a Mr. Springfield, whose personal or Christian name has been lost to 
history. By the year 1854 this church was connected _with the Eel River 
circuit, and James Corwin became the first regular pastor thereof. The 
charge was fairly prosperous and it was not long before it had fifty 
members. The pastor who followed, some years later, and had considerable 
success, was the Rev. H. H. Stevens, who preached frequently to the full 
capacity of the church, which was one hundred and fifty. 

The Methodists seem to have been in the ascendancy during those 
early years, for we read that the Methodist Episcopal church of Areata 
was also organized in 1850. The Rev. Asa B. White, the pioneer minister, 
in fact, of California, pitched his tent of blue cloth in San Francisco, where 
his voice was heard in prayer, in song, and in sermons as early as 1849. 
This remarkable man began his labors in Areata in the same old tent 
where afterwards stood Kirby's stables, and it was there that he organized 
the first church. Some years later the Rev. John B. Chisholm became a 
successful minister there. 

Contrary to the popular impression, Christ church, of Eureka, was not 
organized in the old pioneer days, for it does not date earlier than June 1, 
1870. Its services were held for a long time on every Sunday, and other 
services at the times appointed by the rector. On the evening of June 8, 
1870, the members of the parish met and elected a vestry which organizd 
by the election of Thomas Walsh, senior warden, and Robert Searles, 
junior warden. The vestry then called the Rev. J. Gierlow to the rectorship 
of the parish. This church was consecrated on February 5, 1871, by Rt. 
Rev. W. I. Kip, D. D., who afterwards became famous in California. The 
Rev. J. S. Thomson became rector on January 1, 1872, and was followed 
by the Rev. J. H. Babcock and the Rev. W. L. Githens. The Rev. H. D. 
Lathrop, D. D., of the Church of the Advent, San Francisco, accepted a call 
and entered upon his duties at Christ Church on July 14, 1878, and remained 
there for some years. The church with the rectory occupies one-quarter 
of a block handsomely enclosed with attractive yard. An old resident once 
wrote : "A chime of five bells, the gift of Mayor T. Walsh, rings out from 
its pinnacled tower its weekly invitations to worship and in the surprise 
of the moment takes the stranger back be5^ond the tall redwoods and the 
mountains to his distant home where he has perhaps heard similar chimes 
before. The interior appointments of Christ church are still continued as in 
the old days and are in harmony with the surroundings of the structure. 
The value of the parsonage was said to be $7,500 even in the old days, and 
its value has appreciated since." 

The United Brethren in Christ Church was situated at Rohnerville 
and the first minister sent there was Israel Sloan, who organized his first 
class on Eel river in 1862. The memory of this noble man's services is still 
dear to the old timers of Rohnerville, where he was buried in the old 
cemetery many years ago. . In 1865 the first class was organized. The 



104 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

first minister was the Rev. J. B. Hamilton. The society had a comfortable 
church, a good parsonage, and two ample camp grounds. One was on 
Eel river and the other was about one mile north of Springville. The 
church was entirely free from debt soon after it was started. The 
membership remained at eighty-seven a long time and the Rev. D. F. Lane 
followed the founder of the congregation. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Ferndale was established away back 
during the Indian troubles and planted in the midst of very great and baffling 
difficulties. The country was a forest and the circuit was very large and in 
a dangerous country, embracing Petrolia and Rohnerville. The minister in 
charge was frequently exposed to the dangers of savages and the crossing 
of swollen streams in the course of his urgent duties. Dr. Morrow organ- 
ized this church in the year 1860. The Rev. F. H. Woodward was long in 
charge with seventy-five members, about a third of that number usually 
being probationers. The church property in those days consisted of two 
lots, a church parsonage, and other equipments, also a camp-meeting 
ground. The value of the church was $400, and it was without any debt 
to harass those in charge of afliairs. 

The first Congregational Church in Eureka was organized on October 
30, 1860, but no record is extant showing the names of those who first served 
as trustees. It is known that Dr. Jonathan Clark, father of the present 
Mayor of Eureka, was president. The church was in charge of the Rev. 
W. L. Jones, who was its first pastor. He was a man of great industry and 
wide acquaintance, and many of the old-timers still remember him as a 
speaker of considerable ability. He was followed by the Rev. T. A. Hunt- 
ington. The greatest number of members appearing on the official minutes 
of the church in the old days was sixty-three, but it grew to a much larger 
membership a little later. The building and parsonage were neat and at- 
tractive in general appearance and for their respective uses were well fur- 
nished, being situated at the corner of Fourth and D streets. The church 
property was valued at $6000 and as said before the congregation was pros- 
perous and out of debt. 

The Ferndale Congregational Church was organized on IMarch 17, 1876. 
The first meeting of the society was held in a hall and afterwards in a large 
church building. On January 24, 1881, the church was free from debt and 
was dedicated with fitting ceremonies. Dr. Warren preached the dedicatory 
sermon, and Mr. Strong, whose Christian name has been forgotten, gave a 
resume of the work done by the society during the five or six years pre- 
ceding the meeting. The Hon. Joseph Russ aided the society very much 
during the early years by his donations. The church received from him the 
lumber for the building, also a splendid bell, and about one-sixth of the 
entire debt. The first pastor of the church was the Rev. E. O. Tade, and 
he was followed some years later by a prominent and popular man, by name 
Phillip Combe. The late A. Berding, Mrs. J. M. Lewis, and Dr. F. A. Alford 
were original and very active members of this church. The greatest mem- 
bership it had in those days was forty-one and the church property was said 
to be worth about $5000. 

The Presbyterian Church of Areata was organized on January 1, 1861. 
The Rev. Alexander Scott officiated as its first pastor and preached in the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 105 

Methodist Episcopal Church for about sixteen months previous to the com- 
pletion of his own church building. The membership consisted at that time, 
strangely, of only three members, B. Wyman, George Danskin, and Sarah 
Nixon, the latter remaining a long time as an active member. The mem- 
bership soon grew, however, to fifty-five, and the church was dedicated on 
March 31, 1861. It and the parsonage were pleasantly located, occupying a 
quarter of a block under a neat inclosure and with attractive surroundings. 
There were two organs and a library of more than two hundred volumes 
valued at $2500. 

The United Brethren in Christ Church met in its own house of worship 
regularly on every Sabbath for a number of years, being organized in 1877 
with D. W. Burtner as pastor. Its membership long consisted of twenty- 
seven members and its property was a neat church and parsonage comfort- 
ably furnished, worth about $1500. 

The Roman Catholic Church at Eureka was organized in 1858 with the 
Rev. Father Thomas Crinion as first priest in charge. He was followed 
some years thereafter by the Rev. Father C. M. Lynch, who was very popu- 
lar. The central policy of this denomination obtained for it a unity in its 
material as well as spiritual relations, which was unknown to the other 
churches of that time. The membership in Eureka attending administra- 
tions of the church in those days or soon after its founding approximated 
twelve hundred. The church building and parsonage were neat in appear- 
ance and were pleasantly located. The church afforded seats for about four 
hundred persons, and had a value of $5000. The building itself was., con- 
structed in 1861. Besides the foregoing the Catholic churches in the county 
in the early times were as follows : Ferndale Church, built in 1878, with a 
seating capacity of about two hundred ; Table Bluff Church, built in 1869, 
had about a hundred and fifty members. The property was valued at about 
$500. The Rohnerville Church was built in 1871, with sittings for about a 
hundred and fifty. There were also churches at Areata and Trinidad. 

St. Joseph Convent of Mercy was situated in Eureka and occupied a 
block commanding one of the most diversified and beautiful views of the 
city and the bay as well as the farther landscape of the surrounding country. 
Its inclosures were adorned with whatever of foliage and shrubbery and 
flowers could be obtained for the charming retreat. The institute, in charge 
of the Sisters of Mercy, enjoyed a high reputation in the olden days for its 
care and service. The number of sisters was nine, and the pupils sixty. 
The value of the property was even then about $10,000. Since those old 
times every church has made great progress in the way of increasing mem- 
bership and making an improvement of the accessories of church life. 

New sects, such as the Christian Scientists, have grown up since those 
far-away times, and there have been many church organizations to add to 
the activities of those who follow in the steps of the Lowly Nazarene. 

We might go into a detailed account of the work of the churches in 
more recent years, but that would be beside the purpose of a history such 
as this, which seeks to give the reader an idea of the beginning of things 
religious rather than an idea of the conditions which now exist. 



106 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Gold Mining in Humboldt County. 

No history of industry would even approximate accuracy if it should omit 
some account of the early mining excitement and mining scenes in Humboldt 
county, which really got its first impetus from the mining industry along the 
Klamath river. It is interesting to hear the early settlers describe the old Gold 
Bluff excitement of 1852, a period when by all accounts even the ocean itself 
became a miner and washed up thousands of pounds of gold on the beach of 
Trinidad. The accounts of the gold found in those olden days read like a 
romantic story from the times of the Spanish conquest. 

In those years it was generally said and quite commonly believed that almost 
any man of good enterprise and muscle, stirred by ambition, could take his hat 
and a wheelbarrow, and in about an hour gather up enough gold to last him for 
a year or two. But this excitement, bad as it was for some things, really led to 
the settlement of the county, although it did not lead to fortunes for those who 
followed it. It frequently made people dissatisfied with everyday affairs and 
created a gambling craze. 

In the early days placer mining was followed with a considerable degree of 
success on the Klamath river, but the gold digging has always been of nominal 
importance when contrasted with lumbering and agriculture. Recent reports 
from the Government at Washington indicate that Humboldt county may have 
a new era of placer mining, especially if modern methods of looking for the 
black sand containing platinum are put into use. 

It should be remembered that the Klamath river country north of the 
great redwood belt is possibly the most inaccessible part of the county, con- 
taining many mountains and rocky stretches of country. It is even yet unex- 
plored. 

For a time quartz mining occupied considerable attention, and during the 
period of the quartz mining excitement a few very valuable mines were dis- 
covered. For a long period hydraulic mining was carried on to some extent, 
and at one time there were twenty-four miles of running ditches. During the 
year 1880 almost four thousand inches of water were used in mining operations 
each day. The hydraulic mining met with little or no embarrassment such as 
confronted it in the Sacramento Valley country where the bottom lands were 
practically destroyed by the hydrauHc mining debris. Humboldt county has 
swift-flowing rivers and no bottom lands along their banks to be destroyed by 
hydraulic mining if it should be carried on in the north. 

For a long time a bench flume at Big Bar, which was eight miles below 
Orleans, was successfully worked by the hydraulic process. It yielded dividends 
for about five years, and it was the opinion of Judge J. P. Haynes at one time 
that this process would revolutionize all mining in the Klamath region. 

Prospecting was for a long time directed towards the high bars and benches 
on the Klamath which a number of persons believed would afford the best 
mining region in the state. The mining properties were owned very largely by 
private citizens, who pocketed their own dividends without consulting anybody 
else or any corporation. 

Orleans bar, a famous place upon the Klamath, was known for many years 
to the old miners, because the gold belts which run transversely throughout 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 107 

the Western states from Colorado, seem to terminate here on the Pacific coast. 
Placer mining was prosperous and a large amount of capital was invested in that 
enterprise. The early dreams of the placer and quartz miners were doomed to 
disappointment, however, for they failed to bring forth as much as had been 
hoped for in the way of profits. The beauty of the property when it was worked 
was that the slickens, which is a very serious question in some other parts of 
California, did not injure anyone on the land below. 

It should be said that gold has been found in almost every part of the 
county extending from Dobbyn's creek to the Trinity section and Scott's bar. 

An old writer says that the starvation times on Salmon river formed an 
interesting chapter in the history of that important region. So great was the 
fear of wintering that not half a hundred men were to be found on the stream 
in December, 1850. These had provided themselves with a sufficient supply of 
provisions and passed the winter comfortably. As soon as it was believed that 
the more rigorous part of the winter had passed, miners began to flock in 
from Trinity river, Trinidad, and Humboldt, and some came up the Sacramento 
river and even through the famous Scott valley. This was late in January, and 
early in February, 1851. Many of those from Trinidad and Humboldt were 
unprovided with supplies, as they had expected to find them on the river, and 
knowing that there were pack-trains at those points preparing to bring in pro- 
visions, they were a little bit careless. The result was that although a few 
small trains arrived with supplies the provisions were soon eaten up and there 
was a crowd of several thousand men without anything to eat, and this is the 
reason that the name of "starvation camp" attached to the neighborhood. In 
the month of March a terrific snow storm set in, and blockaded the mountain 
trails so badly that it was impossible for pack trains to pass through to the 
relief of the unfortunate miners. One may still hear stories of the sufferings 
of those days when the miners were forced to live on mules, on sugar, and some- 
times got along half-starved, on almost nothing. The olden writers tell us 
that those who took their rifles and went hunting met with very poor success. 
We read of one man who killed two grouse and was offered $8 each for them, 
but he declined the sale, for he needed them himself. The extremity to which 
some of the men were reduced was very great and for more than a month not 
a pound of extra food beyond the scant provisions they had on hand came to 
their relief. At last the packers got as far as Orleans bar, and men who had 
made a trail through the snow took small packs on their shoulders and carried 
them across the mountains to their starving friends. The records say that 
toward the last of April a train of mules made its way through to' Salmon 
creek and found a hearty welcome among the half-starved miners. Hundreds 
of men who had been snowed in had made their way over the mountains, some 
to Orleans bar, others to Trinity, and others to Scott's bar, and the newly dis- 
covered mines at Yreka Flat. They suffered terrible hardships on the way, and 
reached those places almost famished. 

Even in the olden days it was known that there were thousands of dollars 
to be made in the gold dust lying waste along the beaches of Humboldt county, 
but if it was a puzzle that could not be solved then, it is still a puzzle to capture 
the fleeting dust and flakes of gold from the sand. From Table Bluff to the 
Klamath river, over a distance of more than sixty miles, there is an almost 
unbroken gold-bearing sand beach exclusive of the Gold Bluff beach mining 



108 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

claims. The deposit is said to have accumulated from the crumbling debris of 
old gravel banks which came upon the beach and from the ample discharge of 
the waters of the Klamath river. 

This process of erosion and dissolution is going on continuously, and there 
is said to be not a panfull of sand along the entire expanse that will not show 
golden colors, while in many places where the action of the water has been 
just right the sands appear yellow in golden streaks. There were more than 
ten thousand acres of this gold-bearing sand worked between Table Bluff and 
the Klamath river for a time, and there are thousands of acres that might be 
utilized under modern methods today if those modern methods were to capture 
the secrets of utiHzing the fine gold. 

The Gold Bluffs are located on the beach twenty-five miles north of Trinidad 
and nine miles south of the mouth of the Klamath river. In the days of the 
early gold excitement of California, Gold Bluff was one of the most notoriously 
rich of all the placers. After many years it still held a reputation as a steady 
paying proposition, but the amount of treasure taken out of its claims will 
never be exactly known. The gold-bearing gravel bluffs extend some eight miles 
on the beach, and in many places the beaches are a perpendicular wall of un- 
broken gravel three and even four hundred feet in height. 

Some years ago a writer describing the conditions obtaining in this region 
spoke as follows : "Every winter, after the parching of summer has cracked the 
earth, the soaking rains of winter caused large slabs of earth and gravel to cave 
in and split off the perpendicular face of the bluff', millions of tons falling upon 
the beach. At high tide the noisy surfs washed to the base of the cHff, which 
is subjected to incalculable washing and swashing during heavy storms. The 
cakes of gravel become dissolved and are ground to pieces and carried about by 
the action of the water." 

From time to time and during a long period of years efforts have been made 
and a great deal of money has been invested in the attempt to save the fine gold 
that could be found in large quantities along the beach from Crescent City to the 
mouth of Little river. As heretofore said, this gold is very fine, a mere scale, 
and to separate it from the sand is the problem that has baffled the skill of almost 
all inventors. It is known that a large number of machines have been put 
on the market, backed with claims that they would accomplish wonderful results, 
but as yet, the machine to do the work has not seen the light of day and most of 
the beaches which gave promise that they would make many men rich have been 
abandoned. It may be that some day the beach mines will be worked to advan- 
tage, but this can not be until great improvements have been made on the 
methods which now obtain. 

Recent reports by various departments of the Federal government indicate 
that placer mining may reach a stage of perfection which will enable many of 
the tracts of gold-bearing sand in Humboldt county to be worked to advan- 
tage. It should be said in conclusion that the government reports indicate that 
Humboldt county's placer mines contain, probably, some of the richest platinum 
possibilities to be found anywhere in the United States. At any rate the Hum- 
boldt county placer mines are destined to receive a great deal more attention 
from mining men, engineers, and scientists than they have ever received in 
the past. 




LOGGING IX THE REDWOODS 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 109 

CHAPTER XVII. 
History of the Lumber Industry. 

No history of Humboldt county would be truthful or at all complete 
without an exhaustive account of the great redwood forests and the lumber 
industry. Although the lure of gold first drew men to the wilds of this virgin 
region the lumbermen soon followed in the wake of the pioneer gold-hunter, 
and it was not many years before brawny men and women from the Atlantic 
seaboard — men acquainted with the logging business — began to see how they 
could lay the foundation for many fortunes by following the vocation which 
they and their forefathers had followed in the East. Some of the early settlers 
were much impressed with the great silence of the magnificent forests of gigantic 
trees which stretched over a vast expanse of lowland and hill from the northern 
to the southern limits of the county. 

When men like Bret Harte first beheld these glorious forests they began 
to wonder how old they were. It was not many years before men of science told 
them that these trees had reached maturity long before the birth of Christ, They 
were old when Daniel was thrown into the pit, before Cicero was born — before 
Plato tried to solve the mystery of human life, before mighty Caesar ruled the 
earth. For more than sixty years white men have stood with uncovered heads 
in these ancient groves, and men of faith have looked toward the infinite. Every- 
body has always been impressed with the fact that CaHfornia has no com- 
petitor in the redwood industry, for no other state has ever contained this 
monarch of all trees. Washington and Oregon may boast of their pines and 
firs, but the redwood belt ends at the Oregon fine. It is a narrow belt, following 
the coast rather closely at broken intervals. - 

The durability of redwood was testified to by the fact that the cabins 
built by Captain Grant in the '50s were in good order, though they had stood 
the storms of the years between 1852 and 1885, since which they were gradually 
torn down by relic hunters and others. The walls were solid and sound, 
while both doors and windows had perfect joints. Strangely, too, the shingles 
gave unimpeachable evidence of the great merit of redwood. They had neither 
rotted nor shrunk, and a number of them were on exhibition at the Columbian 
Exposition in Chicago in 1892. 

The history of the manufacture of lumber in Humboldt, the stages of 
progress made from the first saw log to the present time, is a most interesting 
page in the record of progress and development of Humboldt county, but the 
general merits, the adaptabiHty of this timber to supply the demands of commerce 
and of structural work, at once involve the question of the area covered — the 
entire belt — as an available source of supply. This can be estimated only 
approximately, for two reasons : The redwood, even where it is the sole occupant 
of the land, varies exceedingly in density ; and, second, in many places it is inter- 
mingled with white fir, spruce and pine, in quantity sufficient to constitute nearly 
or quite one-quarter of the area and total stand in feet; that is to say, of the 
estunated acreage of original standing timber in Humboldt county 125,000 acres 
may be accepted as timber other than redwood. The same illustration will apply 
to the whole belt. Humboldt and Del Norte contain that portion of the belt 
which is held to be the best stand, clearest timber. 



110 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

George A. Kellogg, for many years secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, 
has made a careful study of the redwood industry and of the forests themselves. 
He has written many booklets and newspaper articles on this subject. From those 
articles the following facts and paragraphs, many of them in his own language, 
, are gleaned : He calls attention to the fact that the most prominent and inter- 
esting physical feature of the land Hes in her unparalleled forest of redwoods. 
Aside from their consideration as factors in the commercial and industrial world 
these forests fascinate every beholder. He who sees them in their primeval 
majesty for the first time is likely to gaze upon their gigantic trunks and tower- 
ing spires in wonder and admiration that find no tongue. Nothing can be more 
awe-inspiring and impressive to the visiting stranger than to pause in the very 
heart of a dense forest, where the trees reach upward from two hundred to four 
hundred feet, completely shutting out the yellow shafts of light of even the 
brightest day, and casting twilight shadows among the boles and trunks of the 
giants. These scenes remind one of Em.erson's description of a forest as having 
the light and softness of perpetual morning. Like the sequoia gigantea, these 
immense trees now stand as the most remarkable monuments of vegetable growth 
on earth — gigantic in size, symmetrical and straight as an arrow, firmly planted 
and strongly rooted. No wonder they impress the observer as the unmoved and 
changeless sentinels of the passing centuries, except that they grow larger, taller, 
and more grandly majestic as the centuries slip like shadows into the past. 

Almost from the initial settlement of Humboldt county in 1850, its mag- 
nificent redwood forests, reaching down to the very shores of Humboldt bay, 
indicated by the near conjunction of exhaustless timber and navigable waters 
what the principal industry of this favored region was to be. Hardly had the 
first settlements been efl^ected until enterprising spirits began to convert the 
endless forests into marketable lumber, and never since that time has the long 
procession of white winged sailing vessels, or their successors, the steam schoon- 
ers and the foreign tramp steamers, all laden with Humboldt redwood, ceased 
to dot the blue waters of the broad Pacific. Year in and year out this traffic has 
been maintained and increased, always holding sturdily its position as the main 
factor in the trade and commerce of Humboldt bay. And for many, many years to 
come will this pre-eminence be maintained. 

The beauty and majesty of these redwood forests have long impressed upon 
far-seeing people the great necessity of preserving a considerable tract of this 
timber as a public park for the benefit of future generations. And several efforts 
have been made along this line, but so far without successful result. At the 
present time a bill is pending before Congress which authorizes the appointment 
of a commission to visit Humboldt and investigate the necessity and advisability 
of securing some tract of these trees as a public reserve and park. And recently 
a large timber owner, Charles Willis Ward, now resident here, has initiated a 
plan to secure a tract of some fifteen thousand to twenty thousand acres, the 
plan being to obtain large subscriptions from wealthy and public-spirited citizens 
sufficient to cover a considerable portion of the cost, and then ask the govern- 
ment to make up the balance. It is sincerely to be hoped that one of these efforts, 
or a combination of the two of them, will bring about the desired result. 

The redwood forest in Humboldt extends in an irregular but compact belt 
from the southern to the northern boundary of the county, parallel to and near 
the coast, for a distance of about one hundred and eight miles. It varies in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 111 

width from two or three miles to ten and even fifteen miles, averaging about 
five miles in width. Originally there were about 538,000 acres of this remark- 
able timber in Humboldt, of which some 458,000 acres are still standing. At the 
commonly accepted estimate of 100,000 feet of all timber products to the acre, 
there is still 45,800,000,000 feet of uncut redwood in Humboldt, sufficient to last 
for more than a century at the present rate of cutting. 

The stumpage value of this great timber belt is an immense present and 
future resource of this section. Twenty years ago this value ranged from fifty 
cents to $1 per thousand feet. Now the minimum price is $2 per thousand, and 
as high as $4, and even more^ has been paid for tracts with especially favorable 
locations. And these prices will be steadily augmented as other available timber 
sources grow scarcer, and as the demand increases with the growth of population 
throughout the country. 

Applying the present minimum value of $2 per thousand feet to the forty-five 
billion feet of standing redwood and we find that this one resource of Humboldt 
county is now $90,000,000, and this value is constantly increasing. And it is safe ; 
for redwood forests in their natural state will not burn. Being without resin, and 
protected by thick, non-inflammable bark, and with the constant condensation 
of moisture from the foggy atmosphere of Humboldt due to the thick and heavy 
stand of these great trees, it is impossible for fire to gain any headway, or to do 
any serious damage to these compact standing forests. 

Redwood has no pitch, and the acid in it seems to resist combustion. It is 
difficult to ignite, and a fire of it is easily extinguished. It strongly resists decay, 
the lower portions of the trunk especially, being the equal if not the superior of 
any known wood in this respect. No known land insect will prey upon it, and only 
the teredo, against which marine scourge no wood is proof, will injure it. Red- 
wood shrinks but little in drying, and none at all after that. Neither will it, when 
once dry, swell to any extent on being wet. Its shrinkage lengthwise is, propor- 
tionately, much greater than across the grain. It is little affected by extremes of 
weather conditions, and so is especially adapted for patterns, mouldings, tanks, 
vats, flumes, house finishings, and railroad ties. 

Its color is a rich red, varying from that of light red cedar to the deepest 
mahogany. In general appearance and qualities it resembles red cedar more than 
any other wood. Quite a percentage of it is curly grained, and this variety is 
especially adapted for interior finishing in its natural color. The great size of the 
tree and its freedom from knots render it possible to get planks of almost any 
desired width without knot or flaw. Much of this lumber shipped to AustraHa 
and other foreign countries as "rough clear" is in great planks of pieces six or 
eight inches in thickness, and from twenty-four to thirty-six inches or more in 
width, absolutely clear. Redwood is soft in texture, and easy to work. This, 
taken in connection with the extra widths that may be had, and its weather endur- 
ing qualities, make it a most convenient and serviceable wood for building pur- 
poses. 1 

The manufacture of lumber in Humboldt began in 1850, but was at first \ 
confined to pine, spruce, and fir. as the great size and weight of redwood logs ) 
placed them beyond the primitive facilities of that early date to handle and saw. ^ 
Nor were the good qualities of redwood as a lumber known to the pioneer 
lumbermen of that day, while they were familiar with the other woods men- 



110 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

George A. Kellogg, for many years secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, 
has made a careful study of the redwood industry and of the forests themselves. 
He has written many booklets and newspaper articles on this subject. From those 
articles the following facts and paragraphs, many of them in his own language, 
are gleaned : He calls attention to the fact that the most prominent and inter- 
esting physical feature of the land Hes in her unparalleled forest of redwoods. 
Aside from their consideration as factors in the commercial and industrial world 
these forests fascinate every beholder. He who sees them in their primeval 
majesty for the first time is likely to gaze upon their gigantic trunks and tower- 
ing spires in wonder and admiration that find no tongue. Nothing can be more 
awe-inspiring and impressive to the visiting stranger than to pause in the very 
heart of a dense forest, where the trees reach upward from two hundred to four 
hundred feet, completely shutting out the yellow shafts of light of even the 
brightest day, and casting twilight shadows among the boles and trunks of the 
giants. These scenes remind one of Em.erson's description of a forest as having 
the light and softness of perpetual morning. Like the sequoia gigantea, these 
immense trees now stand as the most remarkable monuments of vegetable growth 
on earth — gigantic in size, symmetrical and straight as an arrow^ firmly planted 
and strongly rooted. No wonder they impress the observer as the unmoved and 
changeless sentinels of the passing centttries, except that they grow larger, taller, 
and more grandly majestic as the centuries slip Hke shadows into the past. 

Almost from the initial settlement of Humboldt county in 1850, its mag- 
nificent redwood forests, reaching down to the very shores of Humboldt bay, 
indicated by the near conjunction of exhaustless timber and navigable waters 
what the principal industry of this favored region was to be. Hardly had the 
first settlements been effected until enterprising spirits began to convert the 
endless forests into marketable lumber, and never since that time has the long 
procession of white winged sailing vessels, or their successors, the steam schoon- 
ers and the foreign tramp steamers, all laden with Humboldt redwood, ceased 
to dot the blue waters of the broad Pacific. Year in and year out this traffic has 
been maintained and increased, always holding sturdily its position as the main 
factor in the trade and commerce of Humboldt bay. And for many, many years to 
come will this pre-eminence be maintained. 

The beauty and majesty of these redwood forests have long impressed upon 
far-seeing people the great necessity of preserving a considerable tract of this 
timber as a public park for the benefit of future generations. And several efforts 
have been made along this line, but so far without successful result. At the 
present time a bill is pending before Congress which authorizes the appointment 
of a commission to visit Humboldt and investigate the necessity and advisability 
of securing some tract of these trees as a public reserve and park. And recently 
a large timber owner, Charles Wilhs Ward, now resident here, has initiated a 
plan to secure a tract of some fifteen thousand to twenty thousand acres, the 
plan being to obtain large subscriptions from wealthy and public-spirited citizens 
sufficient to cover a considerable portion of the cost, and then ask the govern- 
ment to make up the balance. It is sincerely to be hoped that one of these eff'orts, 
or a combination of the two of them, will bring about the desired result. 

The redwood forest in Humboldt extends in an irregular but compact belt 
from the southern to the northern boundary of the county, parallel to and near 
the coast, for a distance of about one hundred and eight miles. It varies in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 111 

v/idth from two or three miles to ten and even fifteen miles, averaging about 
five miles in width. Originally there were about 538,000 acres of this remark- 
able timber in Humboldt, of which some 458,000 acres are still standing. At the 
commonly accepted estimate of 100,000 feet of all timber products to the acre, 
there is still 45,800,000,000 feet of uncut redwood in Humboldt, sufficient to last 
for more than a century at the present rate of cutting. 

The stumpage value of this great timber belt is an immense present and 
future resource of this section. Twenty years ago this value ranged from fifty 
cents to $1 per thousand feet. Now the minimum price is $2 per thousand, and 
as high as $4, and even more^ has been paid for tracts with especially favorable 
locations. And these prices will be steadily augmented as other available timber 
sources grow scarcer, and as the demand increases with the growth of population 
throughout the country. 

Applying the present minimum value of $2 per thousand feet to the forty-five 
billion feet of standing redwood and we find that this one resource of Humboldt 
county is now $90,000,000, and this value is constantly increasing. And it is safe ; 
for redwood forests in their natural state will not burn. Being without resin, and 
protected by thick, non-inflammable bark, and with the constant condensation 
of moisture from the foggy atmosphere of Humboldt due to the thick and heavy 
stand of these great trees, it is impossible for fire to gain any headway, or to do 
any serious damage to these compact standing forests. 

Redwood has no pitch, and the acid in it seems to resist combustion. It is 
difficult to ignite, and a fire of it is easily extinguished. It strongly resists decay, 
the lower portions of the trunk especially, being the equal if not the superior of 
any known wood in this respect. No known land insect will prey upon it, and only 
the teredo, against which marine scourge no wood is proof, will injure it. Red- 
wood shrinks but little in drying, and none at all after that. Neither will it, when 
once dry, swell to any extent on being wet. Its shrinkage lengthwise is, propor- 
tionately, much greater than across the grain. It is little affected by extremes of 
weather conditions, and so is especially adapted for patterns, mouldings, tanks, 
vats, flumes, house finishings, and railroad ties. 

Its color is a rich red, varying from that of light red cedar to the deepest 
mahogany. In general appearance and qualities it resembles red cedar more than 
any other wood. Quite a percentage of it is curly grained, and this variety is 
especially adapted for interior finishing in its natural color. The great size of the 
tree and its freedom from knots render it possible to get planks of almost any 
desired width without knot or flaw. Much of this lumber shipped to Australia 
and other foreign countries as "rough clear" is in great planks of pieces six or 
eight inches in thickness, and from twenty-four to thirty-six inches or more in 
width, absolutely clear. Redwood is soft in texture, and easy to work. This, 
taken in connection with the extra widths that may be had, and its weather endur- 
ing qualities, make it a most convenient and serviceable wood for building pur- 
poses. 

The manufacture of lumber in Humboldt began in 1850, but was at first 
confined to pine, spruce, and fir, as the great size and weight of redwood logs 
placed them beyond the primitive facilities of that early date to handle and saw. 
Nor were the good qualities of redwood as a lumber known to the pioneer 
lumbermen of that day, while they were familiar with the other woods men- 



112 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tioned. In 1855 the first cargo of redwood lumber was sawed and shipped to 
San Francisco. In 1862, the introduction of the circular saw gave additional 
impulse to this industry. In 1886 the band saw began to replace the circular saw, 
and its economy of timber and other advantages soon gave it the lead, and now 
all the mills in the county are fully outfitted with band saws, which, perfected 
by time and experience, seem now to be the acme of progress in this direction. 
In the beginning, the old-fashioned sash or muley saw mill would cut from 4,000 
to 8,000 feet per day. Now a single band saw mill is rated at from 60,000 to 80,000 
feet per day, while a double band mill, especially if provided with a band splitter, 
may produce from 200,000 to 240,000 feet of lumber per day. The eleven large 
mills now operating in the county are rated as having an aggregate capacity of 
1,500,000 feet of lumber per day, or 450,000,000 feet in a working year of three 
huiidred days. 

The improvement in methods and facilities in logging has fully kept pace 
with the advancement of the mills. Owing to the great size and weight of the 
trees and their thick stand on the ground, redwood logging offered many prob- 
lems not met with in other woods, but these conditions have been met and con- 
quered, and now redwood logging moves along smoothly and systematically, con- 
ducted by men who know how. In the beginning, the logs handled were small and 
comparatively light, and they were moved by means of oxen, on bob-sleds. Soon 
heavy trucks with solid wooden wheels replaced the sleds, but with oxen still 
as the motive power. In the early '70s the oxen were partially replaced by horse 
teams. About 1874, logging railways were introduced, and in 1882 the steam 
donkey began to be used to assemble the logs in the woods. Ten years later the 
heavy and powerful bull donkey came in. At first these were mostly stationary, 
but later on they- were made removable, making changes of location readily 
practicable. And now the bull donkey and the logging railway have replaced all 
other forms of logging machinery and adjuncts, and the glory of the ox team 
and the horse team as essentials in redwood logging has passed away forever. 
One of the unique features of redwood logging still further illustrates the security 
of this timber from fire. After the trees are felled, freed from limbs and the bark 
peeled off, a fire is set and all the trash and underbrush burned oS. These 
fires never penetrate the adjacent standing forest, and the logs on the ground are 
seldom appreciably injured. In no other commercial timber would this pro- 
ceeding be possible. 

Prior to 1889 no attempt was made to record the output of the mills or the 
shipments of lumber from the county. But by figuring from the amount of land 
cut over during that period it is estimated that the total lumber production from 
1885 to 1888, inclusive, was about 2,500,000,000 feet, of an approximate value 
of $40,000,000. 

Beginning Avith 1889 fairly accurate records have been kept of the ship- 
ments from the county, no attempt being made to include the amounts used 
within the county, although the amount so used is considerable, as practically 
every building and structure in the county is built in whole or in part of red- 
wood. It should be remembered that the following figures include not only 
what is commonly known as "lumber," but also any and every form of manufac- 
tured timber, such as shingles, shakes, posts, bolts, ties, etc., that is capable of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 



113 



reduction to approximate lumber feet. The figures from 1889 to 1913, both 
inclusive, are as follows : 



Year 



Feet 

120,545,800 

161,455,000 

152,517,613 

166,855,262 

152,749,713 

111,751,264 

128,785,709 

100,460,581 

133,717,278 

128,291,255 

163,640,590 

162,635,560 

218,280,060 

221,595,486 

272,054,860 

274,054,860 

313,495,560 

360,671,090 

374,539,400 

300,804,570 

339,891,500 

368,527,700 

367,139,720 

415,925,400 

369,633,766 
Totals for twenty-five years, 1889 to 1913, 5,^ 
525,607. Totals for thirty-four years, 1855 to 18 
$40,000,000. Grand totals, fifty-nine vears to 1914, 8,380,422,877 feet; value, 
$142,525,607. 

The above figures seem stupendous when considered as the result of only 
one industry (although the principal one) of Humboldt county, for the fifty-nine 
years from 1855 to 1914. But when one reflects that less than one-sixth of the 
available redwood in this county has been cut and manufactured, the immense 
potentiality of the remaining timber resource may be in some measure realized. 

On this one industry alone Humboldt might live and thrive through the next 
century; for it is certain that for all that time to come the hum of the band saw 
or some improved machine, as it eats its way through the giant logs of the Sequoia 
Sempervirens, monarch of all commercial timbers, will make sweet music for 
the ears of the lumber manufacturers of fortunately endowed and happy Hum- 
boldt. 

Under the American development, so far as the authentic accounts give us 
history, the manufacture of lumber in Humboldt was commenced in 1850, but 
the manufacture of redwood for the lumber market did not commence until 1855. 
Those who engaged in the lumbering business were eastern men, from the 
Provinces, and from Maine, accustomed to the pine, spruce and fir of that region. 
They knew those and kindred varieties of timber, and their adaptability to the 



1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 



1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 
1912 
1913 



Value 
$2,296,135 
3,067,645 
2,897,834 
2,502,828 
2,222,610 
1,588,570 
1,795,410 
1,320,005 
1,778,085 
1,802,330 
2,336,000 
2,242,520 
3,148,060 
3,830,410 
4,816,600 
4,816,600 
5,632,300 
7,201,000 
. 7,702,205 
6,101,820 
6,093,000 
6,552,560 
6,505,460 
7,494,500 
6,820,800 
3,422,877 feet; value, $102,- 
l, 2,500,000,000 feet; value. 



114 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

manufacture of lumber and construction work, but by reason of both the inca- 
pacity of the mills at that time to handle the large redwood logs, and lack of 
knowledge as to their adaptability for lumber manufacture, no redwood was 
manufactured or shipped from Humboldt till 1855. As a proof of this statement, 
it is only necessary to mention the fact that the first cargo of lumber was 
manufactured and shipped in 1851 ; it was sawed at the "Pappoose" mill, 
owned by Martin White, which had a capacity of about four thousand feet 
a day. From that initial cargo of lumber from Humboldt in 1851 to the summer 
of 1855, all the lumber manufactured and shipped from Humboldt bay was spruce, 
pine and fir. 

In the summer of 1855, the Muley mill (then operated by William Carson), 
by picking out the smaller logs, and not handling anything that exceeded five feet 
in diameter, got out a cargo of 200,000 feet of redwood lumber and shipped it 
to San Francisco on the brig Tigress. From that time on, the manufacture of 
redwood increased but slowly up to^ 1862, mainly on account of the incapacity of 
the sash and Muley saws to cut the huge logs. In 1862 the circular saw was intro- 
duced, when the manufacture of redwood gradually attained greater dimensions. 

As early as 1852 a commission was appointed, composed of Hon. James 
T. Ryan and W. H. Kingsbury on the part of the mill-owners, and Wilham 
Carson on the part of the loggers, to adopt a standard of measurement for the 
scahng of logs. They decided that all logs twelve feet long and sixteen inches 
and up to and including thirty inches in diameter, should be measured by the 
Spaulding scale, and that all over that size should be measured by the Scribner 
scale. These provisions for log measurement applied to spruce, pine and fir only. 
There was never in the pioneer days, and is not now, any exact rule, method 
or scale by which to measure redwood, on account of the size, shape and pecu- 
liarities of the timber; then as now it was scaled by a method made up of both 
the Spaulding and Scribner rules, combined with the judgment of the scaler. 
The logs for the first few years were cut where Eureka now stands and rolled into 
the bay and floated to the several mills. 

While Humboldt was not the first to manufacture redwood into lumber, 
yet, after 1862, when the circular saw came into use, it soon took and has always 
held a leading position as a source of redwood lumber for both the San Fran- 
cisco market and the lower coast. Thus it is seen that in the last fifteen years 
the lumber cut has trebled in volume, and those in best position to know, hold 
that the outlook is favorable for a twenty-five per cent increase in production the 
present year, over that of 1903. 

From the crude methods in vogue in 1851, when the first sawlog was rolled 
into Humboldt bay, the successive stages of improvement in lumbering form an 
interesting chapter in the history of Humboldt's progress. The first logs handled 
were small, and were moved by means of ox teams on bob-sleds ; then heavy 
trucks with solid wooden wheels, bound with heavy iron bands, were employed 
for the longer distances. Thus the pioneer lumbermen worked, selecting such 
logs as they were able to handle with the means they had. 

The more notable improvements that have been made in the half century 
from 1852 to 1903 may be summed up briefly as follows : In 1862 the circular 
saw was introduced ; this brought the need of surer, quicker means of getting logs 
to the mill; the steam locomotive and railroad were put in operation in 1874; 1882 
the steam donkey ; 1886 the band saw, 1892 the bull-donkey. Each advance seemed 




O t- 

ii 

Q - 

w z 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 115 

to solve and settle the problem of the need of better methods, but each in turn 
has developed accentuated needs in other directions, and now when it would seem 
that perfection had been so nearly reached, we are at this date promised new 
methods as important as any that have preceded, in the electric saw for felling 
trees and sawing logs. 

Redwood is a soft timber, yet among the many varieties of timber that have 
come prominently to the front in construction work, it is safe to say that none 
has developed so many and excellent qualities, or such wide range of adaptability 
as the redwood of California. In classifying lumber cut from redwood lands into 
three classes, the proportion would be as follows : The first quahty would average 
fifty-five per cent; second quality thirty per cent; the refuse or third quality, 
fifteen per cent. Each one of these is often subdivided into several grades. 
The third class is divided into two or three grades, and is used extensively for 
doors, windows, panel-work, wainscoting and all construction in which short ma- 
terial can be used. 

The market for redwood at the present time covers a wide field besides the 
United States. Looking over the destinations of foreign shipments, one will find 
cargoes of redwood going to England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New 
Zealand, Sandwich Islands, Mexico and New South Wales. 

In the matter of testimony and proof as to the many merits of redwood, 
it would be impossible to give them all. A few are appended which have served to 
crystallize the minds of the people upon the facts as they exist. It is certain that 
no timber has been so much relied on, or so carelessly used, with such general 
good results. In the hurry and rush of the wonderful development of the west- 
ern shore, redwood has been used in every need in structural work ; taken drip- 
ping with sap or water from the forest or pond, run through the saw mill, and 
hurried into place without a day's time in which to season, used for main tim- 
bers or for furnishing, it is only occasionally that a piece shows the effect of 
shrinkage upon becoming dry ; and it takes paint and holds it equally well in any 
condition. 

One writer has put it that "San Francisco, a city of 400,000 inhabitants, with 
over three-fourths of its buildings sided and shingled with redwood, need not 
be ashamed to compare fire records with any city in the United States, whether 
built largely of brick or other materials," so slow is it to ignite, and easily 
extinguished when fired. 

Eureka, a city built entirely of redwood, with the lumbering mills built 
all along its northern edge, thus subjecting the whole city to the fire risks from 
the fine of mills during the northern trade winds, has never had a destructive 
conflagration, such as has visited every other California city once or more. 

All the Pacific coast railroads use redwood ties on all their lines as far as the 
cost of transportation will allow. Their testimony is that redwood ties do not 
rot and are impervious to the attack of all insects by reason of the acid the wood 
contains. 

After reviewing the non-combustible qualities of redwood, Charles Towe, 
fire marshal of San Francisco, says: "I sincerely hope we shall never see other 
woods substituted for redwood; and I wish the proper authorities would throw 
the mantle of protection around our redwood, so as to prohibit its total destruc- 
tion." 



116 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

George H. Tyson, general agent for the Pacific department of the German 
American Insurance Company of New York, writes : "From an intimate knowl- 
edge of the fires that have occurred on this coast during the last sixteen years, 
I can state without fear of contradiction^ that as slow-burning wood, the Cali- 
fornia redwood has no equal. In the insurance business on this coast, it is a 
well-known fact that in our coast counties, where redwood is largely used for 
the construction of frame buildings, a much lower rate is charged than in the 
northwest district and mountain counties of CaHfornia where other woods are 
exclusively used." 

W. H. Curtis, of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, says : "As indi- 
cating the great life of this timber against ordinary decay, I have pleasure in 
informing you that we have today left in sidetracks not very much used, some 
redwood ties which were put into service in 1855. On other parts of the line, 
we have in service many ties that were laid from twenty-five to thirty years ago. 
For the siding and roofing of cars, for the foundations, siding and roofing of 
buildings and for water tanks, this timber is the most durable of any that I 
know of, and when used for building purposes it has the valuable quality of not 
being easily set on fire, and when set on fire, it burns very slowly." 

H. T- Small, superintendent of motive power and the machinery department 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad, testifies to substantially the same facts. 

W. B. Storey, of the Santa Fe Railroad, concluding a letter of some length 
commending redwood for car work and railroad construction, says : "In conclu- 
sion, I would say that we consider it one of our most valuable woods in railroad 
construction, and I heartily recommend its use for all purposes as above de- 
scribed." 

It is interesting to note that many attempts were made in early days to 
extend the use of redwood into the commercial channels of the East. Owing to its 
softness it is barred from many uses common to pine and other competing lum- 
ber. During the last eight or ten years many efforts have been made to use 
redwood for railroad ties. These efforts have been partly successful, especially 
in Africa and Austraha. 

Where large ants abound the railroad companies have long been hunting 
for a wood possessing durability and unattractive to the large ants. Reports from 
Africa indicate that, while the ants destroy the redwood in time, they eat it very 
slowly. In Australia the orders for redwood ties have been increasing rapidly 
during the last few years, and it is beheved that it has proved distasteful to the 
ants of that country. Owing to the softness of tHe wood it is necessary to use 
flanges unless the sinker redwood — being heavier and tougher than the other — is 
used. 

It may be interesting to note the following facts concerning some of the 
uses to which redwood has been put. In 1897 B. F. Durphy, then of the Vance 
Redwood Company, selected and shipped to the New England Piano Company, 
in Boston, Mass., a cargo of redwood, and it was made up into piano cases and 
exhibited. It was a special exhibit at their salesroom on Washington street and 
attracted much interest and attention. It was placed side by side with the fine 
mahogany, rosewood, black walnut and ebony pianos, and was considered as 
fine, beautiful and desirable an instrument as any made. This test of the use of 
redwood for piano cases has been so completely successful and satisfactory that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 117 

it has become very popular and in great demand for the fine finish of costly 
houses throughout New England. 

The well-known piano firm of Vose & Sons, in Boston, Mass., one of the 
largest piano firms in the United States, in 1898 ordered several carloads of red- 
wood, to be worked up into piano cases. In the early history of piano manu- 
facture, Mr. Vose had a thorough test made of all the different woods grown 
in the United States and in some foreign countries, and it was demonstrated and 
established beyond all question that redwood made the most perfect sounding 
board for pianos ; besides, it had a great advantage in that it would not 
warp, twist or crack. 

In 1874 Abbott & Co., of Boston, Mass., large lumber dealers, loaded five 
million redwood shingles on one of their ships in San Francisco, and transported 
them to Boston. The next year these shingles were sold to the Fitchburg Railroad 
Company. This company had a large stockyard out at Uniontown, and had 
erected sheds for sheltering their stock. The roofs of these sheds were covered 
wnth a patent roofing, but on account of the flat pitch of the roof it proved unsat- 
isfactory. The company had this patent roofing removed and a part of it replaced 
with redwood shingles. The other roofs were replaced with some shingles from 
New England and Michigan. Those replaced with the New England and Michi- 
gan shmgles were completely worn out and decayed in 1897. In 1892 there were 
but a very few cedar shingles left on some of the roofs. In 1898 the redwood 
shingles that had been used on the other roofs were sound and all on the roof 
and in perfect condition, so far as their being warped and decayed is concerned; 
the only breaches being where the nails had rusted off and the wind had blown 
the shingles away. 

There was adjoining these sheds a large stock barn which was built five years 
later than the date the shingles were placed on the shed ; this barn was shingled 
with New England shingles, as the railroad company could procure no more red- 
wood shingles; the roof was very much steeper and the shingles should have 
lasted much longer than the shingles on the shed, but were completely decayed and 
the barn nearly bare of shingles in 1892. In 1890 the Fitchburg Railroad Com- 
pany made inquiries of all the New England lumber dealers who would be likely 
to have redwood shingles, with the object of getting them for the purpose of 
reshingling these buildings, and they refused to accept any but redwood shingles. 

It is a common method in vogue among the lumber dealers in and around 
Boston to send their customers out to the old Union Stock Yards of the Fitch- 
burg Railroad Company, to show them that there is no shingle known having 
the value and durability of the redwood shingle; and those shingles, used in 
1874, are now the strongest argument they can and do use against other shingles 
and in favor of the redwood. 

William Roch, who was a director and the. purchasing agent of the Santa 
Fe Railroad when it was first put in operation in the Central states, was the first 
purchasing agent of what is now the Santa Fe system in California. Mr. Roch 
purchased and shipped around the Horn from Boston a large quantity of ma- 
chinery, cars, engines, railroad iron, etc., and on the return trip ladened the sev- 
eral vessels employed with redwood. He used a part of these cargoes to build 
his summer residence at the sea-shore in those earlier days. That residence at 
the sea-side is now one of the most perfect buildings there. It was built entirely 
of redwood lumber and redwood shingles; the doors and window frames are 



118 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

perfect, never having warped or twisted, and the shingles on the roofs are the 
same that were put on when it was built twenty years ago. They are in much 
better condition than those on many other fine residences built ten or fifteen 
years later. This residence in the far east is a monument of credit to the excel- 
lence and durabiHty of redwood, and is continually referred to as proof of its 
many merits by lumber merchants. 

In 1899, after the loss of the Boston and Portland (Me.) steamship, the 
steamship company entered into a contract for the building of a magnificent 
steamer to take the place of the one lost, to run from Boston to Portland, Me. 
The steamer was to cost nearly $2,000,000, and there was great competition among 
lumber dealers to secure the order for furnishing the lumber. The matter was 
submitted to a board of architects, who examined all the woods to be used in 
the finishing work, both plain and ornamental, and the contract was awarded 
to Mr. Smith of the Bartlett Lumber Company, to furnish this finishing material, 
and the specifications called for redwood for this purpose. Among the statistics 
used in reaching this decision were important facts furnished by the late H. D. 
Bendixsen of Humboldt, in his report to the board of architects, who investi- 
gated the subject; which report convinced the board of the superiority of redwood 
for inside finish for cabins, staterooms, etc. 

Another still more notable triumph for redwood in the various tests in 
fine and rich finishing work was presented at the World's Fair at Chicago, by 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in 
1892, built a magnificent train of passenger coaches to run from New York to 
Chicago. Immediately following this move, the New York Central ordered a 
richly finished train built, which was accounted a finer equipment. The Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad then ordered another splendidly finished and appointed train to 
best their competitors of the New York Central ; and again the New York 
Central followed suit by ordering another train to compete in magnificence and 
out-do the Pennsylvania Company in richness and beauty. Then the Pennsyl- 
vania Company, after considering the course pursued by their competitors care- 
fully, went to George Pullman and explained the situation, and what they wanted, 
which was to have the finest passenger train in the world to run from New York 
to Chicago, and it was left entirely to him how, and of what materials it should 
be constructed — the only point insisted upon was that it should be the most com- 
pletely equipped and magnificently appointed train in the world. Mr. Pullman 
drew a plan for a train of cars in which were included an observation car, 
library car, dining car, and several compartment sleeping cars. In the specifica- 
tions for the work the material selected for all of the inside finish was redwood. 
When placed upon the road it was acknowledged then, and for a long time after- 
wards, to be the most magnificent and complete railroad train in the world. 

Other uses for redwood are almost past enumeration. It goes to the Argen- 
tine Republic and to the East India Islands, where the red ant is known to be so 
destructive to all other woods, which they perforate, eat and destroy, while the 
redwood remains wholly untouched. It is used for doors, window frames, etc., 
where the people are able to purchase it in these distant localities. 

Mr. Hearst, proprietor of the New York Journal, has finished his private office 
in the various qualiti-es and dififerent grains of redwood. The eflfects are beyond 
description. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 119 

In 1898 a folding bedstead of redwood was made in San Francisco by one 
of the bankers there and sent to the ruler of Denmark as a present, and it was 
placed in his sleeping apartment for his personal use. 

Some time ago an order was received here from the Chicago Curtain Pole and 
Fixture Company for fifty car loads of lumber, being intended for ironing boards, 
cake-boards, screen-door frames, curtain poles, mouldings, picture frames, etc. 

The scientific wood expert of the New York Central Railroad Company, 
being instructed to make an exhaustive test of all woods available, and par- 
ticularly of cypress and redwood, as to their value and adaptability for car- 
building, reported to H. Walter Webb, third vice-president and manager of the 
road, in favor of redwood for sheathing, siding and roofing, on account of its 
quality for holding paint, resisting fire, and that it does not warp or shrink, and 
is least subject to decay. 

At present and for four years past, the first architects in Boston have made 
it a rule to embrace in all specifications to contractors, in all cases where Oregon 
and Washington shingles are to be used, that such shingles shall be well soaked 
in water before putting in place, for the reason that if put on dry and ordinarily 
close together, when wet, they will swell, crowd and warp to such an extent as to 
draw the nails and seriously injure the roof. No such provision is made in regard 
to redwood shingles, as they are affected by the elements in only a very small 
degree. 

The superintendent of the Boston and Maine Railroad built himself a fine 
residence in Exeter, N. H., and after careful observation and examination of all 
woods available for that purpose, decided that nothing but redwood should go 
into its construction. 

In 1898 there w^ere sent to Boston fifty doors made from redwood. These 
were placed on exhibition in the Mechanics Fair, after which they were given 
away — distributed among the various door manufacturers and dealers as sam- 
ples. From this one practical advertisement, there are at present orders with 
one door company here for over one hundred thousand doors ; this result coming 
directly from the' free distribution of those fifty doors. 

It would be hard to conceive of a limit to the uses of redwood, or to the 
possible market for it, if systematic and united effort were made to place before 
the people of sections where it is unknown the practicable evidences and testi- 
monies of its merits, which may be had by diligent inquiry. The possibility for 
the expansion of the trade has been greatly enhanced since the freight rates from 
Humboldt to points east of the Rocky mountains and the Mississippi have been 
decreased and systematized. At this time redwood shingles can be shipped from 
Humboldt bay to Chicago on a sixty cent rate and to New York and Boston 
via the Isthmus on a sixty-seven and a half cent rate, being the same rate allowed 
to other lumber districts. These reduced rates have made it possible for redwood 
to be used in the Eastern states, and thus bring a demonstration and comparison 
of its merits home to the people in the various localities, particularly its superior- 
ity over all other soft woods as a finishing material and as shingles. 

While the use of the higher grades of redwood is by these reasons increased 
in the various branches of construction work, increased use for the lower and 
poorer grades is also extending. Quite an amount is now being used by the 
asphalt manufacturers. Since the development of the oil wells the industry has 
brought into use large quantities of the poorer grades for barrel purposes. 



120 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

A popular make of lead pencils, "Dixon's Sequoia," proves that soft clear 
redwood is not surpassed by cedar or other woods for that purpose. For general 
or special purposes redwood is thirty-five to forty per cent cheaper than Oregon 
or Washington cedar or eastern pine. While among other woods the range of 
adaptability is narrow, redwood covers nearly every known use in construction 
work, for under ground or above ground work, for both inside and outside finish, 
for heavy work and light work, for durability or ornamentation. 

Wherever the possibiHties of transportation place it in competition with other 
woods on equal ground, the redwood scores a success without fail ; and now that 
transportation is placing this lumber on the eastern seaboard at figures that 
make its use in the construction of fine residences possible, it may be reckoned 
upon as certain that in the very near future the now worthless gigantic stumps 
will develop a value, and specially constructed mills will before long be erected 
to reduce them to merchantable building material, particularly for fine finishing 
work. 

Next in importance to redwood is the timber known as Oregon pine, a 
species of fir. It is found mixed with redwood in the eastern edge of the red- 
wood belt, and beyond that occurs in large and compact bodies. Within the past 
couple of years, since all of the redwood lands have been taken, investors have 
turned their attention toward the pine, and already much of it has been located. 
Pennsylvania capitalists have just concluded a deal by which they have come 
into the possession of 127,000 acres of pine lands lying in the eastern portion of 
Humboldt and the western portion of Trinity county. They have made arrange- 
ments for the building of a railroad some sixty miles long into this tract, and have 
plans drawn for the erection of mills, one in the timber and another on the shores 
of this bay. Construction of the plant will begin this sprin (1915), as soon as 
the weather will permit of the work being prosecuted to advantage. This will 
be the first operation of any consequence in the pine forests of Humboldt. 
Heretofore the only timber of that kind cut was for the ship-building yards, 
and was simply taken as it happened to be found with the redwoods. 

There are other bodies of pine being held for investors, and it is only a 
question of a short time before they will be sold and plants erected to convert 
them into lumber. 

Of the mixed timbered lands, three-fifths to three-quarters is oak of the 
various species. The gathering of tan bark has become an important industry, 
but in this business, under present conditions, there is an almost criminal waste 
of millions of feet of most valuable wood, for the tan bark oak makes an excel- 
lent furniture timber, and is particularly adapted to chair-making. Thousands 
of cords of this wood are stripped of the bark every season, and left to rot on 
the mountain side. 

The quality of tan bark found in this county is the very highest, partly explain- 
ing the fact that the leather made by the Devlin tannery took the highest award 
at the World's Fair and other expositions. Thousands of cords of tan bark have 
been shipped out of the county, and there are still many thousands of cords to be 
gathered. The exports of tan bark will be less in the future probably, as there 
is now being operated at Briceland, in the southern part of the county, a plant to 
extract the active principle from the bark and put it in the form of a solid, 
looking something like resin, but of a dark red color. The importance of this 
industry may be gauged by the fact that this plant cost over $25,000, and yet will 
draw upon only a comparatively small portion of the tan bark area of the county. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 121 

The plant is owned by the Wagner Leather Company, of Stockton, Cal. 

The pepper wood, or CaHfornia laurel, is a hard, beautiful wood, adapted 
to furniture and wooden ware, and is considerably used in mill and machine work. 
The black and white oaks are by no means devoid of merit, being strong, firm and 
durable, but have not as yet come into general use, mainly because their merits 
have not become known, and also because they are more difficult of access. 

Madrone will rank next to oak in quantity of acreage, though it never 
occurs in. bodies, being scattered through the oak, or redwood, but mainly occu- 
pying the higher ground and crests of the ridges, as is also the case with the oaks. 
The madrone has a future before it as a furniture wood when there is need for 
it and manufacturers have learned to treat it successfully. When seasoned 
it is very hard and strong. The tree presents a beautiful appearance, giving a 
brilliant touch of color to the woods, with its bright red bark. 

No article concerning the manufacture of redwood would be complete with- 
out a statement of the wages paid those whose labor results in the finished 
product. The range is from $1 to as high as $10 per day, depending upon the 
class of work and the skill necessary to execute it. The lowest wage mentioned 
is for boys in the sash and door factories and the planing mills. Most of them, 
however, receive $1.50 per day. The wages of the men in the woods and in the 
mills .varies from $2.50 to $10. Ordinary rough labor commands the former 
price ; from that the gradations are according to the skill necessary, the top 
figure of course, being paid to the foremen of departments and superintendents. 

These figures include board, and it must be said that the table set for the 
laborers, both in the woods and at the mills, is far above that of other lumbering 
sections. The very best. of food is furnished, and in great variety. In fact, 
visitors have often remarked, after partaking of the hospitality of the camps, 
that they had been better fed than at many first-class hotels. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Activity in Many Towns. 

Previous chapters have given the reader a pretty fair idea of the early set- 
tlements in the untrodden wilds of Humboldt county, but no history would be 
adequate without some account of the activities of more recent years, together 
with a review of some of the conditions that promise to make Humboldt county 
a much more thrifty community than it is today. It should be said that there have 
been great activities by reason of the projected highway and the approaching com- 
pletion of the Northwestern Pacific Railway, which will for the first time connect 
Humboldt county with the wide world. 

Recent plans for the improvement of towns and the building of new ones, 
as in the case of Fort Seward, originated in the desire of the far-seeing business 
men of the county to avail themselves of the benefits of a great tourist trade. 
Some of the leaders of public opinion have read the history of Switzerland, 
where millions of tourists make it possible for hundreds of thousands of Swiss 
people to reap fortunes from hotels and resorts. As Humboldt is a little Switzer- 
land, there are those who believe that its great hunting and fishing opportunities 



122 • HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and its wonderful scenery will cause many towns to experience a wonderful 
growth, while others will come into existence. 

The Rev. William Rader, who made the tour overland from San Francisco 
to Eureka, has predicted that we shall have a wonderful tourist trade by reason 
of the fact that the trip in question is the most fascinating one in America. He 
says that the famous Corniche road from Nice to Monte Carlo, which was built 
by one of the Napoleons, lies along the Alpine slopes like a ribbon. He draws a 
picture and exhibits a contrast when he says that the Corniche road is almost 
silken in its surface, with sublime scenery in the background. He adds that if one 
would compare this famous highway with the road from Willits to Eureka he 
would be struck with the great difference between the new and the old world. 
One is a city street, cut over the mountains, while the other is a trail. He wrote 
this before the great state highway survey was made. It should be remembered 
that when the state highway is finished it will be somewhat like a city street cut 
through forests and mountains. The great European road leads through a land 
bereft of all the fascination of the primeval, while the other is Nature's unbroken 
forest and mountain. He remarks that if one of the giant redwoods along the 
Humboldt county road were set in Central Park, New York, or along the Thames 
in London, it would attract more attention than the Metropolitan Museum or the 
Egyptian Obelisk. The people of Humboldt county, believing such statements as 
the foregoing, have long been preparing for the influx of strangers which they 
expect to see when they hear the sounds of whistles and bells where now the only 
noises that break the silence are such as roaring cataracts, lowing herds, and the 
cries of wild beasts. 

In order that the reader may understand something of the beauties that lie 
along this road of wonders the following extracts from Mr. Rader's description 
are submitted : 

"The distance is over one hundred and fifty miles and the trail reaches an 
altitude of over 4,600 feet above sea level. A ride over this road in an auto- 
mobile is a rare and exciting experience, disclosing picture after picture of natural 
magnificence, colored with Nature's own brush, dipped in a magical combination 
of atmospheric effects of light and shade. Variety of landscape, majesty of out- 
line in rock and mountain and vale, stretches of river and creek, unique geological 
formations, and a variety of wild" flower, foliage and tree life greet the eye at 
every turn, while now and then a deer crosses the path with a wondering, 
friendly look, as if it would recognize something akin to itself in the automobile 
without a rifle. 

"The air is like wine, the sky like that which bends over Venice and Florence. 
The people one meets on the way are of a class which stands for the best in the 
Far West. Men of brawn and brain have found their way into these mountain 
fastnesses, the last of the pioneers, for beyond them rolls the Pacific. To the 
far westward lies the old East, and they are made one by virtue of the cable, 
the wireless and steam, and because of the higher affinity of commerce and the 
brotherhood of the nations. The men and women who have had the courage 
to settle in Mendocino and Humboldt counties are worth while. 

"If one would enjoy this journey to the full, perhaps the regular stage is 
best. There are several reasons for this, chief of which is the element of almost 
absolute safety. The driver is probably a stalwart youth who knows every turn 
of the road and is on friendly terms with his big sixty-horse power machine. He 
does not have that inevitable nervousness which an amateur on the road is 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 123 

possessed with, but gives the impression that he is master of the situation. If 
you surrender yourself to his care and the Providence of God, you will reach 
your destination without serious trouble. These young drivers have made them- 
selves famous by caution and skill and no accident thus far mars the record of 
their triumphs. Sometimes the path is wet and the machine threatens to skid 
and land you hundreds of feet below, but it is only a threat and under the skill- 
ful manipulation of the driver, it goes forward humming a hymn of praise. 

"If one would travel by rail and auto one leaves the train at Longvale and 
takes it again at McCann, about fifty miles from Eureka. These metal threads 
will soon be tied together, when the tourist will substitute the train for the 
machine and all may enjoy scenic rides on the railway, of extraordinary interest. 
At present Willits is the end of the first lap from San Francisco. Here is a large 
hotel where the traveler spends the night. The next morning at seven o'clock 
he takes the train again and in a half hour reaches the end of the road at Long- 
vale where, in the depths of the forest, he makes the start in the stage for a ninety- 
mile journey over high precipices and steep grades, around the sharpest turns, 
across sparkling trout streams, through groves of great trees, descending into the 
deep shades of secluded redwood nooks, where he looks upon trees which prob- 
ably stood before Christ was born. This continues till he reaches the Devil's 
Elbow, six or seven hundred feet above Eel river at McCann, and where he 
descends upon a crooked road with breathless interest, if not a fear, probably 
the most thrilling and crooked road in the world. 

"Not the least among the pleasures of the overland trip is the dinner hour. 
Usually this is spent at Harris, where a sumptuous and old-fashioned dinner 
affords a pleasant and satisfying break in the auto ride. Passengers have a 
sharpened appetite and are in a state of hunger which is the natural result of 
mountain air and thrilling jolts. There isn't much "style," but plenty of fresh 
things from the garden, served in true country fashion. 

"Two roads lead to Eureka from Harris ; one by way of Fruitland Ridge to 
McCann's Mill; the other takes the tourist by Alderpoint, a new village just 
springing into life, and by way of Bridgeville on the Van Duzen. If it has been 
rainy, chains are put on the wheels, as the roads leading through the forest 
are sometimes dangerously wet and slippery, especially in the summer. On the 
last trip taken by the writer cool, bracing weather was encountered. Great 
clouds of fog drifted in from the sea, followed by bright sun, which fell in show- 
ers of beauty upon the fresh, blue mountains. The air was filled with the pun- 
gent odor of wild flowers and cedar and pine. Here and there we met bands of 
fat steers, driven to Eureka markets by cowboys and well-trained dogs. Occa- 
sional teams were passed, hauling produce or lumber, drawn by four or six 
horses with ringing bells, making the mountains echo with their tinkling melody, 
while the crack of the whip warned us of their approach. 

"The experience of passing these teams is a test of skill and patience, as well 
as courage. Sometimes the stage is compelled to back a long distance to a point 
sufficiently wide to permit the team to pass on a narrow margin where a false 
step would mean disaster. The good humor which generally prevails reveals a 
trait among these mountaineers which might profitably be emulated in other walks 
of life. Men who live in these regions develop a resourcefulness and courage 
altogether admirable, while the horses seem to be at home in dangerous situations, 
behaving Hke sensible human beings. 



124 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

"Humboldt and Mendocino counties make a natural park of pleasure, where 
the hunter and the fisherman are in a paradise. The climate is perfect, the game 
and fish plentiful. Streams for the most part are stocked with the finest trout, 
while deer and bear are found in abundance. Not only is this territory a 
pleasure ground, but rich in natural resources. Evidences of mineral, oil and 
coal are many. It is estimated that the timber resources will last for a hundred 
years. The enormous amount of lumber which is now sent down the streams to 
the great mills has hardly made a scar upon the old forests, which welcome the 
woodman's axe. It is hoped, however, that it may be long before the noble 
Sequoias yield to the invasion of commerce, and that they may long stand as 
memorials of an ancient past. 

"With the completion of the railroad this vast empire will open her mountain 
gates to the world and yield riches yet undiscovered. What power of water, 
what sites for villages and cities, what immense natural wealth awaits the touch 
of the magic wand of business enterprise ! 

"If San Francisco is the southern terminus of this territory, approached by 
the historic and charming Sonoma valley with Ukiah as the gate of entrance, 
Eureka is the northern terminus. This interesting little city enjoys the distinc- 
tion of having one of the best harbors on the coast. A break-water is nearing 
completion which will insure sufficient depth in the large lagoon for the largest 
vessels and adequate protection against shifting sand bars. The city is flanked 
by noble mountains, and long stretches of cultivated fields. The surrounding 
country, especially the Ferndale region, is rich in dairy products as well as 
inviting to the eye. Twelve thousand contented people live in Eureka, many 
of whom are wealthy and prosperous. The city is the nerve center of Humboldt 
county. A noticeable characteristic of Eureka is its local pride and an optimistic 
hope for its future. Good schools, newspapers, hotels, churches, library build- 
ings, a splendid park, a street railway, a really beautiful Elk hall, good stores and 
public buildings are to be set down among its assets. 

"Already a survey has been made for a railway from Eureka to Red Bluff, 
across mountain ranges which slope gradually down into the great northern end 
of the Sacramento valley. The building of this road will afford another outlet 
toward the east and south. An automobile trip through this region adds an 
additional chapter of wonder to the volume of California's resources. The 
sparkling Mad river, the miles of well built state roads, the glimpse of Shasta, 
whose silver peak greets the eye on the eastern mountain slopes, make it a 
journey of a thousand wonders. A good place to rest for a day and where one 
may catch as many trout as he would wish is Wildwood, sixty miles from Red 
Bluff. 

"The lumber mills in and around Eureka indicate the scope of the lumber 
trade in Humboldt county. Heavily laden schooners make their way over the 
bar to San Francisco and San Pedro, carrying cargoes of the best material. A 
new enthusiasm is taking hold of the public mind of Eureka. New enterprises 
are starting and a group of energetic men is making plans for larger things 
in the future. Its development is as inevitable as was the growth of San Fran- 
cisco and Portland. Certainly an overland trip by steam and gasoline to this 
beautiful little city of Humboldt is the most fascinating of any of its kind in 
the United States, if not in the world." 

Not only do the leaders of public opinion in the sundry towns of the county 
expect a large tourist trade which will cause a multiplication of hotels and resorts. 




HUMBOLDT COUNTY COURT HOUSE 




U. S. FEDERAL BUILDING AND POST OFFICE, EUREKA 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 125 

but they believe that many state and national conventions will inevitably be held 
in the towns around Humboldt bay, preferably in Eureka, although Areata is 
showing many signs of stirring activity and is preparing to meet the new con- 
ditions in the spirit of modernity. The fact that the climate around Humboldt 
bay is the coolest summer climate on the American continent is confidently 
regarded as an asset sure to bear its reward. 

The town of Areata, with a population of more than two thousand people, 
made great progress during 1914. Interest in all sorts of public enterprises was 
greatly stimulated by the fact that the town won the State Normal school after a 
hot competition with Eureka. The achievement of this victory stimulated interest 
in public buildings in general and the result has been the building of a modern 
theatre and the projection of plans that will lead to the construction of many other 
modern buildings. One of the ambitions of the town is to capture the railroad 
shops and become a division point of the Northwestern Pacific Railway. 

Areata was fortunate in obtaining from the legislature of 1913 a generous 
grant of five hundred acres of tide lands immediately adjacent to the city and 
so favorably located that a good harbor frontage is likely to be the result. This 
will all be owned by the city and can be leased on favorable terms for terminal 
facilities for railroads, lumber companies, and other great corporations. Arcata's 
very large Chamber of Commerce at once began negotiations with corporations for 
the development of this land. The various committees of the chamber are in 
close touch with concerns that may be looking for a location on Humboldt bay. 

No fact connected with the recent commercial history of Humboldt county is 
more significant than the projection of a plan that looks to the building of a 
thrifty little city at Fort Seward, which is likely to become the metropolis of 
southern Humboldt county. By bringing Judge George W. Rowe and other 
experts to Fort Seward and vicinity, E. B. Bull, manager of the properties of the 
Humboldt Land and Development Company, of which Frank K. Mott is presi- 
dent, attracted the attention of the entire state to the fact that a modern develop- 
ment company could work wonders in the virgin fields of southern Humboldt. 

Plans have been partly perfected for taking care of the influx of settlers 
who may visit southern Humboldt in search of homes. Mr. Bull recognizes 
the fact that one of the important steps in development will be to take care 
of the immigrant during the first few years of his residence at Fort Seward. 
To this end preparations are being made for cold storage plants, canneries, cream- 
eries, and such other modern plants as may be needed in the campaign seeking 
to command the market. In this connection there will be a concerted effort to 
raise apples of high quality on a co-operative plan that shall seek to make the out- 
put large enough to attract attention in such markets as those of London and 
New York City. 

In a similar way the company will try to induce those going into the poultry 
and dairying business to work in such a manner as to make the output regular 
rather than sporadic. By applying modern business efficiency methods to the 
problems before them the Fort Seward people hope to show other communities 
throughout the county that there are many more possibilities in Humboldt county 
than people have heretofore thought. It may be said that the salutary example 
of the Fort Seward plan has already spread to other towns in the county. 

An odd fact in the conditions of town Hfe in Humboldt county is seen in 
the building of houses adequate to the population. In 1913 and 1914 there was 
complaint in Ferndale, Fortuna, Areata, and Eureka that strangers could not 



126. HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

find modern apartment houses, bungalows, or cottages. Not a single building 
and loan association exists in the county, and the old settlers seem to take no 
interest in the fact that strangers within the gates of the towns of the county 
are put to all sorts of inconveniences in trying to find shelter and the comforts 
of modern life. With the coming of the railroads, a change in these conditions 
would seem to be inevitable. 

The commercial activities of Eureka, the capital city of the county, were 
stimulated in 1914 by the organization of the Eureka Development Association, 
which sprang into life by reason of the fact that Areata had beaten Eureka out 
of the Normal school, this largely by reason of the fact that the Arcatans were 
well organized while the Eurekans had conducted their fight in a desultory way. 
The Eureka Development Association maintains that the metropolis of the red- 
wood realm is sure to become a city of far greater importance than it has ever 
been. They cite the fact that it has grown rapidly without the advantages of 
railroads connecting it with the outside world. 

During 1913 and 1914 there was an undoubted increase in the population 
of Eureka, as indicated by postoffice reports, school statistics, street car earnings, 
city directory reports, and figures from Hke sources. The population in 1914 
was probably 15,000. The fact that the Northwestern Pacific announced in June 
that it would run a train into Eureka by October created a great deal of interest in 
the towns in other parts of the state. A marked movement from outside was soon 
in evidence, and many of those who came immediately began to plan as to how 
they could bring industries to the shores of Humboldt bay. The hope of the town 
lies in the prospect of smoke stacks and the hum of industry. 

Secretary Roberts of the Eureka Development Association has well said that 
the streets are wide, clean and well paved. The public and mercantile buildings 
are worthy of the population, although many of the structures are old and might 
be greatly improved. 

There are many comfortable residences, while gas, electricity, good car ser- 
vice, excellent schools, telephones ; water, light and gas systems, and other conve- 
niences make the town a place of comfort. Those who have been studying the 
Panama Canal believe that when the jetties are completed the harbor of Eureka 
will profit greatly by the trade that will come from many other parts of the 
world. 

The harbor of Eureka is unquestionably the most important one between 
San Francisco and the Columbia river. The building of extensive jetties to over- 
come the terrors of a bad bar is sure to make the shipping interests far more 
important than they have ever been. 

It is almost impossible to say just what advantages will come to Eureka and 
other towns when the state highway is finished, along with improved roads, 
lapping the rich Sacramento valley. The road to Redding and Red Bluff has 
already brought Humboldt bay within about sixteen hours of the hot and dusty 
Sacramento valley. The establishing of a summer colony at the mouth of Little 
river by people from Red Bluff is a hopeful indication of the tendencies of the 
times. Norman R. Smith and his associates at Red Bluff have laid out an 
attractive summer resort on the beautiful shores of the Pacific ocean just above 
the mouth of Little river. It would seem that the coming of a large number 
of tourists from the vicinity of Redding and Red Bluff is sure to make some of 
the towns of Humboldt county tourist headquarters during the summer months. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 127 

Business men are already planning to attract such enterprises as flour and 
feed mills, woolen mills, boot and shoe factories, paper and pulp mills, furniture 
factories, canning and preserving plants. There is no doubt that the natural 
resources for these enterprises abound in the vicinity of Eureka. 

Secretary Charles H. Roberts of the Eureka Development Association con- 
tributes the following concerning the capital of Humboldt county: 

"CHmatically, the claim is made that Eureka has the shortest thermometer in 
the United States, the annual mean daily range being 10.7 degrees. The maximum 
temperature is 85 degrees and the minimum is 20 degrees. The annual rainfall 
is quite heavy, averaging 45 inches, but being well distributed there is no excessive 
precipitation during the winter months and nothing parched during the summer. 
Frosts are incidents and snow is practically unknown. Ultimately Eureka will 
become a great summer resort where those from the heat-oppressed interior may 
be refreshed. 

"Eureka blocks are laid out two hundred and forty feet square. A majority 
of the streets are sixty feet wide, although a number are seventy-five feet wide. 
There are over fifty miles of graded streets. In the business section are three 
and one-half miles of bitumen paved streets. Crushed rock is used on twenty-five 
miles of streets. There are twenty miles of concrete walks. The city annually 
spends between $30,000 and $35,000 on its streets. 

"There are five banks in Eureka. According to the annual reports for 1913 
the combined deposits amounted to $5,549,778. 

"The public schools of Eureka are comprehensive in their scope and plan, 
consisting of kindergarten, grammar and high school. There are six modern 
school buildings of eight rooms each, all sightly, convenient and commodious, 
with modern heating and ventilating plants. There are two thousand students 
enrolled in the schools, four hundred in the high school and sixteen hundred in 
the grammar grades. 

"A new high school building is now under construction at a cost of $170,000. 
This is being built of reinforced concrete and when completed, January 1, 1915, 
will be one of the most artistic and up-to-date school structures in California. 
The present high school is to become an intermediate high school. The Eureka 
high school is accredited at Stanford University and at the University of Cali- 
fornia. 

"In the high school special attention is paid to all forms of woodwork, cook- 
ing, sewing and other household arts. Besides literary and debating societies, 
German, French, Spanish and agricultural clubs, the Eureka high school is 
exceedingly fortunate in having a first-class school orchestra and a well-drilled 
glee club. 

"Eureka employs a corps of sixty-six teachers. In the grades special instruc- 
tors are employed in manual training, domestic science, singing and drawing. The 
grammar schools of Eureka are especially proud of the well-developed system of 
home gardening. 

"At a recent election the citizens voted to bond the city for $270,000 to 
purchase the Eureka water works, which are now municipally owned. The water 
for Eureka is taken from Elk river, located five and one-half miles south of the 
city. Water is pumped through sixteen-inch and thirteen-inch transmission mains 
into two large redwood tanks with a combined capacity of over 1,000,000 gallons, 
thence by gravity through forty-five miles of distribution mains and 70,000 feet 
of service pipe to all parts of the city. An 80,000-gallon steel tank has been 



128 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

erected in the higher southern portion of the city at an elevation of sixty-five feet 
higher than the two redwood tanks from which water is re-pumped into the 
steel tank. The system is ninety per cent metered. The water is very soft and 
of good quaHty and there is a sufficient quantity for a population of from 30,000 
to 40,000. The rates are reasonable ; domestic rates are forty cents per thousand 
gahons for the first 10,000 gallons; twenty cents per thousand gallons for all 
over 10,000 gallons; special rates are given factories, mills and other heavy con- 
simiers. 

"Light and gas in Eureka are furnished by the Western States Gas and 
Electric Company, which owns and operates three generating plants, two in this 
city, and one, a hydro-electric plant, containing 1500 kilowatts installed capacity, 
sixty-five miles east of Eureka. The Eureka plants are both steam turbine 
stations with a combined installed capacity of 3000 kilowatts. This concern owns 
one hundred ninety-two miles of pole lines with six hundred eighty-one miles of 
wire in transmission and distributing circuits. The generating station of the 
gas works is equipped for an output of 500,000 cubic feet per day. The company 
reports that within the last ten years the electrical business in this territory has 
grown 400 per cent. Rates are fixed by the CaHfornia Railroad Commission. 

"An electric trolley system of street cars is operated over twelve and one-half 
miles of track, reaching all parts of the city. The service compares with the 
best on the coast. 

"The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company provides an excellent service 
with 2500 telephones installed. Communication with San Francisco can be 
obtained either by telephone or telegraph, the Western Union having an office 
in this city. 

"Building operations in Eureka during the last few years have been growing, 
the tendency being toward a better class of buildings and permanent construction 
in the use of brick, concrete and steel. Within the last two or three years a 
number of fine public and semi-public structures has been erected, among them 
the Elks hall ; Eagles building ; Federal building in which the postoffice, and the 
offices of the immigration inspector, internal revenue inspector, collector of port, 
United States engineers, weather observer and land office, as well as the United 
States District Court, are located; the county jail, Vance estate building. Gross 
building and new high school. 

"In 1912 the building operations amounted to $154,241, the residence con- 
struction making up one-third. In 1913 the building operations amounted to 
$188,835, with residences making up fifty per cent of the work. For the first 
half of 1914 the building operations already total $197,206, and the residences 
are still fifty per cent of the total construction. Many artistic bungalows and 
pleasing mansions are found throughout the residence district. 

"Morning and evening newspapers and two weekly publications cover the 
newspaper field in Eureka, the dailies receiving daily telegraphic service from the 
Associated Press and the International News Service. The Eureka papers are 
noted among the most progressive in the state. 

"A mayor and five councilmen form the governing body of Eureka, known 
as the City Council. The police force is composed of a chief, captain and six 
patrolmen. An excellent volunteer fire department possesses two hundred 
seventy-five members in eight dififerent companies, three modern fire engines, an 
automobile chemical engine, two trucks, ample hose carts and a Gamewell fire 
alarm system. The City Hall, erected less than ten years ago, cost $125,000. The 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 129 

Carnegie Free Library of Eureka is one of the show places, having a particularly- 
large stock of books, and one of the finest collections of birds and animals, the 
result of taxidermist's art, to be found in California. There are more than fifteen 
churches and thirty-seven fraternal societies. The Humboldt Chautauqua, now 
two years old, meets in Eureka annually. 

■'Within the city limits is Sequoia Park, the city's pleasure ground, com- 
prising thirty-five acres of virgin redwood forest and five acres of playgrounds. 
Within the confines of the park is a beautiful lake. 

"Eureka being the county seat of Humboldt county, a fine court house 
occupies a block close to the business section. 

'Tt is estimated that the present stand of redwood in Humboldt county 
occupies about 450,000 acres, producing from 100,000 to 200,000 feet of lumber 
per acre, and valued at from $200 to $600 per acre. Lumbering at the present 
time is the major industry of the county. Eleven large sawmills in Humboldt 
send out annually about 200,000,000 feet of redwood lumber through the port 
of Eureka. 

"Dairying is the second important industry of Humboldt. The annual output 
of dairy products totals about 10,000,000 pounds with a valuation of $2,000,000. 
Humboldt was the first California county to engage a scientific farm adviser. In 
the hills stockraising is followed, fruit culture is given attention on the bench 
and bottom lands, commercial and sport fishing bring financial and pleasurable 
returns on all the larger streams, and the wilds abound in game. Good roads 
generally give opportunity to get to the edge of the wilds without trouble or loss 
of time. 

"Passenger steamers are operated regularly between Eureka and Portland, 
and between Eureka and San Francisco. More than twenty steam schooners in 
the lumber and freight trade call at Eureka from all ports of the Pacific coast. 
Large freighters carry off shore cargoes of redwood lumber to South America, 
Austraha, China and Great Britain. About 1000 vessels come and go at Hum- 
boldt bay during a year, and in that time the port trade averages about $20,000,000. 

"Eureka is but yet in the embryo state. Unhampered by former difficulties of 
transportation, despite which the city has forged ahead in the past, the Eureka 
of the next few years will advance with amazing rapidity to its destined place 
among the leading centers of the Pacific coast." 

In the olden days Eureka was famous for a large number of excellent singers. 
Men and women now prominent in business and social life belonged to choral 
societies of the long ago, and these societies frequently carried away honors in 
contests with musical clubs from other parts of the State. Some of the men 
who were judges of the Superior Court thirty years ago shone as singers when 
away from home. At their home and whenever any public musical events were 
on they were popular because of their splendid voices and training. 

For a number of years there was a lapse of interest in afifairs of this character, 
but about 1911 the Sequoia club of music was started by a number of the musically 
inclined ladies of the town. Though Eurekans have not shown so much interest 
in musical events as in the past there is no doubt that this splendid organization 
has stimulated local interest and brought a number of distinguished musicians to 
Eureka on the occasion of special musical entertainment. 

In 1913 Judge Clifton H. Connick estabHshed a choral society which is 
known by the simple name of the Choral Society. He gathered around him 
twenty or thirty of the best singers in the town and at once began training them 



130 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in grand opera and other high-class music. At the Elks' Memorial exercises in 
1913 this splendid organization gave a musical program that surprised the peo- 
ple of the town and attracted wide attention throughout the State when it was 
heard of through the reports of strangers who chanced to be present during the 
memorial exercises. It is the ambition of those who constitute this superb organ- 
ization to make it so efficient that it will be able to furnish great choral music 
on public occasions such as conventions and social entertainments. 

The social life of most of the towns of the county is such as to break the 
monotony of everyday life and prevent the people from falling into a hum-drum 
existence. In almost every town there are several clubs devoted to musical, 
literary, civic and social affairs. In most instances it is the women who have for- 
warded club life and taken an active interest in starting uplifting organizations. 

It is to be regretted that an automobile club and a home products association 
were allowed to fall by the wayside. The automobile activities have been merged 
to a great extent in those of the state organization. It is the purpose of the 
Humboldt Promotion Committee to do everything within its power to co-operate 
with the State Home Industry movement, which has headquarters in San Fran- 
cisco. Roy Felloni, editor and owner of the Home Industries Magazine, has a 
plan which seeks to bring every county of the State in line v/ith the general move- 
ment. It is believed that the completion of the railroad will bring Humboldt 
county in closer touch with this great movement. The parent commercial organ- 
ization of Humboldt county is the Chamber of Commerce, a county-wide 
organization which, though run conservatively, without pretense, noise, or flurry, 
has accomplished wonderful results in many lines of industry. 

The fundamental purpose of the Humboldt Chamber has always been the 
furnishing of a dignified channel through which public opinion might express itself 
authoritatively upon matters of importance to the community, thus giving force 
and effect to its demand for such public improvements as the needs of the par- 
ticular section might require. The following account of the early work of the 
Chamber is from the pen of George A. Kellogg, who has been secretary of the 
organization, and has ably managed its affairs ever since January, 1892 : 

"Incorporated March 13, 1891, as the result of a feeling on the part of the 
citizens of Humboldt that the Government improvement work on Humboldt Bar 
needed the support and assistance of the more prominent of Humboldt's citizens, 
the Chamber has ever' since addressed itself largely to the looking out for the 
larger matters of public improvement, while not neglecting the important work 
of advertising the resources of the county, nor failing to perform those social 
duties essential to the proper entertainment of distinguished visitors from abroad. 

"Beginning with a membership of about ninety, the number was rapidly in- 
creased to one hundred and twenty; and it has ever since alternated between 
seventy and one hundred and thirty-five, the variation being in accordance with 
the activity of its officers and the importance of the public matters receiving its 
attention. At present the membership is one hundred and twenty-five, nearly half 
of whom have been members since the beginning of the Chamber. 

"Almost the first work taken up by the Chamber was the endeavor to secure 
a sufficient appropriation to insure the carrying on to completion of the work of 
building the jetties at Humboldt entrance. A very forceful memorial to Congress 
was adopted and forwarded, and by prompt and wise action on the part of Con- 
gressman T. J. Geary, assisted by Senator C. N. Felton, this work was placed on 
the continuing contract list, thus insuring its being carried to completion. News 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 131 

of this event reached the Chamber on the evening of April 8, 1892; and such was 
deemed the importance of this matter that a general celebration, participated in 
by citizens from all over the county, was shortly afterwards held. The com- 
mittee appointed to secure funds for this monster celebration raised nearly $3500 
in about three-quarters of a day; and the parade on the night of the rejoicing 
was almost a mile in length. 

"The Chamber has also secured three appropriations for dredging the chan- 
nels of the bay ; one of $80,000 and one of $50,000, having been expended some 
years ago; while the third, amounting to $83,000, will be expended this year. 

"One of the first matters to receive the attention of the Chamber was the 
securing of a Federal Public Building here. And by dint of continued efforts 
on the part of the Chamber and our representatives in Congress, an appropriation 
of $130,000 was last year made for this purpose. A site has been selected, and 
when the defects in the title are corrected by the friendly suit now about to come 
up before Federal Judge De Haven, the work of the Chamber in this connection 
will be ended successfully. It is now nearly fifteen years since the first efforts 
were made in this matter; and it is with a feeling of deep relief and satisfaction 
that those who have been charged with the burden of this work can now foresee 
the successful end of their labors. 

"Many matters of importance to this city and county have been promoted 
wholly or in part by the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce. Among them may 
be mentioned the securing of terminal rates to the Eastern markets for the lumber 
products of this county, which was solely the work of the Chamber. The re- 
organization of the city under a special charter; the building of the woolen mills 
here ; the free delivery of mail in the city ; the building of the Harris road, and 
the road to the Klamath river ; the erection of the Carnegie Free Library ; various 
improvements in the mail service, and the connection of the Government light 
houses and life saving stations by telegraph or telephone ; the establishment of a 
light vessel at Blount's Reef ; and a variety of minor matters too numerous to 
mention. 

"In the line of advertising the resources of this prolific section, the Chamber 
has kept fairly well up to the demands and needs of the people. It has made 
full or partial exhibits at State Fairs, at the Midwinter Fair, at the New Orleans 
Exposition, at the Chicago World's Fair, and at the Lewis and Clark Exposition. 
In 1891 it issued a small pamphlet on this county's products, which was mainly 
statistical. In 1893 it brought out 'In the Redwood's Realm,' the prince of all 
county advertising books. In 1900 was produced its small pamphlet, 'Humboldt 
County,' and in 1904 a re-issue of the same was made. In all, more than 50,000 
copies of these various books and pamphlets have been distributed. Along with 
this distribution, the Chamber is continually answering by letter the numerous 
requests for information about Humboldt which it receives. 

"The Chamber now has under consideration the matter of issuing a new 
pamphlet, or rather a series of separate pamphlets, upon its various industries, 
which may all be finally combined to make up one large pamphlet on Humboldt 
county. But the actual work along this line has not yet been begun, although it 
soon must be. 

"In the way of entertaining distinguished visitors from abroad, the Chamber 
has always filled an important place and need. Space cannot be spared to 
enumerate them all, but, leaving out ancient history, mention may be made of 
the visits here of the principal officers of the Santa Fe Railway Company in 1905, 



132 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and of the Promotion Committee later in the same year. And Government officials 
visiting here in the performance of their duties have always been well looked after 
by committees from the Chamber. 

"Statistics of the exports from the county have always been kept up by the 
Chamber, and its records along this line go back to 1889. Ever since improve- 
ment work began on the bar, an annual synopsis of our trade has been furnished 
to the United States engineers in charge of this district, and has become a part 
of the engineers' reports, and of the archives of the Government. 

"During the twenty-five years of its existence,the Humboldt Chamber of 
Commerce has had its periods of depression and inactivity, its times of strenu- 
ous action and accomplishment. It has been criticized by members and non- 
members because it has failed to do this, and because it has done that. But the 
majority of its critics, both without and within its ranks, fail to realize that 
such a public organization is at its best, a compromise ; that it is composed of a 
small percentage of the general community, and that its membership is seldom 
united in opinion upon any one particular matter of method of action. 

"That in the main it has fairly represented the sentiment of the people of 
Humboldt upon such matters as have come before it, cannot be denied ; and that 
its work has in general been vastly beneficial to this community, is equally 
impossible of denial. It has room in its ranks for many more members; it is 
entitled to all the support that can be accorded it; and the greater its support, 
the more it can accomplish for the newer Humboldt." 

It is with much satisfaction that this history can record the fact that the 
Humboldt Chamber of Commerce has always had a reputation for accuracy. Mr. 
Kellogg is a man of sterling character and he would rather understate than ex- 
aggerate regarding the resources of Humboldt county. He and the secretary 
of the promotion committee^ which is a branch of the Chamber of Commerce, 
agree that the county does not need empty-handed men and women, and that 
nobody should visit any part of the State until he has made a thorough investiga- 
tion of its resources and opportunities. It is contrary to the principles of the 
Chamber and of the promotion committee to induce anybody to leap in the dark. 

The following will give an idea of some of the work done by the Chamber 
of Commerce in whole or in part, in behalf of the entire county, since its organiza- 
tion in 1891 : 

"Had the first jetty construction project placed on the continuing contract 
list, insuring appropriations aggregating $1,500,000. 

"Secured the appropriations for the second jetty project, and its being placed 
under continuous contract, the full appropriation to be $1,037,400. 

"Secured dredging appropriations as follows: First appropriation, $80,000; 
second appropriation, $50,000; third appropriation, $83,000; fourth appropriation, 
$15,000. Total, $228,000. 

"Secured an appropriation for the construction of a coal shed at the light 
house reservation, which has not yet been constructed, $5,000. 

"Secured the establishment of the light vessel at Blount's Reef. 

"Secured the establishment of the Government wireless station at Table Bluff. 

"Secured the establishment of the light house at Point Gorda, at a cost of 
$80,000. 

"Secured the establishment of range lights on the bay channels and on the 
south jetty. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 133 

"Secured the connection by telephone of the life saving station on the north 
spit with Eureka. 

"Secured the connection by telegraph of the Wireless Station at Table Blufif 
with Eureka. 

"Secured the construction of the Carnegie Library, and raised all the funds 
for that purpose, amounting to: For site, $5,700.00; for building, $26,100.88. 
Total, $31,800.88. 

"Secured the construction of the Federal Building, at a cost of : For site, 
$17,434.37; for cornerstone laying, $82.00; for building, $130,000.00. Total, 
$147,516.37. 

"Aided in directing the sentiment that caused the building of the City Hall. 

"Was instrumental in securing the building of the woolen mill plant. 

"Was instrumental in securing the building of the Harris road. 

"Was instrumental in securing the building of the Klamath road. 

"Was instrumental in securing the free delivery of mail by carrier. 

"Was instrumental in securing various improvements in the mail service at 
various places throughout the county. 

"Cared for the sufferers by the wreck of the 'Walla Walla.' 

"Cared for the sufferers by the wreck of the 'Columbia.' 

"Took charge of the Relief Fund for the sufferers by the San Francisco 
earthquake and fire. 

"Entertained visiting Senators, Congressmen, Governors, San Francisco 
Promotion Committee, and various other distinguished persons and bodies. 

"Made a County Exhibit at the Sacramento State Fair. 

"Made a County Exhibit at the Midwinter Fair at San Francisco. 

"Made a' County Exhibit at the Epworth League National meeting at San 
Francisco. 

"Made a partial exhibit at the Lewis and Clark Fair at Portland. 

"Maintained an incomplete exhibit at the rooms of the State Board of Trade 
for the last ten or twelve years. 

"Issued and distributed 16,000 copies of "In the Redwood's Realm." 

"Issued and distributed 77,000 copies of "Humboldt County Pamphlet." 

"Issued and distributed 23,000 copies of "Eureka Census Folders." 

"Issued and distributed 20,000 copies of "Climate Folders." 



136,000 

"Distributed over 35,000 copies of Souvenirs, Sunset Pamphlets, Promotion 
Folders, Special Editions of Newspapers and miscellaneous advertising matter. 

"Secured terminal rates for Humboldt lumber and shingles shipped to the 
East by rail. 

"Was instrumental in securing the re-organization of the city of Eureka 
under a special charter. 

"Aided in directing the sentiment that compelled the building of the bridge 
over Eel river at Weott." 

During the year 1914, in spite of general dullness, Humboldt county has had 
its share of prosperity. It is well known that the banks of the county have 
always contained a large amount of money deposited by the people, but there 
has never been anything like a boom or false growth in the county. 

A careful examination of general business conditions of the year 1914 con- 
firms the opinion that prosperity has been general. An increased volume of trade 



134 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

has been reported by merchants throughout the county. One exception might 
be made to the statement of general prosperity. Secretary Kellogg wisely said: 
"I cannot close my eyes to the fact that the leading business industry of Hum- 
boldt, lumbering, has not shared in the advance that has appeared general in 
other lines. For in this industry not only have the demand and production both 
fallen off, but prices have not been satisfactory; and it is certain that when 
the figures for the year have been made up, the totals of shipments and of valua- 
tion will both show a considerable decrease from the record figures of 1912. So 
far as I am able to judge, the principal reasons for these untoward conditions 
in this trade are the unfavorable weather experienced last winter and spring in 
southern and central California, with the consequent light crops tending to dis- 
courage country building; and the increasing competition from the more cheaply 
produced fir and pine lumber of the Northwest. The first of these reasons — that 
of reduced crop production in the market land to the south of us — is transitory. 
For already has the present winter season progressed far enough to justify the 
prediction of full crops in the central and southern portions of the State, with a 
consequent increased demand for the lumber of Humboldt. As to the second 
reason — the increasing competition of cheaper lumber than is redwood — that will 
be always with us, or at least until the full commercial opening of the Panama 
Canal makes possible the increasing markets that are hoped for, and thus removes 
the sting from the competition of cheaper woods. I am firm in the opinion that 
when the country is made available to our lumber manufacturers through the 
opening of the 'big ditch' of Panama, ample and sufficient markets will be opened 
to redwood lumber to insure profitable returns therefrom. For redwood is a 
timber like unto itself only ; its qualities give it a desirability for many purposes 
that cannot be fulfilled by any other wood ; and the passing years cannot fail 
to see the demand for its increase, especially as additional markets are opened 
to It through improved transportation." 

It should be said that the foreign trade has always been the great feature of 
the lumber business. The number of clearances of vessels averages about forty 
each year, and the average cargo carried by each vessel approximates a million 
and a half feet, the average value of the cargo being something more than $32,000. 

August 16, 1913, stands out in the history of lumber shipments as the red- 
letter day. At that time the steamer Algoa, 4,897 net tons, cleared from the port 
with the largest cargo ever loaded in Humboldt bay. She carried 2,748,275 feet 
of lumber, valued at $83,670. The fact of this great load and the ease with 
which it was carried from Eureka led to much favorable comment in the news- 
papers of San Francisco and Oakland. The British steamer Iran, which took a 
great load from the port of Eureka in 1911, was almost as large as the Algoa. 

During the last few years a steady improvement has gone on in the condition 
under which dairying products are produced. About 1912 the advantages of 
cleanliness and sanitary precautions became pretty well understood, and a move- 
ment to obtain the advantages of scientific management was fostered by the 
dairy association, the Farm Bureau, the newspapers, and the creameries of the 
county. Humboldt dairymen were also urged to greater precaution by the dairy 
inspector engaged with the State Dairying Bureau. 

Humboldt county long occupied the place of first in dairy productions, but 
Stanislaus several years ago took the palm from her. 

In noting the progress of material enterprises in Humboldt county during 
the last few years the historian cannot omit to mention the importance of the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 135 

construction work on the south jetty of the bar. By January, 1913, almost 3,000 
feet of rock work had been completed on the seaside of the spit, leaving about 2,400 
feet to be completed. During the year 1913 almost 1,000 feet were finished, which 
left about 700 feet to be built. As the work progresses toward the sea the amount 
of rock required to bring the jetty up to its level increases, for which reason the 
work progresses more slowly. It requires about two hundred fifty tons of 
rock to carry the work one foot toward the sea. 

One of the problems now bothering the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce 
and the public at large concerns appropriations for the completion of the south 
jetty and for carrying on tlie work to the north. It is regrettable that a number 
of members of Congress are stubbornly opposing the appropriation of any further 
money for the improvement of Humboldt bar. The Chamber of Commerce is 
doing a heroic work to see that this attitude does not become the prevaiHng opinion 
in Congress. 

One of the crying needs of the times is a dredger to clear out the channel of 
the bay and render effective aid during the storms of winter in tlie vicinity of the 
bar itself. Colonel Rees has been and is strongly of the opinion that the harbor 
should be deepened until it will take ships which draw almost thirty feet of 
water. By deepening and widening the present channel in accordance with move- 
ments now under way the shipping industry will be greatly increased. 

There are a number of thriving towns in the county, each being supported 
by some industry peculiar to the immediate surroundings. No history of the 
county would be complete without some mention of these towns and their activity. 

Next to Eureka, Areata is undoubtedly the most important town in the 
county. As heretofore said, the estabHshing of a State normal school there in 
1914 gave the town a wonderful impetus. It already had seven churches, three 
grammar schools, a union high school, a public library well stocked with books, a 
city hall, a Spanish plaza, a delightful park, and many lodges of all the leading 
orders — all these are features of the social, intellectual and municipal life of 
the place. 

The city is exceptionally well lighted by electricity, its streets are macadamized 
and cleanly kept, the water system is good, the sewage and drainage scientific, the 
only municipal debt, now much reduced, being one incurred to perfect this system. 
Areata is served with three lines of railroad. One of these, the Northwestern 
Pacific Railroad, is destined to give direct communication to San Francisco and 
the West. With its early completion Arcata's Chamber of Commerce expects to 
see a phenomenal development in many fines. 

At present the city has a large tannery, a large cooperage manufactory and 
a shingle mill as its main local industries — not to mention the numerous creameries 
nearby, all doing a profitable and ever-increasing business — but by the time the 
railroad is completed the city looks forwa.rd to the establishment of many new 
industries. 

Ferndale is the third city in size in the county, having a population of more 
than 1,000. Outside of the incorporated limits are many additional residents, the 
merchants supplying between 1,500 and 2,000 people. It is twenty miles south 
of Eureka, within three miles of the ocean and the same distance south of Eel 
river. It is three miles from the railway, auto stages connecting with all trains. 

Dairying and allied interests support the town. Hundreds of level and 
fertile acres surround it on three sides. Eight thousand dairy cattle browse on this 
land, turning the abundant feed into butter fat which has given Humboldt the 



136 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY ' 

name of the premier butter county in the State. In North Ferndale is located a 
dry milk plant, one of three in the United States. In connection is a large 
creamery, and other creameries are located adjacent to the town. The pay roll 
for these creameries for the year is $800,000. 

There are many other enterprises^ such as moulding mills and iron works. 
There are two good hotels, a weekly newspaper, two banks, several large general 
merchandise stores, druggists, men's furnishings, shoe stores, millinery, confec- 
tioneries, livery stable, garages, a motion picture theater and other forms of 
amusement. 

The town is governed by a mayor and council. Saloons are licensed, byit 
run under strict regulation. Modern comforts, such as electric lights, telephones, 
water and sewer systems, are provided. There is an efficient fire department. 
Grammar and high schools contain all grades, and the latter an agricultural course. 
A Carnegie library is maintained. 

There are seven churches maintained in Ferndale : Methodist, Congrega- 
tional, Catholic, Danish Lutheran, German Lutheran, Episcopal and Adventist. 
The predominating class of residents are Danish, Swedish and Italian-Swiss. 
There are thirty secret societies in Ferndale, all of the usual fraternities being 
represented. 

Adjacent to the town is Salt river, emptying into Eel river near the latter's 
mouth. In season salmon, steelhead and salmon trout abound in those streams, 
providing employment for commercial fishermen and sport for rod and reel fisher- 
men. A short distance from town is located a salmon cannery. 

Back of the town is a rich, gradually developing country whose trade goes 
to Ferndale. On the coast oil indications are being prospected. The productivity 
of the soil is due largely to continuous high fogs which provide needed moisture 
the year 'round. Land sells on an average of $400 per acre, though exceptionally 
well located tracts sell at $500 and even $600 per acre. 

Fortuna is located twenty miles south of Eureka on the Northwestern Pacific 
Railroad, Eel river, the main county road and the projected state highway. 
It is the fourth largest town in the county. The last census enumerates 883 
within the incorporated limits. Outside are 300 to 500 other residents served by the 
merchants. 

Immediately surrounding the town are fertile bottom lands with low lying, 
heavily timbered hills forming a background. The lowlands are used for grain- 
raising, dairying, truck gardening, and other raising of cereals and small fruits. 
Redwood growing on the hills will supply timber for several decades for the two 
mills which help to support the town, one within the city limits, the other at 
Newburg at the outskirts of the town. 

During certain seasons of the year Eel river abounds with king salmon, 
steelheads, and salmon trout, also eels. Commercial fishermen annually take 
out thousands of dollars' worth of the first two named and the steelhead and 
salmon trout afford the finest sport known for rod fishermen. 

Fortuna maintains grammar and high schools, containing all grades, a free 
Hbrary, and Christian, Methodist, Catholic and Christian Science churches. Prac- 
tically all of the fraternal orders are represented with lodges. There are several 
active social clubs and the usual church societies. There is a Men's club and a 
boat club. 

The town is governed by a city council of five. There is an efficient fire 
department with modern equipment. A public water system and several private 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 137 

companies furnish spring water, providing an abundance of pure water and ample 
fire protection. The Fortuna Board of Trade is an active organization and a 
member of the Federated Commercial bodies. 

Fortuna has a good hotel, a bakery, a restaurant, four general merchandise 
stores, two jewelry stores, drug, hardware, furniture, confectionery, men's fur- 
nishings, ladies' furnishings, harness and vehicle stores, miUinery, butcher, barber 
and blacksmith shops, stables and garages, two weekly newspapers, a bank, 
laundry, real estate offices and an undertaking estabhshment. There is a public 
hall and a motion picture theater. The Humboldt Beacon and the Fortuna Ad- 
vance are the papers. 

The town owns a fine five-acre park. In 1912 the residents by a large ma- 
jority voted "dry." Both before and since the election the town has grown 
steadily, many residences and business houses being erected. The people are law- 
abiding, optimistic, healthy, sociable, and welcome newcomers. 

Fields Landing or South Bay is but six miles south of Eureka. Its location 
on the bay shore and the Northwestern Pacific Railway makes it a great vantage 
point. It is next to Eureka so far as shipping is concerned. The Pacific 
Lumber Company and the Eel River Valley Lumber Company have extensive 
wharves there, and millions of feet of redwood are shipped annually, much of 
it to Australia. The railway maintains its shops at South Bay and many men are 
employed there. The lumber and shipping industries also employ many men. 
There is a good hotel, several stores and a good school. 

Loleta is thirteen miles south of Eureka on the Northwestern Pacific Rail- 
way and has a p9pulation of about 500. It is surrounded by rich dairying land 
which supports many hundreds of head of cattle, this industry being the main 
support of the town. Libby, McNeill & Libby have a large milk condensing 
plant there and are building a dry milk plant in connection. There is one other 
creamery and a number of skimming stations are maintained. During the fall 
months the large fish buyers from San Francisco congregate in Loleta and 
annually the sum of $50,000 is paid out for the salmon catch from Eel river, 
near by. The town has good schools, water supply, and a sewer system. There 
is a hotel, a bank, some general merchandise stores and the usual amount of 
small business enterprises, churches and fraternal societies. Loleta is in no- 
license territory. Its citizens are prosperous and law abiding. 

Rohnerville is twenty miles south of Eureka and two miles from Fortuna. 
It is the oldest town in the southern part of the county. In early days it was 
the end of the road and settlers outfitted there to pack into the hills of Humboldt 
and Trinity. Its two general merchandise stores still furnish supplies to many 
ranchers there. The town is surrounded with rich prairie land which is very 
productive and valued highly by its owners. Hay is a big crop and garden truck, 
berries and orchard fruits help to support the town. Rohnerville has good schools, 
a teachers' preparatory school, churches, secret societies, numerous small busi- 
ness enterprises, and electric light and telephone service. ' It has a good water 
supply and a population of about 500. 

Trinidad, the oldest town in Cahfornia but one, is a picturesque village of 
250 population. It is twenty-eight miles from Eureka, to the north, being a 
spot of rugged sea-cliffs and magnificent marine view. It was at one time the post 
where Captain Grant, afterwards the famous general and president, was sta- 
tioned. In addition to these facts, Bret Harte wrote his first newspaper story 
there — a description of an Indian war that took place where the town now stands. 



138 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

It has two general stores, two hotels, a good school, a beautiful city park, and 
other interesting features of community life. A new school building, to cost 
$8,000, is now among the certainties of the near future. There are two trains 
daily to and from Eureka, while an auto stage connects the town with Crescent 
City. 

Hydesville is an inland town twenty-five miles southeast of Eureka. Located 
on a high plateau, it is in the midst of the finest berry land in the county and 
thousands of boxes of strawberries are harvested annually. Dairying is conducted 
on a small scale and the town supports a cheese factory. General ranching is 
also followed to some extent. There are schools, churches and secret societies. 
The population numbers several hundreds. 

Alton is located twenty-one miles south of Eureka at the junction of the 
Northwestern Pacific Railway with the branch line running to Carlotta. It has 
a population of about 500, which is supported by the rich ranch lands surround- 
ing the town. The town has a fine water supply, schools and a number of secret 
societies. There is a good hotel, a large general merchandise store and a number 
of small enterprises. A number of fine orchards lie adjacent to the town. Gen- 
eral ranching, fruit raising and dairying are the principal industries. 

Metropolitan is a lumber town twenty-three miles south of Eureka, on the 
Northern Pacific Railway. The Metropolitan Lumber Company operates a mill 
there and this supports the town. Adjacent logged-off and open lands are used 
for ranching. School facilities are provided and there are several small stores. 
The population is nominal. 

Rio Dell is twenty-five miles south of Eureka on the opposite side of the 
river from the railroad. It has a small population. The town is surrounded by 
rich land producing grain crops, orchard fruits, and garden truck. It is on the 
main road passing through the county. There are a hotel and a number of 
stores, also a public hall. Good schools are provided. 

Scotia is twenty-eight miles south of Eureka on the Northwestern Pacific 
Railway and has a resident population of several hundred and a very large 
transient population, owing to its principal industry, lumbering. The mills of the 
Pacific Lumber Company are located at Scotia and this company owns the entire 
town and conducts all of the business enterprises. There are two big mills and 
the annual lumber cut is enormous. Many hundreds of men are employed in the 
woods, camps and mills of the company. The company maintains cottages for 
its employes, a school and a large general hospital. A church is supported, there 
are a number of fraternal societies, and a men's club having a large membership 
is encouraged by the company. Surrounding lands that have been logged off are 
being sold and cleared and are very productive. 

Shively is located thirty-eight miles south of Eureka on the Northwestern 
Pacific Railway, and has a population of about 300. Logged-ofT lands surround 
the town and these are being cleared and planted to orchards and garden truck. 
There are a number of small Italian hotels and two others. There are a general 
merchandise store and several smaller stores. 

Pepperwood is a small settlement about thirty-five miles south of Eureka 
and on the opposite side of the river from Shively. Surrounding it is extremely 
rich bottom land and here are raised great crops of garden truck, particularly 
tomatoes. There is a number of stores and school facilities are provided. 
Near the town is located the Laurel mill, which is employed in converting a large 
grove of that timber into commercial lumber. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 139 

Dyerville is an old town located at the forks of Eel river, forty-six miles 
south of Eureka. Near this town the railway crosses the river and on the opposite 
bank the new town to be called South Fork is being established. Back of these 
towns is a rich country. Most of the lands are covered with a thick growth of 
redwood as yet hardly touched for milling purposes. The open lands grow fine 
orchard crops. Out of the redwood belt hundreds of hogs are raised on the 
acorns and other natural foods. A contemplated road leads to the Mattole coun- 
try, where are valuable fruit lands. This road will bring the Mattole trade 
to South Fork. Another road already taps the Bull creek section, located on the 
South Fork of Eel river. Stock raising, fruit culture, hunting and fishing are the 
main industries. Schools are provided. There is a good hotel at Dyerville, and 
a general store. 

Blocksburg and Bridgeville are two of the oldest towns in the southern part 
of the county. Both are located on the overland road. Bridgeville is forty-eight 
miles south of Eureka and on the Van Duzen river. Blocksburg is seventy 
miles from Eureka. Both have hotel accommodations, schools and stores. The 
population is nominal. Stock-raising is a principal industry. Hundreds of turkeys 
are also annually raised in that section and driven to market at holiday time. 
This is tlie heart of a splendid apple country. 

Alderpoint is one of the newest towns in the county, located on the over- 
land road and the Northwestern Pacific Railway, now building. It is in the 
extreme southern part of the county, eighty-one miles from Eureka. It has a 
natural location for a trade center. In the summer its climate is ideal. In the 
past surrounding lands have been used for grazing cattle and sheep. Many 
orchards are now being planted. There are school and hotel facilities and a 
number of small stores. There is only a small population. 

Situated two miles north of Blue Lake, twenty-two miles distant from 
Eureka, located on and the present terminus of the Areata & Mad River Railroad, 
is the town of Korbel^ containing a population of some 300. Korbel is a mill 
town, the Northern Redwood Company owning the land and practically all of the 
industries. A large mill is operated there, and employs many men. Surround- 
ing level land is used for the growing of small fruits, poultry raising, etc. Aside 
from the lumber industry, the chief asset of Korbel is its scenic beauty. There is 
a large tourist hotel, perhaps the finest in the county, and hundreds of outsiders 
visit the resort each summer. There are excellent fishing and hunting. Nowhere 
in the county is the scenery of Korbel excelled. There are schools and the usual 
number of business establishments. 

Blue Lake is an incorporated city situated twenty miles north of Eureka. 
It is on the Areata & Mad River Railroad, which connects at Areata with the 
Northwestern Pacific Railway. Within the school district there is a population 
of 1000. Surrounded by heavily timbered hills, and above the fog belt, Blue Lake 
has an almost perfect climate, unexcelled by any place on the coast. The fertile 
acres surrounding the town are used for dairying, general ranching, and the 
raising of berries and small fruits. These, with the lumbering industry, are the 
chief support of the town. The town is the principal distributing point for all of 
northern Humboldt. Mines on the Klamath and Trinity are supplied with the 
necessities through this gateway. The mining industry is largely undeveloped, 
and has an immense future before it. 

Blue Lake has a grammar school, high school privileges, Catholic, Presby- 
terian and Methodist churches, and the usual number of fraternal societies, 



140 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

social clubs, etc. There is a development board, newly organized. It has an 
excellent water system, an efficient fire department, electric Hghts, telephones and 
all modern conveniences. In addition to the daily train service, passenger auto 
trucks place the town in quick communication with the county seat. Trades in 
all lines are represented, the business district being such as is usually found in 
towns of this size. There is a weekly newspaper, the Blue Lake Advocate. 
Lands may be purchased at reasonable figures and newcomers are welcomed 
to the community. 

Samoa is located on the peninsula across the bay from Eureka. The Ham- 
mond Lumber Company owns the town and operates immense saw mills, mould- 
ing mills, etc., employing some 500 men. The company has built a number 
of substantial houses for the workmen, and the population numbers about 250. 
Other, workmen reside in Eureka. There is an hourly ferry service between the 
peninsula and the mainland. The peninsula is narrow and the Pacific ocean Hes 
adjacent to the town, a favorite spot during the spring and summer. The dis- 
tance from Eureka to the wharf line at Samoa is approximately a mile and a half. 

Carlotta is a summer resort located twenty-eight miles south of Eureka. 
It is on the Northwestern Pacific Railway, being the terminal of the branch 
line which connects at Alton, six miles distant. It is in the heart of the redwoods. 
Logged-off or open lands grow unexcelled berries and small fruits. Stages from 
Carlotta connect with the inland towns of southern Humboldt. Ranchers in 
that section outfit at Carlotta, thus making it an important shipping point. There 
is an excellent hotel there and the fishing and hunting are superlb. The population 
's nominal. Opportunities are numerous for the prospective settler. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Promotive Activities. 

One of the most striking features of the development of Humboldt 
county during the last few years is the organization of a number of societies 
whose aim is the material advancement of the affairs of the county. As in 
many other instances of community development throughout the United 
States, the most important factor in this work is the education of public 
sentiment to a realization of the importance of maintaining a live organiza- 
tion in the field, ever ready to take advantage of each opportunity which 
makes for the betterment of physical and social conditions. 

A few years before 1912, there had been several noticeable failures 
among business men to get together for the purpose of promoting the gen- 
eral welfare. At Eureka a real estate exchange was organized, but it was 
difficult to raise much money, so that after a few years the subscriptions 
lapsed and the organization went to pieces. Similar experiences had been 
met with in other communities, and the outlook was discouraging. 

The Sunset Magazine, of San Francisco, and some other publications 
had done sporadic work in the line of advocating a get-together movement 
in the county and Jack London had come to Humboldt county to interest 
the people in a book, which he wrote for the purpose of bringing tourists 
into this section. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 141 

Early in 1912 — about June 16 — Leigh H. Irvine, then managing editor 
of the Humboldt Times of Eureka, called a meeting of business men for the 
purpose of discussing the advisability of starting a promotion and develop- 
ment organization. They met at the office of A. J. Johnsen, a real estate 
agent, but the principal speakers said it would be impossible to raise any 
money. W. S. Clark, afterwards elected mayor, said $2000 could not be 
raised in two years. 

Mr. Irvine called another meeting, however, and began a vigorous 
campaign in behalf of community development plans in the columns of the 
Humboldt Times. He was ably assisted in this matter by editors throughout 
the county, and by October 19, at a meeting of the Federated Commercial 
Bodies of Humboldt County, held in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, 
the eminent Judge George Rowe, a pomologist of national reputation, being 
present, Mr. Irvine made a vigorous address in favor of bringing somebody 
to Humboldt county for the purpose of starting its promotion activities. 

A few weeks later a man of the name R. R. Wilson was brought from 
Seattle to take charge of the work. He remained for some months, and with 
the aid of a vigorous committee and newspaper support the committee 
raised pledges amounting to almost $55,000 for a campaign planned to last 
three years. 

The following gentlemen took a prominent part in the work of that 
organization: William S. Clark, Eureka; Dr. F. M. Bruner, Ferndale; C. D. 
Daly, Eureka; Henry Brizard, Areata; J. F. Coonan, Eureka; Ralph W. Bull, 
Areata; C. H. Palmtag, Eureka; Leon Baker, Blue Lake; J. E. Merriam, 
Blue Lake; L, F. Puter, Eureka; Brousse Brizard, Bald Mountain; H. L. 
Ricks, Eureka; E. B. Bull, Ft. Seward; E. A. Leach, Eureka; C. J. McCon- 
naha, Trinidad ; L. C. Everding, Korbel ; A. E. McLaren, Eureka ; F. H. 
Bertsch, Loleta; C. H. Wright, Loleta; W. H. Perrott, Loleta; H. L. Jack- 
man, Eureka; S. V. Morrison, Ferndale; Walter Coggeshall, Eureka; J. H. 
Ring, Ferndale; B. E. Porter, Eureka; E. W. Haight, Fortuna; John Gaar- 
den, Fortuna; J. J. Krohn, Areata; B. F. Stern, Eureka; G. H. Burchard, 
Areata; C. H. Eisner, Eureka; W. A. Preston, Areata; L. C. Morgan, For- 
tuna. Hundreds of others joined the movement later. 

Under this organization vigorous work was begun for the purpose of 
inducing a farm advisor to locate in Humboldt county. Within a few 
months Dean Hunt, of the State University, detailed Prof. A. H. Christian- 
sen to visit Humboldt county and make it later his permanent home as farm 
advisor. He began his work, his expenses being paid by the Humboldt 
Promotion and Development Committee, which was the name of the organ- 
ization formed, but his salary has been and is still paid by the State Uni- 
versity itself. The work of the farm advisor has been considered one of the 
most important enterprises ever undertaken in Humboldt county, which 
obtained a great deal of splendid publicity by reason of the fact that it was 
the first county in the State to be favored and honored by having a special 
soil analyst and agricultural expert detailed to come and live among its 
people. 

Professor Christiansen began his work about July, 1913, and worked 
thoroughly and vigorously in every section of the county, immediately 
establishing all kinds of farm plots for the elucidation of agricultural in- 
formation and the education of the public. In describing his mode of opera- 



142 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tion recently he spoke as follows : "The plan which I am putting forth is, 
in short, this — that each center chooses a topic, say the first topic may be 
lime and its uses in the way of improving the soil. We would discuss lime 
from its formation in the crude lime rocks down to the various forms as 
they appear on the market, hydrated limes, water-slacked lime, air-slacked 
lime, caustic lime, calcium carbonate, calcium oxide, etc., following out the 
changes of one lime to another, and how one is converted into the other. I 
have planned to make this as simple and non-technical as possible, although 
dipping enough into chemistry so that when we speak of a carbonate we 
can do so and have the audience understand all we are talking about. 

"My purpose is to fix the limes in the minds of each one of the farmers 
so he will know how much one lime is worth in terms of any other that 
may be on the market; how much lime rock for instance he would be justi- 
fied in using on his land ; how much he ought to pay for this lime rock, as 
compared with what he was paying for caustic lime ; how much air-slacked 
lime or hydrated lime he would be apt to get from a ton of caustic lime, 
etc." 

The Professor is going into many other practical phases of agriculture 
and he says when each member of the agricultural centers which he is 
establishing is thoroughly at home with lime so that he will know a special 
kind of lime when he sees it, on what class of soil to use one class of 
lime and what kind would be benefited by another kind, — in short, how to 
know lime thoroughly, — then we would pass on, he says, to a subject like 
balanced rations and discuss proteids, carbohydrates, fats, and their relation 
to one another. He would then carry them into the question of balanced 
rations and the rotation of crops. 

For carrying on studies of this kind, Professor Christiansen has been 
retained for two years in advance of the term that he had been engaged for, 
by resolution of the supervisors of the county, passed early in May, 1914, 
and will remain with the county. 

Another important matter which was taken up by the organization was 
the question of good roads. Engineer Burrell, of the Federal Bureau of 
Highways, visited Humboldt county and gave several public addresses. 
Not only did he do this, but he drew an extensive plan of roads which was 
afterwards taken up by the people, although nothing substantial has been 
done at this date (1914) on the subject. The work, however, has roused 
public sentiment and led to other matters of great interest, as we shall see. 
This brings us to the state highway. 

The State Highway question and the building of a system of county 
roads are closely interwoven. A great convention was called in August, 
1913, for the purpose of discussing what was known as good roads in three 
states. The convention was called the Three States Good Roads Rally, and 
was attended by Governor Hiram Johnson, of California, and Governor 
Ernest Lister, of Washington.- Governor West, of Oregon, could not come, 
owing to the fact that Secretary Franklin K. Lane, of the Interior Depart- 
ment, was at that time his guest at Portland, Ore. Hundreds of delegates 
came to the convention which held a great banquet at the Vance House 
and at that time there was born in the people the spirit and ambition of 
good road builders. Humboldt county had always been more or less 
famous, however, for the good character of its roads. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 143 

Following the Three States Good Roads Rally there was more or less 
desultory talk about good highways, but it did not come into very promi- 
nent and active operation as a public movement until February, 1914. 

A little before this time Leigh H. Irvine had been appointed Secretary 
of the Humboldt Promotion and Development Committee, and when he was 
called upon by Engineer Sommer, division engineer for Northern California, 
he discovered that there was apathy among the supervisors and the public 
at large, so a hurried meeting of the executive committee was called, prac- 
tically in the nature of a conference of the directors, and vigorous steps 
were taken to bring to bear upon the supervisors the influence of the heavy 
property owners in behalf of good roads. To cut the story short, it may 
be said that the vigorous work of the Promotion Committee saved the day 
and made possible the buying of $1,500,000 worth of bonds by the super- 
visors of the county for the purpose of guaranteeing a splendid state high- 
way from the northern boundary of Humboldt county to its extreme south- 
ern boundary. Fifty or sixty property owners were induced by the secre- 
tary and the committee to call upon the supervisors and a similar call one 
week later was made by fifty or sixty more prominent property owners, 
who were greatly aided by District Attorney Hill, who made it plain to the 
supervisors that it would be possible to buy the bonds to the amount 
desired by the committee, if certain methods were followed. 

It was then necessary to explain to audiences throughout the county, 
and this was done by the secretary, who made it clear to a number of 
chambers of commerce, women's clubs, and other civic organizations, that 
the purchase of a million and a half dollars' worth of bonds would practi- 
cally cost the county nothing — that it would in reality work a great saving 
of funds for the county. 

The difficulty which confronted Humboldt county, like that which con- 
fronted a great many other counties at that time, was that there was a 
general misunderstanding of the meaning of a bond purchase. The law was 
such that the State could not sell the bonds for less than par, but they were 
below par and a slow investment; so the State was compelled to rely upon 
its friends for the purchase of the bonds. By buying these bonds in lots 
or installments of $150,000 each, it was explained that the loss could not 
exceed five or six per cent of the sum, that being the difference between 
the market value and the par value of the bonds. Thus, after the people 
began to understand that they could get $1,500,000 worth of highways at a 
cost not to. exceed $60,000 or $70,000, and that as soon as the highways 
were finished the State would have to take care of them and that the county 
would save about $50,000 a year in the upkeep, there was enthusiasm in 
favor of the bond purchase. 

The Promotion Committee held a number of meetings with other organ- 
izations, had a number of committees appointed, and induced many organ- 
izations to pass resolutions in favor of the bonds, so that at the end of a 
few w^eeks there was a great change in the tide of public opinion, and the 
supervisors were cheered when they bought the first $150,000 worth of 
bonds. 

As an evidence of the successful operation of modern promotive efforts 
it should be said that the fight was not then over. The committee realized 
that it would be necessary to make a specific contract with the State High- 



144 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

way Commission, under the terms of which they would guarantee that every 
dollar expended by Humboldt county for the purchase of bonds would be 
immediately expended, or expended as soon as possible, for the building of 
highways in Humboldt county. 

To make this matter absolutely certain a committee consisting of Capt. 
Walter Coggeshall, C. H. Palmtag, Henry Brizard, and Thomas Hine, was 
detailed to go to Sacramento and San Francisco for the purpose of inter- 
viewing the State Highway Commissioners and inducing them to live up to 
the promises which the committee had made the supervisors and the people 
of Humboldt county. 

Capt. Walter W. Coggeshall was chairman of the committee and on 
his return to Eureka he reported that the State Highway Commission had 
acceded to the terms of the contract as outlined by the promotion commit- 
tee, and that it was recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the highway 
commission that the commission would authorize the construction of high- 
waj^s in Humboldt county at all times to the extent of the purchase by 
Humboldt county, and under the terms of the arrangement made between 
the promotion committee and the supervisors. 

About this time great activities throughout the county were noticeable 
in the way of promoting agricultural, industrial, and manufacturing inter- 
ests. The promotion committee began its work of attempting to get great 
paper-mills established somewhere in proximity to Humboldt bay. It ob- 
tained reports from expert makers of paper to the effect that the ordinary 
redwood waste, which is destroyed to the extent of hundreds of thousands 
of tons each year in the woods and around the mills, would make splendid 
paper by the sulphite process. A number of analyses indicated that the 
redwood waste gave a long fiber and that the bleaching presented no dififi- 
culties that could not be overcome on a practical and economic basis. It 
was shown that the paper is susceptible of a high polish and might be made 
into the finest grades of stationery and book paper. The results of the 
various experiments conducted at practical mills were in evidence in the 
form of a number of beautiful samples of wrapping paper, of a high grade of 
tough, glazed white paper, and of the very finest samples of paper for cor- 
respondence. The report of practical chemists and manufacturers indicated 
their absolute confidence in the practicability of a paper-mill in Humboldt 
county and some of them expressed the belief that with the completion of 
the jetties and the coming of the canal, freight rates would be low enough 
to enable the paper-mills around Humboldt bay, if established, to compete, 
if occasion should require, with the mills of the East on their own ground. 

C. Stowell Smith, assistant District Forester of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture in San Francisco, also made some experiments 
with paper and reported that the paper-making fibers from redwood were 
excellent if properly prepared — strong, fairly thick-walled, slender, and long 
— in fact, two-thirds longer than most fibers. 

Immediately after these reports were made public in a number of 
speeches by the secretary of the promotion committee and by articles in the 
newspapers there was renewed interest in manufacturing in Humboldt 
county, and that interest is the most remarkable of the new commercial 
features and industrial activities of today. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 145 

The Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, under the able management 
and secretaryship of Secretary George A. Kellogg, has always stood for the 
welfare of the county and has been foremost in those activities which look 
to the building up of great commercial enterprises. Secretary Kellogg, in 
the course of a number of years of active experience, has collected a -large 
amount of statistics which are invaluable. He has always been remarkably 
accurate and free from the boost or boom spirit so unreliable and mislead- 
ing in many other communities of the United States. 

The Chamber of Commerce of Humboldt county, as the pioneer promo- 
tive organization, has always deserved great credit for the thoroughness of 
its labors. Somewhat conservative in its plan of operation, it nevertheless 
stands as the fvmdamental organization making for the betterment of the 
county. The promotion and development committee is carrying on its 
activities as a branch of the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce. 

Late in 1913 the Eureka Development Association, consisting of about 
three hundred members, was organized for the purpose of looking out 
specifically for the welfare of Eureka. It is today a prosperous organiza- 
tion under the secretaryship of Charles H. Roberts, a former newspaperman 
of Eureka. It spends several hundred dollars each month and its work in 
no way conflicts with that of the Chamber of Commerce and the promotion 
committee, whose activities are more specially county-wide, although neither 
organization is prohibited from doing anything within reason for the ad- 
vancement of the interests of any town in the county or of the welfare of 
the people at large, except that the promotion committee is not permitted to 
spend any of its funds for the purpose of advancing the interests of any 
special town. 

All the towns and the districts of the county are active to a greater or 
less extent in the field of promotion and commercial activities. Loleta has 
a board of trade, which is doing effective work; Blue Lake has a develop- 
ment board, which is always active ; Ferndale has a chamber of commerce 
that has taken part in many important enterprises; Fortuna has a board of 
trade which has never failed to be active at the right moment; and Areata 
boasts of a chamber of commerce which did a great deal of effective work 
in obtaining the Normal School, and which is always wide-awake when the 
interests of Areata are involved. 

Besides these organizations every one of the commercial bodies of the 
county is a member of the Federated Commercial Bodies of Humboldt 
County. The dairymen have an organization which is active in that line, 
the lumbermen and shinglemen have their organization, and no field is 
neglected. Secretary Frank J. Cummings of the Dairymen's Association is 
a scholarly man and an efficient secretary in his line of endeavor. 

It would probably be difficult to find any county in California of any- 
thing like the population of Humboldt that is giving more time and atten- 
tion to the development of its resources, or that is spending more money 
per capita each year for the activities of its commercial organizations. 
Eureka alone spends more than $2500 each month to maintain its many 
organizations of this character and carry on the work outlined by them. 

To sum up the activities of all these commercial bodies, it might be 
said that they are trying to get ready for that new time which is certain to 
confront the people of Humboldt county when the state highway is com- 



146 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

pleted, when the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company's trains begin to 
run from Eureka to San Francisco bay, and when the jetties are finished, 
the bay dredged, and the ships of the world will be able to come through 
the Panama Canal and land at the port of Eureka. 

These organizations place much store on the fact that the great red- 
wood belt, the rivers, and the lagoons, together, with many other spots of 
scenic beauty wall lure tourists from all parts of California, if not from the 
world. They are trying to build up an interest in hotels and resorts, as 
well as in all other lines which will cater to the tourist trade. They are 
fond of calling Humboldt county the playground of the west and are doing 
everything in their power to build up a tourist trade in this direction. 
They base much of their hope in this line on the fact that the climate 
around Humboldt bay is the coolest summer climate on the American 
continent, the hottest day ever known having been one when the ther- 
mometer barely reached 85 degrees above zero. 

Besides building up commercial activities, great work is being carried 
forward in the way of agriculture and agricultural colonies. The Humboldt 
Land and Development Company, organized by Frank K. Mott and his 
association at Oakland, have twenty-two thousand five hundred acres of 
land at Fort Seward, destined to be the metropolis of southern Humboldt. 
This great concern is getting ready for thousands of citizens and it will 
build a town there which will probably be the principal shipping point south 
of Eureka. 

Activities like those of the Fort Seward company are destined to multi- 
ply, for with a careful study of horticulture and scientific methods of carry- 
ing on the dairying and vegetable gardens trade, there is certain to be a 
growth of canneries and kindred activities. The work of establishing can- 
neries, wood-working companies, and similar lines of industrial activities is 
being pushed forward by almost every organization in the county. 

Some of the other problems which they are taking hold of vigorously 
concern the handling of the flood waters in the Eel river bottom, also 
along Mad river. Owing to the flat valleys and the fact that there are great 
volumes of water plunging from the mountains each winter, it is a serious 
question how to prevent the overflow of land, as well as to prevent the river 
from eating up thousands of acres of land every few years. Engineers have 
figured that the toll of the river has already cost, in the last twenty years, 
ten thousand acres of land valued at $500 an acre. The efl^ort to reclaim 
some of these lost acres is now being pushed forward with great activity by 
the Chamber of Commerce of Humboldt county and many other organiza- 
tions either affiliated with it or co-operating with it in this important work. 

Another great effort now being put forth by the promotive organiza- 
tions, civic clubs, women's clubs, and others looks to the preservation of a 
great National redwood forest in Humboldt county. A bill looking to this 
purpose has long been before Congress and the organizations of the county 
are (1914) spending every energy to the accomplishment of their desire. 

Everybody in Humboldt county and everybody who ever sees the big 
trees hope that congressional action may save them from the axe of the 
woodmen. Closely connected with the question of preserving the forests is 
the problem of equitable taxation, for unless the forests shall be taxed under 
some such scientific plan as that which obtains in Germany, where the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 147 

ground is taxed for its value at all times, and where the trees are never 
taxed until they are cut, the case will look hopeless. These wonderful 
trees are the oldest and most majestic of all the sky-piercing sequoia sem- 
pervirens that were "God's first temples." It is evident that if the children 
of tomorrow are to be permitted to see these precious relics of prehistoric 
America — sublime survivors of the far-away centuries — there is urgent need 
of immediate conservation, for the tracts closest to the railroad and the state 
highway are disappearing before the woodmen from the mills at the rate of 
about four thousand acres each year. No spectacle that California can offer 
the tourist from the East or from foreign countries will ever equal the 
mighty redwoods, for which reason it would be a shame if they were to be 
destroyed before practical conservation might take care of them. The big 
timber and lumber owners have informed a number of commercial organiza- 
tions, especially the promotion committee, that they will be glad to give a 
price to a congressional committee if that price will be considered as confi- 
dential, and they have also expressed themselves as willing to meet the 
public half-way in this matter, feeling that they have enjoyed a great privi- 
lege in buying them for small sums, for which reason they are willing to be 
generous to the extent of selling to the government for less than the market 
price. The Hon. William Kent and a number of other congressmen of 
means have signified a desire to help in the matter, not only by their vote 
and activity, but by making substantial gifts to the purchase funds. Too 
much credit can not be given to the women's clubs, and the organizations 
around Fortuna in particular, for their activity in behalf of the preservation 
of a great redwood forest for the generations yet to come. 

Possibly the most hopeful feature about all of the work of these organ- 
izations is seen in the fact that the people are now beginning to understand 
the value of organized efforts. The Federal Bureau of Commerce of the 
United States recently issued a report on the work of American develop- 
ment associations. After examining the activities of almost one hundred 
cities and towns, its experts concluded that the education of public senti- 
ment to the point of realizing the value of team-work for the general 
welfare was perhaps the most valuable feature in all promotion and devel- 
opment work, and that the maintenance of an active organization of this 
character is always worth everything that any community can pay for it. 
Secretary Irvine, of the Humboldt Promotion and Development Committee, 
is making this campaign for the education of public sentiment, and it is his 
belief that the best work which the committee can possibly do is to rouse 
the patriotic impulses that have long lain in the breasts of a number of good 
citizens of the olden time. 

Old residents of the county are noticing the fact that the activities of 
these commercial and development organizations mark a new time in the 
work of the county. In conjunction with this, although it has not been 
taken up by any of the organizations, there is a quiet movement in many 
parts of the county to suppress the coming into Humboldt of a number of 
unfit and undesirable citizens. Almost every steamer brings Greeks, Sla- 
vonians, and others who can neither read nor write the English language and 
who will work for a very small wage. In this connection, many labor 
organizations are doing all in their power to prevent employment bureaus 



148 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and like organizations in San Francisco from sending empty-handed men 
into Humboldt county. 

The promotion committee and other organizations take the position 
that while this is an empire of virgin opportunities for the right man, it 
will be unwise to leap in the dark. These organizations are trying to give 
facts that should be known by every sensible person before he even thinks 
of visiting the county. While they maintain that it is a wonderful country 
for the right man, they are very anxious to have those who start investi- 
gate the question as to whether they are the right men before they buy 
their tickets. Those contemplating a visit to Humboldt county are warned 
not to come under any mistaken impression that gold grows on the bushes 
anywhere in the Golden West. All inquirers are plainly told that the county 
needs capital and skill in manufacturing, agricultural, horticultural and 
kindred industries. The committee discourages the riff-raff from flocking 
into the North under the mistaken belief that there is a chance for every- 
body. Those desiring to do common labor are advised to make inquiry 
before they rashly come into a strange land without funds. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Past and Prospective Humboldt Agriculture. 

The student of history, especially if he goes to original sources, will soon 
learn by talking with men and women who settled in Humboldt county any time 
between 1858 and 1870 that the history of agriculture in those times was much 
like the famous book on snakes in Iceland. The author had the book bound in 
beautiful covers, and it contained almost a thousand pages, only one of which 
contained any printed matter. The only words appearing in the entire book 
were printed in bold letters on the first page. The text was as follows : "As 
for snakes in Iceland, there are none." 

As for agriculture in Humboldt county during the early days of its occupa- 
tion, there was almost nothing worthy of the name. Much of the development of 
this county ever since it was settled has lain along the line of lumbering. The 
fact that mighty virgin forests abound in this great coimty has always attracted 
the capitalists and the woodsmen alike. It was natural that the great profits 
which were made in this industry should intensify it, and it is also natural that 
agriculture should take a secondary place during a long period of years. Of 
course sheep and cattle ranges abounded in the old days, and a rude form of 
agriculture also existed side by side with the grazing industry. 

But the conditions of yesterday could not continue indefinitely, for the reason 
that the great development of agriculture along scientific lines was sure to make 
our acres valuable to the husbandman. Such men as Henry DeVoy soon saw 
the great advantage of our climatic conditions and scores of them have reaped 
fortunes from the soil. 

It is well known that there was a period when it was almost impossible to 
market the perishable crops satisfactorily. Even today (1914) the only way 
to ship crops satisfactorily is by water, although the completion of the North- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 149 

western Pacific will bring new and different conditions to the farmers of Hum- 
boldt county. 

There was a time, particularly from 1870 to 1880, when clover was known 
as the king of agricultural products. Prior to that time Humboldt county 
was known as the greatest potato belt in all the West, but potatoes were so cheap 
in those days that the growing of these tubers was abandoned in favor of clover. 

With the coming of clover it was inevitable that the dairying industry should 
take its place as one of the great productive occupations of the county. 

Many years ago a number of far seeing farmers and business men began to 
devise ways and means whereby they might use the cut-over lands which had 
sustained forests of redwood, but no great progress was made for the simple 
reason that there were no organizations to take the matter up seriously, aggres- 
sively, and scientifically. It might be said in a general way that the organization 
of the Humboldt Promotion and Development Committee, following the editorial 
agitation by Leigh H. Irvine, managing editor of the Humboldt Times, supple- 
mented by his addresses on the history and philosophy of community develop- 
ment, was the beginning of the organized movement which finally culminated in 
the present efficient farm bureau system that characterizes the agricultural activ- 
ities of the county. 

The promotion committee was organized on October 19, 1912^ and by the 
middle of July, 1914, Prof. A. H. Christiansen had been detailed to the county 
by the State University at Berkeley as official farm adviser. He immediately 
began his work in conjunction with the promotion committee and it was not very 
long before farm centers were organized throughout the county. These are 
really farmers' clubs, which meet and discuss practical questions pertaining 
to the good and welfare of the farmers. All sorts of questions concerning soil 
analysis, rotation of crops, fertilization, the use of lime, and green manuring 
are discussed at these meetings. The farm advisor usually visits a center at 
least once a month, but the work grew so fast the first year that a determined 
effort was made to obtain another advisor to enter the field with him. 

The older school of Humboldters — men like Ex-Governor James N. Gillett 
and W. S. Clark — were long suspicious of any efforts to make Humboldt county 
a typical agricultural region ; but those who have watched the painstaking work 
of those farmers who are following Professor Christiansen now realize that 
thousands of acres heretofore regarded as unfit for agriculture are destined to 
become productive. The beginning of the new agriculture may be said to have 
dated from the coming of Professor Christiansen and the organization of his 
farm bureau. Methods wholly unknown to the farmers of early days are now 
practiced successfully every day. The use of lime on sour lands has worked 
wonders wherever it has been tried. 

Another important epoch in the history of Humboldt agriculture may be 
said to have dated from the arrival of Charles Wilhs Ward, of New York in 
1913. His father had left him a large amount of redwood land and he was 
drawn to the county by reason of litigation affecting the title to his holdings. 
As he had been engaged in the nursery business and truck gardening in New 
York City for many years, as he is at this writing, he began to experiment 
with Humboldt soil. Within six months after his arrival he had transformed 
an ordinary Eureka lot into a rich garden of delightful vegetables. By the use 
of his soil board, and by scientific fertilization and gardening he produced seven 
crops of lettuce within a few- months, each crop following the other in rotation. 



150 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

He demonstrated that the cHmatic conditions and soil are such as to warrant a 
great deal of activity in berrying, truck gardening, and like industries. He soon 
bought two large places in Eureka and has turned the yards into scientific gar- 
dens for the production of vegetables. 

Not content with this small way of doing business he bought a good sized 
farm on Yager creek, not far from the town of Carlotta. As Mr. Ward is the 
author of the World's Standard Work on Carnations, and as he has long been 
a successful horticulturist, there is much hope in his prophecy that Humboldt 
county is destined to afford a living to hundreds of men and women who know 
how to raise good vegetables by the use of modern methods. He says there is 
not an acre of ground anywhere in the vicinity of Eureka, Areata, and other 
towns around the bay that is not capable of producing a good living for a family 
of moderate size. 

No history of Humboldt county's agricultural and horticultural development 
would be complete without some mention of the great work carried on by the 
Humboldt Land and Development Company, of which Mayor Frank K. Mott, 
of Oakland, is president. This company bought almost twenty-three thousand 
acres known as the Fort Seward country in the year IQU. In anticipation of the 
completion of the railroad the company, under the management of E. B. Bull, 
laid out a townsite adjacent to the river at Fort Seward. Scientific gardeners and 
farmers were brought to the land, and it was through the effort of Mr. Bull that 
Judge G. W. Rowe, vice-president of the American Pomological Society, first 
visited Humboldt county. As stated elsewhere in this work, he found the 
greatest apple lands in the world in this far away country. 

Enough is known of the agricultural achievements of the past to warrant 
great hope in the future. The history of the walnut industry, though a brief one, 
shows the line of endeavor that is likely to characterize the future of Humboldt 
county. Many years ago some venturesome soul planted some walnuts of com- 
mercial value. Though they were neglected and almost forgotten, they have often 
produced wonderful crops. In the Petrolia country, which was looked over, about 
1911, by Joseph Bagley of Eureka, who is deeply interested in walnut culture, 
there are many evidences that the old trees are heavy bearers. These scarred 
veterans of the forest have here and there attracted much attention and favorable 
comment. Expert walnut men from other parts of California, notably C. W. 
Sheats, have come and seen and been conquered by the beautiful growth they 
have beheld. A number of interested persons, encouraged by these evidences of 
past growths, are now projecting plans that look to the subdivision of some of 
these lands for the purpose of scientific walnut culture. 

Though the old residents have wandered over all parts of the county, they 
usually paid little attention to the rolling lands except for grazing purposes. The 
last ten years, however, have shown that the prairies are susceptible of wonderful 
uses by the farmers. The prairies are, in a general way, the following: Dow's 
prairie, Trinidad prairie, Hydesville prairie, Rohnerville prairie, the upland 
prairies of Mattole, the upland prairies of Garberville, and in a general way the 
prairies along the Klamath river. The uplands have been developed sufficiently 
during the last few years to attract the attention of the historian who cares to 
note the progress of agriculture. The uplands above Hydesville, those in the 
Table Bluff section, those above Trinidad, above Mattole, and along the Upper 
Mattole river have been developed sufficiently to indicate their great value. As 
a rule they are excellent for dairying, while every vegetable grows to perfection. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 151 

Melons and tomatoes thrive better here than almost anywhere in the state. 
It may be worth while to look into the future and give the reader an idea of the 
line of development likely to characterize the agricultural activities of tomorrow. 
By the time this chapter is before the reader Humboldt county will have an 
outlet by rail which will enable it to market its products without delay and to 
reach the buyer when the price is of most advantage to the producer. 

In predicting what the future of any part of Humboldt county may be one is 
reminded of the famous declaration of the immortal Patrick Henry, who declared 
in one of the most famous speeches ever made on American soil that he knew no 
way of judging the future but by the past. He would guide his footsteps by the 
lamp of experience. 

So, in making a forecast regarding any section of California or any part of 
Humboldt county, one must bear in mind the lessons of experience. Those who 
know the Eel river valley best willingly testify that every acre of her rich bottom 
land is susceptible of highly profitable uses. The heavy soil is like a mint in the 
open, for it is rich enough to enable any man of thrift and experience to coin a for- 
tune therefrom. 

Although the values of these acres are today deemed excessive by some 
people, the truth is that we have scarcely begun to use the soil to its full capacity. 
With the coming of an increased population to Northern California, Humboldt 
county is certain to be visited by thousands of men and women who know what's 
what in agriculture, and particularly in dairying. 

This simply means that our present method of handling this important branch 
of industry will be modernized, and when every acre is made to give the best 
possible account of itself production will be greatly enhanced. Expert agricul- 
turists who have seen and examined the great dairying sections south of Beatrice 
unhesitatingly predict that there will be a greatly increased output per acre within 
the next few years. If we admit that the present rich acreage can be made richer 
still, the picture of tomorrow becomes a pleasant one indeed. 

How are these improvements to be brought about? Primarily through 
efficiency engineering applied to the farm. For example, the cows now furnish- 
ing milk for the dairymen produce about two hundred pounds of butter fat per 
year. The cows that should be used in this industry would produce six hundred 
pounds of butter fat during the same period. Not only is this true, but the six 
hundred pounds of butter fat from the improved breed of cows will be a far 
better grade than any ever yet produced in Humboldt county. 

The improvements which the thoughtful person sees in the dairying industry 
alone will come about by the use of better cows and better feed. Those who 
know most about the dairying industry are of the opinion that it would be well 
for dairymen in the Eel river valley to agree upon some good strain of milk- 
producing cows. The Holstein, Guernsey, and the Jersey are said to be excel- 
lently adapted for this rich country. There are advantages in uniformity. The 
history of dairying shows a tendency toward uniformity. 

A third element destined to contribute to the greatness of the dairying indus- 
try, therefore to the wealth and prosperity of this section, will be found in clean 
milk. Scientific methods and sanitary precautions will be very much increased 
within the next ten years, and every improvement of this character will make for 
a greater Eel river valley. Let us assume that dairying will remain the chief 
business of this section of Humboldt county. There is not likely to be any 
diminution of the demand for high grade dairying products in the United States, 



152 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and with the increase of population which CaHfornia is sure to obtain, dairying on 
an intensified and scientific basis will surely always remain one of our greatest 
productive industries. 

In the Scotia country, and after you cross the Van Duzen river, also up the 
Eel river and the Van Duzen^ one cannot fail to see many rich pockets, little 
valleys and hillsides susceptible of intensive horticulture, agriculture, and dairy- 
ing. Alfalfa will yet come into its own in many parts of this region. The first 
section of the Van Duzen valley will be excellent for alfalfa, hog-raising, mixed 
agriculture, the vine^ berries and fruits. It is easy to see either one or two good 
sized canneries or many small ones dotting the hillsides of tomorrow. With greater 
freighting facilities it is not impossible that fresh fruits and berries may find 
a market in the years to come. 

Going up the main Eel river by way of Pepperwood, Shively and Camp 
Grant, one beholds a region that stands almost alone in its wonderful possi- 
biHties for almost all kinds of fruits, berries and alfalfa. When the cry "Back 
to the land !" begins to ring throughout the country these lonely acres will be 
peopled with a large and independent population of intelligent husbandmen. In 
the past these wilds have been in the hands of hunters and trappers. 

People are reading these days and Bolton A. Hall's theory of three acres 
and liberty has not fallen on the desert air. Some of us are remembering that 
Abraham Lincoln said that the problem of the future of this land of the stars 
and stripes would be to master the art of making a good living from the smallest 
possible area of the soil. He held that a community whose every member knows 
how to cultivate the soil need never fear an)' kind of oppression, for that com- 
munity would be alike independent of crowned kings, money kings, and land 
kings. If this be true, and it sounds like wisdom, we can see that this section 
will contain a prosperous and independent people. 

The conditions obtaining in the bench and hill lands just described are 
largely duplicated in the Mattole valley, along the upper South Fork, and in the 
White Thorn valley. With increased transportation facilities, the completion of 
the railroad, the jetties and the Panama Canal, it is possible that the extreme 
southern portions of Humboldt county will experience rapid development. Albert 
Etter is already in touch with large Australian corporations whose managers 
have heard of the wonderful possibilities which the Mattole section presents to 
those interested in canning fruits and berries. 

It is impossible that Briceland and the many table lands, lowlands and other 
desirable sections will remain uncultivated. Many little agricultural centers, 
villages and shipping points are likely to spring up throughout this section with 
the development of alfalfa, farming, dairying, fruits, hog raising and the pro- 
duction of walnuts and other nuts that give promise of high commercial profits. 
Joseph Bagley is the pioneer among scientific walnut growers in this section. 
C."W. Sheats, late of Santa Ana, has recently (1914) located in the walnut busi- 
ness in this section. 

In forecasting the possibilities of poultry raising in the county, the southern 
part of the county should not be overlooked. Those experienced in this line 
of work are unanimously of the opinion that our climatic conditions, coupled 
with the richness of our soil, make southern Humboldt the ideal spot for the 
poultry business. 

Of course the rougher lands will have to be used in connection with stock- 
raising, for there are many acres where the successful farmer will be com- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 153 

pelled to run stock in connection with gardens, orchards and dairying. It can 
not be denied that much of our land will always remain a grazing area. It is 
to be regretted that we have not yet come upon any method that will guarantee 
an equitable subdivision of the very large holdings in southern Humboldt. There 
are hundreds of tracts susceptible of supporting a large number of families, but 
they now constitute portions of vast areas which are owned by one or two men. 
Nobody would confiscate this property, but one of the problems of the future will 
be to reclaim this land from its present wild condition and make it the scene of 
many happy homes. There are vast tracts given over to cattle which should 
be cut up into small farms. 

It should not be forgotten that one of the greatest apple experts in the 
world, George E. Rowe, vice-president of the American Pomological Society, has 
declared that Humboldt county contains some of the best apple-growing lands 
on the face of the earth. 

When the Humboldt Promotion and Development Committee was started on 
October 19, 1912, Judge Rowe addressed the assembled delegates at a conven- 
tion of the federated commercial bodies of the county at the Chamber of Com- 
merce in Eureka. He said southern Humboldt was the only place he could 
name anywhere that would produce all of the highest grades of apples in per- 
fection of color, size^ flavor and texture. He emphasized the fact that our cli- 
matic conditions are such as to render late shipments particularly profitable. 
After he had finished his second inspection of the apple bearing and other fruit 
lands of Humboldt county, particularly of southern Humboldt, Judge Rowe, 
writing on September 29, 1913, addressed the Humboldt Promotion Committee 
as follows regarding his opinion of the great fruit bearing sections in question : 

"After having spent the month of September examining your valleys, hills, 
and table lands ; consulting with your oldest settlers, ranchers and fruit growers ; 
examining fruits in the old orchards and vineyards that have had but little care, I 
am even more optimistic than I was last year when I told you that Humboldt 
county was the most perfect garden spot in America, and that your soil and 
climate under proper direction would yield millions to future generations, where 
your redwoods have yielded thousands to the present. 

"That is true and it might be stated even stronger, for the range of fruits 
and vegetables of the highest class that can be grown here at a good profit can 
not be equalled in any place in the world. Apples, pears, peaches, prunes, grapes, 
as well as the best small fruits and vegetables can not only be grown economically, 
but can be placed in the world's great markets to better advantage and at less 
actual cost than from most of the other fruit sections of the West. 

"What has increased the value of your redwoods? Twenty years ago, and 
even less, they could be bought for from $6 to $12 per acre, w^hile the same 
timber today is w^orth from $500 to $2000 per acre. The redwood is no better 
than it was twenty years ago, but men of genius and means have found a market 
and a way to put it on the market at a reasonable cost. Fifteen or twenty years 
ago your dairy lands were worth from $25 to $50 an acre. The land is no better 
today than then, but the land is worth today from $300 to $500 per acre. Why ? 

"Because men who have made a study of the industry have found a way to 
produce the goods and find a market for dairy products at a large profit. What 
has been true of the dairy industry will also be true of the fruit industry in the 
hands of men who will put the same energy into the one that the other requires. 



154 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The successful development of any industry requires men with knowledge, 
coupled with ambition. 

"Humboldt county has the soil, on its hills, table lands, and valleys, that is 
well adapted to dairying and fruit growing, and a climate that is equally adapted 
for the growing of the highest qualities of fruits. 

"With the opening of the Panama Canal and the new railroad transportation, 
I look forward to the time when Humboldt county will boast thousands of happy, 
successful farm homes, where today there are but hundreds." 

Continuing his discussion, Mr. Rowe said that the results would be wonder- 
ful when people begin to tmderstand the cultivation of apples and other fruits 
along scientific lines. He thought the finest results possible anywhere on the 
globe would be obtained in southern Humboldt county. He said: "Here you 
can grow the very highest class of apples in the world, and this is the only spot 
I know of where every one of the highest class varieties will grow to perfection. 
The keeping qualities are also very fine. The varieties which will pay best and 
which I have particularly in mind are Spitzenbergs, Northern Spy, Canada Reds, 
Mclntoshes, Jonathans, Kings, and Grimes Goldens. 

"Now there are many places where two or three of these varieties will grow 
well, but southern Humboldt is unique in having an apple belt where all kinds of 
the best varieties do splendidly. Though you can also grow cheaper grades of 
apples, it would not be a business proposition to do so. It is not a good policy to 
produce the inferior apples, because you would come into competition with other 
sections of the country that grow inferior varieties and can grow nothing else. 
Your lands are worth more for the high grade apples than for other things. You 
might develop and grow here to command the market, or at least a great market 
at a late period in the season. This is of inestimable value." 

Humboldters know that the elevated apple lands of this county will miss many 
of the pests that infest other sections. Apples that grow to the pink of perfection 
and are also exempt from these pests, are about all that the world might ask. 

It is easy to paint a picture of many happy families and thrifty communities 
as a result of the development of the apple industry, which is sure to be one of 
the greatest activities of the next five or ten years in those parts of the county 
which are adapted for the growth of apples. 

The building of a large number of evaporating plants and canneries for the 
products of ouf orchards will undoubtedly change the entire face of the country 
and the trend of industry. If we should be careful with regard to the class of 
immigrants whom we encourage to come this way, selecting the better European 
type and some of the more intelligent farmers and horticulturists from the East, 
we shall find great improvement in our social and civic life. 

Albert E. Etter, Humboldt county's famous plant breeder and strawberry 
grower, predicts great things for the small fruits and berries. He sees many 
spots which are capable of being transformed into veritable gardens of Eden, 
this without any fear of frost or pests. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of 
the growing berries and fruits that are known to mature to perfection in the 
county : Apples, pears, prunes, peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, nectarines, 
quinces, raspberries, currants, strawberries, and loganberries. Almost anything 
that thrives in a mild climate will do well somewhere in Humboldt and beyond 
the coast region one may find prosperous vineyards, olive trees, walnuts, figs, 
almonds and other fruits and nuts that grow in warm zones where the soil is rich. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 155 

In the Eel river valley and out in the Briceland district as well as in countless other 
places, strawberries are excellent in size, color and flavor. Cherries grow any- 
where, but they thrive particularly in the Hydesville district, twenty-five miles 
from Eureka. Wild fruits almost anywhere testify to the warmth of the climate 
and the worth of the soil, berries and nuts being abundant. Wild huckleberries, 
blackberries, and strawberries are abundant. 

Mr. Etter says that Humboldt county can grow several types of strawber- 
ries and other small fruits that will make her famous. A large industry in 
canned and preserved fruits would be the result, since the market for such 
products is not today well supplied with the right kind of products. Before the 
business had been gone into extensively he thinks it would be well to experiment 
with standard varieties and possibly develop those imported from England, because 
they are known to be excellent for the purposes of jam. Red currants and goose- 
berries would also thrive in all that part of the country which will grow them at all. 
Mr. Etter says that God could have made a better fruit than the Humboldt straw- 
berry, but he didn't do it. He says the same cool and uniform climate that gives 
us superb strawberries will also give us excellent currants, raspberries and celery, 
string beans, peas and cauliflower. Deep soil and the humidity of the air, with the 
comparatively cool days and nights, make a lower moisture content in the soil 
necessary for perfect development than where the temperatures are compara- 
tively high. 

Strawberries grown in a hot, dry climate, require so much irrigation that they 
become mushy. Southern Humboldt has the proper conditions of temperature 
and air humidity for the production of the best small fruits in the world. These 
berries require a rich soil, a cool, humid atmosphere and either shade or a cloudy 
sky. The equivalent of these conditions throughout a large part of the county 
indicates the reasons for the remarkable berries and vegetables that are destined to 
give us a reputation the world over. It is not well to go fully into the question 
of pears, cherries and other forms of fruit, but all famUiar with conditions know 
that a long list of valuable fruits and berries will thrive in this county. 

Thus it will be seen that in drawing a picture of southern Humboldt we have 
possibilities that ramify into many directions. With better roads, more resorts and 
the establishing of centers for tourists, it will be impossible to tell what the future 
has in store for us. 

While on the tourist question, it might be said that there are so many 
beautiful spots in southern Humboldt county that it seems impossible that the 
future will fail to give us a number of men and women engaged in catering to 
the great tourist trade. It is almost unnecessary to refer to the fact that Switzer- 
land lives on the tourist trade, as does Los Angeles, in our own state. In Los 
Angeles, for example, they built more than $34,000,000 worth of new structures in 
one year, largely as a result of the tourist traflic. Switzerland is a splendid exam- 
ple, and there a number of towns have hundreds of hotels, while two hundred 
and twenty thousand men and women are making a living from the tourist trade. 
There are eighteen thousand restaurants alone. 

Why should not Humboldt county become in fact the playground of the 
West? Why should southern Humboldt not become one of the most attractive 
spots in all the world for those who enjoy great scenery, hunting, fishing, and 
that contact with the beauties of nature which this section alone affords? 



156 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Humboldt's Bench and Bar. 

The history of the bench and bar in CaHfornia has always been regarded 
as romantic and unique^ because the conditions which prevailed when justice first 
established herself in the crude surroundings of mining days were unlike those 
existing in any other state or territory on the American continent. Most of 
California, had fallen under the jurisdiction of Spain, for which reason the 
Alcaldes and their times marked the administration of justice with singularities 
unknown throughout the United States. 

Humboldt county, however, did not participate in the Spanish regime, for 
Humboldt county was and is in many particulars as unlike the Spanish parts of 
California as if it were located in some other part of the United States. The 
pioneers who settled Humboldt county were much unhke the pioneers of other 
parts of the state — men and women of courage, venturesome spirit, and great 
powers of endurance. The fact that many of the pioneers of Humboldt county 
came from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the New England states, gave this 
county a sterling class of early settlers. Most of the men were descended from 
woodsmen and sailors. Being strong, fearless, and for the most part honest, they 
injected a higher type of civic pride into their affairs than was common in some 
sections of the state where renegades now and then were in the ascendancy. 

But it must be remembered that hard characters found their way to Hum.- 
boldt, as well as elsewhere, and a rude form of justice sometimes asserted itself 
here as in the rest of the west.. The fact that puritanical ideas prevailed among 
the ancestors of the early settlers here, coupled with their rigid schooling, made 
for honesty and good citizenship to a stronger extent than in many other parts 
of the state. Notwithstanding this fact there was lawlessness and there were many 
calls for the stern administration of justice. The development of the orderly 
processes of the law was rapid with the settlement of the country, and few 
counties in the state or in any other state can show a stronger background of law- 
abiding citizenship than that which sprang from the early days of Humboldt 
county. 

W. K. Strong, official court reporter of Humboldt county for a long period of 
time — more than a generation — has given an entertaining account of some of the 
lawyers who participated in the early conflicts in the courts of Humboldt county. 
The following facts are either gleaned from his reminiscences as narrated on the 
occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his becoming court reporter, or are 
directly quoted from his account of the men and the trials of the long ago. It 
appears that Mr. Strong was famihar with the "giants of those days" and their 
peculiarities. On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his career as official 
reporter he told the members of the bar that it had been his duty for almost a 
lifetime to listen to the stories of bench and bar as told by judges and lawyers. 
It was now his time to do the talking, and he thought his recollections of the 
achievements of men long prominent in the field of forensic conflict might prove 
interesting to future generations, for which reason his memoirs seem to have a 
logical historic purpose. 

In 1876 he began his duties as official reporter of the District Court of the 
Eighth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Humboldt and Del Norte, 
"which Court was at that time and had been for many years ably presided over 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 157 

by the Honorable J. P. Haynes, and on the same day I was also appointed to a 
similar position in the County Court of the County, of which Hon. C. G. Stafford 
was then Judge, he having succeeded Hon. J. E. Wyman the month preceding. 
In the first place, and by way of preface, a few words about myself may not be 
out of place." 

The veteran reporter told those assembled that he was thrown on his own 
resources much earlier than the average boy. He worked through high school and 
was ready to enter the University before he was old enough for legal admission. 
It was an accident that directed him into the shorthand business, and he marvels 
now that it became his life-work. He had worked in coal mines and on dairy 
tranches. The fact that he became one of the famous court reporters of Cali- 
fornia indicates something of the character of early times in Humboldt. By "early 
times" the year 1873 is meant. Compared with the pioneer days that was a late 
date, but 1873 is a far cry from the twentieth century. 

It may be worth while to indicate that the man who became distinguished as a. 
stenographer found himself alone for weeks at a time, with the exception of about 
twelve hundred sheep, which he was herding. Frequently he didn't see anybody 
for a month at a time, and then only the man in charge of the pack mule, who 
brought him his provisions. It might be worth while for young men to note the 
fact that the idleness and the sheep, which were the only companions to occupy 
his time, had much to do with his career. The long and hot summer days, during 
which he trailed after his woolly charges from daylight until dark, gave him the 
hint to use his brain. He had a Manual of Marsh's phonography within his 
reach, so he set himself seriously to work to learn shorthand, simply because he 
had nothing else of an intellectual character with which to occupy himself. By 
the beginning of winter he could make pothooks in a crude way, and he considered 
himself considerable of a stenographer. He says : "I came up to Oakland to 
brush up on my studies and get ready to enter the University the following 
summer, and I eked out a living by giving lessons to other would-be short- 
handers, helping the court reporters in transcribing testimony, and by casual 
newspaper work; but I do not mind confessing that it was uphill work, and I 
often went to bed hungry." 

In 1875 he was a college student at Berkeley, and he made his short- 
hand serve him well by transcribing passages from the lectures of professors. He 
sold these to students who were too indifferent or lazy to attend the lectures. He 
recalls the fact that the State University class of 1879, although small in numbers, 
contained more men who have made their mark in the affairs of California than 
any class before or since. From that class there came a governor, several justices 
of the Supreme Court, Superior Judges, and a number of leading members of the 
professions. 

During the time when he was struggling to win his way through the Uni- 
versity he had many shorthand pupils among the students and professors. Among 
others. Judge George D. Murray, of the Superior Court of Humboldt county, was 
one of those who learned something of shorthand from Mr. Strong. 

It was through Mr. Murray, then a young man in the University, that Strong 
learned of a vacancy in the reportership of the Humboldt District Court. He 
immediately wrote to Judge Haynes, who afterwards became famous, and he 
soon received an encouraging letter from the Judge, coupled with the promise of 
appointment, if he could establish his competency by passing a proper examina- 



158 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tion. Here is the way Mr. Strong tells of the events that followed, during the 
crude days of 1873 in the Humboldt courts : 

"Confidentially, the examination was the least of my troubles. Although I 
had never had a teacher, or taken a lesson, I had a profound confidence in my 
abilities, and if the position of secretary of state or premier of England or any- 
thing else had been offered me I should have accepted it with perfect faith that 
I would be able to discharge the duties to my own satisfaction. 

"Shortly before this a bill had been introduced in the legislature providing 
for an official reporter for Humboldt county, and fixing his salary of $1000 a 
year in addition to his fees, and as the assemblyman was governed in the matter 
by the wishes of the bar, and as there was at that time no constitutional pro- 
hibition of special legislation, it went through the assembly with flying colors. 
However, Judge McGarvey of Mendocino was the senator fi-om this district at 
that session, and he could not imagine what Humboldt wanted of a reporter when 
Mendocino had none, and through his opposition the bill met the fate of a great 
deal of other embryo legislation and found its way to the waste basket, much to 
my disappointment. 

"At the time I made up my mind to inflict my budding talents on the good 
people of Humboldt, I remember that my entire cash capital amounted to the 
modest sum of $2.75 in current coin of the republic, and the problem of how to 
get to Humboldt was one that appeared almost impossible of solution unless I 
walked. But it happened that about that time W. J. Sweasey, I. R. Brown, 
Thonjas Baird and others had just completed the first steamer Humboldt, which 
was afterwards wrecked at Point Gorda, and had placed her on the Humboldt 
run in opposition to the steamer Pelican, then operated by Ben Holliday. The 
result was a rate war, and when I was ready to make the trip the fare was placed 
at $1.50 in the saloon and $2 on deck, a sum entirely within my reach, and I need 
not add that I came on deck. 

"We left San Francisco at 9 o'clock on April 10, 1876, and in the afternoon 
of the next day, as the old novelists have it, there might have been seen wending 
his way up Second street a long-legged, green and gawky youth, with a shabby 
valise in one hand and an equally shabby overcoat in the other, whose entire 
capital consisted of just six bits in money and that roseate future which is never 
so alluring as to youth and health. 

"I planted myself, of course, in the best hotel in the town, which at that 
time as well as now was the Vance, and then started out to hunt up my appoint- 
ment. I knew I had to pass the examination before receiving it, but that did 
not worry me a particle, and I am also free to confess that the thought of what 
would become of me and my seventy-five cents if I failed, never once entered my 
head. In fact, I had no intention of failing. The committee appointed to examine 
me consisted of S. M. Buck, J. J. De Haven, and J. G. Swinnerton, all of whom 
were leading members of the bar, and the speed required was one hundred and 
forty words a minute for five minutes, the matter to be transcribed accurately 
within a reasonable time thereafter. You must imagine that I was green at the 
business, for I allowed them to read me an editorial out of that morning's issue of 
the Times, with words in it as long as your hand, and a style of matter which 
would be difficult to one much more competent than I was. 

"In reporting testimony, when you read the question you have something 
to go by as to what the answer is, and if you can read the answer the next 
question relates almost always to the last answer, but in a speech or an essay, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 159 

this help is entirely wanting. In the former also the language is the simple every- 
day English used in conversation, while in the latter unusual words and phrases 
are the rule. 

"I remember that on this occasion Mr. Buck did the reading, while the others 
held the watch. There was quite a crowd in the old court room on Second street, 
attracted by the novelty of the proceeding, and when we had concluded, on 
counting the words it was found that they had read at the rate of one hundred 
and forty-six a minute instead of one hundred and forty^ but Mr. De Haven 
remarked that they would allow the extra six words for mistakes. 

"I took my notes and retired to the old jury room upstairs to write them 
out, and at first went along swimmingly, but I soon came to a snag, a big word 
I would not even guess at, and would you believe it, I allowed myself to get 
rattled, and in the twinkling of an eye every bit of shorthand I ever knew took 
to its wings and left me. I could not read a word past the snag, and the harder 
I tried the more indecipherable a mess of pothooks it looked. In about half an 
hour the committee began to get impatient and started hurrying me up, which 
of course only added to my confusion, and after an hour and a half they ad- 
journed until the next day. Now, you might imagine that I fingered my lonesome 
six bits in my pocket and went sadly to bed that night. Not a bit of it; I was 
not built that way. I never had a moment's doubt of how smart I was ; in fact, 
I was like almost every other boy of my age, smarter then than I ever was 
afterwards, or ever will be again, God willing, and so I took in the town — what 
little there was to take in — and then went to bed early, got up the next morning 
at daylight, took a good walk, and turned up at the office of Chamberlain & 
De Haven on Third street at 9 o'clock as fresh as a pink. 

"This time experience had made me wise, and I demanded testimony for test. 
The committee conceded this, and I passed the examination to their satisfaction, 
as I always knew I would. It happened that a jury was in attendance trying 
cases, and my appointment as official reporter of the County Court was imme- 
diately made by Judge Stafford, and at 10 o'clock on the morning of April 12th, 
1876, I began the work which I have daily followed ever since, I was then a 
little past nineteen years of age, and the cut on the first page, which was made 
from a photograph taken within a month of that time shows about my personal 
appearance. 

"1 shall never forget that first case. It was that of a sailor who had stabbed 
the late Charles Richardson. George A. Knight, the then district attorney, prose- 
cuted, and Chamberlain and De Haven defended, while Judge Stafford held the 
scales of justice. I sat up all that night to transcribe the testimony, because I 
realized that my official tenure in a large measure depended upon the complete- 
ness and accuracy of my first transcript, and the promptness with which it was 
furnished. In those days there were no typewriters, and manifolding was un- 
known. Every bit of transcript or legal writing had to be laboriously done with 
a pen. But I remember that I finished the entire day's proceedings just before 
breakfast the next morning and was complimented on its accuracy by the Court and 
attorneys, and when I take into consideration my lack of experience and the 
want of facihties for quickly doing the work, and the fact that I did it all alone 
in one night, I am free to admit, even now, that I deserved the compliment. The 
case was finished that day by the acquittal of the defendant, and I received $39 
for my services, and when I had the money in my pocket, it is not at all strange 



160 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

that my original capital did not look nearly as lonesome, and I forthwith settled 
my hotel bill and sought cheaper quarters. 

"In regard to this case I might add that the defendant's acquittal was secured 
by Mr. Richardson's not being able to positively identify him as his assailant. 
Chamberlain & De Haven were to receive $300 as their fee, and as the man had 
nothing, they secured him a place to work, and he was to devote a large 
part of his wages each month to paying the debt. When the verdict was ren- 
dered, Mr. Chamberlain jumped to his feet and holding his hand aloft said to 
the jury: 'Gentlemen, a righteous verdict if ever there was one.' But inside of a 
week the defendant skipped on an outgoing vessel, without paying a cent, and 
it was amusing to hear Mr. Chamberlain, when the news was communicated to 
him, calling the defendant everything that a large vocabulary and a practiced 
tongue could call him, and saying that he always knew he was guilty and that 
he ought to have been hung. 

"But to come back to my story. My original intention of returning to 
Berkeley at the expiration of my leave of absence was soon forgotten. I have been 
in the harness ever since, and I do not mind confessing, confidentially, that I have a 
fixed and steadfast purpose to do so some more, and until the infirmities of 
advancing years compel me to cease, provided, always, that I am able to discharge 
my duties to the satisfaction of the bench and bar. 

"I might add, in passing, that I have always endeavored to keep my work 
strictly up to date, and to this end have been continually on the watch for any 
new improvement that would tend to greater efficiency. I brought the first type- 
writer to Humboldt county, and was among the first in the State to adopt its use. 
I was also among the first to appreciate the advantages of the talking machine 
as a labor saver in getting out transcripts, and among the first to successfully use 
them on this coast. I brought the first graphophone to the county and was using 
it in my business even before many of the leading reporters of San Francisco 
adopted it. 

"When I look around me now, and then look back over the years that have 
gone, I am indeed reminded of the mutability of all things earthly. There is 
not a lawyer practicing in the county, or a judge on the bench, who was a lawyer 
or practicing here when I began my official duties. There is not a single official, 
township or municipal, anywhere in the county who was in office when 
I began. Even our late lamented Sheriff, T. Brown, who came the nearest to me 
in length of official service, began his first term two years after I came here. I 
know of but one business firm in the county that was in existence at that time, 
and still operated by the same person. The firm name may be the same, but there 
are new people behind the counters. There is only one lumber firm that is 
operating under the same name, and though one of the partners is still alive, he 
has retired from its management and the other partner is long since dead. 

"Eureka was then a struggling hamlet of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. 
Business was almost exclusively confined to First and Second streets. I do not 
remember a business house of any description above Second street, and most of 
the larger firms were on First street. The streets were not even graveled, and 
it was only the down town streets that had eight-foot board sidewalks. 

"The Court House was an old wooden building where the Hodgson planing 
mill is now, and beside it was a one-story brick structure which was at that time 
the clerk and recorder's office, but now the detention hospital, while the site of 
our present magnificent Court House was a neglected square overgrown with 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 161 

bushes and a few straggling trees, and surrounded by a dilapidated picket fence. 
Only a portion of the county officers had offices in the Court House, the rest being 
scattered around town. As you doubtless remember, the old Court House was 
burned by the supervisors to get rid of it a number of years ago." 

Mr. Strong's narrative is intensely interesting throughout. He gives many 
pen pictures of the men and institutions that were in the pubHc eye during the 
early years of his labor as court reporter in Humboldt county. His story is worth 
liberal quoting and the following extracts from it are submitted : 

"The Eighth Judicial District, as then organized, comprised the counties of 
Humboldt and Del Norte, a term of the Court being held every three months at 
Eureka and at Crescent City. 

"The District Court had jurisdiction of all civil cases involving more than 
$300 and of cases of homicide. The County Court held its sessions every other 
month and had jurisdiction of civil cases on appeal from the justice's courts and 
of all cases of felony outside of murder cases, also all probate business. Of the 
two courts, the County Court had a great deal the most to do. The civil business 
did not amount to much, but the probate business was considerable, and there 
was hardly a term that we did not try from three to ten felony cases. There were 
no banks in those days, and as the woods camps shut down from November to 
March, the woodsmen, flocking in to Eureka with pockets full of money after their 
summer work, attracted here a large number of sports and bad characters gen- 
erally, and the result was a jail full of criminals, nearly always, waiting trial. 
Even with the growth of the county in view, there were three criminal trials then 
to one now. 

"There was no road to Crescent City, and the trail along the beach and over 
the hills near the ocean was long and lonely. I had to go there every three months. 
Sometimes I would accompany the judge on horseback, at other times I went on 
foot by myself, but it was always a hard and lonesome trip, and never very re- 
munerative, and I was heartily glad when upon the adoption of the New Con- 
stitution, the Superior Court was organized and Del Norte county had a court 
of its own. 

"In 1876 there were seven lawyers practicing in Eureka and one in Ferndale, 
and although the number was small, in legal ability the bar at that time ranked 
as high as any in the State, and would compare favorably with San Francisco 
itself. Practicing law in those days was a different thing from what it is today. 
There were no digests or encyclopedias, no West system of reports or annotated 
codes, no references or cross references, and none of the thousand and one labor- 
saving devices that we have today. There were a few volumes of our State reports, 
and these, with a few of the standard text books, constituted the modest library of 
the ordinary practitioner. If I remember right, the forty-ninth volume of Cali- 
fornia reports was just out when I began. Now we have just had the one hundred 
and forty-seventh. 

"The codes had been adopted two years before, and the change of practice 
from the old practice act to the codes had not as yet become entirely settled, and 
many code questions were yet for future decision. If a lawyer had a case to 
prepare or a legal proposition to look up, he had four or five times the work to 
perform that a similar matter would entail nowadays, to say nothing of having to 
write out all his pleadings by hand with a pen, and often to make several copies 
of them in that laborious way. 



162 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

"There were only two fairly well kept up libraries in town, those of S. M. 
Buck and Chamberlain & De Haven, and when any proposition was to be briefed, 
one of these libraries was used. Nowadays the pleadings in an action are entirely 
settled before the trial by demurrers, motions to strike out, etc., but then, those 
questions were disposed of as the trial progressed, and it was no uncommon thing 
to see a whole panel of jurors and two or three dozen witnesses airing themselves 
and swapping yarns on the steps of the old Court House, while the lawyers 
upstairs were pounding the table and threshing out some question of pleading or 
evidence, which would today be settled long before the case was set for trial. 

"Of the bar the unquestioned leader, as well as the oldest member, was the 
late Hon. James Hanna. At the time I first met him he was bordering on his 
sixty-fifth year, a Httle, slight, white-haired old man, but withal a courteous, 
courtly, old-fashioned gentleman. He was equally at home either as a pleader or 
a trial lawyer. Educated in the technical schools of Pennsylvania, his knowledge 
of legal principles was most profound, and he had the faculty, more or less rare 
among attorneys, of being able almost instantly to correctly apply the law to the 
facts before him. As a trial lawyer I have never seen his equal. As a cross- 
examiner his keen, incisive questioning, his witty side remarks and sarcasm not 
only kept an adverse witness upon the anxious bench, but often turned what 
seemed certain defeat into a victory. I have seen him arguing a case when he 
had the whole audience, jury, bar and all, in tears, and whenever he was scheduled 
for the closing argument in any interesting case, the old court room would be 
crowded to the doors, long before the hour of opening court. He was an honest, 
honorable, upright citizen, his word was as good as his bond, and no antagonist 
ever asked a written stipulation from him when once his word was passed. I 
have often wondered what brought a trained and brilliant mind like his away from 
the courts of the East to settle in a little lumber town like Eureka in the early '60s, 
because he would have been an unquestioned leader anywhere. He has been dead 
for many years. Peace to his memory. 

"Of the remaining lawyers, S. M. Buck and Hon. J. J. De Haven came next. 
They were both comparatively young men at that time, both able lawyers, and 
I hardly need to add generally on opposite sides of a case. Both were relentless 
fighters, and neither would yield an inch while there was a point to stand on. 
I remember one case in particular that they had which well illustrates these quali- 
ties. It was the case of Bohall vs. Dilla, involving the right to a homestead claim 
on Dow's Prairie, perhaps worth $1,000 when the fight began. Bohall located 
the claim and before completing his title leased it to Dilla, who promptly repudiated 
the lease and jumped the claim. They fought the case through the local land office 
and all the way up to the Secretary of the Interior, and then began in the District 
Court and tried and appealed it, reversed it and tried it again a number of times, 
with one or two criminal cases between whiles, growing out of assaults made by 
one party on the other, and it finally wound up in the United States Supreme 
Court sometime in the '80s, where the decision was in Judge De Haven's favor, 
and when it was ended both sides had paid more than the value of the place in 
costs, and the case had run its checkered course some fifteen years. 

"The late S. M. Buck was as able a lawyer as we have had in this State. 
While he could not be called a brilliant orator, he had what we term a legal 
mind to a very marked degree, and he possessed the most untiring industry of any 
lawyer I ever met. He not only thoroughly briefed up his own case, but his 
adversary's, and I never knew him to be caught unprepared in Court. I have seen 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 163 

him frequently win cases which at the start seemed absolutely hopeless. His 
practice was largely along the lines of corporation work, and suits involving large 
interests, and he rarely bothered with small business. He was almost invariably 
on one side or the other of every important case. 

"The firm of Chamberlain & De Haven, which then enjoyed probably the 
largest practice here, was dissolved shortly afterwards, and Judge De Haven 
practiced by himself for a few years, in the office now occupied by George 
D. Murray. He was then elected Superior Judge to succeed Hon. John P. 
Haynes, and before finishing the term was elected to Congress and resigned the 
bench, being succeeded in 1889 by Hon. G. W. Hunter, the present incumbent. 
He was afterward a Justice of the Supreme Court and now United States 
District Judge for the Northern District of California, but I doubt not that often- 
times his memory goes back with pleasure to the little old court room in the old 
Court House, the scene of so many of his early triumphs. 

"J- D- H. Chamberlain's forte was as a trial lawyer, although as a pleader 
and brief writer he was well up in the first rank. As a jury lawyer his services 
were always in demand and he took a leading part in almost every important case 
in early days. He was gifted with a most wonderful command of language, which 
he had increased by wide and varied reading, and he delighted to show it when- 
ever the occasion offered, either in Court or as a story teller. Warm hearted and 
impulsive, he would often say things in the heat of debate which he would regret 
and afterwards make amends for. During the latter years of his life he was in 
partnership with Frank McGowan and C. M. Wheeler, and afterwards practiced 
alone for several years. 

"P. F. Hart was located at Ferndale, which was then a little town of a hun- 
dred people or so. The dairying industry which has so marvelously built up the 
Eel River Valley was not then developed, and as a rule the farmers were poor, 
but Mr. Hart ranked well up with the leaders of the bar in learning and ability 
and did nearly all the legal work in the valley. He was engaged in many im- 
portant cases, civil and criminal, and was an antagonist not to be despised. 

"All the leading civil business at that time was confined to the five I have 
named. George A. Knight was the District Attorney, and was just entering upon 
his second term. Although but a young man, he even then showed those qualities 
which have since made him one of the leading lawyers of the State. He was a 
magnetic orator and an able prosecutor and seldom lost a case. His practice, of 
course, was largely criminal, and he left here, if I remember correctly, in the early 
'80s. It was both interesting and amusing to see him try a criminal case with 
Buck and Hanna or Chamberlain & De Haven for the defense, and often throngs 
would be turned away from the court room through inability to enter, especially 
in the winter time, when the town was full of idle men. 

"The list would not be complete without mentioning the late G. W. Tompkins. 
Mr. Tompkins' practice was largely in the Justice Courts, but he had more than 
he could attend to of that sort of business. Prior to taking up the law he had 
kept a saloon and filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and they used to say 
of him that he would load a man in his saloon and then fine him in his court 
for being drunk. He knew every man, woman and child in the county, and when 
any litigation was started that would require a jury trial he was the first man 
taken into the case on the side that could first secure his services. When it came 
to picking out a jury from a large panel, and then after court adjourned, marshal- 
ing them singly or in twos or threes up to some neighboring bar and between 



164 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

drinks gently insinuating the real facts of his cHent's case, without appearing to 
do so, there were none that could come anywhere near him. I can see him yet, a 
tall, powerfully built man, with a big cane hooked over his arm, the only plug 
hat in the county on his head, and his dog Schneider, like his master, a fighter from 
the ground up, following at his heels. He was of Irish descent, and, as I have 
intimated, a fighter both legally and physically. I think he had more personal 
altercations with the other attorneys than any one else, because once in a case 
his client's wrongs were his own, and he personally resented them. I remember 
once in the assessor's office in the old Court House he had a slight difference of 
opinion with a brother attorney, and to emphasize his argument he picked his 
adversary up and threw him through the window, taking out sash and all. He 
died many years ago. 

"Mr. Swinnerton, whom I have mentioned before, was a newcomer in 
Eureka, and a man of brilliant promise, but an unfortunate social entanglement 
handicapped him as a lawyer and he drifted into joumaHsm. He was an able 
orator and much in demand in political campaigning. He afterwards went to 
Stockton to edit a paper, began practicing law there, and served a term as 
Superior Judge of San Joaquin county. He died in Oakland a number of years ago. 

"Of the early lawyers I should also mention E. H. Howard, who probably 
was the earliest member of the bar to settle here, coming, I think, with the first 
party of white people that landed on this bay. He had retired from active practice 
before my time, but served as a Justice of the Peace until some time in the '80s. 
He was a graduate of Harvard, I believe, and had at one time been a partner of 
Justice Stephen J. Fields in San Francisco. 

"During the later '70s and early '80s many new lawyers came to the county. 
Some stayed; others did not. Of those who first came, I might mention J. F. 
Steck, A. McKinstry, W. F. Jones, W. H. Brumfield, H. L. Smith, E. W. Risly 
and many others, but it would merely be a catalogue of names, for nearly all 
have either moved away or died years ago. Many who are at present leaders of 
the bar were admitted to practice long after my advent, and I can remember 
when every one of them first commenced their Blackstone. Of the earliest comers 
after me, I might mention J. H. G. Weaver and Hon. E. W. Wilson. Mr. Weaver, 
I think, came in the summer of 1876 and Judge Wilson in the early part of 1877. 

"In 1895 an additional department of the Superior Court was created, and I 
then took Mrs. Strong into the business as the senior partner of the firm, a state 
of affairs which has continued ever since, and which I trust will continue while 
I occupy the office. 

"In conclusion, I assure you that the past thirty years, although it slipped 
by so quickly, nevertheless, when I stop to look back at it, is a long time. Only 
two reporters in the State have ever held office as long, and today, so far as I 
know, I have the distinction of being the oldest reporter in length of service on 
the Pacific coast, still holding the same appointment. 

"During the whole of my official tenure I have never kept the Court waiting 
but once, have never been incapacitated from personally attending to my duties 
by sickness but once, have never had a transcript questioned by a member of the 
bar, have never met with anything but kindness and courtesy from them, and 
am confident that each and every one is my friend. 

"While no one realizes better than I that I am surely and certainly approach- 
ing the end of my official career, and that in a few years at most I must give way 
to others, still no matter what I do, or where I am, the memory of our old 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 165 

associations will linger with me long after the newer generation shall have 
forgotten, and I assure you that it is from the bottom of a grateful heart that 
I wish each and all of you peace and prosperity." 

The bench and bar of today has well in hand the business of the bay cities, 
and the members of the fraternity stand high in popular esteem, and among the 
members of the bar elsewhere there is sincere respect for the learning and probity 
of the followers of the great forensic profession in Humboldt county. 
Pioneer Days in Humboldt County 

One of the daughters of the late W. J. Sweasey, a woman of prominence, 
writes as follows : 

The party of which I was a member arrived in Humboldt county in August, 
1855, coming overland from San Francisco, and being the first party that ever 
came across the mountains with wagons and families. About the last of May 
we left San Francisco county, crossed to Benicia and then passed through Napa 
county to Russian river. There was not a settlement between Russian river and 
Humboldt county. We traveled on to Round valley, a beautiful camping place 
where the families stayed while some of the men, including my father, W. J. 
Sweasey, and my brother, Tom S>veasey, went ahead to find a way across the 
mountains. They marked a trail by blazing the trees, then came back and reported 
we could make it, but it would be a very hard trip. We, all being young, did 
not mind hardships and were willing to undertake the journey. 

The families residing here at the time of our arrival had come by water. 
We brought with us a band of cattle and were seeking good pasture. This we 
found in Eel river valley and so determined to settle there. We certainly realized 
that we were pioneers. There were no churches or school houses. 

The famihes were so few they could easily be remembered. Several of 
them are now living in Eureka. They were Dr. and Mrs. Felt, Mr. and Mrs. 
Burnell, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Sevier, Mr. and Mrs. Stringfield, Mr. and Mrs. 
S. Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. Huling, Mr. and Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Jameson and Mr.' 
Showers. In the course of three years the number of families had considerably 
increased ; all, however, coming by water. 

In 1860 we concluded we must have a school house which could be used 
also for a church. So I took a paper and started out to see what I could get 
toward building the house, and was quite successful. Some donated lumber split 
from logs, others shingles, hand made, others money and not a few labor. In 
this way the first school house was built at the foot of the mountain where the 
town of Alton now is. Alton is built on part of the farm Mr. Axton and I 
owned at that time. 

In 1858 a Methodist minister. Rev. Mr. Burton, with his family, arrived in 
Eel river valley. They took passage from San Francisco on a sailing vessel and 
were six weeks on the way. The vessel encountered such fierce storms that they 
were unable to cross Humboldt bar the first time they tried, and were compelled 
to return to San Francisco for provisions, and when they finally arrived here 
there was no church, so services were held in the private houses and all attended. 
We looked forward to these meetings with pleasure, as we met all our friends 
and the strangers who were always made welcome, although our accommodations 
were limited. Many a time I have made beds on the floor to try to make them 
comfortable and happy, while myself and family had no bed, but with some 
covers slept on a lounge or any place we could. In pioneer days nothing seemed 
impossible and even with sufferings and hardships there was much happiness and 



166 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

comfort, for the natural privations taught the lessons of charity, good will, and 
unselfishness, and after all the greatest happiness in life comes from helping others 
and in those days there were constant opportunities for helping each other. 

At this time the Indians were giving the settlers much trouble. One case I 
remember as if it were yesterday, that was when the Indians attacked one of 
our neighbor's (Mrs. Johnston's) little girl and an Indian girl that the family 
had raised. They were picking blackberries a short distance from the house 
when the Indians began shooting arrows at them. The Indian girl ran away 
to the house, but the other little girl they knocked down and dragged a long way. 
The news spread like wild fire, and in a short time every man was getting ready 
to pursue the Indians and find the little girl. The men started for the hunt well 
armed. We women, Mrs. Zane, and all the neighbors, went to Mrs. Johnston's 
home for safety, to care for one another and to provide for the men as they 
came in, as we were uncertain what condition they might be in. About daylight, 
after hunting all night, they found the child. The Indians had not shot her, but 
had struck her head with a rock and threw rocks on her and left her for dead. 
She had lain in that condition all night and was nearly dead. As soon as the men 
gave the signal and fired the gun she moved and Mr. Axton gave loud shouts of joy, 
in which many of the men joined, to think she was ahve. They picked her up 
and carried her home. Then we found that we needed one another. We com- 
menced bathing her with warm water, but she could not stand that, so we took 
cold water and kept rubbing her with warm flannels until the blood began to 
circulate. When we began she was purple and badly swollen. She got well, how- 
ever, and is still living and I understand is married and living in Oregon. 

The Indians got out of the way and did no more damage at that time. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Eureka Free Library 
By H. A. Kendal 

The first successful effort to maintain a public reading room in Eureka 
originated among the members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In response 
to a call of the pastor. Rev. Dr. Has well, twenty members of the congregation 
agreed to subscribe $1 each per month for that purpose. The movement met 
with a hearty response from the people in general. 

Fifty or more people met in the Methodist church on Wednesday evening, 
February 13, 1878, for the purpose of establishing a library and reading room 
in the city. The secretary's report of this meeting makes mention of a previous 
meeting, when a constitution was adopted and provision made for raising money 
by subscriptions. This was the first meeting of the kind of which we have any 
written record. 

J. J. De Haven, who later rose to prominence in the judicial field, was chosen 
president; Mrs. W. W. Taylor, vice-president; J. H. Kimball, secretary and 
librarian, and Fred Axe, treasurer. Fifty votes were cast for president, of which 
Mr. De Haven received twenty-six. The organization which they then formed 
was called the Eureka Library Association. Other names connected with the 
earlier meetings of the association are: S. Cooper, H. Axton, G. C. Sarvis, H. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 167 

Sevier, N. Bullock, Mr. Haswell, C. W. Long, J. W. Freese, G. R. Knott, Mrs. 
J. E. Wyman, Dr. Cabanis, E. A. Rice, Mrs. J. H. D. Chamberlain, J. B. Brown, 
C. C. Strong and A. J. Monroe. 

The library and reading room were opened in the Jones building, corner of 
Third and F streets. The dedication ceremonies took place in the library rooms 
on the evening of March 25, 1878, Rev. Dr. Haswell delivering a very eloquent 
address, besides which remarks were made by Reverends Githens and Brier. A 
volunteer choir and the Eureka comet band furnished music for the dedication. 
The meeting, so the secretary records, adjourned in peace and harmony. 

The last meeting of the Eureka Library Association was held April 30, 1878, 
after a very useful life of three months' duration. The whole amount of money 
received by the treasurer from all sources amounted to $352, a sum which speaks 
well for the enterprise and generosity of the people of that early period. A 
tax "amply sufficient" had by this time been levied by the city for library and 
reading room purposes. A resolution of thanks was voted to the Eureka Amateur 
Dramatic Club for a generous donation. All the property of the association was 
turned over to the appointed trustees of the city free library, with all debts paid, 
and a committee was appointed to deliver the property to the new board. 

The common council at the meeting of May 11. 1878, appointed the first 
board of library trustees, which consisted of J. J. De Haven, J. H. Kimball, Fred 
Axe, Mrs. J. E. Wyman, Mrs. Taylor and S. Cooper. Mr. De Haven was chosen 
president, and Mr. Cooper secretary. Spencer Purser was recommended for 
librarian and duly appointed. The salary of the librarian was fixed at $25 per 
month. The library was to be kept open every day from 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. The 
librarian, after a few months' service, was commended for faithful attention to 
the duties of his office, and further rewarded by an increase of salary to $1 per day. 

An official report of the library trustees to the city council at the end of the 
first eleven months of the city free library shows that the library then consisted 
of 541 volumes. The old Humboldt library furnished 306 volumes, five volumes 
were loaned by the city school trustees, five volumes were gifts and 225 volumes 
had been added by purchase. 

The circulation for the first eleven months was 4563 books, of which 3264 
books, or seventy-one per cent of the whole circulation, were novels. Reports 
of the library at the present time show that the proportion of fiction to all other 
books taken by patrons is about fifty-one per cent. This change is no doubt due 
in large measure to the fact that a greater variety as well as a greater number 
of interesting non-fiction books are now to be had. 

The financial statement for the same period shows that $196.36, of the 
annual income of $1177.36, was spent for books. The library throughout its 
history has not varied greatly from the above proportion of service to expense. 
The large investment for buildings, grounds and running expenses which a free 
library implies would justify a greater outlay for service. The usefulness of a 
public library is largely determined by the amount of working capital above the 
necessary running expenses. 

The library remained in the Jones building until March 1, 1883, when it was 
removed to the Ricks building on Third street. Here it remained until 1890, 
when it was again moved, this time to the Gibbard building, on the corner of 
Third and H streets. It was moved from the Gibbard building to its present home 
October 1, 1904. 



168 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The records show that Spencer Purser resigned his position as hbrarian to 
take effect May 1, 1883. J. F. Taylor was his successor. M. W. Stringfield was 
appointed Hbrarian on August 6, 1884. Mr. Stringfield brought to his duties the 
qualification of experience and special training. He had served an apprenticeship 
in library technology under John Vance Cheney, the poet. He had also served in 
the branch libraries of San Francisco, under Horace Davis. Patrons of the 
library during Mr. Stringfield's term have many pleasant recollections of the old 
library and his accommodating service. Mr. Stringfield quit the library April 
30, 1898, for more healthful occupation. 

Capt. W. G. Bonner succeeded Mr. Stringfield. Captain Bonner is well 
known in Eureka as a gentleman of high culture, an ardent lover of art, music 
and literature. During the period of his service several marked changes took 
place. The library was moved from the Gibbard building into its present location. 
The Brown charging system was introduced, the same being in use in this library 
at the present time. The card catalogue system, used now in libraries throughout 
the country, was started by Miss Bertha Kumli of the California State Hbrary. 

Captain Bonner retired from the library in December, 1911, after nearly 
fourteen years of service, and the author of this sketch answered the call to the 
library service. 

Miss Grace Cochrane, now Mrs. Edgar Stern, became assistant librarian at 
the time of the removal to the new building. Her successors in office in the order 
mentioned are Miss Grace Brown (now Mrs. Fred Tibbits), Miss Anna B. 
Woodcock, Miss Addie Coffin and Miss Edna Dinsmore. Alexander Rankin 
was appointed janitor of the new library, and after his retirement he was suc- 
ceeded by Andrew P. McLean. 

The active movement for the new Carnegie building started in 1901, when 
the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce through its secretary sent the following 
appeal to Andrew Carnegie, at that time in Scotland : 

Eureka, Calif., Aug. 16, 1901. 
Andrew Carnegie, LL. D. 

Dear Sir : — The Chamber of Commerce at Eureka, Humboldt county, Cali- 
fornia, would respectfully submit to your consideration the city of Eureka as a 
place that would be greatly benefited by becoming a sharer in your noble benefac- 
. tions in the shape of a new library building. 

This city now expends $1,800 annually in supporting a free library in rented 
quarters, and this amount would be increased to $2,000 or $2,500 without becom- 
ing too heavy a burden. If you would generously donate $20,000 or $25,000 for 
a building there is no doubt that the proper percentage for its support would ^ 
be readily guaranteed. 

Eureka is a permanent city of 7,500 inhabitants; its growth has been sure 
and steady, the additions being mainly from Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and 
Canada, with a sprinkling of Scandinavians, but with very few south of Europe 
people. It has never had a boom or a set-back and is surrounded by a region 
of so great natural resources that, combined with its location on the only land- 
locked harbor of any importance between San Francisco and the Columbia river, 
its permanence is established beyond any question. 

Within the last ten years the United States Government has expended two 
millions of dollars in improvement work on its harbor and entrance thereto, and 
this shows the importance attached to this port by the Government. 



HISTORY OF HUMB9LDT COUNTY 169 

Our leading industries are lumbering, dairying, stock-raising and general 
agriculture, and the statement of exports from this place enclosed herein will 
show the relative importance of each. There is no better soil anywhere. Crop 
failures are Unknown and the climate is the most uniform of any place in the 
United States. 

Owing to the long stretch of rough territory between, Eureka has not been 
connected with the outside world by rail, but the California & Northern Railroad 
is being built from the north, while the California & Northwestern Railroad 
is being built towards Eureka from the south. Hence it can only be a few years 
until our city is connected by rail both with the north and the south, and when 
that is done the short haul to deep water from all northern California and southern 
Oregon will be to this port. 

We have asked our senator, Hon. George C. Perkins, to kindly add such 
endorsement to this appeal as he may judge right and to forward the same with 
this communication. 

Hoping for a favorable response, and confident that there are few places 
where your generosity would be more useful or more appreciated than in 
Eureka, we remain, Yours respectfully, 

HUMBOLDT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 

By GEORGE W. KELLOGG, Secretary. 

The following reply to the foregoing letter was promptly received : 

Skibo Castle, Ardgay, N. B. 
Mr. George A. Kellogg, Esq. 
Eureka, California. 

Dear Sir: — Yours of August 16th received through Senator Perkins. 

If Eureka will provide a suitable site and pledge $2,000 a year for support 
of library, Mr. Carnegie will be glad to give $20,000 to erect a Free Pubhc Library 
building. Respectfully yours, 

J. A. BERTRAM, Private Secretary. 

A subscription was started among the citizens of Eureka immediately after 
the receipt of this message. The subscriptions netted, when paid in, the sum of 
$8,125. Out of this fund the present site was bought for $5,700. The building 
was planned by Knowle.s Evans and B. C. Tarver, architects of this city. Ambrose 
N. Foster, also of this city, was awarded the contract for the erection of the 
building on a bid of $20,841.75, the work to begin August 1, 1902. The work 
was delayed of completion until the autumn of 1904. Supplementary agreements 
were added to the original contract, for red brick, for steps of Mad river granite, 
mosaic tihng and other items. . 

The reading public is indebted to the late John H. Gyselaar for a very sub- 
stantial gift. Mr. Gyselaar died in 1908, leaving to the library a bequest that 
amounted to $529.85. 

The public owes a debt of gratitude to the many men and women who have 
given their time and attention unselfishly to the service of the library on the board 
of trustees. We cannot take account of the stormy evenings on which they have 
attended trustees meetings, nor of the routine of nearly forty years. It is alto- 
gether fitting to mention a feW of the older ones of the older times. Among 
those not previously mentioned in this account are : D. P. Campbell, H. A. Clen- 
denen, Emma C. Lyon, L. J. Marshall, Miss M. A. Duggan, Miss M. J- C. 
Thompson, Judge J. P. Haines, Charles Armstrong, Frank McGowan, Dr. E. W. 
Wells, Mary A. Carr, Daniel Halloran, Judge C. G. Stafford, Emma S. Young, 



170 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

J. M. Brand, David McAdam, C. C. Marshall, Charles Fiebig, Mrs. J. W. Connick, 
E. Sevier, G. H. Close, John S. Murray, W. H. Brumfield, J. G. Murray, Dr. 
S. B. Davis, R. W. Rideout, C. F. Roberts and W. H. Johnston. 

The trustees at the present time are : Mrs. E. E. Reedman, Mrs. Emma J. 
McKay, Mrs. Henry Irons, Mrs. Ira B. Thompson and Olcott Cummings. 

During the year 1914-15 a new heating system has been completed, the entire 
roof has been relaid, the wood-work painted, the walls papered in tasteful tints 
and new linoleum placed upon the reading room floors. 

The library now has about 8,300 volumes, besides about 3,000 volumes and 
many serviceable bulletins in the United States Government depository, this 
being one of the libraries designated by the Government for the purpose. The 
circulation now reaches over 4,000 prints per month. The income of the library 
for the present year, beginning July 1, 1914, amounts to $6,100. 

A free library has recently been established for Humboldt county, and the 
central office of the county free library is located in the Eureka Free Library 
building. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

How the Fifth Division, U. S. Naval Militia, Came Into Existence. 

By A. B. Adams 

On the 30th day of December, 1878, a meeting was held in the old City Hall 
on Third street in the city of Eureka, pursuant to published notice, for the 
purpose of organizing a military company. The meeting was called to order by 
Alexander Campbell, who stated the object of the gathering. John A. Watson 
was chosen chairman and W. C. Stewart secretary. At a meeting held January 
9, 1879, committees on by-laws and organization were appointed, after which the 
meeting adjourned until March 15, 1879. Chairman Watson then introduced 
Major Pierce H. Ryan, who had been appointed by the Adjutant General to 
conduct the organization of the Eureka Guard. The roll was called and the 
following members were present : 

John A. Watson, George Dean, John L. Crichton, F. H. Wunderlich, Jr., 
A. P. Flagor, WilHam P. Hanna,* S. W. Freese, A. J. iWiley, C. E. Le Grange, 
Richard Sweasey,* W. Sweasey, A. M. Delamore, Louis Pearsons*, Ed Ruscoe,* 
Charles E. Long, John Hetherington, C. G. Taylor, W. E. Stewart, Alex Camp- 
bell, J. Simpson,* James T. Keleher,* H. H. Buhne, Jr.,* James G. D. Crichton, 
Charles E. Hasty, Peter Belcher,* Thomas H. Chope,* James E. Mathews,* A. 
Winzler, M. Barman, C. G. Lundblade,* John A. Livingston,* Edward Everding, 
James B. Brown,* David Cutten,* C. S. Ricks, William P. Pratt,* T. W. Holland, 
W. K. Strong,* F. A. Lewitt, J. H. G. Weaver,* J. P. Monroe,* J. S. Gibson, 
J. P. Hopkins, T. B. Cutler,* J. H. G. Hansel, A. W. Anderson, Norman Howard, 
Thomas Chope, Jr.,* Edward Grant, C. Rose,* C. Fi-ank Gardner,* A. D. Mac- 
Donald, T. D. Rees, R. W. Rideout, Alex Connick,* J. W. Freese, C. E. Wunder- 
lich, R. B. Dickson, J. W. Appleby, Cornelius McElvoy, W. H. Bull, W. F. 
Brown, S. H. Butterfield, J. Ballard,* W. L. Walker, A. J. Monroe,* W. W. 
Turner, who were duly sworn in as members of the Eureka Guard, thus forming 
a company of the National Guard of California. 

*Still living. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 171 

Major Ryan announced that the first business was the election of a captain, 
first lieutenant and second lieutenant. Ballots were accordingly cast with the 
following results : Alexander Campbell, captain ; James B. Brown, first lieu- 
tenant, and W. P. Hanna, second lieutenant. 

Upon the organization of Areata Guard the two companies were thrown 
into a battalion formation and known as the Tenth Infantry Battalion; Eureka 
Guard as Company A, and Areata Guard as Company B. J. D. H. Chamberlain 
was elected major and upon the expiration of his commission J. L. Crichton 
was elected. 

Upon the re-organization of the State Militia Company B was mustered out, 
thus breaking up the battalion formation, Company A remaining in the service. 

On February 19, 1896, Company A, N. G. C, was transferred to the Fifth 
Division, N. M. C, with the following officers: D. J. Foley, lieutenant; Charles 
V. Otto, Heutenant junior grade; Edward McLaughHn and Charles P. Smith, 
ensigns. 

Since 1879, IMarch 15th has been observed as the anniversary of the organ- 
ization by appropriate ceremonies in the Armory during the day and a grand 
ball in the evening. 

The present officers of the division are : Lieut. Adolph B. Adams, com- 
manding; W. E. Torrey, lieutenant junior grade; twelve petty officers and fifty- 
five seamen. The division is fully equipped with all necessary articles to go 
aboard ship for active service. The men are instructed in drills and gunnery 
practice, having mounted in their armory one ten-ton four-inch gun, a three- 
pounder, a one-pounder and a gatling gun. Each year the division goes to sea 
on the U. S. S. Marblehead for summer cruise and target practice. This vessel 
is manned entirely by naval militia men of California, and the Eureka division 
has attained a splendid proficiency at big gun target practice. The division has 
a good rating, which speaks well for its officers and men. 






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BIOGRAPHICAL 



ALEXANDER BRIZARD.— The history of the growth of the great 
estabHshment of A. Brizard, Inc., from the small store opened during 1863 
in Areata (originally known as Union Town) to the institution now receiv- 
ing patronage from every community in the northern portion of Humboldt 
county, is the history of the man whose name it bears and who as its founder 
laid the basis of the business wisely and well, while as its proprietor for 
more than forty years he developed its trade with courage and efificiency. 
Descended from an old French family and himself a native of France, born 
in Bordeaux March 17, 1839, he knew practically nothing of his native land 
by actual experience or childhood recollections, for in 1843 he was taken to 
Peru, South America, by his parents and there he lived for six years, mean- 
while learning Spanish in school and French at home. His father, Capt. Paul 
Theodore Brizard, a sea captain fond of adventure, engaged in the trans- 
portation business between Lima and Callao until news came concerning the 
discovery of gold in California, at which time he immediately left South 
America for San Francisco and embarked in the transportation business be- 
tween that city and Sacramento. September 25, 1849, he was joined by his 
wife with their ten-year old son and infant daughter. The family estab- 
lished a home in the midst of the turbulent conditions then existing in San 
Francisco and the son was at once sent as a pupil to the first Protestant 
school in the state, a small institution established by Rev. James S. Ver Mehr. 

As early as June of 1850 Capt. Brizard came to Humboldt county and 
decided to locate at what is now Areata, where the family joined him in 
August, occupying a portable house which he had brought from Peru and 
which in later years was regarded as one of the landmarks of Areata. Being 
of an adventurous spirit the Captain was not satisfied to locate permanently 
in an isolated region while there existed in his mind any hope of success in 
the finding of gold. Leaving his wife and small daughter in Humboldt county 
he took his son, Alexander, to the mines on Trinity river, where for three 
years they endured the privations and hardships incident to such an expe- 
rience. Many comforts to which they had been accustomed could not be 
bought at any price, while flour sold as high as seventy-five cents a pound and 
other necessities were equally expensive. In the midst of such conditions the 
younger member of the family learned to do the humblest tasks and do them 
well. As they found no fortune in the mines, he turned his hand to any 
work that offered an honest livelihood. If riding the bell-animal of a pack 
train was the best thing that offered, he took the job and did it to the very 
best of his strength and ability. In that way he learned lessons far more 
valuable to him than the chance finding of gold would have been. On return- 
ing to Areata he took up school studies, which were interspersed with occupa- 
tive duties contributing to his support. During the summer of 1858 a young 
Hollander named Van Rossum introduced him to his employer, the head of 
the firm of Roskill & Co., and the result of the interview was an offer of a 
clerkship in the Areata store. 



176 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

As a clerk Alexander Brizard at once proved his value. It proved to be 
the thing for which he was best qualified by natural endowments. Business 
capacit)^ quickly developed. Working conscientiously in the interests of his 
employer, giving his entire time and thought to the upbuilding of the busi- 
ness, he rose in the estimation of all, and with the recognition of his value 
came increase in salary. With the passing of time there came new oppor- 
tunities to him. The firm of Roskill & Co. retired from business. Their prin- 
cipal competitors, the firm of Spencer, Manheim & Stern, secured the ser- 
vices of JNIr. Brizard and his friend and co-Avorker. Within a few 3^ears, 
owing to the death of one of the partners, the firm was dissolved, which gave 
an opportunitv for the two clerks to embark in business. The Humboldt 
Times of June 20, 1863, contained the following item : "New firm : In our 
advertising columns today will be found the business bow of our young 
friends, Alexander Brizard and J. A. C. Van Rossum, of Areata. They have 
opened business at the old stand of Spencer, Manheim & Stern, and if expe- 
rience, ability, close attention to business and honesty are any guarantee, 
we predict for them success." An old account-book kept by Mr. Brizard 
shows that the partnership was formed June 8, 1863, for the purpose of con- 
ducting a general grocery and dry goods business, with an investment of 
$693.70 cash by Mr. Brizard and of $1447 by Mr. Van Rossum, who notwith- 
standing his heavier investment offered to share alike in gains and losses. 
As the business showed gains instead of losses, this offer was most helpful 
to the younger member of the firm. During 1865 they purchased the business 
of AVilliam Codington, successor to the pioneer firm of Bowles & Codington. 
The retirement of Mr. Van Rossum in 1870 threw the burden of the business 
exclusiA'eh^ on the younger partner, who became sole owner. With charac- 
teristic enterprise he established branch stores at Hoopa, Weitchpec, Orleans 
and Somes" Bar. Soon after this, in January, 1871, he was united in marriage 
Avith j\liss Margaret Henry, the ceremony being performed in Areata by Rev. 
J. S. Todd. Mrs. Brizard is the daughter of William and Mary (Nixon) 
Henry, natives of New York and Penns3dvania, respectively, and the grand- 
daughter of Isaac Nixon, who was a California pioneer. Mrs. Brizard was 
born near Winchester, Iowa, and in 1863 accompanied her parents across 
the plains to Areata, Humboldt county. 

Just when the outlook was most favorable and the future had CA^ery 
promise of gratifying growth, a fire destroyed a large part of the A'illage of 
Areata and the Brizard store with its contents became only a memory. There 
being no insurance, JMr. Brizard found himself worse than penniless, for his 
assets had gone in the fire and only his liabilities remained. At this dark 
period of his life his creditors proved his best friends. They promised him 
further credit and urged him to return to business, believing that by this 
step he could reimburse them fully in the course of some years. This he did, 
although it required many j^ears to regain his financial footing. Customers 
of the old store stood by him in his ncAv undertaking and the business grcAV 
so rapidly that four years after the fire he had to seek larger quarters. The 
store Avas then moved to its present site, where a building constructed of 
stone from the Jacoby creek quarry offered ample facilities for the expand- 
ing trade. During 1879 Mr. Brizard purchased the building and the ground 
upon Avhich it stood. As the years went by the business grcAv beyond the 
most sanguine hopes of its proprietor in the early period of his connection 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 177 

therewith. Eventually he decided to incorporate. Papers were taken out in 
April, 1904, and in May of the same year Mr. Brizard passed away, leaving 
to his widow and three sons, Paul A., M. Brousse and Henry F., the legacy 
of one of the largest and most substantial organizations in northern California, 
but leaving to them a heritage even more to be desired, the memory of a 
life devoted to the principles of truth and honor. 

CHARLES H. WRIGHT.— For a number of years Charles H. AVright, of 
Eureka, had the distinction of being "the F street jeweler," having been the 
first man in his line of trade to become established in business on that street, 
Avhere practicall}- all the jewelry concerns of the town are now to be found. 
The beautiful store into which the business was recently moved is but a few 
doors from his old location. Mr. Wright's success in building up a large 
trade entitles him to recognition as a merchant of substantial qualities, but 
he is also a skilled workman and a scientific optician, his attainments in 
both lines having contributed materially to his popularity and proved valuable 
factors in attracting patronage. Besides looking after his own affairs he has 
done public-spirited work in the cause of Eureka's development along modern 
lines, his name appearing in the membership of most of the organizations 
which have come into existence for that purpose. 

Mr. Wright was born September 6, 1864, at Almont. Mich., and grew up 
in his native state, in his early boyhood enjoying common school advantages, 
but he has had to make his own way in the world since he was eleven years 
old. When a boy of fifteen he commenced to learn the jeweler's trade at 
Saginaw, Mich., where he served an apprenticeship of three years with Brown 
& W^ard, after which he went into business on his own account at St. Clair, 
Mich. Being obliged to do work of a varied nature, he became an expert 
engraver and watch repairer. After some time at that location he began to 
look about for one that promised more in the way of development. He had a 
fine offer to go to Sitka, Alaska, but he finally decided to settle at Martinez, 
Contra Costa county, Cal., where he did a successful business for a period of 
four years. In 1890 he came thence to Eureka, Humboldt county, and at once 
opened a jewelry business on F street — for several years the only place of 
the kind on that street. For about fifteen years he had a store at No. 209, in 
December, 1913, removing thence to his present site. No. 217. He has a com- 
modious store, specially appointed for the requirements of the trade and 
skillfully arranged both for the display of goods and the care of the large 
and complete stock, which is valued at $40,000. It includes a fine assortment 
of jewelry, watches, diamonds and silverware, ^Ir. Wright's superior taste 
in the selection of goods drawing patronage from the most fastidious element 
in Eureka and the surrounding territory. Twenty-six years ago he took up 
the study of optics, and he has become an expert optician, his thoroughness 
in examination of the eyes and skillful adjustment of glasses winning a 
reputation for reliability which has never been shaken by any negligence on 
his part. 

Mr. Wright is very optimistic in his faith in the future of Eureka, and he 
has imparted something of his enthusiasm to many of his fellow townsmen, 
who cannot doubt his sincerity in the light of the efforts he has made to 
realize some of the possibilities of the town. A mere mention of his associa- 
tions will serve to show how broad are his sympathies and how ready he 
has been to support all worthy movements. He is a member of the Eureka 



178 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Development Association, was one of the original members of the Humboldt 
Club, was a charter member of the Humboldt Wheelmen, and belongs to the 
Chamber of Commerce, the Humboldt Promotion Club and the Benevolent 
Protective Order of Elks, being a charter member of Eureka Lodge No. 652 
of the last named. He is also a member and vestryman of the Episcopal 
Church, and politically is identified with the Republican party. His pleasant 
personalit}^ accounts for his popularity and the spirit of friendliness which 
he attracts wherever he goes, while his many substantial qualities hold the 
esteem of even the most conservative. 

In 1889, while residing at Martinez, Cal., Mr. Wright was married to 
Miss Cora B. Hough, a native daughter, whose parents came across the plains 
in the year 1852. They have a fine residence at No. 1230 H street, which 
Mr. Wright built in 1906. Their only child, Carl J., graduated from the 
Eureka high school as a member of the class of. 1914, and is now studying the 
jewelry business in all its details under his father. 

WILLARD O. McCANN. — The vice-president and general manager of 
the Eureka Paving Company has been identified with Humboldt county ever 
since 1869 when, a youth of seventeen years, he came across the country with 
a party of friends, traveling on one of the very first trains that brought 
passengers to California after the completion of the transcontinental railroad. 
Prior to that memorable trip he had lived on a farm in New Brunswick, where 
he was born, directly across the St. Croix river from Calais, Me. A small 
population and few business enterprises made the earning of a livelihood 
difficult and the opportunities few, hence he was led to seek the larger advan- 
tages of the undeveloped west. With the arrival of the train in San Francisco 
he proceeded to make arrangements for the voyage to Eureka, to which point 
only two trips a month were then made via water. The famous old steamer, 
Pelican, brought him to the landing place at Eureka and thus was started 
his long identification with Humboldt county, where he is now one of the 
most honored and capable business men. 

An initial experience with the logging camps and the lumber woods was 
followed by changes which gradually gave Mr. McCann an excellent delivery 
wagon service and a substantial teaming business in Eureka, where for two 
years he also conducted a livery barn. As early as 1893 he first established 
the business of the Eureka Paving Company, which paved three blocks in 
this city, but did no further work in that line until 1900. On resuming opera- 
tions in street paving Mr. McCann filled a number of important contracts in 
his home town, where all of the paving done up to the present date represents 
his own efficient and conscientious work. During 1908 his company filled a 
contract for a large amount of street paving in Oregon at Marshfield, while 
during 1913 he had charge of the paving of a number of streets in Ferndale, 
Humboldt county. Since 1872 he has been connected with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows at Eureka and has contributed to the work and pro- 
moted the welfare of the local lodge. By his marriage to Miss Mellie Mc- 
Farland he is the father of one daughter, Virdie, and two sons, George and 
Joseph, all natives of Humboldt county and educated in its schools. The 
elder son married Miss Seeley, while the daughter is the wife of Fred Watson 
and the mother of two children. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 181 

JOHN M. VANCE.— The late John M. Vance, of Eureka, at the time of 
his death the president of the Humboldt County Bank, became a resident of 
the county the year before he reached his majority, and it was the scene of 
his remarkable success, for in the management of extensive railroad, timber 
and milling interests he proved himself equal to unlimited responsibilities. 
He attained a position among the most prosperous business men in this 
region, yet he always retained his reputation as a citizen whose operations 
were of value to the community, opening up possibilities in various lines of 
industry and trade which have enriched all this section. As a banker and 
general business man his activities led him into varied enterprises, which 
brought out his versatility and developed a degree of judgment uncommon 
even among the well experienced. 

Mr. Vance was a Canadian by birth, and came to California with his 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Vance, in the year 1865. They died a number 
of years ago, as did also his uncle, John Vance. John M. Vance was born 
January 4, 1845, at Chipman, Queens county. New Brunswick. After coming 
to Humboldt county he learned the trade of millwright, at which he was 
employed for a number of years, acquiring a familiarity with the practical 
side of the work which aided him greatly in his later responsibilities. In 
partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas Baird, he carried on a commis- 
sion and shipping business for some time, and then became superintendent 
in the mechanical department of the Dolbeer & Carson lumber mill. His 
superior qualities and earnest application to his duties won the confidence 
of his uncle to such an extent that during his last illness, in 1892, John Vance 
sent for his nephew and intrusted him with the management of his vast 
railroad, timber and milling operations. Though his duties were many he 
set about the rather stupendous task of mastering their details, familiarizing 
himself with his uncle's plans for the extension and development of the 
various interests involved, and had early opportunity for testing the prac- 
ticability of his ideas. He carried the extension of the Mad River railroad 
into the heart of the immense tract of redwood timber which formerly was 
owned by Charles King, and for about two years gave his time principally 
to extensive logging and milling operations there, also during that period 
having supervision of the mechanical and operative departments of the two 
sawmills belonging to the estate, at Eureka and on Mad river. Other branches 
of the management of the large property demanded his attention from time 
to time, but he proved competent to meet their requirements, showing aston- 
ishing executive ability in the performance of his work. He enlarged and 
remodeled the plants as needed, and in every respect showed himself worthy 
of the trust reposed in him. 

Prior to his uncle's death Mr. Vance received from him, by deed of gift, 
the controlling stock in the Eel River & Eureka Railroad Company, and at 
the election following he was chosen a member of its board of directors and 
elected to the presidency to succeed his uncle. He continued to perform the 
duties of that office, managing the road with his customary talent for such 
responsibility, until he sold it in the spring of 1903 to the Santa Fe Railway 
Company, receiving a price satisfactory to his fellow stockholders. A number 
of years before his death Mr. Vance became a stockholder and director of 
the Humboldt County Bank, and on January 1, 1904, succeeded J. W. Hender- 
son as president of that financial institution, continuing to serve in that 



182 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

office until his resignation in 1906. His demise occurred at his home May 
31, 1907. 

Although he may have had an exceptional start because of his uncle's 
interest and appreciation of his substantial qualities, Mr. Vance could neither 
have gained nor held the high position he held without rare ability and 
strength of intellect, as well as exceptional capacity for continued exertion. 
He could see and comprehend a situation far in advance of the average man, 
and M^as not afraid to act on his judgment when it appeared he had nothing 
else to justify his conduct. He had a keen sense of the true meaning of 
progress, as he showed in his support of local enterprises. Though he made 
considerable because of the rise of real estate values throughout the county, 
as well as by judicious investments, he never regarded his large means from 
a purely selfish standpoint, but used them to further various movements 
which would confer benefits on his fellows as well as himself, and he was 
justly looked upon as a man of public spirit and generous disposition. 
Churches and religious enterprises generally profited by his interest and 
sympathy. He was an Odd Fellow in fraternal connection, belonging to 
Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , of Eureka, in which he passed all the chairs. 
Politicall}^ he was a Republican. It is to such men as Mr. Vance that Hum- 
boldt county owes much of its development and present prosperity, for by 
his optimism he always endeavored to build up. its industries and by his 
public spirit and liberality gave of time and means to enhance the condition 
of the community, not only commercially, but socially, religiously and 
morally. He was a truly good man, and his death was a distinct loss not only 
to his family and friends, but to the people of the whole county. 

Mr. Vance was married in San Francisco, March 11, 1871, to JMiss Sarah 
Jannie Babbitt, who like himself was a native of Chipman, New Brunswick, 
daughter of Harry and Louisa (Chase) Babbitt, both natives of New Bruns- 
wick, but of English descent. Mr. Babbitt was a merchant and postmaster 
at Chipman. Mrs. Vance was educated in private schools at Gagetown, New 
Brunswick. In 1866 she came to San Francisco with an uncle and aunt, Mr. 
and. Mrs. Jacob AVhite, with whom she resided until her marriage to Mr. 
Vance. Of this union were born four children, as follows : Ida L., who be- 
came the wife of Fred C. Flauck and died in Eureka ; Etta L. ; Harry P., 
manager of the Vance estate ; and Carlotta, Mrs. Lester W. Hink, of Berkele}^. 
Since the death of her husband Mrs. Vance has continued to make her home 
at the family residence, continuing also to look after his interests. 

CHARLES WILLARD HITCHINGS.— Practically all of the adult 
experiences of Mr. Hitchings, who is a native of Washington county, Me., and 
a pioneer of March, 1875, in ITumboldt county, have been associated with 
logging camps and the lumber industry, in which he has gained such a' widely 
extended reputation for expert knowledge that his opinion is frequently 
sought in determining the valuations of timber claims. It is natural that he 
should be an expert woodsman, for he has been familiar with lumber camps 
almost from his earliest recollections and as a boy he became skilled in the 
use of the axe in the great Maine forests. At the age of twenty-one he left 
home and went to Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years, working 
in the lumber woods of Elk and Clearfield counties. Since his arrival in 
Humboldt county, during the spring of 1875, he has devoted his entire time to 
the lumber industry in one or another of its varied departments. For a time 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 183 

he was employed by John Smith on Elk river. At different times he has 
engaged as foreman or superintendent for the lumber firms prominently con- 
nected with local industrial aft'airs, viz. : The John Vance Company, the 
Dolbeer-Carson Company, the Pacific Lumber Company and the Hammond 
Lumber Company. Since 1910 he has been retained as timber cruiser for 
numerous private individuals as well as for a number of the leading lumber 
concerns of the county, where he is regarded as an expert in the valuation 
of trees and of timber claims. 

At the time of coming west ^Ir. Hitchings was unmarried and some j-ears 
after settling in Humboldt county he married Miss Alice Christie, who was 
born and reared here and is a member of a pioneer family of prominence. 
While giving his attention very closely to work in the timber industry he 
has identified himself also with numerous movements for the upbuilding of 
the county, has taken a praiseworthy interest in local projects of importance 
and has been actively connected with the Humboldt Club, besides being a 
member of local lodges of ^lasons and Odd Fellows. 

CHRISTOPHER LUTHER.— There are few men now living in Hum- 
boldt county whose arrival here antedated that of INIr. Luther, an honored 
pioneer, well known for the sterling qualities of mind and heart that win and 
retain the confidence of associates, and especially prominent in Humboldt 
Lodge Xo. 77, I. O. O. F., through the fact that he is one of the oldest 
surviving members affiliated with the organization. In the years of his 
personal contribution to the upbuilding of the county he has witnessed many 
changes. A new generation has come into the place of his activities and is 
reaping the fruits of his self-sacrificing pioneer labors. Into the place where 
for 3'ears he stood giving courteous attention to the customers that regularly 
traded at the market, a son has now come, taking up the duties that the 
elder man had discharged for forty-three consecutive years prior to his retire- 
ment in 1902. His life, as it has been ordered, has contained its share of 
hardship, privation and discouragement, but he has borne whatever came to 
him with simple courage and quiet dignity, as a brave man does, seldom 
giving" voice to any word except of good cheer and optimism, and invariably 
hopeful concerning the future prosperity of his chosen home town and county. 

AYhen six years of age Christopher Luther was brought from his native 
Switzerland to the United States by his parents, who settled near Galena. 111., 
so that his childhood days were largely spent on a farm in the central Avest. 
With a party of thirty persons he crossed the plains in 1851. Four yoke of 
oxen were used for each wagon. The expedition moved forward slowly, but 
peacefully and without Indian attacks or epidemics of sickness. August 5. 
1851, Nevada City was reached and from that point the members of the party 
dispersed to various sections. INIr. Luther remained in Nevada county for 
a year as a miner. Later he mined in Sierra county near the north fork of the 
Yuba river, from which point he went to Cantonville to engage in hydraulic 
mining. Of the thousands of Argonauts who came to California in the early 
period of gold excitement, he was one of the very few who secured enough 
gold in the mines to aid him in making a start in business life. 

As a passenger on the steamer Santa Cruz, in the spring of 1858 ^Ir. 
Luther came up the Pacific from San Francisco to Eureka. Some of the 
passengers landed at Trinidad in the surf, but he crossed the bar on the 
steamer and debarked at the Eureka wharf. His first step was to travel 



184 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

through the country on a tour of inspection. Soon he bought a tract of 
grazing land near Alton on the Eel river, but this he later sold to Joe Russ, 
and meanwhile he had found employment in the cattle business at Bear river. 
In 1859, upon the inducement of Mr. Russ, he was persuaded to go to Eureka 
and form a partnership in the butcher business, but after one year as a 
member of the firm Mr. Luther sold his interest to Mr. Russ and thereupon 
became manager of the shop, a position that he filled with the greatest 
efficiency for forty-three years, and then, in 1902, retired to private life. Dur- • 
ing the early Indian troubles on Bear river, although not himself an active 
participant in the battles, he aided in conveying to places of safety men who 
had been seriously wounded by the savages, and his recollections of that 
exciting period are singularly clear and interesting. In Rohnerville, December 
6, 1864, he married Miss Celia Jane Ferrier, a native of Arkansas, who crossed 
the plains with her parents in 1852, and the same year located on a farm near 
Ferndale, Humboldt county. Four children, all natives of Eureka, were born 
of their union, namely : Frank W., proprietor of a store at Alton ; Charles 
C, the successor of his father as manager of the Russ market; Ralph, who 
is connected with the Humboldt Commercial Company at Eureka ; and Ruby 
B., who is with her parents at the old homestead. 

JOHN FREDERICK McGEORGE.— The pioneer grocer of Eureka, 
whose first identification with this line of business dates back to the opening 
of a small store at No. 1037 B street during the year 1883, is John Frederick 
McGeorge, a native of the parish of St. James, Charlotte county. New Bruns- 
wick, born June 3, 1846, of Scotch descent, and reared on a farm in that 
province. On leaving home to take up the task of self-support he went across 
the St. Croix river into Maine and was employed on farms in Aroostook 
county, where he continued for a number of years. Removing to Pennsyl- 
vania in 1872, he found employment on a farm in Clearfield county and 
remained in the same locality until 1877, after which he worked in the oil 
fields of Clarion, MacKean and Venango counties, in the same state. From 
Pennsylvania he came to California in 1883 and settled in Eureka, where 
he since has made his home and where, beginning with practically no capital, 
he has risen to a position among the prosperous real estate owners and busi- 
ness men of the place. 

After continuing for some years in small quarters, the growth of the 
business made it necessary to have a larger building, which was erected for 
him by the Dr. Clark estate. This he afterward purchased and here he con- 
ducted a first-class grocery business, that was incorporated in 1903 as the 
J. F. McGeorge Co. Recently he relinquished the active management of the 
grocery in order that he might devote his attention to his various property 
holdings. 

Through his marriage, in 1877, to Mary B. Fulton, a native of Clearfield 
county. Pa., Mr. McGeorge has two daughters, Grace A. and Edith, both of 
whom are efficient teachers in the public schools of Eureka. Made a Mason 
in Clearfield Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1873, Mr. McGeorge has since been in- 
terested in the activities of Masonry, being exalted in Clearfield Chapter, 
R. A. M. He is now affiliated with Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of 
which he is a past master, and of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., and 
with his wife and daughter is a member of Camelia Chapter No. 63, O. E. S. 




'■? ^J 9/ • 'f 

I '. crJ'. /^h/l/1 i C-ft- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 187 

HON. RUFUS F. HERRICK.— With the early history of Indian affairs 
in Northern Cahfornia the names of Mr. and Mrs. Herrick are closely linked 
and their activity during the period of warfare resulted in a quicker return 
to peaceful conditions than would otherwise have been possible. Substantial 
and patriotic traits would be expected of Mr. Herrick, for he is not only 
of Revolutionary stock, but has the further honor of claiming descent from 
Leif Ericsson, the Norseman, who established the first settlements in Rhode 
Island and on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in the year 1000. The progenitor 
of the American branch of the family was Henry, Heneric, Hericke, or 
Herrick (there having been several variations in the spelling of the name, 
dating from the early Norse "Eric"). He was the fifth son of Sir William 
Herrick, and was born at Beau Manor Hall, Leicester county, England, in 
1604, and settled first in Massachusetts, and Francis, the grandfather of Rufus 
F. Herrick, served for forty years in the senate of that state. There were 
many distinguished members of this family during the early history of the 
nation, and the late distinguished citizen of Humboldt county inherited many 
of the splendid qualities of heart and mind that characterized his forbears. 

The father of Rufus F. Herrick was Capt. Ephraim Herrick, a native 
of Massachusetts, who became a pioneer of Ohio, which the son claimed as 
his native commonwealth, his birth having occurred at Wellington, Lorain 
county, on June 8, 1828, and his youth was spent in Ohio, where he learned 
to be a civil engineer, in 1849 helping to survey the line of the Cleveland, 
Cincinnati & Columbus Railroad, now merged with the Big Four. The dis- 
covery of gold attracted him to California, and in 1850 he crossed the plains 
to Placerville, where he mined for two years, going from there to Alameda 
county, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber in the mountains 
above Redwood City, later following farming near San Leandro. Going from 
there to Santa Clara county, he carried on a lumbering business in that 
section for several years. In 1857 he surveyed the wagon road from Los 
Gatos to Santa Cruz, in Santa Clara valley, also raised a company and built 
a toll road. Over this road he brought his lumber from the mountains 
where he purchased a large tract of timber in Jones' redwoods. While going 
over the trail to view the mountains and locate a place for the road he saw 
a grizzly bear on the trail coming toward him. He tried to turn his mule 
back, but the stubborn animal would not turn, so he let it go and when 
the bear saw the mule it was not more than a hundred feet away. The 
bear gave one snort and went straight up the mountain, stopping about every 
hundred feet to look back and snort. This trail is now a county road. Sub- 
sequently he was county surveyor of Humboldt county for eleven years, 
surveying the overland road out of the county and most of the roads in the 
county. For fifteen years he was Deputy United States Surveyor, section- 
izing many townships for the government in the county and engineered the 
first logging iron track railroads in the county. 

While in Santa Clara county Mr. Herrick met and married Martha J. 
Gist, who was born at South Bend, Ind., December 11, 1842, and was reared 
in the South. The lineage of her family is traced directly to Baron Von 
Gist, who was born in Germany in 1584 and in 1634 crossed the ocean to 
Maryland. The early married life of Rufus F. Herrick and his wife was 
spent in Humboldt county, Cal., where they ever afterwards made their 
home. Locating on Mad river in November, 1860, for a year Mr. Herrick 



188 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

cultivated a rented farm, and at this place he made the first cheese for ship- 
ment in the county. In 1861 he was appointed by the government to collect 
the Indians and place them on the Klamath Reservation and left Areata with 
about two hundred. After completing the task he was appointed by the w 
federal government as farmer on the Klamath Indian Reservation, then 
in Klamath county. The freshet of 1861-62 destroyed the reservation there 
and Mr. Herrick was forced to move the Indians to Smith River, Del Norte 
county. About fifteen hundred Indians were removed under the personal 
charge of Mr. Herrick and later he had charge of the farming operations on 
the new ground. However, in 1863 he resigned from a work for which he 
was eminently qualified, that he might show his patriotic loyalty to the Union 
by entering the army. After assisting in raising and organizing Company 
D, First Battalion, California Mountaineers, he was made lieutenant of the 
same, and at the expiration of thirty days spent in this capacity was given 
command of the company, its captain being sent on detached duty, and Mr. 
Herrick was retained in this office thereafter. His previous success in 
handling the Indians caused him to be given charge of a large company of 
Indian prisoners, numbering some eight hundred in all, who had been cap- 
tured on the Trinity river and sent to Fort Humboldt. Before he arrived 
many of the Indians had escaped, and forty got away on the night of his 
arrival, the principal cause of trouble being lack of food. Through his 
efforts, they were given a sufficient ration, also furnished with hooks and 
lines for fishing, allowed to have occasional dances, and in other wa3^s treated 
as they desired to be, so defections not only became rare, but in addition two 
hundred Indians returned to the fort within two months. At the end of two 
months they were transported by steamer to the Smith River Reservation, 
accompanied by Lieutenant Herrick himself. Returning to his company, he 
was in active service until May 21, 1865. During his association with the 
Indian service he succeeded in having most of the Indians of Humboldt 
county stationed at Fort Gaston. Both Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were in high 
favor with the red men, and when Colonel Black attempted to make a treaty 
with them, they refused to sign until Herrick himself had assured them that 
the colonel was treating them right and that he had authority to act. iNIany 
times the savages had opportunity to shoot Mr. Herrick, but they trusted 
him as a friend and had no thought of taking his life. 

On retiring from the Indian service Mr. Herrick bought two hundred 
forty acres near Ferndale on the Eel river and for four years engaged in 
ranching there, after which time he sold the property and purchased two 
thousand acres of marsh land at the foot of Table Bluft', from which he 
developed a splendid dairy farm, to which he added three hundred acres, which 
ranch is now the property of his widow. After conducting this immense 
ranch with splendid success for many years he leased it in 1897, and from 
that time until his death he lived in quiet retirement, a part of the time on 
his ranch and a part of the time in San Francisco, death finding him at his 
Loleta home, May 19, 1914. 

In politics Mr. Herrick was a Republican from the organization of the 
party, and was a leading member of Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., 
of Eureka. In the early history of California he took an active part, and 
especially in the welfare of Humboldt county, where he made his home from 
November, 1860, until his death, the most important work of his life being 



HISTORY OF HU^IBOLDT COUNTY 189 

his services in behalf of the Indians. Since the death of Mr. Herrick his 
Avidow has continued to reside on her ranch near Loleta. He leaves two 
sons : Frank E., for many years county surveyor, and v\'ith his wife, formerly 
Miss Emma Gish of San Jose, Cal., residing at Eureka ; and George D., who 
married Miss Jessie Rolph Nicol and resides in San Francisco. 

REUBEN GROSS, M. D.— Humboldt county has been especially favored 
in the kind of professional men who have cast their lots within her boundaries, 
and in none more than Dr. Reuben Gross, whose superior training has made 
him looked up to by his brother practitioners, while his kindly nature has 
attracted a wide patronage from all classes. He has lived at Eureka for almost 
forty years, and though always a medical man first has taken a live interest 
in the development of the town and county along commercial and industrial 
lines. Naturally he has done much to promote modern ideas of sanitation 
and wholesome living in the course of his work as a physician. But he has 
done as much in assisting local enterprises which have placed employment 
and consequent comfort within reach of the county's population, and his 
judgment on business matters is considered very reliable by all who have 
had occasion to try it. Dr. Gross is now in his eighties, having been born 
May 4, 1832, but he still retains control of his various interests in the city 
and county. 

The Gross family is of English origin, but the Doctor's immediate an- 
cestors have lived in America. It is thought that his grandfather, Richard 
Gross, was a native of Oxford county. Me., whence he removed to Canada, 
and he died in New Brunswick. By trade he was a shipbuilder. His wife, 
Mary, was born in Ireland. Isaac Gross, the Doctor's father, was born in 
Canada and passed all of his long life there, dying in New Brunswick at 
the age of eightA'-one 3'ears. He was a lifelong farmer and not only successful 
financially but an influential man in his neighborhood, for many years taking 
a prominent part in the administration of its public affairs. He served his 
fellow citizens in the office of magistrate and supervisor. His wife was Ruth 
Edgett, a native of New Brunswick, in which province she "spent all her 
life, living to the age of seventy-six years, She was a descendant of an 
old English family. Ten children survived her, the son Reuben being the 
sixth of this family in order of birth. 

Reuben Gross was born in the village of Hillsborough, New Brunswick, 
where he grew to manhood on the home farm. His early education was 
obtained in the locality, where he attended school winters until twenty years 
old, after which he taught in the district and grammar schools in order to 
accumulate funds for a higher education. Thus he paid his expenses at 
college, after which, in 1859, he went to Glasgow, Scotland, where he took 
the medical course at the University of Glasgow, completing the four years' 
work in a period of three years. He was graduated with high honors in 1862, 
receiving the degree of M. D., signed by Sir Joseph Lister, M. D., and also 
obtained a degree in surgery at the Roj'^al College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. 
Returning to his native land, he opened an office for practice at Sussexvale 
in 1862, remaining there until 1869, when he gave up his work temporarily to 
put in a year at post-graduate stud}^ in London and Paris. When he came 
back he located at St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where he continued to prac- 



190 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tice until his removal to the United States. In the fall of 1875 he came thence 
to Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., and the fact that he has remained here 
since would indicate he has not repented of his choice. Ever zealous to keep 
in touch with the advancement of the times, he has spent a few months in 
post-graduate study at New York City since his settlement in California, but 
his own attainments and vigorous intellect fit him better for leadership than 
emulation. His approachable nature has made him beloved as well as trusted 
wherever his duties have called him, for he has never made any distinctions 
among his patients where, his professional attention is concerned, and the 
night was never too stormy nor too dark for him to respond cheerfully to 
every inquiry whether the sufferers were able to pay or not. The affectionate 
esteem universally shown him has been well merited in a life of exceptional 
usefulness. 

Not long after settling here Dr. Gross became interested in the redwood 
timber belt of Humboldt county and made heavy investments therein, at 
one time owning about three thousand acres, which he eventually sold at a 
material advance on the purchase price. He has valuable holdings of business 
property at Eureka and has done much to arouse interest in enterprises for 
the upbuilding of the town, besides giving indisputable evidence of his faith 
in her possibilities by putting his own capital into improvements here. In 
1902-03 he erected what was then the most substantial business block in the 
city, a fine brick structure one hundred and ten by one hundred and twenty 
feet in dimensions, with foundation sufficiently strong to support two more 
stories. This is the Gross block, at the corner of Fifth and F streets. Dr. 
Gross's, city real estate includes his handsome residence. In company with 
J. A. Sinclair he has been interested in the development of twelve hundred 
acres of reclaimed marsh land about three miles east of Eureka, where they 
have been carrying on a profitable dairy business. The variety of his under- 
takings is sufficient to show how versatile the Doctor's talents are, and the 
breadth of his intellect, which goes thoroughly into everything which enlists 
his attention or sympathy, slighting no detail, however trivial, yet keeping 
the main issues always in sight. For many years he took a leading part in 
the activities of the Humboldt County Medical Society, of which he has 
been an influential member. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership 
in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M'. 

On June 6, 1864, Dr. Gross was united in marriage with Miss Mary Mein, 
who was born at Hamilton, Scotland, where they became acquainted. Two 
children have been born to this union, Harold G. and Eleanor, the latter now 
the wife of Willard Wells, of Eureka. The son is following his father's 
calling. After a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, 
where he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1888, he entered the 
medical department of Harvard University, from which he was graduated 
in 1891. Then he spent two years as interne in the City hospital at Boston, 
returning to Eureka to enter upon practice with his father, whose professional 
responsibilities he assumed gradually until the large patronage was entirely 
in his hands. The elder man has thus been enabled to relinquish practice 
gradually, and though his circle of patients makes heavy demands on the 
time of one person the son has measured up to his work and is regarded as 
the heir to his father's high reputation as well as to the clientele it enabled 
him to establish. 




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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 193 

MRS. MARTHA J. HERRICK.— To the pioneer women of California, 
no less than to the men, are due the honor and respect of the generations that 
follow, for without their loving sympathy and support, without their faithful 
devotion and toil, there had been no civilization carved in the wilderness 
and no homes built in lonely places where Indians and wild beasts prowled 
by day and night. They have borne their full share in the making of a great 
commonwealth, and their names are held in loving remembrance in the 
hearts of the children of the Golden West, and will continue so to be through 
all generations. 

Prominent among the women who did much for the civilization and 
settlement of California must be named Mrs. Martha J. Herrick, wife of the- 
late Rufus F. Herrick, one of the first men of the state, whose service to 
the government was of great importance in the settling of early Indian diffi- 
culties. In all this he was ably assisted by his young wife, although her name 
did not appear on commissions or government reports, for she was only 
aiding her husband in the performance of his duties. Mrs. Herrick has, how- 
ever, been signally recognized, the brilliancy of her achievements being such 
that they have attracted much attention. During the World's Fair at Chicago 
in 1893 she represented Humboldt county, and also exhibited her rare 
collection of Indian relics, on which she was awarded a medal. In addition, 
she received gold and silver medals from the Anthropological Societies of the 
United States and England for her knowledge of the lost arts of the Indians. 
She is the author of a treatise on the habits and customs of the Indians of ax 
Humboldt county (extracts from which were published in the Ethnological 
Bureau of Smithonian Institution), which is recognized as an authority on 
Indian sanitation. Another work along this line is now being compiled by 
her, its publication being eagerly awaited by those interested in Indian lore, 
Mrs. Herrick being recognized as the best authority on the history of the 
Indians in the Humboldt district, as well as on the general county history. 

Before marriage Mrs. Herrick was Miss Martha Gist, and she is 
descended from a family of great antiquity and honorable distinction. She 
is the great-great-granddaughter of Brigadier-General Mordecai Gist, whose 
father, Christopher, went with General AVashington to make a treaty of peace 
between the colonies and the French and Indians. The two men became 
great personal friends, General Washington having said of Mr. Gist that he 
could not have made the treaty of peace with the Indians had it not been 
for the confidence the Indians had in Christopher Gist. The latter came from 
England with Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, and he surveyed 
the town of Baltimore, while one of his sons, Christopher, surveyed the 
coast of Maryland, and was also a major in the Revolution. Gen. Mordecai 
Gist was complimented by the American Continental Congress for meeting 
the American army in full retreat and leading them back to victory. The 
father of Mrs. Herrick was David Gist, and her mother Matilda Fairfax 
Denton, the father being the son of Independence Gist, the son of Mordecai, 
before mentioned, who was born in Baltimore, Md., February 22, 1742, and 
died in Charleston, S. C, August 2, 1792, having distinguished himself in 
Revolutionary history. Mrs. Herrick herself was born at South Bend, Ind., 
and attended St. Mary's College at South Bend, to which town her parents 
had moved in 1830, and where she grew to maturity. On the maternal side 
Mrs. Herrick is descended from both the Denton and Fairfax families of 



194 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Scotland, which families were united by the marriage of the last two 
descendants who thereafter used both crests. In her possession Mrs. Herrick 
has a plate sent from Scotland as a wedding gift three hundred years ago 
to her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Fairfax Denton, by that lady's brother, 
Dallas Fairfax Denton. 

It was in November, 1858, that ]\Irs. Herrick came to California, on 
account of ill health, to visit a half-brother, making the long journey to San 
Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and on April 3, 1859, she was 
married in San Jose, Cal., to Rufus F. Herrick, an own cousin of Myron 
T. Herrick, now serving as, Ambassador to France. The change was very 
great for her, a city-bred girl, and everything in the new land filled her with 
fear until she became accustomed to the new order. Her native poise and 
common sense came to her aid, and once she had adjusted herself she entered 
into the life of the country with a wonderful zest. Intensely interested in 
the work of her husband among the Indians, together they did much for the 
red men, treating them with kindness and consideration, protecting their 
rights and at all times according them justice and fair treatment. To this 
the savages responded, and both the young people were prime favorites with 
them, and most of the wonderful collection of Indian relics owned by Mrs. 
Herrick, and now on exhibition at the Eureka Public Library, Avere gifts to 
her from her friends among the various tribes. 

Mr. and Mrs. Herrick became the parents of two children, both sons, 
who are well known throughout Humboldt county, where they were born 
and received their education. The elder, Frank E., was for many years 
county surveyor, and did much work in that line throughout that part of 
the state, including the surveying of the Newburg railroad and many other 
logging railroads. He married Miss Emma Gish of San Jose, and' they now 
reside in Eureka. The other son, George D., is married to Miss Jessie Rolph 
Nicol, and they make their home in San Francisco, where he is engaged in 
the real estate business and timber landB, and his wife is prominent in club 
circles. The death of Mrs. Herrick's husband occurred J\Iay 19, 1914, at their 
Loleta home, M'here his wife continues to reside. 

Mrs. Herrick has always been a woman of many activities, both she and 
her husband having been particularly interested in the work of the Grand 
Army. She helped to organize the Major Anderson Circle, Ladies of the 
Grand Army, in Eureka, and for two years was president of the circle, serving 
a year as department president of California and Nevada, being elected in 
Los Angeles, April 5, 1904. While serving in this office she saAv that many old 
soldiers did not take advantage of the soldiers' home because they would not 
leave their wives; hence she planned the buying of three acres of land at 
Sawtelle, Cal., adjoining the soldiers' home. For the purpose of carrying out 
her plans she called an extra session of the ladies of the G. A. R. to meet 
in San Francisco, before whom she outlined her plans. The convention re- 
ceived her report with enthusiasm and gave her full power to work out her 
plan, which she did by buying the land and building thereon a number of 
houses, accommodating two families each, with rent and water free. The build- 
ing of these homes, which are the property of the Ladies of the G. A. R., per- 
mitted the families of the soldiers to continue unsevered. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Herrick were very charitably inclined, and at the time of the San Francisco 
earthquake she opened her house in that city and fed the sufferers, receiving 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 195 

her supplies from their Hun:iboldt county farm. She has brought up five 
orphan boys and one girl, giving her time to instructing and guiding them, 
several of them now occupying honorable official positions, being glad to 
give her the credit of awakening their ambitions and giving them a start in 
life. ]\Irs. Herrick has always been equal to every occasion. In the early 
days, Avhen it was necessary to teach six months before drawing a salar}^ 
she conducted a free school in her own home for that length of time, after 
Avhich Grant district was formed and she drew her salary from the county. 
Her teaching was fully appreciated and she was importuned to continue 
in the public schools, but lack of time prevented her doing so. She has been 
active in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps of Humboldt county, and 
at present is a member of the California Club of San Francisco, the National 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Washington, the 
Geographical Association of Washington, the Smithsonian Institution and 
the Anthropological Association of AVashington. 

A really wonderful woman, of marked executive ability and much 
diplomacy, Mrs. Herrick has endeared herself to the people of California by 
her noble stand and originality as presiding officer in the Ladies of the 
G. A. R. In all her undertakings she has been successful, and her late hus- 
band ascribed to her the credit of contributing more toward laying the founda- 
tion of their fortune than did he himself. 

CHARLES J. CHRISTIE.— This pioneer citizen of Eureka, whose death 
occurred J\Iarch 6, 1907, was well known in Humboldt county as an excellent 
horseman, and he Avas in business at Eureka for a number of years prior to 
his decease, starting the enterprise in which his son succeeded him and which 
is now carried on by his daughter. Miss Josephine Christie. Her able manage- 
ment has won her the admiration of all who have had occasion to transact 
business with her, and under it the trade has shown a steady increase. Miss 
Christie has displayed a self-reliant spirit in undertaking to continue the 
business and has proved her competency in the care of all its details. 

The late Mr. Christie was a native of Calais, Me., and there spent his 
early life. While still living in the east he married Margaret Orr, who was 
also born in Maine, and they came to California in the early days, making the 
trip to Eureka by way of Cape Horn. Mr. Christie had always been fond 
of horses and skillful in their management, and he found work in the woods 
as a teamster, being so expert as a driver that he often drove eight- or ten- 
horse teams. For a time he was engaged in the livery business at Ferndale, 
Humboldt county, but he returned to Eureka, where he established a large 
business in draying and retail wood,, also doing general teaming. He was 
thus engaged until he turned the business over, in 1901, to his son, Charles 
Frederick. His death occurred when he was sixty-six years old, at Eureka, 
his wife surviving him four years, her demise occurring May 5, 1911. His 
son, Charles Frederick Christie, took hold of the business from its inception, 
expanding it by his energetic methods, and was doing well when he died, 
April 7, 1912. Since then it has been carried on by Miss Josephine Christie, 
who is doing all that intelligent attention and first-class system can accom- 
plish, and her success has been a matter of interest to all the townspeople, for 
she was the first woman at Eureka to undertake anything in that line of 
business. She keeps five horses, two teams being usually kept busy filling 
orders. The principal trade is in sixteen-inch stove wood, redwood and pine. 



196 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

About thirty-five hundred cords of wood are handled yearly, and coal is 
delivered for the Hammond Lumber Company, the yards being located at 
the foot of I street. Though the greater part of her attention is given to 
business, Miss Christie never hesitates to lend her aid and influence to any 
worthy movement started in the community, where her enterprise has gained 
her the unqualified respect of her business associates and friends alike. 

Miss Christie continues to occupy the old family home at No. 1304 G 
street. Eureka. The family of Charles J. and Margaret (Orr) Christie con- 
sisted of three children, the son and daughter already mentioned, and Alice 
G., now the wife of Charles W. Hitchings and residing at Eureka. Miss 
Christie is a native daughter of Eureka, where she passed her earlier life. 

JOSEPH DIBBLE HOYT CHAMBERLAIN.— Being restless as a lad, 
eager to see the world and fond of travel, Mr. Chamberlain enlisted when in 
his teens in the United States navy and prior to completing his apprentice- 
ship, when twenty-one years of age, had circumnavigated the globe three 
times. This was a task calling for physical strength, powers of endurance 
and fearless courage, and the fact that he continued in service several years 
furnishes proof as to his fine physical and mental qualities. In 1849 he 
rounded Cape Horn and, on landing in San Francisco, found the discussion 
of the discovery of gold to be the general theme of conversation. With others, 
he rushed for the mines, but meeting with indifferent success, returned to his 
home in Erie county, N. Y., and decided to take up the profession of law. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar in New York state and practiced there 
until he moved to Kansas. There he won extended patronage by reason of 
his wide understanding of law and adjustive ability and made it his home 
until 1872, when he determined to try his fortunes on the coast, locating in 
Eureka, Cal. Among its legal practitioners who materially increased the 
professional prestige of Humboldt county, none was more typically represen- 
tative of western enterprise and eastern conservatism than Mr. Chamberlain, 
who for many years was the law partner of the Hon. J. J. De Haven. On the 
election of the latter to the United States senate, he associated himself with 
Hon. Frank McGowan and afterward with C. M. Wheeler. Mr. Chamberlain 
was the possessor of one of the largest and most valuable law libraries in the 
county, and his exceptionally high standing throughout the state proved not 
only determination of character and resolution of purpose, but also an unusual 
capacity of intellect and superior powers of mind. Rarely indeed is there to 
be found in any community a man so deeply honored or so generally beloved. 
He was born January 31, 1827, and died June 17, 1902. 

Mr. Chamberlain was interested in everything pertaining to Masonry, 
having been a member of the Blue Lodge, Knights Templar, and 
of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of San Francisco. He was also a member 
of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he was a Republican. In August, 1890, 
he was married to Mrs. Sarah Shaw Stewart, a native of Center Point, Iowa, 
who is represented in a separate sketch in this work. 

GEORGE D. MURRAY.— Born in Areata, Humboldt county, Cal., Sep- 
tember 25, 1855. Taught in the public schools of the county, and in 1884 
commenced the practice of law, opening an office in Eureka. He continued 
to practice law until January, 1909, when he became one of the Judges of the 
Superior Court of the county. In 1892 he married Miss Annie F. Zane, herself 
a native of the county and a teacher in the public schools. 




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HISTORY DF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 199 

FRANK GRAHAM. — For almost half a century a resident of Humboldt 
county, and during all that time engaged in occupations that have closely 
identified him with the life of the community and with the development of 
the natural resources of the county, Frank Graham, of Areata, is indeed a 
pioneer, and a splendid type of the men who have made California a "front 
door" instead of a "back door" to the nation. He has been associated with 
the various forms of the lumber industry for more than forty-five years on 
the coast, and was before that engaged in logging in the New Brunswick 
and Maine woods. For more than thirty years he has been superintendent 
of the logging department of a mill on Blue Lake, at Korbel, which he 
helped to build, and for which his industry is largely responsible. He is 
prominently associated with the best interests of Humboldt county, banks, 
railroads, telephones and farming and dairying interests all receiving their 
share of his ability and energetic strength of mind and body. Throughout 
the county he is known as a man of more than ordinary worth, and his 
word is as good as his bond. He is especially well liked by the men in his 
employ, each one feeling that in his superintendent he has a true friend in 
time of need and a wise counselor at all times. 

Mr. Graham is a native of York county. New Brunswick, where he was 
born near Fredericton, February 25, 1844. His father, James Graham, was a 
native of Ireland, but left the Emerald Isle when he was quite "young and 
came alone to New Brunswick. There he found employment on a farm 
where he remained for several years, saving his money with great care, and 
eventually accumulating enough to purchase the farm himself. There he 
engaged in farming until his death about twenty years ago. The mother of 
Mr. Graham was Marguerite Miller, also a native of Ireland, who came to 
New Brunswick with her parents when she was a child, and there her life 
was passed. She was married to James Graham in 1841, and became the 
mother of twelve children, of whom Frank Graham is the eldest son, but 
the second born, there being one daughter older than he. Mrs. Graham 
passed away in 1860. The father married again, and two children were born 
to the second wife. 

The boyhood days of Frank Graham were passed on his father's farm 
in New Brunswick, where he attended first the grammar school and later a 
private school until he was fifteen years of age. At that time he went to work 
in the woods for the munificent sum of $6.50 a month. In 1868 he went into 
the Maine woods where he remained a year before returning to Canada. Re- 
ports of the opportunities offered to the ambitious young man in California 
reached him, and in 1869 he came to the coast, crossing the plains in one of 
the first trains to come to California. He located in Humboldt county in the 
fall of that year, and has since made this the scene of his operations. During 
the first year he worked by the month, running rafts, but the following year 
he commenced working by contract, running rafts on the Elk river, and 
continued here until 1872. At that time he began to work for Harris Con- 
nick in the woods at Ryan slough, and in the summer ran rafts on the slough 
up to the fall of 1873. That year he formed a company with his brother, Alex 
Graham, and James Kirk and bought out the property known as the old 
Baird claim, and engaged in logging. The acreage covered by this purchase 
was extensive, numbering some nine hundred or a thousand acres, and for a 



200 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

year the partners followed the new venture with great success, then, in 
1875, sold their interests to Baird & Cotterel. 

Following this venture Mr. Graham went to work for the Flanigin & 
Bronson Company, contracting in the logging business, and remained with 
this company for two years. In 1877 he entered the employ of John Vance, 
again contracting for logging, this time operating on Lindsay creek. Here he 
remained for four years. In 1881 he secured contracts under the Carson & 
Flanigin Company, and the following year formed a company with G. W. 
Chandler, Al Kendall and M. F. Henderson and bought land on Blue Lake, 
where they built a mill. Soon after the mill was completed Mr. Graham also 
purchased several hundred acres of land in the vicinity. In 1886 they moved 
the mill to Riverside, where they have manufactured lumber ever since. In 
connection with the work of the mill Mr. Graham took charge of the logging, 
and it is with this that he has been associated ever since. In 1889 the com- 
pany bought out Mr. Chandler, and in 1886 H. W. Jackson had bought the 
interest of Mr. Henderson. This left Mr. Graham and Al Kendall as the 
only members of the company who were also a part of the original organiza- 
tion. In 1889 they incorporated the mills and lands as the Riverside Lumber 
Company and conducted the business under that name. This venture has 
prospered from the first and is now one of the oldest and best established 
business concerns in Flumboldt county. 

In 1903 the company bought out the lumber mill at Korbel, operated 
then by the Korbel Lumber Company, and consolidating this with the Riv- 
erside Lumber Company, incorporated the business under the name of the 
Northern Redwood Lumber Company, under which both mills are now 
operated. The mills cut annually about fifty million feet of lumber, which is 
brought by rail to their yards in Areata and the Areata wharfs, from which 
point it is shipped to the east as well as to Australia, South America, West 
Indies and Mexico. The company operates a large dairy farm near Korbel. 
Mr. Graham owns one hundred sixty acres on Areata bottom which he devoted 
to dairying and farming for several years, giving his personal attention to 
this industry, but at present the farm is rented to tenants. Another of his 
interests is the tannery at Areata, he with others buying out the old tannery 
about 1903, and it is known as the Devlin Tannery Company. 

Mr. Graham has also been interested in the general merchandise busi- 
ness, being one of the founders of the store known as the Seeley & Titlow 
Company, the original business being purchased from a Mrs. Spring in 1902. 
He is interested in the creamery business in Areata and the surrounding 
country also, and is a prominent member of the Areata Creamery Associa- 
tion. He was also one of the founders of the First National Bank of Areata, 
of which he is a director and a heavy stockholder. 

A distinct line of public interest and welfare has been touched by Mr. 
Graham in his association with the telephone and railroad enterprises of 
Humboldt county. He was one of the founders of the telephone company 
operating between Areata and Crescent City, and is at present one of the 
stockholders in the company. His railroad interest is in the line from the 
Areata wharf to Korbel, where he is interested in the mills. 

In politics Mr. Graham is a Republican, and he has always been keenly 
interested in the doings of his party and in the general welfare of the state and 
nation from a political standpoint, while his interest in local issues is vital 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 201 

and influential. He is a progressive and always on the side of social better- 
ment and civic uplift. In fraternal and social circles he is well known and 
deservedly popular. He has a host of friends in every walk of life and in 
every grade of society who admire and trust him, and who esteem his 
friendship as a jewel of rare price. He is associated with a number of promi- 
nent fraternal organizations, among which may be mentioned Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F., in Eureka, and the 
Hoo Hoos. 

The marriage of Mr. Graham occurred in Eureka, March 4, 1875, uniting 
him with Miss Martha Adeline Montgomery, a native of Texas, where she 
was born December 30, 1857. Mrs. Graham came to California with her 
parents when she was a small child. They located first in Modesto, soon 
afterward going to the Sacramento valley, and later, in 1872, they removed to 
Humboldt county. Mrs. Graham bore her husband eight children, as fol- 
lows : James Francis, deceased ; Addie Lu, now Mrs. Bert Hill, of Ar- 
eata; Henry, deceased ; Norman A., of Areata; Fred Osborn, deceased; Hazel, 
the wife of Ernest Tierney, of Eureka; Mildred and Earl. The younger 
generation of Grahams are all well and favorably known in Humboldt county, 
where they were all born and educated, and where they all reside. Mr. and 
Mrs. Graham are members of the Presbyterian church. 

Mr. Graham at present makes his home in Areata, where he has a com- 
fortable residence, and where his business interests center. He is a notable 
figure on the streets, and an important factor in the affairs of his city and 
county. He is a splendid type of the pioneer men who have made Hum- 
boldt county a land of beautiful homes and fertile farms, and the transforma- 
tion through which he has witnessed the county pass is great indeed. Yet 
he has ever kept abreast of the times, and is today modern and progressive 
in the broadest sense of the word. 

ELMER J. FROST. — Tracing his lineage back through Colonial ancestry 
to Merrie England, and himself a native of Maine, Elmer J. Frost is, never- 
theless, today one of the most loyal and devoted of California's sons. He came 
first to Humboldt county when he was twenty-three years of age, and 
although he returned to his native state, and later spent several years as a 
resident of Minnesota, he never at any time gave up the idea of returning to 
California eventually to make his home. He has been variously engaged in 
business, but for the greater part of his time he has been associated with the 
lumber industry, having been connected with some of the largest companies 
in the county in various important capacities. He is now serving as super- 
visor of the fourth district in Humboldt county, his first term of four years 
expiring January 1, 1915. He was before the people for re-election in the fall 
of 1914, and his record was such that at the primaries he received ten hundred 
and thirty votes majority over two opponents, and he will continue his public 
service as supervisor. 

Mr. Frost was born at Bethel, Oxford county. Me., January 23, 1851, the 
son of James C. Frost, a native of the same county, in which he lived and died. 
The grandfather, Nathaniel Frost, was a farmer, and also a native of Maine, 
where he spent his lifetime, working in the woods during the winter time 
and farming in the summer months. The great-grandfather of Elmer Frost 
on the paternal side came to America from England in Colonial days and 
settled in Maine, where the family has since resided. It is descended from 



202 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a well-known old English family, which is still located in the mother country. 
The mother of the present esteemed citizen of Eureka was Mary E. Rowe, 
and her Grandfather Rowe was a soldier in the Revolution. She also was 
descended from sturdy old English stock, but with a generous strain of Irish 
blood intermixed. She became the mother of eleven children, eight sons and 
three daughters. Of the sons four came to Humboldt county, where they 
are now well known and highly respected citizens. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Frost were passed in his native state, where 
he attended the public schools, working in the woods and on his father's 
farm in the vacation times, after he was twelve years old. He attended the 
high school at Maysville, Me., for one year, and then went to work in the 
woods, contracting and working as a carpenter in bridge building. Later he 
worked for two years with Albert Burley (the first president of the Bangor 
& Aroostook Railroad) as a surveyor in the timber country. 

It was in 1875 that Mr. Frost first came to Humboldt county, he being 
the first of the brothers to come to California. After working in the lumber 
woods for two years he returned to Maine and remained for a year, then 
going to Minnesota, where he remained for five years, being engaged prin- 
cipally in lumbering. It was in 1885 that he returned to Humboldt county, 
arriving in Eureka November 29 of that year, his three brothers having 
preceded him, and all located in this county. For three years he was em- 
ployed by the Falk Lumber Company, on Elk river, as their head chopper, and 
then had charge of the Russ claim (timber) for the Excelsior Redwood Com- 
pany of Eureka for three years. At a still later date he became head chopper 
for the Carson Lumber Company on Lindsay creek, serving in this capacity 
for six years. For ten years he served as special police in Eureka, and when 
ofiE duty worked as a carpenter. In the capacity of special police he gave the 
greatest satisfaction, and made many warm friends. 

When he was twenty-three years of age (1874) Mr. Frost was united in 
marriage in Caribou, Aroostook county, Me., with Miss Ella M. Starbird, 
daughter of W. R. and Angeline (Washburn) Starbird, who came to Hum- 
boldt county in 1899, and died here some time later. Of this union was born 
one child. Lulu E., now the wife of Charles H. Falor, chief electrician for the 
Western States Gas & Electric Company of Eureka, and the mother of one 
child, a son, Laurence Falor, aged eighteen years. 

Aside from his business and official relations Mr. Frost has many warm 
personal friends throughout the county. He has always been especially well 
liked by his business associates and by the men who have worked under his 
direction. Prominent in fraternal circles, he was made a Mason in Caribou 
(Me.) Lodge, and after going to Minnesota he was one of the organizers 
and the first master of Perham Lodge No. 157, and at the present time is a 
member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and is also a member of 
Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. He has always been keenly interested 
in political and governmental affairs and has stood for progress along sane 
and sensible lines, and for all that tends toward the betterment and upbuilding 
of the municipality and of the community generally. In his duties as super- 
visor of the fourth district he is especially interested in the management of 
the Humboldt county hospital, the care of the indigent poor and the super- 
vision of the county roads, in all of which he has been faithful to the trust 
reposed in him. 




'EiufUY CsmfMl'BnthETS twiJlsiuric Kscari uo. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 205 

DOMINGO ZANONE. — When a young man Domingo Zanone, whose 
name became well known among the cattlemen of Humboldt county, Cal., 
came to the western hemisphere from his home in Italy, where he was born 
in Genoa on March 9, 1828, his father already having spent several years in 
America. On first coming to the United States, Domingo Zanone remained 
for a time in Pittsburg, Pa., where he was employed in an iron foundry, after 
which, in October of the year 1849, he set out for California from New York 
City, with no expectation of the roundabout journey which was before him. 
Although it was his intention to come by way of the Isthmus of Panama, his 
course of necessity followed a different line, the trip consuming a period of 
eighteen months. The vessel upon which he set sail was obliged to stop 
at Rio de Janeiro, in South America, to repair a leak, and as the yellow fever 
was at that time prevalent in that city, their passage money was returned 
to the passengers, many of whom, among them being Mr. Zanone, secured 
passage on a steamer bound for Buenos Ayres, from which city they there- 
after crossed the pampas plains and Andes Mountains to Valparaiso, in Chile, 
a journey which covered forty days, after which they embarked for San Fran- 
cisco, arriving there on the first day of June, 1850. 

After his arrival in California, Mr. Zanone for seven years followed 
mining on the Feather river, he and his brother Anthony working in partner- 
ship. They dammed the river to engage in hydraulic mining, but lost 
$17,000 in the enterprise, which bankrupted them. Remaining in the mining 
district after his first failure, Mr. Zanone by faithful endeavor accumulated 
considerable money, which, however, he also lost in unwise investments. He 
then put about $10,000 into a cattle ranch on Dry creek, in Butte county, 
Cal., which he stocked with cattle, and remained in that section of the country 
until the year 1865, when with his brother he came up to Humboldt county 
and established himself in the stock business in the Mattole valley. From 
the first the business was very promising, and Domingo Zanone was the first 
man to drive cattle south from this territory, taking the first drove of beef 
cattle that ever left the Mattole country down to Santa Rosa. Later he 
made shipments by boat to San Francisco and sold large consignments to 
that market, where his large operations and reliable transactions made him 
well and favorably known. His energy and wideawake methods kept his 
business constantly on the increase, and he continued to be associated with 
his brother until the middle seventies, their partnership at that time being 
dissolved. It was then that Domingo Zanone returned on a visit to Italy, 
where he married, coming again thereafter to the Mattole country in Cali- 
fornia to resume business, becoming well known all over the western part 
of Humboldt county as a cattle raiser, dealer and shipper, and retaining large 
interests in the stock business until the end of his days. At one time he was 
part owner of the old steamship Ferndale, which was employed in the ship- 
ment of cattle from Port Kenyon on Salt river to the San Francisco markets, 
and besides being the owner of hundreds of acres of property in Humboldt 
county, was also a director in the old Humboldt Bank and of the woolen 
mill, and the trusted associate and friend of many of the best known business 
men in that section of the state. The ranch which he purchased near Petrolia 
in Humboldt county and to which he from time to time made additions now 
comprises an area of fifty-two hundred acres of grazing and tillable lands 
whereon are raised hay and vegetables for the feeding of stock, Mr. Zanone 



206 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

having been the owner of a thousand head of cattle on the estate. Aside 
from his Petrolia property, he owned five other ranches, all of which, since 
his death, are leased to others by his wife and comprise two eighty-acre 
ranches in the Eel river valley, two dairy ranches in the Elk river valley, 
and four hundred twenty acres at Colma, near Redwood City in San Mateo 
county. He was also the owner of a business block and residence at Eureka, 
Cal., where his family home is located, a most attractive residence with 
grounds covering three acres at the corner of Sixteenth and G streets, occu- 
pied by his widow and family. 

The wife of Domingo Zanone, formerly Miss Magdalena Ohio, of Genoa, 
Italy, where their marriage was celebrated on September 18, 1874, is an 
excellent business woman, possessed of fine executive ability, and an earnest 
member of the Catholic Church, and since her marriage has never returned 
to her native land. Of her family of seven children, six are now living, their 
names being as follows : Magdalena ; Mercedes, now the wife of Frank 
Shanahan, a rancher of Eureka ; Augusta and Eugenia, who make their home 
with their mother at Eureka ; Domingo Anthony, represented elsewhere in 
this volume, and Ernest J., both of whom are cattle raisers in Petrolia. At 
the time of his death, which occurred at his home in Eureka on December 
16, 1901, Mr. Zanone was known as one of the wealthiest citizens of the 
county, an ardent Democrat in his political convictions, and a man who gave 
of his time and means to the advancement of the interests of his party, taking 
an active part in its councils, and for eleven years having acted as a member 
of the county central committee. In Humboldt county, where he for so 
many years made his home, Domingo Zanone will long be remembered as 
one who left a fine record for industry, sincerity and the respect and confi- 
dence which he inspired in all who knew him, and few who have come to 
our country from foreign shores have left a more enduring impress on the 
afifairs of our western coast than has Domingo Zanone. 

DOMINGO ANTHONY ZANONE.— The sons of the late Domingo 
Zanone, known to his generation in Humboldt county and in San Francisco 
markets as a veteran cattleman of the Mattole valley, are keeping up the 
reputation attaching to their name, which has long been synonymous with 
success in the cattle business in this region. Domingo Zanone, the father, 
came to America from Italy when a young man, and settled in Humboldt 
county in 1868, where he became a large landowner, acquired valuable prop- 
erty at the county seat, and was associated with various business enterprises 
which marked the progress of events in northern California. 

Of the family of seven children, six of whom are now living, Domingo 
Anthony Zanone was born March 8, 1887, in Eureka, Cal., and received ex- 
cellent educational advantages, taking his preparatory training in his native 
city, where he attended the primary and high schools, afterward studying at 
St. Mary's College, Oakland, Cal. His brother Ernest attended the same 
educational institutions, and they are now in partnership in the cattle busi- 
ness, owning and operating the Zanone stock ranch in the Mattole valley, a 
tract of thirty-six hundred acres devoted to the raising of high grade Here- 
ford and Durham beef cattle, the ranch having seven miles of ocean front, 
which is a distinct advantage, since the frost is thereby lessened and the 
grass rendered more abundant. The brothers inherited this property from 
their father, and though too young at the time of his death to have had the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 207 

benefit of much business training under him, they have inherited his aptitude 
therefor, as the condition of their land and the excellent routine along which 
their work is conducted give evidence. The management is worthy of older 
heads, and is undergoing constant improvement in the hands of these alert 
young men, whose industry alone would insure large returns. Though 
Domingo Zanone, who is represented elsewhere in this history, was so 
sincere a Democrat, both the sons are Republicans on purely political ques- 
tions, experience having proven to them that the principles of the latter party 
are for the best interests of the great majority of the people of our country. 

HON. ARTHUR WELLSLEY HILL.— Th? district attorney of Hum- 
boldt county is one of the native sons whose record is most praiseworthy and 
who, imbued with the spirit of progress, most firmly believes in the future 
advancement of this section of the state. A member of one of the honored 
pioneer families, he was born in Eureka in 1864 and received the excellent 
advantages which the schools of this city offered, while in addition, after 
having completed a high school course here, he was a student in the University 
of California and in 1893 was graduated from the Hastings Law School. One 
year prior to graduation he had passed the examination before the state 
supreme court in Sacramento and had been admitted to the bar of the state 
with a most creditable standing in all papers. After an association of one 
year with A. P. Van Dusen in law practice at San Francisco he returned to 
Eureka and has since here practiced his profession, with a growing reputation 
for thorough knowledge of its varied technicalities. 

Taking a leading part in the deliberations of local politicians and pro- 
gressive citizens, Mr. Hill became well and favorably known in other lines 
than that of the law. As early as 1896 his name was brought forward as a 
candidate for official honors, and during 1897-98 he ably represented the 
district as assemblyman in the state legislature. He served as deputy attorney 
until January, 1914, at which time he was appointed district attorney for the 
unexpired term of the late Kenneth Newett, Jr. So conscientiously, diligently 
and well did he perform his duties that at the fall election in 1914 he was 
elected district attorney of Humboldt county by a large 'majority. In prose- 
cutions he has been prompt to protect the interests of the county, intelligent 
in the application of the law and capable of carrying intricate cases through 
to the end. Although far from being an elderly man, he has seen within his 
recollections many changes in the city of his birth and the county of his 
lifelong identification. In every advance that has been made he takes a com- 
mendable pride. His encouragement is given to movements for the material 
growth of the community, and two very influential local organizations, the 
Eureka Board of Trade and the Humboldt Club, have been benefited by his 
active co-operation and efficient assistance. He was made a Mason in Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 
652, B. P. O. E., and Lincoln Lodge, K. of P. In the line of his profession 
he is a member of the Humboldt County Bar Association and the State Bar 
Association of California. By his marriage to Nanita Patten, a native of 
Vermont, he has two children, Dorothea and Arthur' AA^., Jr. 

The founder of the Hill family in Humboldt county was an uncle of the 
district attorney, Stephen Hill, a pioneer of 1854, who married Isabella Wilson, 
a native of New Brunswick; his death occurred on Christmas day of 1906, 
and that of his wife on the day following Christmas in 1907. A younger 



208 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

brother of Stephen Hill, John by name, born in Charlotte county, New Bruns- 
wick, in 1834, and deceased in Humboldt county, July 20, 1911, was a man 
of sterling character and splendid energ-ies. Destiny gave to him no favorable 
surroundings in youth, but made it necessary for him to begin to earn his 
livelihood at the age of twelve years. There were few opportunities for a 
lad of twelve in the world, but he managed to earn his board and clothes, 
though having no opportunity to save anything or to gain any educational 
advantages. To an unusual degree he might be termed self-made. The long 
hours and the hard work of the lumber camps of Maine did not daunt his 
determination nor drive him from the occupation, for he still continued in it 
after moving to Wisconsin. Indeed, he was among the first to take up work 
in the lumber woods of that state. During 1859 he came via Panama to 
California, spending one month between New York and San Francisco, and 
then joining in Humboldt county his brother, Stephen, who had established 
a logging camp on Ryan slough near Eureka. After a considerable period 
of association with the brother in lumber interests he withdrew to take up 
farming on the old Hill place near Ryan slough, where he resided until his 
death, meantime in addition to agriculture establishing and maintaining a 
brick plant on his property. The people of the county, fully appreciating the 
worth of his citizenship, accorded to him and his brother a place among their 
foremost citizens and recognized him as a farmer and business man of 
judicious management and great perseverance. Through his marriage to 
Mary A. Baldwin, a native of New Brunswick, he was the father of four sons, 
all living and all men of standing and professional or business prfestige. They 
are as follows: George F., a contractor in Eureka; Arthur W., district attor- 
ney of Humboldt county; Dr. E. J. Hill, of Areata ; and Dr. Howard S. Hill, 
of Seattle. 

FELICE FRANCISCONI, proprietor of the Italian-French bakery in 
Eureka, is a young man of worth and enterprise who has built up a creditable 
business. He was born in the city of Lucca, Italy, April 2, 1878, the son 
of Giuseppe Francisconi, a carpenter and builder. Felice attended the public 
schools until fourteen, when he began learning the carpenter's trade under 
his father and continued at it for about eight years. As a result of the 
glowing reports which had come regarding California he decided to come 
to the Pacific coast, thinking he could better his condition. In January, 1902, 
he arrived in San Francisco, where for several years he followed his trade, 
and while living there, May 9, 1909, he was married to Miss Elide De Llosso, 
also born in Lucca, Italy. Her father, Giuseppe De Llosso, came to the 
United States and settled at St. Paul, Minn., where for several years he was 
engaged in the merchandise business, after which he returned to Italy. As 
a girl Mrs. Francisconi lived in St. Paul, Minn., where she attended school, 
but returned to Lucca, Italy, when thirteen years of age. There she com- 
pleted her education, later coming to San Francisco with her aunt, and in 
that city she was married to Mr. Francisconi. 

In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Francisconi came to Eureka and a year later Mr. 
Francisconi purchased the Italian-French bakery at No. 732 Second street, 
where he has built up a large business in his line. Mr. and Mrs. Francisconi 
have two children, Olga and Tosca. Fraternally he is a member of the 
Druids and politically is a Republican. 




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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 213 



GEORGE ZEHNDNER.— To the biographer there is always interest 
in tracing the successive steps which have led a pioneer from poverty and 
obscurity to influence and prosperity. No advantages of education or oppor- 
tunity came to Mr. Zehndner in his old German home in Bavaria, where he 
was born June 22, 1824, of humble parentage, and where he became inured to 
hard labor on a farm. To have a chance to cross the ocean in 1849 seemed 
the first opportunity to this self-sustaining youth and he was eager to avail 
himself of the advantages which he hoped would await him in the new world. 
A long voyage of three months on an ocean sailer did not daunt his high 
hopes, for he was of the sturdy blood of Teutonic warriors and philosophers, 
and the privations of a steerage passage could cause only a very temporary 
inconvenience. His father, Nicholas Zehndner, had fought in the Napoleonic 
war of 1812-14 and had been in the German regular army from 1821 to 1827, 
the family meantime remaining on a small farm to which he made frequent 
visits during seasons of furlough. 

Arriving in America with a very small sum of money, it was not easy for 
George Zehndner to reach Indiana, but by dint of considerable patience and 
prolonged effort he arrived in that state and found work on a farm, where he 
remained until the spring of 1852. Meanwhile he had become familiar with 
the English language and was thus better fitted to cope with the difficulties 
of life in a strange country. Leaving the Indiana farm, he walked to Dayton, 
Ohio, and thence to Cincinnati, where he took passage on a river steamboat 
bound for New Orleans, and from the latter city he worked his passage to 
Havana. Next he sailed for the isthmus. He was obliged to walk across 
the isthmus, and when he landed at the Pacific coast he found about three 
thousand persons waiting for boats to take them to San Francisco. After 
some time he secured passage on an old whaling vessel, which was obliged 
to put in at Honolulu owing to the scarcity of provisions. There again the 
young emigrant met with difficulties, for he was without money. Finally he 
was taken on board the schooner Lena, which brought its one hundred sixty 
passengers into the harbor of San Francisco in August of 1852. 

Memories of the first day in California still linger in the mind of Mr. 
Zehndner. After wandering about until he was almost exhausted he stepped 
into a bar-room, where he was permitted to spend the night. The next day 
he earned seventy-five cents, one-third of which was paid out for a loaf of 
bread, and it is doubtful if he ever appreciated food in his entire life to a 
greater degree than on that memorable occasion. By working for his passage 
he managed to get to Sacramento, where he had employment in a brickyard 
for a month. Next he went to Marysville, from there walked to the American 
river and worked in the mines for three weeks, but lack of success caused him 
to return to Sacramento and secure work as a wood-chopper. The spring of 
1853 found him at Weaverville, Trinity county, where he met with moderate 
success and invested his earnings in a pack-train. During 1854 he traded his 
twenty mules for twenty cows and drove the herd across to Humboldt county, 
where he settled on Angels ranch, twelve miles from Areata, and embarked 
in the cattle industry. For a time he was prospered, but a most discouraging 
incident occurred March 22, 1862, when he was shot in the hand and back 
by Indians. He succeeded in making his escape to the house of a neighbor, 
but his ranch-house was burned and all of his cattle stolen. For two years 
he was ill, as a result of wounds received in the attack. At the subsidence of 



214 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the Indian troubles in 1866 he returned to his ranch from Areata and resumed 
dairying and cattle-raising, but in 1870 he sold the property and again estab- 
lished a home at Areata, where he has ever since resided. Near town he 
formerly owned a ranch of forty acres, but this he sold after conducting it for 
many years. He still owns another ranch comprising one hundred eighteen 
acres, which he rents to tenants, and he now lives retired from agricultural 
cares. Besides his country holdings he owns valuable business property in 
the heart of Areata. 

Republican in his political faith and an ardent admirer of the late William 
McKinley, during 1906 Mr. Zehndner erected a bronze life-size monument in 
memory of the martyr president and this memorial, which he presented to the 
city of Areata, now stands in the center of the park and, mounted on a granite 
square, commands the admiring attention of passers-by. In matters Masonic 
he is identified with Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., also Eureka Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M. Mrs. Zehndner, whom he married December 8, 1874, bore 
the maiden name of Christene Rossow, and was born and reared in Branden- 
burg, Germany, whence she came to California during 1873. By a former 
marriage she became the mother of two children. The son, Frederick, was 
killed at Korbel while in the employ of the railroad, and the daughter, Mary, 
now the wife of Capt. C. C. Hansen, is living at Berkeley. Mrs. Zehndner is 
a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

THEODORE DWIGHT FELT, M. :D.— Few residents of Humboldt 
county have enjoyed as great a degree of affectionate esteem among their 
fellow citizens as the late Dr. Theodore Dwight Felt, who was a "forty- 
niner," during his first years in the state a miner, a typical physician of pio- 
neer days and also took a hand in the development of the county's industrial 
resources. An exceptionally skillful physician and surgeon, possessing per- 
sonal courage, and unselfish to a fault in administering aid whenever it 
was needed. Dr. Felt's character won him the love and respect of a wide 
circle of admirers, and his achievements will long be quoted among pioneer 
reminiscences. The period of his practice here covered forty-seven years — • 
until his death, although he lived to be over eighty. He maintained a posi- 
tion among the leading members of his profession throughout that time. 

Dr. Felt was a native of Massachusetts, and of old New England stock. 
The family is of English origin, his emigrant ancestor in the paternal line, 
George Felt, having been born in England in 1601, and, according to tradition, 
came to America with John Endicott, who arrived at Salem, Mass., with a 
party of colonists in the year 1628. George Felt's name appears upon the 
town records of Manchester, Mass., in 1633. 

Theodore Dwight Felt was born March 22, 1817, in Everett, and passed 
his early years upon a farm in the western part of Massachusetts. He began 
his education in the district schools, and took up the study of medicine under 
a physician in the locality, later taking a course at the old Transylvania Col- 
lege, Louisville, Ky., from which institution he was graduated. This college 
has since passed out of existence. Surgery seemed to be the branch of his 
work for which he was best fitted by nature, and for several years after his 
graduation he traveled over the eastern and southern states, doing orthopedic 
surgery and operating on crossed eyes, club feet and other deformities. In 
1849 he came out to California, across the plains, and for a time joined the 
search for gold, following mining in Trinity county for two years with en- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 215 

couraging success. In 1851 he came to Humboldt county and made a loca- 
tion at Hydesville, taking up land ; he was among the original settlers in the 
Eel river valley. Here he found the opportunity to indulge in one of his hob- 
bies, his fondness for horses, and he became interested in raising cattle and 
horses, gaining some reputation for his success with the latter especially; 
His medical training, however, was too valuable in a new country to be 
allowed to go to waste. He and Dr. Jonathan Clark, of Eureka, were then 
the only physicians in the county, and his services were soon in demand all 
over this section. He had the usual experiences of physicians in a new 
country, being called upon at all hours to make trips wherever he was needed. 
He had to travel horseback, and most of his rides- were long. There were 
no bridges in those days, rivers and streams being forded, and he was 
known to swim the Eel river on horseback when the water was so high the 
ferryman would not risk taking him over even in a small boat. But he had 
all the conscientious scruples regarding his duty of his New England ances- 
tors, supplemented by a rugged constitution and hardy physique, and he 
could never refuse to visit a sick or injured person because of the physical 
hardships it would entail. It is said he "never found a night too dark, or the 
Indians too numerous or hostile, to prevent him from traveling almost any 
distance to administer to the sick, were the patient rich or poor." The latter 
part of this statement explains much of his popularity and also the thorough 
respect in which all classes held him. He took advantage of the many oppor- 
tunities his profession afforded for assisting the poor and needy, not only 
with his medical services, but with other aid when necessary, and none ever 
had to hesitate about sending for him because of lack of funds to pay for his 
services. His experiences never dulled his sympathies or the generosity of 
his nature — rather they were kept alive by such things. He had the faculty 
of doing the best possible in an emergency, and he saved a man's life on one 
such occasion by improvising a surgeon's saw from an old wood saw, and 
using a butcher knife for cutting, being far from home and without means of 
procuring any regular surgical instruments for the operation — the amputa- 
tion of a man's leg at the hip joint. This readiness was of great value to him 
in the old days especially, and gained him confidence which never waned 
through all the years of his practice. The four different sets of saddle bags 
which he used in his practice in those early years are now the property of 
his son. Dr. Rae Eelt. 

In 1871 Dr. Eelt sold out his ranch at Hydesville and his practice at 
that point and located at Rohnerville, this county. In 18/6 he removed to the 
place now known as Eelt's Springs, a piece of property which he had acquired 
on an original grant, where there is a valuable medicinal spring. He imme- 
diately undertook the development of the property, erecting a good hotel 
and a number of cottages, but he had the misfortune to lose them by fire 
within a short time, the loss amounting to about $50,000. This disaster left 
him about $10,000 in debt, but he was undiscouraged and rebuilt before long. 
Again his buildings were destroyed by fire, and he returned to the practice 
of his profession, to which he devoted himself principally thereafter. He 
was located at Rohnerville until he opened an office at Eureka in partnership 
with his son Rae, in 1891, and there he continued to reside and practice the 
rest of his life. He attended to his work regularly, retaining his physical 



216 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and mental vigor until ten days before his death, which occurred April 8, 
1898, in his eighty-second year. 

In spite of the fact that he was negligent about collecting for his pro- 
fessional services (thousands of dollars owing him were never paid), Dr. 
Felt was a successful man from the worldly standpoint, although he met 
with many losses through no fault of his own. In the early days he recog- 
nized the possibilities of many enterprises, and one of his unfortunate ven- 
tures was a sawmill project which cost him considerable money. He built 
a mill dam on Yager creek, went east and bought machinery for a sawmill, 
and had the misfortune to have his dam washed away before the mill equip- 
ment arrived. It was then in San Francisco, and he paid for it, but the man 
who acted as his agent sold it and disappeared with the proceeds. 

Dr. Felt was a Mason, a member of Eel River Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., 
and was buried with Masonic honors. He was a strong Republican in his 
political views. 

No mention of the Felts would be complete without some reference to 
Mrs. Felt and the noble part she played in her husband's career and in the 
life of the community wherever her lot called her. Her maiden name 
was Catherine Miller, and she was born August 4, 1828, in Philadelphia, Pa., 
where her parents, John and Sarah (Kinsley) Miller, passed all their lives. 
Her father was a glass manufacturer and a prosperous business man. She 
was reared and educated in her native city, and in 1850 came with a brother 
and a sister to Colusa, Cal., where she met Dr. Felt, a-nd where they were 
married June 23, 1851. During their life on the ranch at Hydesville she 
shared all the hardships of pioneer days, doubled by his frequent absences 
on professional trips. The Indians were still numerous, and they often lost 
stock through their depredations, but though Mrs. Felt was frequently left 
alone with her small children, with only a dog for protection, the savages 
seldom molested her. She devoted considerable time to reading medicine and 
familiarizing herself with pharmacy, and thus was able to assist the Doctor 
greatly and to be of real service to many sick people in the neighborhood. 
It is said there was always some poor cripple or invalid staying at their 
house. Truly charitable and benevolent, they gave many a poor emigrant 
food, medicine and clothing, and helped him on his way. Mrs. Felt helped 
her husband also to keep his books, but she admitted it was never easy to 
get him to give her the names and amounts that should have been booked 
from day to day. When his fortune was so seriously impaired by the fires 
above mentioned, she nobly came to his aid by conducting a drug store, at 
Fortuna, which she carried on for several years. After the Doctor's death 
she occupied her home at Eureka, her son Rae and his wife living there with 
her. She was an active member of the Episcopal Church, but her benefactions 
and donations were not confined to her own denomination, for she gave 
towards the building of almost every church in Humboldt county. She died 
June 25, 1914. 

Of the children born to Dr. and Mrs. Felt five survive : Delos, born April 
19, 1853, is a resident of Eureka ; Theodore Dwight, born December 25, 1854, 
is a resident of Stockton, Cal. ; De Ette, born August 4, 1856, is the wife of 
George A. Kellogg, of Eureka ; Guy, born October 12, 1866, is in charge of 
the drug store at Sequoia Hospital, Eureka; Rae is a practicing physician at 
Eureka, and mentioned in a separate article in this work. 




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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 219 

JOHN JACOB ZEHNDNER.— A native of Germany, coming to the 
United States in 1854, to California in 1859, and having lived on his present 
home place near Areata since 1868, John Jacob Zehndner is today one of the 
most honored and respected citizens of his community, as well as one of the 
most influential. During his more than half-century of residence in Humboldt 
county he has proven himself to be a man of sterling qualities of heart and 
mind and has been a constant influence for good in the community where he 
has made his home, and a power in the development and upbuilding of this 
section. He has seen the changing of the county from a wilderness, terror- 
ized by marauding bands of Indians, to a land of peace and plenty and beauti- 
ful homes, and in all this he has been a part, contributing his full share in 
labor, encouragement and faith. His home place is today one of the best 
kept and most attractive in the community, and is a credit both to its owner 
and to the town. 

Mr. Zehndner was born near Baireuth, Bavaria, Germany, January IS, 
1833, the son of Nicholas and Margaret (Beilein) Zehndner, his father being 
a wealthy farmer of that section. He was given the best schooling that Ger- 
many afforded at that time, and remained at home with his parents until he 
was twenty-one. He then came to the United States to visit a brother who 
lived at Fort Wayne, Ind., and has since that time (1854) made his home in 
this country. At Fort Wayne he took up the cooper's trade, becoming a pro- 
ficient workman in this line, also worked at contracting and clearing land, 
and for a short time engaged in farming. 

It was in 1859 that Mr. Zehndner came to California to make his home. 
Another brother, George Zehndner, was at that time residing in Humboldt 
county, and the reports sent back by him made the younger brother anxious 
to visit the new acquisition on the coast. Accordingly he made the long 
journey, leaving New York and sailing down the coast to Aspinwall, whence 
he crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and there set sail for San Francisco on 
the John L. Stevens, arriving there March 17, 1859. Going at once to Eureka 
by the water route, he was soon located on Angels ranch-, the property of his 
brother, the ranch consisting of stock and hill ranges and being located some 
distance back in the mountains. Mr. Zehndner remained here for several 
years in the employ of his brother, but the isolated location of the ranch in- 
vited the attacks of the savages, and in the spring of 1862, while there was 
much trouble with the Indians generally, they swept down upon Angels ranch 
and destroyed and carried off everything on the place. The only hope for 
safety for the dwellers thereon lay in flight and the abandonment of the 
property, and on March 22 they left their home and went down to the coast 
near Areata, where they remained for a year. During these troubles Mr. 
Zehndner himself was never actually engaged in any of the skirmishes with 
the Indians, but his brother George received the baptism of their fire on 
several occasions. 

The trouble with the Indians continued along the coast, and in 1863 Mr. 
Zehndner determined to seek a locality where such trouble could be avoided. 
Accordingly, with two other young men, he decided to go to the Washoe 
Territory, now Nevada, making the journey across the mountains on horse- 
back. The way was rough and dangerous, but the trip was full of interest. 
The first night they camped at Lyscum Hill, the next evening they reached 
Hoopa, and the following night they spent at a ranch near Trinity river. 



220 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

From there they proceeded to Weaverville, then on to Red Bluff, and from 
Red Bluff to Oroville, from which point they crossed the Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains to Washoe City. Arrived at their destination, Mr. Zehndner found work 
in the woods, remaining in this occupation for two years, and for the two 
following years worked on a farm near AVashoe City. While living here he 
took out naturalization papers and became a citizen of the United States. 

In 1867 Mr. Zehndner received word from his brother to return to Hum- 
boldt county and take charge of Angels ranch, in order that the latter might 
go to the old home in Germany for a visit, and accordingly Mr. Zehndner 
returned to California, and has since that time made his home continuously 
in Humboldt county. The brother was in the Fatherland for a year (1867- 
1868), and shortly after his return Mr. Zehndner purchased his present home 
place of sixty-eight acres a short distance from Areata. This is all improved 
land, situated in Areata bottom and is especially well adapted for dairy farm- 
ing, which line is the one followed at the present time. During his long resi- 
dence on this property Mr. Zehndner has taken the greatest pride in keeping 
up his home, which is one of the most carefully kept places in the valley. He 
has spared neither effort nor expense in keeping it so, and is justly proud of 
the result of his labors. For many years after purchasing this property he 
engaged in clearing and improving the land, and it was in 1892 that he became 
especially interested in dairying, and since the organization of the creamery, 
toward which he was one of the first subscribers, he has been interested in 
that enterprise. He was the treasurer of the creamery ;at the time that A. N. 
Hunt was interested in the same, and in fact held this position until the con- 
solidation of the several creameries under one head. The interests of Mr. 
Zehndner in agriculture and his ability in this line were recognized many 
years ago as was evidenced by his appointment in 1889 as United States horti- 
cultural commissioner for this section, being the first appointee to that posi- 
tion. Mr. Zehndner is deeply interested in the subject of forestry, his 
interest finding expression in the raising of eucalyptus trees on two hundred 
acres of land at McKinleyville. There he is endeavoring to demonstrate to 
the people of Humboldt county the practicability of raising the blue-gum 
trees for all purposes, hardwood piling and for building wharves. Without 
doubt Mr. Zehndner is engaged in a work that will ultimately mean much 
toward furthering the future prosperity of the county and will be of ines- 
timable value to future generations. 

In fraternal circles Mr. Zehndner is one of the most prominent and 
influential men in this section of the state. He has been a member of the 
Odd Fellows since October, 1867, having joined that order in Areata as a 
member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F. When the lodge was first 
organized he was one of the most faithful members, never failing in his 
attendance at all meetings, either for wind or weather, and has since then 
always been an active and a faithful member of the lodge. In 1870 he had 
advanced in the chairs of the lodge, and was at that time noble grand, and in 
1889 was appointed deputy grand master of district No. 29. He has truly been 
prominent in Odd Fellowship, having at eight different times been representa- 
tive to the grand lodge, and he also holds membership in the Rebekahs and 
the Veteran Odd Fellows Association in San Francisco. Mr. Zehndner has 
always been musically inclined, and for years he has filled positions as tenor 
singer in choirs in Areata. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 221 

In politics Mr. Zehndner is a progressive Republican. He is well in- 
formed and an independent thinker, and is always to be found on the side 
of progress and general upbuilding of the community and of the municipality, 
regardless of party lines and affiliations. 

The marriage of Mr. Zehndner took place in Areata December 2, 1875, 
uniting him with Miss Louisa May Rossow, who was born in Prussia, Ger- 
many, January 13, 1849, and who died at Areata June 7, 1904. Her parents 
were farmers in the old country, and she lived at home with them until she 
was twenty-one, at which time she came to California. After remaining a few 
years in New York she came to California, where she was shortly afterwards 
married. Mrs. Zehndner bore her husband four children, three sturdy sons 
and a daughter. They are : George N., who is running the home dairy ranch ; 
Theodore H., an electrician at Niles ; Edward A., who is at Chowchilla; and 
Louise Mary, Mrs. McClasky. All of the children are well and favorably 
known in Areata, where they were born, reared and educated, and where they 
have many warm friends. 

IRA B. THOMSON.— Throughout the thirty-six years of his residence 
in California Mr. Thomson has been a citizen of Humboldt county, most of 
the time living at Eureka, where he is one of the most successful of the local 
representatives of the building trades. That he has had a creditable share 
of the construction work in the town is shown by the many substantial build- 
ings, principally residences, which he has put up, and which in workmanship 
and convenience will compare with any in the city. At present he has under 
way the new Christian Science church, and other important contracts show 
the extent to which he is trusted by those who have had the opportunity of 
observing his work and its permanent character. 

Mr. Thomson is a native of western Pennsylvania, born ten miles north- 
west of Newcastle, in Lawrence county, where his ancestors settled in the 
early part of the last century. He is of the fourth generation of his family 
in this country, his great-grandfather, Alexander Thomson, of Scotch descent, 
having come hither from the north of Ireland. His son, Alexander, grandfather 
of Ira B. Thomson, was the pioneer of this line in western Pennsylvania, 
settling in the neighborhood already mentioned, two miles east of the Ohio 
line. He was a militia captain, and as such took part in the battle of Lundy's 
Lane during the war of 1812. 

Robert Thomson, father of Ira B. Thomson, was a house carpenter, and 
in his day was considered a first-class builder. He lived on the old homestead 
settled by his father, and died there in his ninetieth year. By his first wife, 
Betsey McClain, a native of Mercer county. Pa., he had a family of eight 
children, of whom Robert was the youngest ; the eldest brother, Albert E. 
Thomson, was a minister, and at one time supplied the Congregational church 
at Eureka for three months ; another brother, John S. Thomson, well known 
as "Honest John," a resident of this section, a former county clerk, and for 
two terms assessor of old Klamath county, is buried at Areata, Humboldt 
county; a third brother, Joseph A. Thomson, was at one time associate judge 
of old Klamath county, and he, too, is buried at Areata. Two of the daughters 
of Robert Thomson's first marriage survive. Mrs. Betsey Thomson died 
when forty-five years old, and Mr. Thomson remarried, having five children 
by the second union; of these one son and one daughter still survive. The 
mother died ten years ago. 



222 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Ira B. Thomson was born August 17, 1845. He was five years old when 
his mother died, but his stepmother was kind to him and treated him as one 
of her own, and he had a good home in his boyhood. He was reared on his 
father's farm near the Ohio line in western Pennsylvania. He had such advan- 
tages as the common schools of the day afiforded, helped with the farm work 
at home, and learned house carpentry under the tuition of his father, also 
acquiring a considerable knowledge of cabinetmaking. When twenty-five 
years old he left home, going to Iowa, where he followed farming on his own 
account, owning one hundred and twenty acres of land near Washington. 
There he was married, October 8, 1874, to Miss Jessie B. Knox, and in 1878 
came to Humboldt county, Cal., with his family. For the first two years they 
lived at Areata, where Mr. Thomson found work at his trade and in a sawmill, 
in 1880 removing to Eureka, where he has resided continuously since. The 
two years immediately following he worked for Mr. Simpson, a contractor, 
the next three years for Mr. Butterfield, also a contractor, and since 1885 
he has been contracting and building on his own responsibility. Mr. Thomson 
has made a specialty of residence work, doing jobbing as well as contracting, 
and has made it his business to keep abreast of the times, giving his patrons 
the benefit of the innovations and improvements which have revolutionized 
modern standards of living and housekeeping during the three decades that 
he has been an independent builder. His ideas on utilizing space, on con- 
scientious, substantial construction, artistic arrangement and the economy of 
introducing conveniences have come to be appreciated by particular patrons 
until he is now regarded as one of the leading men in his line in the city. 
Among the residences he has erected may be mentioned those of G. W. 
Hunter, C. H. Connick, John Connick, Charles Fitzell and E. S. Murray. The 
building of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, which he is now putting up 
at the corner of Eleventh and H streets, is valued at $9,000. 

As a citizen Mr. Thomson has been as much of a success as in his busi- 
ness relations. He is well known among the Odd Fellows, having passed all 
the chairs in the local lodge and been a member of the grand lodge. He 
assisted in the organization of the Presbyterian church at Eureka, was one 
of its first elders, and has continued to hold the office ever since by re-election, 
being one of the most esteemed members of the congregation. Every local 
movement promising to benefit the majority of his fellow citizens receives his 
hearty support. 

Mrs. Thomson was born in Ohio, daughter of William and Mary E. 
(Short) Knox. Like her husband she is a prominent member of the Presby- 
terian church, taking an active part in the work of the Ladies' Aid Society, and 
is also interested in Odd Fellowship, having joined the Rebekah degree, in 
which she has passed all the chairs. Two children have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Thomson, Frank L. and Edna V., the daughter now married to 
C. C. Turner, an electrician, at present living in Schenectady, N. Y. ; they have 
one child, Carlton Covey. Frank L. Thomson is an accomplished and licensed 
architect, a graduate of the Armour Institute at Chicago, 111., where he spent 
four years after completing his course, and he has also followed his profession 
in Texas for five years. His attainments and special training make him one 
of the most competent men in his line in this region. He is now residing 
with his parents at Eureka, the family home being at No. 1134 J street. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 225 

THOMAS HINCH.— The life which gave visible expression to the mind 
and spirit of Thomas Hinch began in 1838 in a humble Canadian home near 
the lumber woods of Enterprise, became identified with California through a 
westward trip via Panama in 1863, and came to an end on earth February 23, 
1913, after an association of almost fifty years with Humboldt county. With- 
out question one of the best-known men of Eureka, he was also highly honored 
for devotion to duty, stanchness in friendship and capacity for business 
affairs. One of his leading characteristics was his faith in the future of 
Humboldt county. No one surpassed him in optimistic views concerning 
local affairs and this enthusiasm continued unabated in times of stringency 
as well as in seasons of prosperity, his first thought always being for the 
advancement of those enterprises which represented so large a part of his 
life. Inheriting from a sturdy Canadian parentage the qualities noticeable in 
that people, he added to these the self-restraint and discipline learned through 
hardships and contact with an unfavorable environment. His life-work was 
based upon principles of justice to himself and others, and an unswerving 
integrity characterized all of his transactions. 

From 1863 to 1865 a resident of San Francisco, principally engaged in 
teaming, during the latter year Mr. Hinch came to Humboldt county and 
took up land on the Elk river about six miles south of Eureka, where he 
gradually drifted into the dairy business. At that time no roads had been 
opened to his farm and he had to haul through the woods all of the lumber 
used in the building of his ranch-house and barns. Ultimately he became the 
owner of three ranches in the same neighborhood. Developing the land from 
its primeval condition, he made it a source of profit and even at the present 
time these holdings still remain in the possession of the family. During 1873 
he left the country and moved into Eureka, where he started a grocery on 
the corner of California and Cedar streets. Later the firm of Hinch, Salmon 
& Walch was organized. In a few years he sold out his interests to his 
partners and embarked in the real estate business, buying lots, building 
houses and selling on the installment plan, an enterprise justified by his 
faith in the city and by subsequent results. The children of his first wife, 
who was a Miss Spratt of Canada, were named as follows : Margaret, the 
wife of Thomas Shanahan ; William J., an employe of the Hammond Lumber 
Company ; Edward and John, both of Oakland ; Elizabeth, who married Elmer 
Young, of Scotia ; and Joseph, of Oakland. The second marriage united him 
with Miss Mary Lynch, a native of Dundee, Scotland, who, with their chil- 
dren. Vera, Thomas and Eugene, survives him, occupying the old homestead 
at No. 1610 California street, and who is at the head of a home life and social 
connection permeated with the spirit coming from long association with high 
ideals. 

PETER BELCHER. — During more than forty years of continuous asso- 
ciation with the business life of Eureka, Peter Belcher has had various inter- 
ests here, and for some time has been giving a large share of his attention to 
the affairs of the Eureka Pavement Company, of which he is president. In its 
operations at Eureka this concern has laid enough pavement in the town 
to have its workmanship and reliability thoroughly tested, and the fact that it 
continues to receive a good proportion of the contracts in that line is a sub- 
stantial recommendation. In 1886 Mr. Belcher started the abstract business 
which was later incorporated as the Belcher & Crane Company, abstracters. 



226 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

When their business was taken over by the Redwood Land & Investment 
Company he remained as manager of the abstract and insurance department 
until he repurchased the entire plant and is now sole owner, having the 
largest business of the kind in northern California. 

The Belchers have been established in America from the Colonial period, 
several generations of the family having lived in New York state, where one 
of the name started an iron foundry in 1766, at what was then known as 
"Belcher's Forge," on the Ramapo river, now included in Tuxedo park. John 
Belcher, father of Peter Belcher, was born in Orange county, N. Y., and was 
there reared and married. After his marriage he followed farming and 
teaming in that county for a number of years. In 1857 he went out to Wis- 
consin and obtained possession of a pine timber tract, but sold it after three 
or four years. ATeantime his family had moved to Paterson, N. J., where he 
joined them, and he passed the remainder of his life at that place, dying in 
1903, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He did mason work after 
settling there, became a contractor and builder and was one of the most 
popular men in his line, getting a large share of the public work. At one 
time, late in life, he was superintendent of the sewer system in the city. His 
family consisted of fourteen children, of whom Peter was the eldest. 

Peter Belcher was born December 23, 1839, at Sloatsburg, Rockland 
county, N. Y., and had very limited school advantages. His parents having a 
very large family it behooved him to support himself and assist them as soon 
as possible, and when he was fourteen he left home to begin work for others, 
beginning as a farm hand. By self-study he was enabled to pass an exam- 
ination entitling him to a teacher's certificate Avhen he was eighteen years old. 
During the two winters preceding his immigration to California he taught 
district school in Passaic county, N. J., at what is now known as Hewitt, so 
named for Abram S. Hewitt, of New York City, Peter Cooper's successor in 
the ownership and control of the iron works located there. In 1860 Mr. 
Belcher came to California, armed with recommendations from influential 
people in New York as to his reliable qualities. But he had to make his way 
on his own achievements, every man being judged in the new country by 
what he was worth to the community and standing on the merits of his 
conduct in his relations with his fellow men. He began work in the employ 
of Adams, Blinn & Co., of San Francisco, burning lime in Marin county, and 
was thus engaged through the summer of 1860. In the fall of that year he 
moved to Knight's Ferry, Stanislaus county, and for the several years fol- 
lowing mined during the winter months and worked on ranches in the sum- 
mer. He visited various mining fields in the hope of bettering his luck, work- 
ing on the Reese river, in Nevada county, and on the John Days river in 
Oregon. For one summer he farmed in the Willamette valley. In 1864 he 
returned to California, mined that winter at Mameluke Hill, in Placer county, 
and in the spring of 1865 went to work on the Central Pacific Railroad, near 
Auburn. His health having been affected by the vitiated air of the mines and 
tunnels in which he had operated he contracted fever and had to give up 
railroad work. For some time he was engaged as a miner in the Union mines 
at Copperopolis, Calaveras county, and when they closed down he went to 
Telegraph City and kept store for a year. Subsequently he did a commission 
business at Stockton, Cal., and was again attacked by fever, which made him 
decide to get nearer to the coast, where he could have the benefit of sea air. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 227 

On October 1, 1870, he arrived at Eureka, in Humboldt county, where he began 
his business career as a clerk for R. M. Williams & Co., wholesale grocers 
and commission merchants, with whom he remained one year. He and Thomas 
Cutler then entered into partnership and purchased the stock of R. M. Williams 
& Co., and for some time did a wholesale commission business as Cutler & 
Belcher and Cutler, Belcher & Co. They handled large quantities of potatoes, 
the principal crop of Humboldt county, but the unstable values and unfavor- 
able market conditions proved the undoing of the firm, and Mr. Belcher dis- 
posed of his interest therein. During the next ten years he was in the employ 
of W. H. Johnston, a leading hardware dealer of Eureka, as manager, begin- 
ning business on his own account when he severed that connection. He 
founded the business afterward conducted by the Belcher & Crane Company 
and the Redwood Land & Investment Company, making abstracts of title 
and dealing in real estate and insurance. After doing business alone for six 
years he formed the association with A. T. Crane, under the firm name of 
Belcher & Crane, which lasted for four years, and in February, 1890, Belcher & 
Crane became an incorporated concern, under the name of Belcher & Crane 
Company. On June 1st of the same year they sold all their interest in the 
abstract, real estate and insurance business to the Redwood Land & Invest- 
ment Company, in which Mr. Belcher purchased a one-fifth interest, becom- 
ing one of the directors of the new organization. However, the abstract busi- 
ness was conducted as the Belcher & Crane Company as of yore. He was also 
appointed manager of the abstract and insurance department, and held that 
position until the company discontinued business in 1906. Mr. Belcher then 
purchased the old corporation and abstract business of the Belcher & Crane 
Company from the Redwood Land & Investment Company, and since then 
has continued as sole proprietor. He is president of the company, while his 
son I. R. is secretary. They hold most of the patronage in this part of the 
state, being the largest abstract company on the Pacific coast north of San 
Francisco, and require the help of over twelve assistants in the conduct of 
their extensive business. 

The Eureka Pavement Company, in which Mr. Belcher's chief interest 
now centers, enjoys a high reputation in this region as the result of substan- 
tial construction work in its line. For a number of years Mr. Belcher was 
financial manager of the concern, in which he is one of the principal stock- 
holders, and he is now its' president. This company has had contracts for 
fifty-five blocks of paving in Eureka, and also did the paving on Main street, 
in Ferndale, Humboldt county, as well as eleven blocks in Marshfield, Ore. 

In the prosecution of his private business Mr. Belcher has naturally be- 
come familiar with industrial and commercial conditions in Eureka to an 
extent not possible to many, and he has great faith in her future. He has 
been public-spirited in the encouragement and substantial support of all 
projects looking to her improvement, whether from the material or social 
standpoint. His progressive stand on questions affecting the general welfare 
has been shown by his fidelity to the best interests of the town in settling 
matters pertaining to education, and the improvement of living conditions. 
He is respected for his own creditable career, which has been successful be- 
cause of his untiring industry in whatever he undertakes, continued some- 
times in the face of discouragements which would dishearten a man of weak 
spirit. He has taken considerable part in the administration of city govern- 



228 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ment, having been a member of the board of education one term, a city coun^ 
cilman for one term, and chief of the fire department for two terms. Though 
a Republican on questions regarding the national policy, Mr. Belcher is thor- 
oughly nonpartisan in local affairs, believing that the city is best served by 
the man best qualified, without taking any account of his political associa- 
tions. Fraternally he holds membership in the Masons (belonging to Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M.), which he joined in 1879; the Odd Fellows 
(Humboldt Lodge No. 77, L O. O. F.), which he joined in 1866, and the 
Knights of Pythias (Lincoln Lodge No. 34) ; altogether he served about 
twenty-five years as Master of Exchequer of the local organization of the last- 
named and during this time Pythian Castle was built on Fourth street. He 
is past officer in the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and served as trustee 
of L O. O. F. Hall Association at the time of the building of the L O. O. F. 
hall, corner of Second and F streets. 

Mr. Belcher was married at Telegraph City, Calaveras county, in 1868, to 
Miss Ella Breckenridge, a native of Kentucky. They have had a family of 
five children: George H., who is vice-president of the Bank of Eureka; Frank 
W., who was connected with the Savings Bank of Humboldt and now engaged 
in the real estate and insurance business; Lottie, wife of David W. Evans; 
I. R., manager of the Belcher & Crane Company, Eureka ; and Merton, who 
received his higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
Boston, Mass., and is now assistant cashier of the" Humboldt County Bank. 

D. CLINTON SCOTT.— The changes of more than three decades have 
wrought their transformations in the material aspect and in the population 
of Humboldt county since ended the earthly activities of the honored pioneer, 
Dr. Scott, who as one of the first to engage in dental practice along the coast 
of Northern California, as a man of civic prominence, as a faithful official and 
progressive citizen, left the impress of his forceful personality upon the com- 
munity of his adoption. A native of Pennsylvania, he became a California 
settler of the early '50s and was attracted to -the mines by reason of the 
great excitement connected with the discovery of gold. Besides trying his 
luck in the mines of Placer county he served there as deputy county clerk 
and deputy assessor. It was not, however, his desire to devote his entire 
life to mining enterprises or deputyships ; he had an ambition to fit himself 
for dentistry. In pursuit of that purpose he went to San Francisco and took 
a thorough course in the dental profession, having the advantages of con- 
siderable experimental work and actual practice in that city. 

Upon coming to Eureka in 1866 Dr. Scott opened an office and soon 
gained considerable practice, for he was the pioneer dentist of the town and 
his skilled work won for him a wide professional popularity. While devoting 
his time closely to practice he did not neglect any duty that falls upon a 
public-spirited citizen. Recognizing his fine business ability, impartiality of 
judgment and devotion of citizenship, the people selected him to serve as 
county treasurer of Humboldt county, also as police judge and justice of the 
peace, and he continued at the helm of public affairs until his death, which 
occurred January 27, 1882. For years prior to his demise he had been identi- 
fied with Masonry. Surviving him were two daughters, Mrs. Eloise Pettin- 
gill and Mrs. Mabel Skinner, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Virginia C. McDaniel and had crossed the plains in 1852 from her native 
Virginia, in 1867 becoming a resident of Humboldt county, where she still 
makes her home. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 231 

LOUIS THOMPSON KINSEY.— Especial interest attaches to the 
lives of the native sons of the west, the men who in early years became 
familiar with privations and inured to hardships; who through intelligent 
foresight rose from poverty to independence ; whose friends have increased 
in number with the passing years and now give honor and companionship 
to the pioneers identified with the beginnings of a western civilization. One 
of the influential men now residing in Eureka is Louis Thompson Kinsey, 
whose birth occurred in Siskiyou county, this state, December 17, 1852, 
and who has been familiar with the growth of Humboldt county from his 
early childhood, contributing after he attained manhood to the development 
of local resources. 

A son of the late Charles and Annie F. (Cornog) Kinsey, natives of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Kinsey is a member of a pioneer family, for his father 
crossed the plains during the summer of 1850, settled temporarily at The 
Dalles, Ore., thence came to California in 1852, and engaged in mining and 
stock-raising in Siskiyou county. On coming to Humboldt county in 1857 
he drove a band of two hundred head of cattle across the mountains and 
took up range land suitable for the pasturage of the stock. It was not 
until 1878 that he disposed of his stock and retired from the business. 
Thereafter he lived in retirement from business cares. His death occurred 
February 22, 1900, at the age of eighty-seven years. During young man- 
hood Louis T. Kinsey became closely identified with official affairs. For 
three terms he filled the position of county treasurer with recognized 
efficiency and for one term he served as county clerk. Appointed mayor of 
Eureka to fill an unexpired term, he later was chosen for the office by the 
vote of the people. 

While the filling of important offices has taken much of the time of 
Mr. Kinsey, his principal interests in the world of affairs have been in con- 
nection with banking and stock-raising. He was one of the original stock- 
holders of the Bank of Eureka and its associate, the Savings Bank of Hum-, 
boldt County, and served these institutions as assistant cashier, cashier, and 
in later years filled the office of vice-president of the Bank of Eureka, and 
president of the Savings Bank of Humboldt County. 

Mr. Kinsey is a firm believer in the future advancement of Eureka, 
which he has seen develop from a town of one street to a city of consid- 
erable dimensions, and believing also in the future of the back coimtry, he 
has given practical evidence of his faith by making investments in local 
property and at this writing owns a stock ranch of four thousand acres 
located in the southern part of Humboldt county. Besides his holdings in 
the county he owns a valuable ranch near Kenwood, Sonoma county, and 
is a stockholder in the large land holdings of Mott & Co., of Oakland. 
Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows and has been a member 
of the Knights of Pythias since 1876. By his marriage in 1872, to Miss 
Jennie Hart he has an only son, Charles H. Kinsey, whose sketch will be 
found on another page. Mrs. Kinsey is a native of California and a member 
of one of the earliest American families of the state, for her maternal grand- 
parents, Moses A. Meader and his wife, both Vermonters, left the east 
early in 1846, and sailed in a vessel around Cape Horn, landing in San 
Francisco some years before that port had become the destination of gold- 
seekers from everv section of the world. 



232 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

CASPER STINEMETS RICKS.— The name of Ricks is so, intimately 
associated with the history of Eureka and Humboldt county generally that no 
annals of that region could be written without mention of members of the 
family, nor could any biography of Casper Stinemets Ricks be anything but 
part of the story of the opening up and development of that part of California 
where he came as a "forty-niner." It was principally through his influence 
that the county seat was established at Eureka, and there was hardly a citizen 
of the town who did more to place its affairs in such excellent condition that 
it has thrived from the start. He represented his district faithfully in the 
state legislature, served as district attorney of Humboldt county, handled 
his extensive business afifairs with consummate ability, and worked untiringly 
for the early establishment at Eureka of such institutions as he knew there 
would be need for in the future. Though it is a quarter of a century since he 
passed from earth, his work lives and has stood the test of time. 

Mr. Ricks was a native of Indiana, born November 10, 1821, at Rome, 
Perry county, son of John W. Ricks, who had settled in Indiana when a 
young man. His early life had been passed in Kentucky, where he was 
born February 7, 1795. He was a prosperous merchant in Perry county, 
owning stores at five different points in that section, from which it may 
be inferred that he was ahead of his generation in enterprise, his business 
record sounding very modern indeed. His career was cut short at the com- 
paratively early age of thirty-seven years, his death occurring in 1832. Mr. 
Ricks was not only an energetic business man, but an earnest worker in the 
Baptist Church, and as an exhorter exercised great moral influence among 
his fellow men. His wife, Louisa Stinemets (originally spelled Steinmetz, 
member of a Pennsylvania family), born in 1800, continued to live at Rome 
after her husband's death and died there in 1865. She, too, was a faithful 
member of the Baptist Church, and a devoted mother to her eight children, 
all of whom were young at the time of Mr. Ricks' death. We have the follow- 
ing record of this family : Casper Stinemets was the eldest ; Ellen died in 
childhood; William died in 1850; Louisa married Burl Lea and died at the 
age of thirty-eight years; Samuel H. is deceased; John W. came to Eureka 
in 1853, but lived here only a short time, dying in San Francisco when 
seventy-four years old; Susan, wife of Hiram Carr, died in 1900; Thomas, the 
youngest, born in 1831, joined his brother Casper at Eureka in 1851 and was 
given an interest in the business; in 1863 he returned toi his old home in 
Indiana to marry and soon afterward started with his bride for Eureka. From 
San Francisco they took passage on the schooner Dashaway, which was lost 
at sea with all on board. 

Casper Stinemets Ricks attended school until fifteen years old, when he 
commenced work as a dish washer on the flatboats plying the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi rivers. He was thrifty, and saved as much as possible, within a few 
years having enough to buy an interest in a flatboat which he retained until 
1842. That year he went to New Orleans and engaged in the lumber and 
commission business, and with the exception of a short period during which 
he was superintendent of a sawmill at Natchez he continued it until 1849, 
doing well. But the gold fever took him in 1849, and he set out for San 
Francisco, by way of the isthmus. He had bought his ticket from New 
Orleans to his destination, but through some mistake had received trans- 
portation only to Panama. Here he was initiated into the conditions then 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 233 

prevailing on the coast, for he had to pay $600 for a steerage passage to San 
Francisco, and was offered $800 for it before he had a chance to sail. He 
refused the offer, and arrived at San Francisco August 18, 1849, going at 
once to the gold fields in Yuba county, where he mined for about four months. 
He had fair success, but although he also had mining interests subsequently 
from time to time he never did a great deal in that line. In the spring of 
1850 he entered Humboldt county at Trinidad in his search for the mouth of 
Trinity river. While he and the captain were ashore the schooner was driven 
back to sea and the men were obliged to live with the Indians until they 
started to walk to the site of Eureka, a distance of thirty-six miles. After- 
wards the discovery of Humboldt bay was reported. The schooner was recov- 
ered and returned to the captain, who went away in it, but Mr. Ricks re- 
mained, and it is claimed that he was the first white man to remain perma- 
nently in Eureka. The region was then a wilderness. Later, in partnership 
with R. G. Crozier, under the name of Crozier & Ricks, he embarked in gen- 
eral merchandising, and these men soon foresaw the advantages of the loca- 
tion, acquiring an undivided half-interest in the new townsite. Mr. Ricks 
soon purchased his partner's share, however, and within a short time had 
begun his active campaigning for attracting thither desirable business enter- 
prises, such as the town needed, by offering them advantages which he knew 
were substantial. In 1854 he attended a session of the legislature to work 
for the location of the town site, doing much to secure the passage of the act 
"to provide for the disposal of lots in the towns and villages on the public 
lands of Humboldt county.'' Mr. Ricks had judged the value of the location 
properly, although it was covered with forest when he arrived here. Feeling 
that it could have no logical rival on the bay, he exerted himself to the utmost 
to begin its development early, and though his farsighted plans sometimes 
seemed larger than conditions would warrant at the time they were laid, time 
has shown that he did not overestimate the possibilities of the town or its 
adjacent territory. In 1855 he represented Humboldt county in the state 
legislature, and at the close of his term was re-elected, undoubtedly in recog- 
nition of his services in securing the passage of the act transferring the county 
seat from Uniontown (now Areata) to Eureka, which was successful prin- 
cipally because of his efforts. It was in 1861 that he received the appointment 
of district attorney of Humboldt county, to fill an unexpired term, and he 
acquitted himself creditably in that position. 

In the spring of 1862 Mr. Ricks determined to make another mining 
venture, and in company with sixteen other men equally ambitious and daring 
set out for the Salmon mines. His diary shows that they left Lewiston 
April 29th, and the many interesting items which follow make good reading 
and reminiscences, but the experiences to which they allude could hardly 
have contributed to keep up the spirits of travelers in a wilderness going 
away from civilization, and with no prospects of any alleviation of their 
hardships for weeks to come. A pack train owned by James Boon and N. B. 
Brown took them to the Mountain house, the packing costing thirty cents a 
pound. The second day out a horse stampeded, swam the Snake river, and 
lost a hundred pounds of flour. The principal fare of the party consisted of 
tea, bread, beans and bacon, with molasses made from sugar. Several Indian 
farms were passed on the way, and occasionally they could buy milk from 
the farmers, who refused, however, to sell beef except at exorbitant prices. 



234 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Ricks mentions borrowing a needle and thread from a squaw at one of 
the Indian ranches, to mend his suspenders, and the note that he saw where 
she made butter but did not have any of it to eat sounds rather wistful. On 
Alay 11th they traveled fifteen miles up the Salmon river, and met forty 
or fifty men returning from the mines rather discouraged. In the evening 
a severe Avind and rain storm came up, and the discomfort after a hard day's 
journey (judging from his notes) seems to have made Mr. Ricks homesick, 
though he evidently did not indulge this feeling long, as in the next paragraph 
he relates that "the trip may prove beneficial" by making him thankful for 
his comforts at home. On May 16th he arrived at Florence, where he met 
friends and had a substantial supper, bread, bacon, fresh beef, cofifee, dried 
apples and sugar. He refers to Florence as a mining town with a few log 
buildings and a population of five thousand men. He mentions cooking the 
meals, doing his washing and sewing, and in fact kept a record which throws 
much light on the typical life of prospectors and miners in the early days. 
The expressage on letters was $1 each. On June 10th Mr. Ricks bought the 
Starrar claim, for which he paid $1,150 and in which he gave an interest to 
his brother Samuel. He made some money getting out gold, but sold the 
mine a week or two later, he and his partner making about $250 on the claim. 
Subsequently he had interests in others, as he mentions one which paid but 
little, and the good bargain he made selling another. His diary closes August 
9th, the date of his arrival in San Francisco. 

Returning to Eureka, Mr. Ricks was soon busily engaged with his busi- 
ness affairs once more, devoting most of his attention to the improvement 
of his large holdings of real estate in the town. He erected and owned 
more buildings than any other man of his day there, including a number of 
fine residences and business blocks, but did not confine his activities to this 
line, doing much incidental improving Avhich benefited the whole place. He 
built the Ricks waterworks, including the elevated reservoir, which was sup- 
plied with water from artesian wells distributed by steam power through 
nine miles of piping to the business parts of Eureka. The Palace stables, still 
owned by his heirs, were built and stocked by him. The development of the 
lumbering industry in this region was prosecuted very successfully through 
his wise counsel, and its profitable operations not only proved a desirable 
investment for capital, but added to the general wealth by providing employ- 
ment for many men in this part of the state, and enlivened commercial enter- 
prises accordingly. Mr. Ricks donated land for a number of public causes 
which he also supported with his financial means when necessary, and he 
not only started some of the most serviceable projects, but was ever liberal 
in lending his aid and influence to those promoted by others. Through his 
efforts inducements were offered to manufacturing enterprises to locate here, 
and he never lost faith in the future of the city, even when hard times threat- 
ened to engulf it. Many undertakings which he knew could not give him 
returns, on his investment for years, but which were highly desirable, were 
fostered by him in the earlv stages of their existence, because he Avas public- 
spirited enough to wait for his own rewards in order to give many the benefits 
to be obtained. 

Mr. Ricks was frequently called upon to serve in public trusts, to which 
he invariably gave the same care that he devoted to his private interests. 
He was a member and president of the first board of trustees of Eureka, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 235 

and president of the first fire company, Avhich was organized in 1864. He 
belonged to the Humboldt County Pioneers' Association and to the State 
Pioneers' Society, and fraternally was a prominent Odd Fellow. A Democrat 
in his political convictions, he enjoyed politics and was one of the influential 
party workers in his section, his ability as a speaker making him a valuable 
factor in campaigns. jNIr. Ricks died in his sixty-seventh year, June 21, 1888, 
at San Francisco, and on June 28th was laid to rest in Eureka cemetery, the 
Odd Fellows conducting the funeral services. The wide range of his sym- 
pathies and interests could easily be judged by the throng which attended, 
the largest gathering ever known in Eureka up to that time, representing 
citizens of all classes from his home town and surrounding points. His sons 
took up his work where he left it, and their records speak well for the heritage 
of character and substantial qualities which he bequeathed to them. 

Mr. Ricks returned to Indiana to marry i\Iiss Adaline Amelia Fonts, 
their wedding taking place June 4, 1854. She Avas born February 16, 1829, 
in Clark county, that state, daughter of Jacob Fonts and granddaughter of 
Jacob and Mary Fonts, who came to this country from Germany before the 
Revolution and settled in North Carolina. There Jacob Fonts, father of Mrs. 
Ricks, was born October 17, 1775, and passed his early life. In 1806 he 
settled in Clark county, Ind., where he took up a large tract of land and 
followed farming very successfully until his death, December 27, 1836. He 
was drafted for military service during the Indian troubles, by General Har- 
rison, but having a large family of small children hired a substitute. Politically 
he was a Democrat, but not active in the party or in public affairs of any 
kind. His first wife, Isabel Dugan, of North Carolina, died in early woman- 
hood, leaving two sons, Angus and Edward, the former of whom was in 
business for many years at Lexington, Ind., as a merchant ; he died at the age 
of forty-eight years. Edward died in August, 1854. 

March 5, 1807, in Clark county, Ind., Mr. Fonts married for his second 
wife Susanna Fouts, who was born in North Carolina June 1, 1787. Although 
bearing the same surname, she was not a relative, her parents, Jacob and 
Isabel Fouts, having been born and reared in Pennsylvania, going from there 
to North Carolina, and then to Clark county, Ind., where the father was 
profitably engaged in loaning money until his death, at the age of sixty-eight 
years. His wife survived him, dying at the age of seventy years. Of the 
union of Jacob and Susanna (Fouts) Fouts, ten children were born, namely : 
Two that died in childhood; Hiram; Belinda; Rebecca; Nancy; Thomas D.; 
Mary; Daniel L. ; and Adaline A. Hiram Fouts, born February 27, 1808, 
spent his entire life in Clark county, Ind., being engaged in farming until 
his death, September 11, 1860. Belinda Fouts, born August 18, 1810, died in 
San Francisco in 1862. She married T. J. Henley, who served as a member 
of Congress from Indiana two terms and was afterwards a man of prominence 
in California, serving as Indian agent and being postmaster at San Fran- 
cisco in 1853. Rebecca Fouts, born October 21, 1813, married McGannon 
Barnes, and continued a resident of Clark county, Ind., until her death in 1887. 
Nancy Fouts, born November 14, 1816, was a bright and active woman in 
spite of her years, and resided in Louisville, Ky., until her death about 1912 ; 
she married William A. Ingram, a tanner by trade, who served a number of 
years as sheriff of Clark county, Ind. Thomas D. Fouts, born January 12, 
1819, removed to Texas as a pioneer settler of Denton county, where he was 



236 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

employed in farming until his death, in 1890. During the Civil war he and 
two of his sons served as home guards in the Confederate army. Mary 
Fouts, born February 19_, 1821, married S. S. Crowe, and died in Scott 
county, Ind., February 12, 1846. Daniel L., born July 28, 1823, came to Cali- 
fornia in 1853, settling in San Francisco, where his death occurred June 4, 
1893. He was at first employed in the coHector's office, and was afterwards 
a clerk in the office of the Indian agent. Adaline A. Fouts was reared in 
Indiana, receiving her education in Clark county. In 1853 she came with her 
sister, Mrs. Henley, to California, sailing from the Isthmus of Panama to 
San Francisco in the steamer Golden Gate. After a visit of seven or eight 
months in San Francisco, Miss Fouts returned to Indiana, and remained there 
until her marriage with Mr. Ricks. 

Coming to California by way of Nicaragua, Mr. and Mrs. Casper S. Ricks 
landed in San Francisco August 15, 1854. Eureka, their home, was then a 
small town, with a few rude buildings on Front street, and but fifteen women, 
all told, in the place. In 1855, before the town site was granted, Mrs. Ricks 
purchased of D. D. Williams the block bounded on the north and south by 
Third and Fourth streets, and on the east and west by E and F streets, 
giving $300 for it, and paying with money of her own. She subsequently 
built up the block, and in the division of the estate a part of this block fell 
to the share of the son Thomas F. In 1902 Mrs. Ricks and her son H. L. 
disposed of the remaining three lots in the block, selling them for $75,000. 
Mrs. Ricks, whose death occurred November 26, 1903, witnessed the growth 
and development of the city with great pride and pleasure, taking as great 
an interest in its advancement and prosperity as her husband, to whom she 
was ever a devoted helpmate and companion. Of a bright and cheerful dispo- 
sition, she always encouraged him in his undertakings, and aided him by her 
sympathy and wise counsels. Although Mrs. Ricks had passed the allotted 
span of life, during her last years she was as bright and active as a woman 
of fifty years, retaining the mental and physical vigor of her younger days. 
In her will she bequeathed her entire property to her son Hiram Lambert 
Ricks, except a legacy of $5 to her son Thomas F. Ricks, he having received 
his portion some years previous, and naming her son Hiram Lambert Ricks. 
as sole executor without bond. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ricks three 
children were born, namely: Thomas Fouts, who died in 1910; Casper Stine- 
mets, Jr., who died in 1906; and Hiram Lambert. 

By those who knew her best the following tribute is paid to Mrs. Ricks: 
"That she was a woman of marked ability and kindness is attested by all. 
It is said of her that those who knew her the longest liked her the best, 
which is about the best testimony to a sterling character. 

"If there were any special qualities that could be mentioned it is the 
fact of her many kind deeds and her brilliant intellect. As a neighbor and 
friend in Eureka, which means almost the beginning of the city's history, 
her many friends can tell of her good deeds. They were of the kind that 
caused people to feel that they came from the goodness of the heart and caused 
them to be doubly willing to attest them. 

"Of her intellect scarcely too much could be said since she was a wide 
reader and a ready thinker, and thus was well informed. This was particularly 
true on questions of the day and political subjects. It is said of her that no 
member of Congress could be mentioned but that she knew his place and his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 237 

record. In political belief she was a Democrat of the old order and being 
deprived of a vote felt free to express her views and ably defend them." 

HENRY H. BUHNE.— To mention the name of Henry H. Buhne is to 
call to mind not only the gallant Captain who had sailed the high seas and 
finally crossed the bar into the Humboldt bay, but also the Captain's son 
who worthily has won his way to business success and has developed the 
large interests previously secured by his father in this section of the state. 
The younger man was born September 22, 1858, in the county of Humboldt, 
and has been a lifelong resident here, preserving the integrity of a family 
name that began to be prominent during the pioneer period of American 
occupancy and has increased in prestige with the passing years. Varied 
enterprises have engaged his attention since the termination of a clerkship 
of seven years in the Humboldt County Bank and in no instance has any 
interest terminated in disaster, but all have reflected the wisdom of his 
judgment and the remarkable energy of his temperament. As early as 
June of 1879 he was placed in charge of the logging industry, the milling 
business and the tow-boat concern owned by his father, and he continued the 
management of the same until 1884, when the entire holdings were sold to 
the California Redwood Association, a Scotch syndicate. Meanwhile during 
1882 and 1883 he had been in full control of the Humboldt County Bank, 
and when it is understood that all of this work was in his charge when he 
was scarcely twenty-five years of age it will be realized that he is a man of 
unusual mental power and rare discretion. 

The California Redwood Company being unable to carry on the tow-boat 
business, it reverted to the original owner and again came under the manage- 
ment of Henry H. Buhne, Jr., who continued in charge until another sale was 
made to the Humboldt Lumber Manufacturing Association. Meanwhile he 
had opened a small branch store on Second street opposite the Vance hotel. 
From that small beginning he developed a large trade in hardware and sport- 
ing goods and it is said that he now has the finest and best stock in that line 
on the Pacific coast. The original quarters have been- outgrown and now 
occupancy is had of a large, modern building on the corner of E and Second 
streets, Eureka. The large timber interests of his earlier life were sold in 
1884, in order that he might concentrate his attention upon industries that 
were beginning to crowd out the once unrivalled lumber business. 

By his marriage to a daughter of E. P. Vance, a leading pioneer of Hum- 
boldt county, Mr. Buhne has one daughter, Dorothy, now a student in a 
school for young ladies at Berkeley. Already a pianist of local note. Miss 
Dorothy gives promise of attaining fame in her chosen art and it is the 
expectation that her musical education will be completed in Europe. When 
twenty-one years of age Mr. Buhne became connected with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, both of which orders 
still have his name enrolled on their lists. He is said to have been the father 
of the local lodge of Elks at Eureka and his work in the interests of the order 
has been steadfast and helpful. Aside from the fraternities his social and 
commercial connections are varied and include membership in the Hum- 
boldt Club, the Sequoia Yacht Club and the Humboldt Promotion Committee. 
For two terms he served as a member of the city council of Eureka and in 
other ways he has promoted the welfare of the community. A man of 
positive convictions, he braved criticism in accepting the chairmanship of the 



238 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

vigilante committee that drove the Chinese from Eureka, but his firm stand 
in the matter was appreciated by all who had the welfare of the community 
at heart. AVith equal unhesitant courage he has championed movements 
which he believed to be for the well-being of the county, but which had 
arrayed against them men of loyal spirit and considerable prominence. In- 
deed his firmness has been a factor in community development, and credit is 
due him for his large share in the progress made by the county commercially 
and from an industrial standpoint. 

HON. MELVIN PARKER ROBERTS.— One of the early-day pioneers 
of California, having made the journey westward in 1860 by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama, is Melvin Parker Roberts, veteran miner and lumber man, 
and at present engaged in dairy farming adjoining Areata, and one of the 
large land owners in Humboldt county. He was for a short time engaged in 
mining in the gold camps in California and Nevada, and later was a promi- 
nent figure in the lumbering industry of this county. He has within later 
years returned to the calling of his fathers, and his farm is one of the best 
improved and most prosperous in the community. 

Mr. Roberts is a native of Maine, having been born in St. Albans, Somer- 
set county, April 21, 1841, the son of Joseph and Atlant (Ireland) Roberts, 
both natives of Somerset county. Me. The grandfather, Joseph Roberts, also 
a native of Maine, was a blacksmith of ability, while Grandfather Joseph 
Ireland, a native of New Hampshire, was a farmer and drover in Maine. On 
the Roberts side the family is of Welsh origin, while the Irelands came of 
Scotch antecedents. Joseph Roberts, Jr., was a member of the Baptist de- 
nomination, and as was the custom in those early days he preached gratis 
and farmed for a livelihood. The early life of Melvin P. Roberts was spent 
on the farm, he attending at first the public schools and later St. Albans 
Academy, in the meantime during his spare moments assisting his father 
with the labors of the farm. When he was seventeen years of age he com- 
pleted his education and commenced to work for farmers in the vicinity and 
to accumulate a fund of his own, with a view to coming to California as soon 
as he was financially able. It was in 1860, when he was nineteen years of 
age, that he finally determined to make the venture, and the same year he 
landed in San Francisco. The voyage from New York to Aspinwall was 
made on the Northern Light, and from Panama to San Francisco on the 
Uncle Sam. Immediately Mr. Roberts went into the mining district on the 
south Yuba but did not like the conditions existing there, so returned to the 
Sacramento valley, where he secured employment for the summer on a farm. 
In the fall of the same year he returned to San Francisco, and from there 
went into the lumber country, making the journey in November on the old 
steamer Columbia, a side-wheel passenger steamer, and arriving in Eureka 
after an extremely rough passage. He soon found employment, at first with 
the Dolbeer & McLain Company in their sawmill, remaining with this com- 
pany for three years. The last two years he had charge of a crew of men as 
overseer. In 1863 Mr. Roberts went to Santa Clara and entered a business 
college, remaining about six months, when the Reese river gold excitement 
in Nevada was at its height, and he gave up school to join a party of gold- 
seekers. Later he went to Virginia City and again worked in the mines, but 
he did not like the close confinement of underground work, so gave up this 
line of occupation and removed to the Washoe valley, where he soon found 




m^'^M-^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 241 

work with Folsom, Bragg & Co., working in the woods. In the fall of 1864 
Mr. Roberts returned to Humboldt county and purchased a claim consisting 
of six hundred acres of large redwood timber, and the following spring he 
commenced logging on this claim, continuing thus until in 1868, and meeting 
with much success. At that time he sold his claim to William Carson, and 
made a trip to his old home in Maine, spending about eight months there. 
Upon returning to California he purchased an interest in the Russ, Wood & 
Co. lumber interests, and the following spring he contracted hauling spruce 
on Salmon creek. In the fall of the same year he became actively associated 
with the company in which he was interested, but three years later he sold his 
interest. 

It was in 1880 that Mr. Roberts became actively interested in farm lands, 
purchasing an interest in a stock range and farming land on Mad river, upon 
which he followed farming and the raising of cattle and sheep. In 1882 he 
purchased a ranch west of Areata, consisting of eighty-two acres of bottom 
land, and on this established a dairy business, being the first to engage in 
dairying in Areata as a business. This place he afterwards sold and pur- 
chased a ranch adjoining Areata on the east, the farm at present containing 
two hundred and twenty-five acres, all under a high state of cultivation, and 
devoted principally to dairying. Mr. Roberts also owns a ranch of thirteen 
hundred acres of range land at Southfork, near Garberville, devoted to stock- 
raising. Mr. Roberts was one of the leading men in the Areata Improvement 
Company, an organization which has succeeded in reclaiming about one 
thousand acres of marsh land, and he was president of the company until 
the holding was sold. 

Politically Mr. Roberts is a Republican, and has always taken an active 
interest in the affairs of his party. He was elected assemblyman from the 
second district in 1900, serving the session of 1901. He is at present a member 
of the board of trustees of Areata. He is progressive and wide awake to all 
that makes for the best interest of the community and state. He is also well 
known in fraternal circles, having been made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 
106, F. & A. M., of which he is past master; is a member of Eureka Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M., Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam Temple, 
A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco. He is also a charter member of the Areata 
Club. 

The marriage of Mr. Roberts took place in Areata with Miss May Louise 
Nelson, who was born near Areata, the daughter of Christian and Fredericka 
A. Nelson, pioneers of Areata, where Mrs. Roberts was reared and educated. 
She is the mother of three children : Fredericka Atlant, now Mrs. Dolson, of 
San Francisco ; Melvin P., Jr., attending the O. A. C. at Corvallis, Ore., and 
Hazel May, a senior in Areata high school. 

GEORGE H. CLOSE.— The Standard Furniture Company, of which 
Mr. Close is the manager and owner, stands at the forefront of the enterprises 
contributory to the commercial advancement of Eureka. The proprietor 
gives the credit of his success to the opportunities offered by the town, but 
many believe his own personality and wise business judgment formed an 
equal factor in laying the foundation for a concern of permanent value to the 
community. While he has been in touch with the history of Eureka ever 
since he landed here in 1883 and meanwhile has made his home here the 



242 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

greater part of the time, prior to coming to this northern Cahfornia seaport 
he had Hved in New Brunswick. His birth occurred at Fredericton in that 
province in 1861 and his training in the trades of carpenter and millwright 
was had in his native locality, so that when he came to the States he was 
well qualified to earn a livelihood. At first he had charge of the repair 
department in Vance's mill and the Bayside mill, while at the same time he 
became interested in conducting a moulding factory on First street. 

The management of a small furniture store in Eureka gave Mr. Close his 
early experience in the business which he since has made so successful. 
After he sold out that small store he engaged in other occupations in the 
county, but six years later he resumed the old line of business, opening a furni- 
ture store on the corner of Fifth and E streets, in the building now occupied 
by the Times. From there he moved to the substantial two-story building, 
erected in 1910, and located on the corner of Sixth and J streets. Every- 
thing about the building is thoroughly modern and convenient. Handsome 
large windows afiford abundant space for the display of the stock, which con- 
sists of a full line of furniture and carpets. It has been the aim of the pro- 
prietor to keep only modern furniture in stock. Customers have the choice of 
a varied assortment in every line. Reasonable prices and modern stock have 
enabled the proprietor to build up a large trade in the city and county, where 
he worthily ranks among the leading business men. While largely concen- 
trating his attention upon the management of his store he has not failed 
to devote considerable time to affairs of civic importance and to the support 
of every project that conduces toward the general welfare, although he is not 
in any sense of the word a politician. His fraternities, Eureka Lodge, B. P. O. 
E., and the Moose, receive his co-operation in their philanthropic efforts and 
many charities. By his marriage to Margaret Esty, who was born in New 
Brunswick and died in Eureka in 1900, he is the father of six daughters, 
namely : Mrs. Julia Machabee, of Sparks, Nev. ; Mrs. Lucile Haskell, of Oak- 
land, Cal. ; Nola, who has charge of the home since the death of her mother; 
Mrs. Mildred Johnson and Miss Margaret Close (twins), and Caroline, at 
home. 

FRANK W. LUTHER. — A native of California, and descended from 
one of the old pioneer families of Humboldt county, Frank W. Luther is at 
present a prosperous general merchant at Alton, this county, and an honored 
and respected citizen of Humboldt county. He has won his way to his 
present success by careful industry and close attention to the details of his 
business, and by a wholesome honesty and fair dealing that has gained for 
him the confidence and esteem of his friends and patrons. 

Mr. Luther was born in Eureka, Humboldt county, California, July 5, 
1866. He is the son of Chris and Celia J. (Ferrier) Luther, well known 
California pioneers. His childhood and boyhood were passed in Eureka, 
where he attended the public schools, graduating from the high school, and 
later taking a course at the Pacific Business College, in San Francisco. After 
completing his education he returned to Eureka and entered the employ of 
the Wells Fargo Company, under Fred Bell, remaining in this office for a 
year. At that time he accepted another position with the same company, 
remaining this time for three years. Following this he worked for several 
months for George Kellogg, county recorder. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 243 

The first independent business venture of Mr. Luther was made in the 
Alton district, whither he went after his service for Mr. Kellogg, first making 
a trip through the Eel river valley. He purchased a half interest in the 
general merchandise store, at Hydesville, with Mr. Beckwith. After the 
partnership had continued for a short time they purchased another similar 
business in Alton, and Mr. Luther became the manager of this latter store, 
Mr. Beckwith continuing in charge of the store at Hydesville. The enterprise 
prospered, but after a short time the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. 
Luther became the independent owner of the Alton store in 1890. It was 
the only general merchandise store in Alton at that time, and has continued 
to hold the field up to the present. 

In addition to the general merchandise store, J\Ir. Luther is also inter- 
ested in the buying and selling of farm produce, and especially in grain, 
potatoes and peas. He has handled nearly all of the produce from the valley 
farms for many years, and is exceedingly popular with the farmers. Several 
years ago there were many potatoes grown in the valley, and one year he 
shipped seventeen hundred tons out of Alton. Recently, however, this in- 
dustry has practicalh^ been abandoned. 

Mr. Luther is also the postmaster of Alton, having held this position 
since 1890. He is also a notary public, and is agent for several standard 
fire insurance companies, including the Hartford, Royal and Fireman's Fund. 

Although the business interests of Mr. Luther have been varied and 
extensive, they have not absorbed all of his time and attention. He is a 
director of the Fortuna Bank, having been elected in 1913, and is prominent 
in fraternal and other local affairs. He was made a Mason in Eel River Lodge 
No. 147 at Fortuna; is a member of Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., and 
of Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., 
San Francisco. In politics he is a Republican, and is well informed and 
vitally interested in all questions that affect the public welfare. 

The marriage of Mr. Luther occurred in Eureka in August, 1885, uniting 
him with Miss Inez Moore, a native of Canada, born at Oak Bay, New Bruns- 
wick. She came to California with her parents in 1878, locating in Hum- 
boldt county, where she has since resided. She has borne her husband four 
children, two sons and two daughters : Nina V., Shirley C, Lloyd and 
Rosebud. 

IMrs. Luther is the daughter of Benjamin and Adelia Moore, who came 
to Humboldt county more than thirty-five years ago and have since then 
made this their home. Her father worked as a ship's carpenter, following 
this occupation practically all of his life. In the east he worked for a time 
on the ill-fated steamer, the Great Eastern, which was destroyed by fire in 
New York harbor, and on which many lives were lost. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Luther are popular with a wide circle of personal 
friends. Mr. Luther is recognized as one of the leading business men of his 
district, and one who has done much for the development of the community. 
He has been very successful, and his efforts have been a benefit to the town 
and to the surrounding country, and are recognized as such by the progressive 
farmers of the vicinity. 

HERBERT N. BRIGGS.— That the press is a vital factor in the upbuild- 
ing of a community, whether large or small, is so thoroughly an established 



244 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

fact that repetition is trite, but it is greatly to be regretted that many people 
are inclined to lose sight of the man behind the press, the man whose ability 
makes possible the reading of the news of the world while yet it is news, and 
in the mind of a good newspaper man that means almost before it has hap- 
pened ; who enables the man with something to sell to reach the man who 
wishes to buy, without either of them leaving their fireside; who keeps the 
throbbing human pulse of a community alive with mutual information and 
interest ; who, in reality, creates and keeps open a great common causeway 
through which the life-interests of the people may flow for their common 
good. In the great dailies this power behind a throne is pretty certain to 
be so submerged and hedged about that his readers never see him and seldom 
are even conscious that he exists. But in the smaller cities the editor of the 
local paper is apt to be a power in the land, a man of influence and affairs, 
keeping in close touch with his constituents and with the life of his com- 
munity. Such a man as this is Herbert N. Briggs, owner and editor of the 
Ferndale Enterprise, a semi-weekly publication of much merit and with much 
of the snap and style of a metropolitan paper. 

Mr. Briggs is the son of Charles H. and Mary Briggs, and was born in 
Marion, Mass., November 21, 1880. His father was a volunteer in the Union 
navy during the War of the Rebellion, serving with distinction through 
practically the entire time of strife. The son passed his early boyhood in his 
native village, attending the public schools there. Later, when his father 
removed to California, he continued his studies in the public schools of this 
state, and afterward completed his education in a private school. Mr. Briggs 
has been in newspaper work practically all his life, being initiated as a "cub 
reporter" when he was scarcely eighteen summers old. During all these 
years he has made a careful study of the multitude of details that enter into 
the successful management of a paper, always looking forward to the day 
when he should enter the field in an independent venture for himself. 

This opportunity to 'own and publish a paper of his own came in 1905, 
when he had for eight years been following the fortunes of the newspaper 
business, and since that time he has edited and published the Ferndale Enter- 
prise with much success. This publication is one of the veteran newspapers 
of the state, having been established in 1878, and has been prominently identi- 
fied with the upbuilding of Humboldt county. It is a clean, progressive paper, 
with a large circulation, and its news service is unsurpassed by any paper of 
its class in .the country. Under the present management the Enterprise is 
growing rapidly, having made substantial gains in both circulation and ad- 
vertising patronage. 

Personally, Mr. Briggs is a man of business integrity, and conducts his 
paper on the latest business lines. His advertising is of a distinctly high class. 
He is popular in social and fraternal circles, and is a member of several lead- 
ing local orders. 

Since locating in Ferndale Mr. Briggs has been united in marriage with 
Myrtle R. Givins, daughter of Frank J. and Ellen Givins, of Fortuna, the 
marriage taking place at the home of the bride, July 1, 1905. Mrs. Briggs is 
a woman of much charm and possesses a wide circle of friends. She is an 
accomplished musician, and is one of the leaders in musical circles in Fern- 
dale, as she was in Fortuna before her marriage. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 247 

ROBERT WILSON SKINNER.— The president of the Skinner-Duprey 
Drug Company at the corner of Third and F streets, Eureka, has been iden- 
tified with Humboldt county from his earliest memories, for although a 
native of Iowa, born July 26, 1862, he was brought to the west during the 
following year by his parents, John W. and Mary Jane (Nixon). Skinner. At 
the time of settling in this count)^ white residents were yet few and Indians 
still formed the larger part of the population, endangering the farms and 
even the lives of the white men by their hostile depredations. Twice during 
the early childhood of Robert Skinner he strayed from home and was lost in 
the woods, causing consternation in the hearts of parents and friends, who 
realized the grave danger of his falling into the hands of the savages and 
rejoiced greatly when he was found safe and unharmed. As a boy he was 
familiar with the country around Fortuna and Areata and received a fair 
education in their schools. When the time came for the choice of an occu- 
pation he decided to become a druggist. In preparation for such work he 
matriculated in the California College of Pharmacy, a branch of the Uni- 
versity of California, and there continued his studies until the completion of 
his regular course. Upon receiving the degree of Ph. G., he returned to 
Humboldt county and became identified with the pioneer drug business at 
Eureka, where he now conducts both retail and wholesale establishments and 
in addition owns a retail store in Areata. With his wife, who was in maiden- 
hood Mabel Scott, and son, Robert Edwin Skinner, he has a comfortable 
home in Eureka and enjoys the esteem of the best people of the community. 
Fraternally he is connected with the Elks. 

The history of the Skinner-Duprey Drug Company dates back, under 
another title, to the early '60s, when William McKay opened a drug store in 
the old Hotel Vance in the heart of the business section of that period. Un- 
der his wise oversight the business became profitable and prominent, and the 
store was considered a model of its kind. Upon the death of Mr. McKay in 
1883, his former manager, R. W. Powell, purchased the business and contin- 
ued in the same location. In the year 1883 Robert Wilson Skinner, then a 
recent graduate of the California College of Pharmacy, purchased one-half 
interest in the business. Shortly afterward the store was removed to the 
corner of Fourth and E streets and later a branch was opened at Areata, 
where an excellent trade has been developed. For some years the business 
was conducted under the title of the R. W. Skinner Company, but with the 
admission of Mr. Duprey as a partner in 1903 the name was changed to the 
Skinner-Duprey Drug Company. At the same time, the business having ex- 
panded rapidly, a new store was started at Fortuna, which was sold to R. H. 
Bowman in 1908. In 1903 a wholesale drug business was started and a 
supply of stock is now carried that does credit to a larger city. 

The decision of the partners to furnish the smaller stores of the county 
with their stocks marked a great advance in their trade. In a short time 
practically all of the drug stores in this and in Del Norte counties were pur- 
chasing from the Skinner-Duprey Drug Company their lines of specialties, 
patent medjcines, toilet articles, household supplies, novelties, perfumes, 
soaps, cameras, camera supplies and drugs. In addition the manufacture of 
a headache powder has met with such success that it is now handled by some 
of the largest wholesale houses on the coast. It has been the aim of the 
partners to give to the purchaser the highest quality obtainable for the price 



248 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

quoted. They maintain pride in the fact that practically everything for which 
there is the smallest demand can be obtained from their stock. Considering 
the vast number of preparations now^ on the market together with the new 
preparations being introduced every day, and taking into account the fact 
that they have in stock everything from the cheapest package of toothpicks 
to the most expensive perfumes and imported drugs, the value of the stock 
may be appreciated with readiness. It is in fact the largest establishment of 
the kind between San Francisco and Portland. The size of the business and 
the long experience of the proprietors place the firm at the forefront of 
similar institutions along the coast. Robert W. Skinner, the president of 
the company, to whose thorough knowledge of pharmacy and keen business 
intelligence much of the success of the store is due, is a genuine "booster" 
for Eureka and always lends his support to movements for the local upbuild- 
ing. That Humboldt county will have a prosperous future is his firm belief. 
Whatever of civic development Eureka may have and whatever of progress 
the county may register in future years, not a little credit for such advance- 
ment may be given to this forceful business man and loyal citizen. 

HARRY ALBERT MARKS.— It is unlikely that there is any better 
known individual among the men who have been working or operating in 
the redwood lumber districts of Humboldt county than Harry A. Marks, 
whose connection with the industry covers practically the entire period 
since his settlement here — almost fifty years. H'is unquestioned popularity 
is coextensive with his wide acquaintance, and his familiarity with the business 
gained in thorough experience in various capacities includes an amazing 
knowledge of its details in all branches. At present he is interested in the 
business as the owner of valuable timber tracts, part owner of several vessels 
and stockholder in a local railroad, and in spite of the fact that he has seen his 
earnings swept away in more than one unfortunate accident he has never lost 
his faith in its possibilities or cared to divert his efforts into other fields. No 
history of the development of the lumber resources of the county would be 
complete which did not include his part in the work as mechanic and capitalist, 
his achievements in the practical work and in executive positions in which 
he has again and again demonstrated his skill and versatility, and the influence 
which his high character has acquired for him among his associates. Per- 
sonally he is a man of intrepid courage, powerful physique and endurance 
beyond the ordinary. . 

Mr. Marks is a native of the province of New Brunswick, Canada, and is 
of English extraction. His great-grandfather, Capt. Abraham Marks, was a 
captain in the British army, with which he served in the war of 1812-15. His 
grandfather. Col. Nehemiah Marks, was a colonel in the regular army of New 
Brunswick, and was highly successful in the management of his private 
affairs, .becoming one of the wealthiest men of the province. Abraham 
Marks, son of Col. Nehemiah Marks, lived and died in New Brunswick, hold- 
ing an influential position by reason of his wealth and force of intellect. He 
owned portions of seven townships, vessels and other interests, and was a man 
of note in his generation. His wife, Mary Hitchings, was also a member of an 
old New Brunswick family of honorable lineage. Her father, William Hitch- 
ings, lived to the great age of ninety-six years, her grandmother to the age of 
ninety-four; her great-great-grandfather was an Englishman and married a 
Scotchwoman. Oliver Hitchings, uncle of Mrs. Abraham Marks, removed 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 249 

to Aroostook county, Me., and enlisted and served during the Civil war in 
Sheridan's cavalry. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Marks were: 
Nehemiah, who died when fourteen years old ; William H., who lives at 
Eureka; Sarah, wife of Thomas McKnight, residing at Saint Davis, in New 
Brunswick ; Harry Albert ; Arthur A., deceased ; and Mary M., Mrs. McKay 
of Eureka. The father married for his second wife the widow of Captain 
Williams, who resided at Saint Davis, and of the three children born to this 
union but one survives, Joseph. 

Harry Albert Marks was born March 4, 1848, at Saint Davis, in the 
parish of Saint George, and was reared there, with the advantages for educa- 
tion afforded in the local public schools. In the year 1866 he decided to come 
to California, making the trip by way of Panama and continuing up the 
coast as far as Eureka, Humboldt county, where he landed the 21st of August. 
His first job was at crosscut sawing, at which he worked until the fall, and 
then he cut two hundred cords of wood — strenuous labor for which, however, 
he was well fitted physically. He next entered the employ of Jonathan Freeze, 
who had extensive logging interests, working one year steadily for the firm 
of Freeze & Vance, after which he put in seven years with D. R. Jones, never 
missing a day's work in all that period. By that time he had acquired suf- 
ficient knowledge of the business to do contract logging on his own account, 
and was thus engaged at Freshwater, Humboldt county, logging two years 
for Mr. Jones. Getting in more deeply, he formed a partnership with David 
Evans, William Snyder, and John McKay, and together they built a saw- 
mill on Salmon creek which they operated successfully for two years, until 
the price of lumber went down rapidly and they were also defrauded of the 
pay for their lumber so that they lost $32,000 in three months and were 
driven to insolvency. In the face of this discouragement Mr. Marks began 
anew. He logged one year for "Jim" Brown, and then took a position as head 
packer for John Chapman, on Lower Gold Bluff, working for him two years. 
From there he went down to Redwood, where he preempted a farm at the 
mouth of Prairie creek, living on that property for a time, clearing forty 
acres and proving up on his claim. For some time following he was boss 
for the Excelsior Redwood Company, at Freshwater, and has since been 
located at Eureka, directing his affairs from this point. Meantime he has 
come into possession of a number of good lumber claims, three on Prairie 
creek, one on the Elk river and one on Salmon creek. His investments are 
mostly in this line, and include a thirty-second interest in two lumber schoon- 
ers and a sixty-fourth interest in three other lumber schooners ; an interest in 
St. Helen's sawmill, and in the St. Helen's railroad. He also owns a dairy 
ranch of two hundred acres on the peninsula, across the bay north from 
Eureka, keeping seventeen cows and supplying milk to the town of Samoa. 
In the course of his varied career I\Ir. Marks has witnessed many innova- 
tions and improvements in lumber operations in this region, the successful 
working of modern plans for the conservation of timber and its more profit- 
able exploitation as compared with the methods of former days, and vast 
changes in the transportation facilities. He was the first man in Humboldt 
county to introduce a bull donkey engine for hauling logs, and ran it for years. 
As a thoroughly capable mechanic he has been very valuable in all the mill 
work which has come within the range of his activities, and his strength has 
made it possible for him to accomplish much. He inherits the hardiness 



250 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of his ancestors as well as their intellectual vigor and fearlessness in under- 
taking whatever seems necessary, never hesitating to attempt anything be- 
cause of the physical labor or responsibility involved. Undoubtedly it is this 
combination of characteristics which has made him so well esteemed wherever 
his lot has called him, and he has a keen appreciation of his friendships. Mr. 
Marks has not entered actively into public life in any relation. He is a 
Republican on political questions, and in fraternal connection he is a member 
of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and of Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. 
O.-F., the latter since 1870; and is a member of the Veteran Odd Fellows 
Association ; with his wife he also belongs to the Rebekah degree. 

Mr. Marks was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Morton, born in 
Philadelphia, the daughter of William and Rozetta (Bair) Morton, who came 
to California in 1853, via Panama. "Billy" Morton bore a prominent part in 
the early history of Humboldt county, serving as postmaster at Elk camp, 
and was a stock-raiser and farmer, but the Indians destroyed and burned the 
place at Elk camp. Mrs. Marks has shown the true spirit of her ancestors 
as her husband's efficient helpmate. She has always encouraged him in his 
enterprises, and when he suffered reverses came loyally to his aid, doing all 
in her power to help him recover his losses. They reside at No. 1015 B street, 
Eureka. 

HON. JOHN F. QUINN. — Arrival in Humboldt county and a simultane- 
ous opportunity to purchase unimproved land at a low price led Patrick Quinn 
to become a pioneer at Table Bluff during the year 1866, since which he has 
devoted his attention to the improvement of his property, transforming it 
from an unprofitable, unattractive acreage into a remunerative place with 
buildings, orchard and stock. When he came here he was a young man, 
at the threshold of man's estate, rugged physically and well able to endure 
the hardships of frontier farming. Some few years after his arrival in this 
county he married Miss Mary McNulty, daughter of Owen McNulty, a 
pioneer of the early '50s from Texas and a well-known innkeeper and farmer 
at Table Bluff. The McNulty family comprised Mrs. Mary Quinn, Mrs. 
William Phelan and John McNulty. Born of the union of Patrick and Mary 
Quinn there were the following daughters and sons: Catherine E., now the 
wife of A. C. Buxton, of Fortuna; John F., attorney-at-law, Eureka; William 
J. Quinn, M. D., a graduate of Cooper Medical College, practicing in Eureka; 
Owen P., who is connected with his father in the management of the home 
ranch ; Alice Maude, formerly a teacher, now the wife of Oscar Cloney, of 
Eureka ; Erwin T., a practicing lawyer in Eureka ; Fred, now with the Pacific 
Lumber Company; Albert, a graduate of St. Mary's College, of Oakland; 
Harold, now a student in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa. ; 
and Evelyn. 

The earliest recollections of John F. Quinn are associated with the old 
homestead at Table Bluff, Humboldt county, where he was born April 13, 
1875. The country schools gave him a thorough knowledge of the common 
branches. In order to earn the money necessary for a college education he 
taught school for two and one-half years. Later he spent two and one-half 
years at the University of California, where he took the course in law and 
gained a thorough groundwork of professional training. Admitted to the bar 
in December, 1899, he began the practice of the law in 1900 and has since been 
connected with the attorneys of Eureka. The distinction of being the only 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 251 

attorney in Humboldt county to argue a case before the United States supreme 
court at Washington, D. C, belongs to him. 

As a delegate to the Democratic national convention and local conven- 
tions and in other ways he has been one of the leading Democrats of the 
county. At the general election, held November 3, 1914, he was elected to 
the Assembly by an overwhelming majority to represent Humboldt county 
at the next session of the State Legislature, which meets in Sacramento on 
January 4, 1915. 

In addition to professional work and public service he gives considerable 
attention to the management of a ranch of one hundred and seventy-four acres 
near Ferndale, in which he owns a half interest ; this being developed for fruit 
and stock. Mrs. Quinn, formerly Ruby Bartlett, a native of California, is a 
descendant in the fourth generation of Col. Sylvanus Bartlett, commanding 
officer of a Massachusetts regiment in the Revolution, and who was a first 
cousin of Mr. Bartlett, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. 
Quinn is a daughter of E. Bartlett, a pioneer California railroad builder and 
bridge-builder, who assisted in construction work at the time of the completion 
of the Union Pacific system into California. 

HENRY ALFRED POLAND.— The upbuilding of Eureka has been pro- 
moted in a most practical manner by Mr. Poland through the buying of unim- 
proved properties, the erection of cottages and their sale to permanent settlers 
at a small advance over and above the original cost. Much of the work of 
improvement has been done in the third ward, his home locality, and he has 
been a substantial element in the material progress of that part of the city 
which for three terms he represented on the city council. Recognition of his 
public-spirited qualities and capacity for executive leadership came with his 
election as president of the council for two terms and with his service as 
acting mayor for one term. At different times he has been identified with 
different lines of business, but always he has been relied upon to promote the 
growth of Humboldt county and to advance measures of general importance 
to the citizens. During his term as president of the council that body suc- 
ceeded in bonding the city (after the board of education had failed in the 
attempt) for the first new school houses and built the Jefferson and AVash- 
ington schools, which formed the basis for Eureka's present magnificent edu- 
cational buildings. It also installed a sewer system and drafted the franchise 
for the street railway that was sold to the present company, giving the city 
three per cent of the gross income of the road. 

Prior to establishing a home in Eureka in April, 1892, Mr. Poland had 
lived in the east, his native locality having been Athens, Me., where he was 
born March 10, 1852, and where he received a public-school education. On 
starting out to make his own way in the world he went to Boston, Mass., 
and there learned the furniture business in all of its departments, following the 
same not only in that city, but later for ten years in the city of Philadelphia. 
The first employment which he found after his arrival in Eureka was that 
of a day laborer in the moulding mill, where, his ability winning prompt 
recognition, he was soon promoted to a position of responsibility. For a 
time he owned and operated a sporting goods store on Second street, but 
this he finally sold to Henry H. Buhne. Since then he has devoted consid- 
erable time to the filling of contracts and to the building of houses for sale. 
One of his contracts was for the remodeling of the Vance hotel. He was 



252 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

one of the first men in Eureka to buy an automobile and found the car of the 
utmost value to him in facilitating his work not only in the city, but also else- 
where. During 1903 he bought the Mowry shingle mill near Fieldbrook and 
engaged in the manufacture of shingles. It was not long before his clear- 
sightedness saw the need of an association for the marketing of their product 
and with others he formed the Redwood Shingle Association, serving as a 
member of the board of directors. This association had more to do with the 
successful manufacture of shingles than any other one thing. Wishing to 
increase his output he erected two more mills in the same locality, where red- 
wood shingles were manufactured for a decade or more, he personally super- 
intending the large manufacturing business. After the disincorporation of the 
Mowry Milling Company he formed the Poland Shingle Company in part- 
nership with his two sons. The mills had a very large capacity for three 
years, making 300,000 shingles per day, and it was the consensus of opinion 
he was the largest shingle manufacturer in Humboldt county of that day. 
However, in 1911, he retired from the personal supervision of the plants, but 
still retained his interests in the mills and property untit 1913, when he dis- 
posed of his holdings. 

The marriage of Mr. Poland united him with Miss Effie A. Mowry, a 
native of Athol, Mass., and to them were born two children, Ray A. and 
Lester, both successful business men of Eureka. His fraternities are Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 77 , I. O. O. F., Humboldt Encampment and Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., as well as the Humboldt club, and the philanthropies of 
these orders have received from him active co-operation. It is to such men as 
Henry A. Poland that Eureka and Humboldt county owe much of their 
present importance, for they are men who are ever ready to give of their 
time and means towards forwarding any movement that has for its aim the 
upbuilding of the county and its great natural resources, as well as improv- 
ing and enhancing the commercial, social and moral conditions of its citizens. 

JOSEPH BAGLEY. — As one of the thriving business men of the county, 
and especially of Fortuna and Eureka, where he has been engaged in business 
for several years, Joseph Bagley is well known and also well liked. His latest 
venture, however, is attracting much attention, both to himself individually 
and to Eureka and the county generall_y. It is the development of the English 
walnut industry in Humboldt county, the site of the enterprise being the 
Mattole valley, above Petrolia. In 1913 Mr. Bagley organized the Mattole 
Valley Orchard Tract Company, which controls two thousand acres in the 
upper Mattole valley and also has a saw mill there and practical facilities for 
clearing and improving the land. During 1914 this company cleared and 
planted three hundred and eighty acres of land to walnuts, and has also sold 
several hundred acres in small tracts of five, ten and twenty acres, all of 
these being planted to orchard and most of them to English walnuts. AA'hile 
the company is making a specialty of the walnut, this locality being particu- 
larly adapted to its culture, it is not limited to this one line, but has also set 
out several orchards of apples and pears, the soil and climate of the locality 
being also well adapted to these fruits. Mr. Bagley is acting as manager of 
the Mattole Valley Orchard Tract Company, and is doing much for the de- 
velopment of this new industry in the county, which is attracting wide- 
spread interest from horticulturists throughout the state. The orchards on the 
tract are in splendid condition and give every evidence of proving a great finan- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 253 

cial success. Mr. Bagley, however, does not give his entire time and atten- 
tion to this one enterprise, extensive as it is, for he is also vice-president of 
the Diamond Fruit Company, of Eureka, and is manager of the Bonbonier 
Confectionery Store. 

From earliest memories "Sir. Bagley has been familiar with certain sec- 
tions of the county, particularly the Eel river valley, where he was born 
September 2, 1877, and where his father, Eli Bagley, a pioneer of 1869, after a 
few years of identification with stock-raising in the JNIattole district, had pur- 
chased three hundred and sixty-seven acres of raw land and begun the task 
of improving and placing under profitable cultivation the large and fertile tract. 
After years of identification with the same neighborhood the father in 1893 
leased his farm for a dairy ranch and retired to a small farm near Ferndale, 
but in 1898 purchased a home in Fortuna and moved to the new location. 
The improving of the small property became a source of great pleasure to him. 
One of his original ideas was the training of four trees on his lawn, so that 
their branches spelled the word "Home," and in other ways he showed orig- 
inality of ideas as well as artistic ability in landscape gardening. A musician 
and composer of local fame, his children inherited his talent and became 
skilled in the art that he loved from youth. A native of Appanoose county, 
Iowa, born Xovember 24, 1849, he had come to California in early life and 
in this state met and married Laura Bugbee, who was born in Trinity county, 
Cal., in 1854, and died June 5, 1888. Five years after her death he married 
Flora Reese, Avho was born in Humboldt county April 27, 1874. Of his first 
marriage five children were born, namely: Ralph, who died at seventeen 
years of age ; Eli F., who developed a half-section of land in Oregon ; Nancy, 
wife of Ernest Williams ; Joseph, whose name introduces this article ; and 
L. Weltha, wife of Dr. C. Wiggins, of Los Angeles. 

Joseph Bagley passed his childhood and youth on his father's farm at 
Grizzly Bluff and there learned the dairy business at an early age. Later he 
went to Oregon and bought a dairy farm in the Elk river valley, Curry county, 
consisting of three hundred and twenty acres, which he improved and ran for 
five years, meeting with much financial success. He then returned to Hum- 
boldt county, locating at Fortuna, where he dealt in notions, sporting goods, 
confectionery, etc. He also bought and managed the Fortuna Opera House. 
Later (in 1902) he disposed of all his interests in Fortuna, the store being 
taken over by the Diamond Fruit Company, of Eureka, of which he is now 
vice-president. Since that time ^Ir. Bagley has resided in Eureka and has 
been manager of the Bonbonier Confectionery Store, at the corner of Fourth 
and F streets, one of the finest confectionery stores in Eureka. The Dia- 
mond Fruit Company owns a number of similar establishments in Eureka and 
Fortuna, and is meeting with great financial success. 

It was in 1913 that 3ilr. Bagley organized the JNIattole Valley Orchard 
Tract Company, and since that time he has been giving much thought and 
attention to the affairs of this organization, again meeting with much deserved 
success. The property is sold under a liberal five-year contract and is meet- 
ing with a ready market. The company is endeavoring to place thereon men 
who desire to make homes and is making every effort to encourage the best 
class of people to investigate its plan and the opportunities offered on the tract. 
Personally Mr. Bagley is very popular with his business associates and also 
with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. His clean-cut, forward busi- 



254 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ness methods place him in high favor with all who have any transactions Avith 
him, and his faith in Eureka and Humboldt county is unlimited, as is attested 
by the investments that he has made and is making, and by this splendid new 
venture in the development line. 

With so many business enterprises to engage his attention it might not 
be expected that Mr. Bagley would devote much time to public affairs or 
fraternities, but we find him always willing to aid public-spirited projects of 
undoubted benefit to the community, while in the line of fraternal and social 
organizations he is a well-known member of the Humboldt Club, the Native 
Sons of the Golden West, Maccabees, Elks, Woodmen of the World and Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America. 

JAMES HARRIS HUNTER.— Since first coming to Eureka in 1888 
Mr. Hunter has been in close touch with the interests of the city and during 
much of the time he has made his home here, having since 1901 carried on 
a real estate business that keeps him thoroughly posted in regard to property 
valuations and farm as well as municipal opportunities. Forceful in energy 
and honorable in all dealings, he has won a host of friends in California and 
is himself a stanch "booster" of the state and particularly of the undeveloped 
acreage in Humboldt county, where he believes that men of industry, in- 
telligence and some capital may find an opening for profitable investment 
unexcelled by any section of the state. In early life he was familiar with 
the rigors of the Nova Scotian climate, for in that province, where he was 
born June 8, 1862, he earned a livelihood by manual toil in camps and mills. 
In search of the opportunities offered by an environment less rigorous and 
a climate less trying he first settled in Colorado, but from there came to Cali- 
fornia, settling in Eureka in 1888 and securing employment at the Vance mill. 
Having learned the trade of sawyer, he was able to find work in this locality 
and continued in the same mill for two years. From that occupation he drifted 
into the service of the lumber company as station agent for their railroad 
at Singley's. Four years later he was transferred from that station to For- 
tuna, where he remained for five years and meanwhile he gave two years to 
the real estate business in his last location. 

An excellent record in a campaign for sheriff as the Republican nominee 
nevertheless failed to place Mr. Hunter in the ofiice desired, and, as he had 
established a home in Eureka, he thereupon embarked in the realty business 
at this point. During 1910 George W. Owsley was admitted into partnership 
and the firm of Hunter & Owsley now maintains offices at No. 508 A street, 
where those seeking information in regard to favorable deals in farms or city 
real estate receive the most courteous attention and their wants have intelli- 
gent consideration. At present the firm is specializing in the sale of five and 
ten-acre tracts in a subdivision of three hundred acres on Elk river, and these 
small farms meet with a ready sale among people desiring to make a small 
and safe investment. In fraternal relations Mr. Hunter is connected with the 
Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias. On coming to 
Humboldt county he was still single and later he was united with Miss Mary 
Barber, who was born and reared in this county, and by whom he has two 
children, Mildred and Kempton, the former being now the wife of Morris 
D. Tracy. Mrs. Hunter is a member of a pioneer family of the northwest 
coast of California. Her father, Isaac Barber, a skilled woodsman, drove an 
ox-team in the logging camps and was widely acquainted among the lumber- 
men of the early days. 




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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 259 

JOHN McCREADY. — The history of the early development of Hum- 
boldt county forms in many respects a record of the lives of its pioneers. 
Bravely they surmounted obstacles, cheerfully they faced difficulties, and 
efficiently they solved the problems incident to existence on the frontier. Nor 
has John McCready been less efficient or patient than his companions in the 
tasks of development, as the story of his life amply proves. For generations 
the family lived and labored in New Brunswick, and it was in St. Andrews, 
Charlotte county, that province, that John McCready was born September 20, 
1834. Until he was fifteen years old he received the benefit of a district school 
education, and to the foundation thus laid he added continually by observation 
and the reading of uplifting and instructive literature. After leaving school 
he applied for employment in the lumber camps in the vicinity of his home 
and thereafter during the winter seasons he engaged in driving logs down 
the rivers to the mill, while during the summers he assisted in the care and 
management of the home farm. He followed this dual line of employment 
until he left the east in 1859, when he hoped to better his condition by coming 
to California. Leaving New York City on a steamer to Aspinwall, he crossed 
the Isthmus of Panama, then took a steamer for San Francisco, arriving in 
August, 1859. From there he came by boat to Eureka, thence to Freshwater, 
where he took up a government timber claim and engaged in logging for 
himself, later entering into partnership with George Atchison in floating the 
logs out to the bay by the Freshwater, bringing the logs to the river by 
eight and ten yoke of oxen. In 1861 they moved their camp down to Ryan 
slough and continued logging. In the spring of 1862 the partner decamped, 
leaving all the debts and obligations to be met by Mr. McCready, which he 
afterwards liquidated. Soon after this he took Mr. Morrison in as a partner 
in the logging enterprise. After he had logged his own claim Mr. McCready 
purchased timber claims above him on the same river, getting out millions of 
feet a year for a period of eighteen years. In the meantime he bought out 
Mr. Morrison's interest and continued the logging business alone. During all 
these years he was in the active management of the business, both in the 
woods and on the drives, no detail escaping his notice and supervision. The 
greater portion of the logs which he handled were delivered to the William 
Carson mill in Eureka. During this time Mr. McCready usually had about 
thirty ox teams broken and ready for use, and it is a fact that he sold some 
of his ox teams for the highest prices paid. 

After logging for eighteen years Mr. McCready sold the timber on his 
land as stumpage and then devoted his attention to dairy farming, in which 
he achieved success. It was about 1866 that he purchased his present place 
comprising one hundred sixty acres of unimproved land, which was thickly 
covered with underbrush and heavy timber. He quickly cleared a portion of 
the ranch, setting out a part of the land to apple trees, but a few years later 
a heavy freshet washed out all but two of his trees. He then began clearing 
the remainder of the ranch, mainly the bottom land, and here he first engaged 
in dairying and also the making and selling of butter, the demand always 
exceeding the supply on hand. He at present owns one hundred sixty acres 
of highly cultivated land, but has retired from all active work, leasing the 
place to his sons, although he still makes his home here. He has been one of 
the most successful farmers and dairymen in the district and was also equally 
successful in his logging activities. 



260 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. McCready's marriage united him with Juha Davis, a native of Wis- 
consin, and of their union there are two children, Adolph and Randolph, who 
are both living on the home place with their father, Mrs. McCready having 
passed away in February, 1913. Randolph is married to Mathilda Sutherland 
of Indianola and they have two children, Pearl and Edna. The name of John 
McCready is a synonym for an open-hearted hospitality that has known no 
change since he took up his residence in Humboldt county, and many a 
wayfarer has been refreshed and cheered and made to view life more 
optimistically after an hour's converse with this sturdy old pioneer. 

GEORGE W. HUFFORD.— In the capacity of stage driver, running 
between Bridgeville and Ruth, Trinity county, Mr. Hufiford is known to a 
majority of the residents of this part of the state, by whom he is held in 
high esteem. In addition to conveying passengers, he handles the mail be- 
tween these towns, making three round trips each week, and has just renewed 
the mail and parcels post contract for another four years. His father, David 
Hufford, was born in Kentucky and removed with his parents to Iowa, where 
his youth was uneventfully passed in attendance at the district school and 
assisting his father. At the time of the discovery of gold in California, David 
was just entering manhood and was eager, ambitious and fearless. With a 
desire to see more of the world than was possible in his own neighborhood, 
he started, in 1849, with several others for the coast, making the long trip 
with ox teams, during which time they were 'beset with constant dangers 
from the Indians, with whom they had several skirmishes. Young Hufiford 
located a claim on the Pitt river, which he worked for a time and then removed 
his outfit to Trinity county, spending eleven months prospecting on Cofifee 
creek. Although not successful in his mining ventures, he was not discour- 
aged, and in fact was so well pleased with the opportunities offered a young 
man in the west, that he determined to make it his future home. With this 
end in view, he returned to his old home in Iowa, and was married to Miss 
Mary Morris, the young couple making the trip back with a mule team. Their 
first home was at Clayton, Contra Costa county, where Mr. Hufford embarked 
in the livery business, in which he continued for a period of twenty years. 
George W. was a lad of eight years when the parents, in 1876, came to 
Humboldt county and entered a claim of one hundred sixty acres near Trini- 
dad. After proving up on this tract and placing it under a high state of 
cultivation the parents continued to reside there until retiring from active 
farm life and moving into the town of Areata, where the father died, in 1906, 
at the age of seventy-six. 

George W. Hufiford is a native son, having been born at Clayton, Contra 
Costa county, September 24, 1868. Of his two brothers and two sisters, 
Walter is a prominent attorney and judge in Oregon. By the second mar- 
riage of his father, there were four children. George W. Hufiford was mar- 
ried at Ukiah, Mendocino county, October 29, 1893, to Miss Jennie Babcock, 
a native of Chico, but reared at Ukiah, this state. After their marriage they 
established a home at Orick, where he was in the employ of Mr. Swan for 
five years, then removed to Trinidad, where he opened a meat market, con- 
ducting a profitable business for five years. On selling out his business he 
was engaged as buyer for Ralph Bull, proprietor of a large meat market at 
Areata, and in this capacity made long trips covering Trinity, Del Norte, 
Humboldt and parts of Mendocino counties. Three years later, however. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 261 

we find him in the employ of McConnaha Bros., liverymen of Trinidad, which 
connection lasted for seven years, when Mr. Hufford purchased the Bridge- 
ville and Ruth stage line and removed with his family to Bridgeville. He 
owns six acres of land near town, where they have a comfortable home. May 
14, 1912, he sustained a severe loss in the burning of his residence, but a 
larger and more modern edifice was soon erected in its place. The family of 
Mr. and Mrs. Hufford includes eight children, namely : May, Mrs. Edwin 
Bunese, of Bridgeville ; Imogene, Rosa, Georgia, Grace, William, Lola and 
Baby. In politics he is a Republican. 

HON. CLIFTON HORACE CONNICK.— From the far distant province 
of New Brunswick and the small village of St. Stephen there came to the 
shores of the Pacific during 1873 John S. and Janet Elizabeth (McKenzie) 
Connick, bringing with them their small son, Clifton Horace, whose birth had 
occurred in the New Brunswick town December 4, 1871, but whose earliest 
recollections cluster around the timber regions of Humboldt county. De- 
scended from a long line of worthy forebears who had struggled for a live- 
lihood in the midst of the rigorous climatic conditions of the Canadian 
province, he inherited qualities of persistence, endurance and patience that 
stood him in good stead in his ambitions to obtain an education in the classics 
and the law. The encouragement of the family, coupled with his own deter- 
mination, enabled him to secure an excellent education in the' grammar- 
school and Phelps Business College at Eureka, and in the law department of 
the University of California (Hastings Law College), from which in 1893 he 
was graduated with the highest standing for proficiency. Immediately after 
he had been granted the privilege of practicing law in the courts of California 
he opened an office at Eureka, where he has remained up to the present time, 
meanwhile winning his way slowly but surely to prestige and prominence. 

Not only at the bar but also on the bench, Judge Connick has proved his 
masterly grasp of his chosen profession. After he had served for eight years 
as deputy district attorney and had built up a valuable private practice, dur- 
ing 1908 the confidence which the voters had in his ability, was evinced by his 
election as superior judge of Humboldt count}^ on the Republican ticket. 
In this responsible office he has been nonpartisan in decisions, incorruptible 
in honor, earnest in devotion to duty and a humanitarian in his sympathies. 
His decisions not only represent logical, impartial knowledge of the law, 
but are also worthy of intellectual and moral praise. Besides being a lawyer 
and jurist he is a public-spirited citizen and nothing vital and important is 
alien to him. 

The versatility of his abilities is shown by his proficiency in music. 
Through his efforts was organized the Eureka Choral Society, with a mem- 
bership of thirty, comprising some of the best singers in Humboldt county and 
forming an association that has promoted a knowledge of music among the 
people of Eureka. Equally interesting, but representing a dififerent phase of 
his activity, is his membership in the Sequoia Yacht Club and the Humboldt 
Club. His family consists of wife and daughter, Janet Gertrude, the former 
having been Miss Gertrude Cooper, a native of Areata and the daughter of 
John W. Cooper, a pioneer supervisor and prominent stockman of Hum- 
boldt county. The Eastern Star has had the capable co-operation of both 
Judge and Mrs. Connick, while other branches of Masonry to which he 
belongs are the local blue lodge. Royal Arch Chapter and Knights Templar 



262 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Commandery. A deep and varied interest in the Masonic Order by no means 
represents the entirety of the Judge's fraternal affiUations, for in addition he 
has been a local leader of the Elks, the Improved Order of Red Men, the 
Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the lodge 
and encampment of Odd Fellows. 

WILLIAM EDWARD COOK, D. D. S.— The distinction of having 
assisted in framing the first dental laws of California belongs to Dr. Cook, 
who is not only a native son of the commonwealth, but also one of its pioneer 
dentists and a citizen whose identification with any movement has tended 
toward its betterment. He was born at Lake Tahoe, this state, January 10, 
1862, and is a son of John Cook, a western pioneer who built the first saw- 
mill in the Lake Tahoe region and was connected with other enterprises of 
the formative era of state history. When Dr. Cook was a mere lad the family 
moved to Sonoma county, where the father was engaged in freighting from 
Petaluma to the valley towns until the building of the Donohoe railroad, now 
the Northwestern Pacific. In this environment William E. Cook received a 
good education, in boyhood, and afterward continued his studies, in fact he 
left no efifort unmade that would enlarge his fund of classical and professional 
knowledge. Finally he was graduated in dentistry, having enjoyed perhaps the 
best advantages for that profession to be had in the state. Then, with am- 
bition still unsatisfied, he went east to take pogt-graduate courses in institu- 
tions famous for the thoroughness of their training and their adoption of 
modern methods of work in every branch of dentistry. 

After years of successful dental practice in Sonoma county Dr. Cook 
came to Eureka in 1885 and has since become the Nestor of the profession in 
Humboldt county. Meanwhile he has been very active in local movements, 
has devoted a part of his time to the city and county and has taken a patriotic 
interest in politics. Indeed he has become almost as well known in civic 
affairs as in his profession and has directed his energies toward municipal 
advancement with a zeal that indicates the loyalty of his public spirit. A very 
difficult task came to him in his appointment as chairman of the committee 
that solicited the funds for the purchase of the site on which stands the Car- 
negie library. Although the enterprise involved many discouraging features, 
the results are eminently satisfactory to the people and he is fully repaid for 
his labors in the satisfaction connected with the knowledge of fostering a 
great public enterprise. Harbor improvements also have received his cordial 
assistance and he was a member of the first committee for the improvement 
of Humboldt bar. Throughout this period of civic and professional progress 
he maintained his home and reared his children, Earl, now of Oakland, and 
Edith, now a school teacher in the Eureka schools. After the death of his 
first wife he married Miss Bertha Henderson in 1912 and they have a pleasant 
home in Eureka, surrounded by evidences of culture and refined tastes. 

As might be expected of a man so alive to the needs of the hour. Dr. 
Cook is prominent in local educational progress and for eight years he has 
held office as president of the board of education. The standard of education 
has been advanced under his thoughtful oversight and efficiency has been 
made the slogan of the public-school course. For years he has been very 
active in the Eureka Chamber of Commerce and he has the distinction of 
being the oldest living ex-president of the organization. While he was presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce that bodv made an effort to obtain ter- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 263 

minal freight rates for Eureka, and it was largely through his efforts that 
these rates became effective. At the same time, with others, he interested 
the Santa Fe Railroad Company in acquiring the Eel river road between 
Eureka and San Francisco, and among other things he was also interested in 
promoting the street car system in Eureka. It was chiefly through his 
eft'orts that the new State Normal School was located in Humboldt county 
and he was also a factor in the bond issue for the building of the new high 
school in Eureka. Indeed, it would be difficult to mention any forward move- 
ment of the city or county that has lacked his intelligent co-operation. Fra- 
ternities that have received his allegiance are the Elks and the lodge and 
encampment of Odd Fellows, but it has not been practicable for him to identify 
himself Avidely with associations or clubs, as the demands of his profession 
and the desire to promote local progress have necessarily been first in his mind. 

CAPT. C. M. PETTERSEN.— For a quarter of a century and more. Cap- 
tain Pettersen has been a resident of Eureka, and during the greater part of 
that time engaged by the Humboldt Manufacturers' Association of Eureka as 
master mariner, at present having the reputation of being the best pilot on 
Humboldt bay. This means much to those who are familiar with the dangers 
of Humboldt bar, and his capable seamanship is highly appreciated by his 
employers. He commands the tug Relief, whose powerful engines have a 
capacity of eight hundred horsepower, and which is used to bring in the large 
steamers from foreign ports to load with redwood lumber at Humboldt bay, 
after they are loaded towing and piloting them to the safety of the open 
water once more. 

The Captain was born at Frederikshald, Norway, February 11, 1866, and 
grew up in his native land. His education was received in the common 
country schools, and he Avas reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, in 
which he was confirmed. In 1881 he shipped as helper on a pilot boat, and the 
following year went to sea, sailing the Baltic and making various European 
ports. Leaving home in 1887, he afterward sailed from Antwerp to Boston 
and Baltimore on an English tramp steamer. Finally he made a trip to 
San Francisco by rail and from there made a voyage to Australia in a sailing 
vessel, for coal from Australia, this being in 1888. The next year he shipped 
on a tug and came to Eureka, where he has made his home since 1889. During 
the first year after he settled here he was employed by A. M. Simpson, of 
San Francisco, and then engaged with his present employers, as a deck hand 
on the tug Mary Ann. He was captain of the Antelope for four years, then 
on the tug Ranger and the H. H. Buhne, and has held his present position for 
some years. His tug is kept busy towing and piloting tramp schooners and 
other sailing craft and steam schooners engaged in the lumber carrying trade, 
and he has made many friends on the bay and among the seafaring men gen- 
erally who put into Eureka. Captain Pettersen has risen to a responsible posi- 
tion by steadiness and intelligent attention to his duties, and he is respected 
for what he has accomplished by his own efforts, his substantial qualities 
gaining him confidence wherever he is known. He is a member of the Benevo- 
lent Protective Order of Elks, and politically supports the Republican party. 

In March, 1896, Captain Pettersen was married at Eureka to Miss Carrie 
Olson, who died in 1902 leaving three children, Edward, Carlton and Oliver H., 
the last named dying when one year old. For his second wife the Captain mar- 
ried ]\Irs. Ruth (AVunderlich) Falkner, daughter of Henry Wunderlich, of 



264 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Eureka; she was reared at Vallejo, Cal. By her first marriage Mrs. Pettersen 
had one child, Velma, and there are three children b}^ the present union : 
Marie, Geraldine and George. The Captain has built a comfortable residence 
at No. 2301 Fairfield street. Eureka, which he occupies with his family. 

ANDREW H. CHRISTIANSEN, B. S.— One of the many progressive 
movements that have placed Humboldt county in the forefront of the forward 
march of the west has been the recent establishment of a Farm Bureau and 
the securing", under the new state law providing for such, a farm adviser, 
whose duty it is to co-operate with the farmers on any and all questions 
that are of interest to them, to make a careful study of local conditions and 
to then strive to overcome any defects that may exist in the rural life of the 
community, whatever they may be. The new farm adviser for Humboldt 
county is Andrew H. Christiansen, a Humboldt county boy, and one who 
before he received a technical education, was a practical farmer and dairyman, 
having been reared on a dairy farm in this county. He received his appoint- 
ment to the new position in 1913, and already he has worked incredible good 
throughout the county, co-operating Avith the farmers, making scientific 
analyses of the soil, and advising and demonstrating as to the qualit)^ and 
value of fertilization, etc. 

Mr. Christiansen is a native of Tondern, Sleswick, Germany, born 
November 18, 1880, the son of Jorgen C. and Mary (Nissen) Christiansen. 
When he was a babe of but one year his parents came to America, settling 
at Ferndale, Humboldt county, Cal., where the father is a rancher and dairy- 
man, owning a well-cared-for ranch of twenty-five acres. There are three 
children in the family, the eldest being the subject of this sketch, and the 
others, Anna, the wife of John Rossen, a rancher of Ferndale, and John M. 
Andrew H. Christiansen grew to manhood on the farm at Ferndale, attending 
the local schools and assisting with the farm work. He graduated from the 
Areata high school in 1903, and in 1904 matriculated at the University of Cali- 
fornia, graduating from the Department of Agriculture in 1911 with the 
degree of Bachelor of Science. During the time between 1904 and 1911 he 
spent eighteen months following his sophomore year on a ranch on Bear 
river. Still later he returned to the University for post-graduate work, and 
for two years he was a teacher of agriculture at the high school at Livermore. 
He was appointed to the staff of the University as assistant professor of 
agricultural extension, and assigned to his present position in July, 1913, and 
is meeting with unqualified success in the new field of endeavor. 

The marriage of Mr. Christiansen took place at Berkeley, in 1909, uniting 
him with Miss Anna Staples, of San Francisco, also a graduate of the State 
University. They have two children, Andrew H., Jr., and Freya. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Christiansen are popular members of their social circle in Eureka, 
where they have many friends. 

Mr. Christiansen is a member of the faculty of the University of Cali- 
fornia, in the Agricultural Extension Department, and is paid, so far as his 
salary goes, by the University, from a special fund appropriated for this 
particular purpose by the recent legislature. He is also on the stafif of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture and 
is intimately connected with the Agricultural Department of the state and of 
the nation. His office also co-operates with the supervisors of Humboldt 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 265 

county to the extent that they supply the traveling expenses of the farm 
adviser. The idea and purpose of the office is manifold, and may be designated 
as follows : First, to provide meeting places and meetings for the purpose 
of discussing improvements on the business end of farming. Second, to 
create a better social spirit throughout the country and farm districts, and 
to provide for gatherings where problems of the farm, home and community 
may be discussed. Third, to provide discussions of the means of buying and 
selling the farm produce. Fourth, to provide meeting places for discussions 
of rural schools and schools dealing with country life, both in the home and 
on the farm. There are now nineteen centers of the Humboldt County Farm 
Bureau where all such questions as rural credits, better seeds, liability acts 
relating to farms, eight-hour laws, home sanitation, tuberculin testing, and 
prevention of tuberculosis, and a host of other subjects may be discussed. 
These centers are : Orleans, Orick, Trinidad, McKinleyville, Blue Lake, 
Areata, Freshwater, Eureka, Loleta, Fortuna, Ferndale, Carlotta, Capetown, 
Mattole, Ettersburg, Garberville, Fort Seward, Dyerville and Bridgeville. 

The first work that Mr. Christiansen did when he assumed the duties 
of his new office was to make a scientific test of the soil to ascertain whether 
or not it needed lime, and upon discovery that it did he set to work to induce 
the farmers to use it. Finally one man was persuaded to make the test by 
putting lime on one-half of an alfalfa field and when the limed portion of the 
field showed so great an improvement in the strength, vigor and growth of 
the plants, the leading farmers of the valley were brought together to witness 
the results. They estimated that the limed portion would produce fully four 
times as much as the unlimed land, and there naturally followed a series of 
experiments with all manners of crops on all manners of soils. The lime was, 
however, far too expensive for practical purposes, and even when bought at 
wholesale in large quantities was still almost prohibitive. Mr. Christiansen 
has, however, located a vast deposit of lime in the county and is now at work 
on the organization of a co-operative company among the farmers for the 
burning of this lime and its delivery to them at absolute cost, which will be 
the merest fraction of the ordinary retail market price, and will enable its 
free use. 

These are only a few of the things that Mr. Christiansen has already 
accomplished in the county, and the work of his department has grown so 
rapidly that he has found it necessary to have an assistant, and M. A. W. 
Lee, a graduate of the class of 1914, University of California, has been 
appointed to fill this place. In their office in Eureka they have a fully equipped 
chemical laboratory for the testing of plants and for soil analysis, and the out- 
lines of the contemplated work are wide and far reaching. 

That Humboldt county is the first in the state to take advantage of the 
new law, and give her farmers the advantage of scientific advice on farm 
problems, is a matter of pride to her citizens, and is proving of great value 
to the agricultural industry of the county. The plan is not a new one and 
has been followed in eastern states, but it has been the privilege of this 
county to blaze the way for the west. That the citizens have been so happy 
in their choice of the first incumbent of the office is also cause for con- 
gratulation. He is popular and is a man of the strictest integrity. He comes 
from one of the best families in the county, and his home life is exemplary. 



266 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

His ability, splendid judgment, force of character and natural adaptability 
as a leader and organizer are proving of great value, and his understanding 
of human nature, which enables him to meet the practical farmer on his own 
ground, has made it possible for him to establish a good-fellowship through- 
out the county that is in itself a worker of wonders in progress and co- 
operation. 

HON. DARLINGTON J. JOHNSON.— Though Petrolia, Humboldt 
county, is so named because of the fact that it lies in a region manifestly rich 
in petroleum, the oil fields in that vicinity have never been popular or 
profitable for the reason that up to now no means have been found of sep- 
arating the product from the earth it saturates. From time to time, how- 
ever, capitalists and others interested in its possibilities have come here to 
investigate, and one of the prominent citizens of that section of the county 
so attracted is Hon. Darlington J. Johnson, member of the firm of Hart & 
Johnson, the oldest and most prominent merchants of Petrolia, and for 
two terms representative of his district in the state legislature, where he 
was influential in securing the passage of some of the measures of vital 
importance then before that body. It is almost fifty years since he first 
came to this vicinity, and with the exception of nine years' residence in 
Tulare county has made his home here since. 

Besides the Johnsons Mr. Johnson counts among his ancestors others 
prominent in the Society of Friends and of old Pennsylvania stock, the 
Darlingtons and Jeffries notably. All three families were of English origin 
and resident in Pennsylvania from Provincial days — about 1711. There their 
descendants also lived contentedly until after 1850, when some moved west, 
though Darlington J. Johnson and his sister are the only members of his 
immediate family in California. Simon Johnson, his father, was a native of 
Fayette county. Pa., and married Jane Jeffries, who was born there, her 
father moving to that county from Chester county. Pa., among the first set- 
tlers. Simon Johnson and his wife lived and died in Pennsylvania, following 
farming. Of the twelve children born to them only four now survive, 
Mifflin still living in Fayette county, Pa. ; Ellis Bailey residing at Charles- 
town, W. Va. ; and Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Plaskett in San Luis Obispo 
county, Cal. 

Darlington J. Johnson was born August 29, 1839, near Uniontown, in 
Fayette county, Pa., where he grew to manhood. Like the Friends gen- 
erally, his parents prized education, and the boy had excellent advantages, 
attending Waynesburg College, in Greene county, Pa. After teaching for 
a time in Fayette county. Pa., he went westward to Illinois, and followed 
his profession in Lasalle county. While in the latter state he responded to 
the first call for troops in the Civil war and the day after the call was made, 
on April 15, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Eleventh Regiment, Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, under Col. W. H. L. Wallace, who was killed at Shiloh, 
and Capt. Theodore Gibson, being enlisted in the three months service at 
Ottawa, 111. He served in Missouri until after the term expired, when he 
was honorably discharged at Cairo, 111., and returned to Lasalle county and 
continued teaching. Though all were reared in the Quaker faith, besides 
Mr. Johnson four of his brothers served in the Civil war, as follows: 
Joseph served in the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry all 
through the war and rose to the rank of lieutenant; Bailey was in the same 



- HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 269 

regiment and was orderly sergeant; Jesse was a mounted orderly to Gen- 
eral Rosecrans and his dispatch carrier, and in an engagement in West 
Virginia was three times wounded and was taken prisoner to Libby prison; 
Samuel was also in the Eighty-fifth regiment during the entire war. 

In the fall of 1864 D. J. Johnson was one of a party of thirty-five which 
started across the plains for California, with fourteen ox teams of four yoke 
each. They arrived at Salt Lake City too late to cross the Sierras, owing 
to the frequency and violence of snowstorms and snowslides, and remained 
there until spring. Meantime a copy of the Humboldt County Times 
(1864), of Eureka, happened to fall into Mr. Johnson's hands, and the 
account it contained of the oil lands at Petrolia determined his location 
when he arrived in California, reaching the region of his choice in the fall 
of 1865. For nine years he taught school in Humboldt county. In 1889 
he became a member of the firm of Hart & Johnson, general merchants at 
Petrolia, with which he has been connected continuously since. In all his 
relations to his fellow citizens, whether as educator, business man or public 
servant, he has been markedly progressive, a leader of thought and action, 
and thoroughly trusted on the record he has made by his conscientious, 
upright life. 

Mr. Johnson's ability and qualities of leadership have been demon- 
strated in the various responsibilities he has undertaken. In 1892 he was 
elected to the legislature on the Republican ticket, and reelected in 1894, and 
during his two terms had the privilege of obtaining and supporting some 
particularly good laws for the benefit of public education. As an experi- 
enced educator he was appointed chairman of the committee on education. 
A great many bills relating to schools and educational features of all sorts 
were introduced by various members, and the committee condensed them, 
using the best points of each, into the bill called the educational bill, passed 
in 1895. This celebrated measure has proved a wise piece of legislation 
in the test of two decades, and the authors deserve the thanks and praise of 
the state for their care in framing its provisions and in eliminating undesir- 
able clauses. Mr. Johnson also introduced the high school bill, which was 
brought up and passed as a separate measure. The joint bill known as the 
butter bill was introduced in the state senate by Senator Frank McGowan 
and Mr. Johnson had charge of it in the lower house, the bill passing in 
1895. It has been a material help to the dairy industry in California, a 
great protection to one of the important interests in Humboldt county, 
where Mr. Johnson was warmly applauded for his efiforts. 

Mr. Johnson has his home about two miles north of Petrolia, on a ranch 
of ten acres which he purchased in 1886 and which he has put under excel- 
lent cultivation, having a fine orchard, fruits and flowers in profusion and 
all the accessories of a delightful home. He was married, near Petrolia, 
November 21, 1872, to Miss Rosina M. Wright, who was born April 7, 1852, 
near Lake Geneva, Wis., daughter of Lucian and Lucy A. (Farnsworth) 
Wright, late of Petrolia; they were among the earliest permanent white 
settlers in the Mattole district, settling here in the spring of 1860. The 
father was born in Quebec, Canada, his parents having migrated there from 
Massachtisetts. He was married near Lake Geneva and brought the family 
with horse teams and wagons across the plains to California in 1859, and 
in 1860 they settled in Mattole valley, locating on a farm two miles north 



270 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of Petrolia, a part of the place now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. The 
father died in 1886 and the mother in 1913. Of their seven children five 
are living, all in Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are leading 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Petrolia, and he was a 
member of the building committee which had charge of its new house of 
worship, just completed. They are highly esteemed in church, social and 
educational circles generally, being recognized as hearty supporters of the 
best influences which have affected the life of this community, and as able 
advocates of any cause which they consider worthy of espousal. Mr. John- 
son's unquestioned integrity in all his transactions has made him especially 
valuable in the many positions of trust to which his ability has made him 
eligible. 

Petrolia is an inland town, without railway connections at present. 
Oil was discovered here in the early '60s, but the field remains undeveloped, 
though some wells have been struck which have yielded as much as ten 
barrels a day, of a very fine grade of paraffin base oil. Though oil seeps 
through the ground in innumerable places, no large pockets have ever been 
struck in drilling, all the free oil being in small finds. Gas has been struck 
in many places. When some method of extracting it not too expensive to 
eat the profits is found there should be fortunes for many in the vicinity. 

DR. HARRY THORNTON HINMAN.— One of the most prominent 
and promising of the young professional men of Eureka is Dr. Harry Thornton 
Hinman, whose dental parlors, located in the Jones building, are well known 
to the best people of the city, among whom he numbers many patients. He 
comes from an excellent family of California pioneers, and has received a 
splendid education. This, coupled with a natural adaptability for his chosen 
profession and an especially bright and capable mind, is conducing to make 
him one of the most popular dentists in the city and one of the leading men 
in the municipality. 

Dr. Hinman is a native son of the Golden West, having been born in 
Sacramento, September 29, 1880. His father, James W. Hinman, was a native 
of Oswego county, N. Y., and after coming to California ran for many years 
as a locomotive engineer between Sacramento and Truckee, Nev., later run- 
ning out of Wadsworth, Nev., and finally out of Dunsmuir, Cal. He is now 
living retired in the Sacramento valley. The doctor's mother was Alice 
Briggs, a native of California and a daughter of Cyrus Briggs, the latter 
also a native of New York state. He came to California as early as 
1850 and became a pioneer miner in the Sierras. Young Hinman received his 
early education in the public schools of the state, and it was while he was a 
student in the San Jose high school, at the age of eighteen, that he determined 
upon the career of a dentist as his life work. After completing his high school 
course he went to San Francisco, where he matriculated at the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, entering the dental department. He was graduated 
in 1902 with the degree of D. D. S. after a three years' course, and 
immediately took the state board examination, as required by law, and passed 
with high honors, receiving his license to practice dentistry. Going at once to 
Fort Bragg, he conducted a dental office in connection with Dr. McCormick's 
hospital, and during the year that he remained there was very successful. 
From there he came up to Eureka in June, 1903, and was associated with 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 271 

Dr. Carmichael for a year, at the close of which time he went to Hanford, 
remaining there for two years in the employ of Dr. H. T. Hendricks. 

It was while he was located at Hanford that the marriage of Dr. Hinman 
occurred, uniting him with Miss Catherine Cameron, of that city. In Feb- 
ruary, 1907, he returned to Eureka and purchased the office and practice of 
Dr. Carmichael, and has since that time conducted the business himself. He 
has met with deserved success and has won an exceedingly enviable place 
in the hearts of Eureka citizens. Aside from his professional popularity he 
is also well and favorably known, and together with Mrs. Hinman participates 
in the social affairs of the city. He is a prominent member of Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., and is also a member of the Psi Omega, a national dental 
fraternity. Mrs. Hinman has borne her husband three children, Catherine 
Helaine, James Roderick and Harry Thornton, Jr. 

MRS. DIXIE CHAMBERLAIN.— The real estate business, which has 
made such strides in development in this part of the country in the last 
decade, has proved a most attractive field of labor for the progressive business 
woman who recently has come to the fore and procured such good returns 
that her fellow workers are kept busy looking after their interests and keeping 
in close touch with her. Mrs. Chamberlain is a fine example of the energetic 
business woman and one who has been most prosperous in all her ventures. 
She has been optimistic at all times as to the future of Eureka and is the 
owner of several pieces of valuable real estate, numbering among her pos- 
sessions attractive flats on the corner of Third and I streets. She is the 
granddaughter of Jacob Shaw, a native of Maryland, and a Revolutionary 
soldier. He came of sturdy German stock and was one of the early settlers 
of Kentucky. Later in life he removed with his family to Arkansas, where 
he resided until his death. His wife was Elizabeth Hereford, of English 
descent. 

Thomas J. Shaw, the father of Mrs. Chamberlain, was born in 1801, near 
Louisville, Ky., and it was there he was married to Eliza A. Brice, also a 
native of Kentucky, having been born in Clark county, in 1811. The father 
of Mrs. Shaw was Thomas Brice, likewise of Kentucky birth and a soldier 
in the war of 1812. He was of English descent and one of that class of citizens 
to whose energy and wise discrimination Kentucky is so greatly indebted. 
Thomas Brice was married to Margaret McMillan, a daughter of the Blue 
Grass State, and whose father, Maj. Robert McMillan, served in the Revolu- 
tionary War with the commission of major. His advent into Kentucky was 
during the time of Daniel Boone. Thomas J. Shaw, after a residence of 
several years in Center Point, Iowa, removed in the '50s to Linn county, 
Kan., making his home for four years at Mound City, which was only one 
mile from the old John Brown Fort. Returning with his family to Iowa, he 
continued to reside there until 1865, when the trip to California was begun. 
George Shaw, a son, who had crossed the plains to the Golden State in 1852, 
returned at that time and acted as captain of the large train which had been 
made up for the trip. For five months they risked their lives on the trackless, 
Indian-infested plains and only escaped a planned massacre by the soldiers 
of Fort Laramie surprising the red men at their place of ambush and routing 
them. In October, 1865, the little company arrived in Napa, Cal., and there 
the Shaws lived for a year, when they came to Humboldt county. More than 



272 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

any state in the Union, the vigorous prosperity of California is directly trace- 
able to the sturdy characters and untiring perseverance of its pioneers, bring- 
ing hither eastern conservatism and practical experience to the aid of vi^estern 
chaos and impetuosity, and enrolled among these noble men is the name of 
Thomas J. Shaw. He passed away in Humboldt county in 1879, while the 
mother lived until 1888. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom 
Margaret, Mrs. Congdon, makes her home at Center Point, Iowa ; Ann, Mrs. 
Carlin, died while a resident of Center Point ; George, who became prominent 
in the general afifairs of Humboldt county and served as assessor for two 
terms, passed away while making his home in Eureka ; James, another son, 
lives at Emeryville, Cal. ; John and Francis are next in order ; Dixie is the 
subject of this sketch; Corinno, Mrs. Lambert, died at Eureka, while Jacob's 
demise occurred at Kneeland Prairie ; Fronie makes her home on Albee 
street. Eureka ; Elton A., Mrs. Ogden, resides in San Francisco. 

Mrs. Chamberlain was christened Sarah Helen, but was always called 
Dick until the war, when she was called Dixie, by which name she has been 
known ever since. She was born at Center Point, Linn county, Iowa, and it 
was there she received her education in the public schools. She accompanied 
her parents on the trip to California and two years after arriving here was 
married, October 21, 1867, at Elk River, to Jose.ph Scott Stewart. He was born 
at Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1832, and when he was a child he removed to Center 
Point, Iowa, with his parents. In 1853 he removed with his family to Puget 
Sound, Wash., and while there served in the Indian wars. Later he took 
up his residence in San Francisco and afterward located at Vallejo. In 1865, 
in company with George and Frank Shaw, Mr. Stewart came to Humboldt 
county and purchased the old Colonel Hagen ranch of about five hundred 
acres, and while living here was married to Dixie Shaw. They made their 
home on this valuable property until 1879, when they disposed of the ranch 
and took up unimproved land, further up the Elk river. Mr. Stewart had 
just begun the work of clearing and improving, when he contracted pneu- 
monia, and died July 27, 1880. He was a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 
79, F. & A. M., and served his community as deputy assessor. Of the seven 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, Cleo Gustein died in infancy; Carl 
Vere is a clerk in the Mare Island Navy yard at Vallejo ; Blanch Gertrude 
died when in her eighteenth year, a short time before graduating from the 
academy ; Ralph Scott is employed as a machinist with the Hammond Lumber 
Company, of Eureka ; Mark Clififord died in infancy ; Madge Myrtle, a short- 
hand reporter, died when twenty-two years of age ; Dixie Corinno is the \yife 
of Oscar Samuels, a prominent attorney of San Francisco. 

In 1890 Mrs. Stewart became the wife of J. D. H. Chamberlain, a native 
of New York state, and for many years one of the leading attorneys of Eureka. 
Since his demise, which occurred in 1902, she has continued to make her home 
on I street. The five hundred acres of redwood timber land which she owned 
was later sold and investments made in Eureka business property, which she 
manages wisely and with profit. Fraternally Mrs. Chamberlain is a member 
of the Eastern Star ; is past officer of the Pythian Sisters ; served as deputy 
grand chief of Humboldt county and grand manager of the grand Temple of 
California. She is likewise a prominent member of the Society of Humboldt 
County Pioneers, and politically an ardent Republican. 




w^lh^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 275 

CAPT. HENRY HAMILTON COUSINS.— Coming- from the maritime 
county of Hancock in Maine, where a large proportion of the population from 
the earliest American occupancy up to the present generation have followed 
the sea for a livelihood, it is but natural that Capt. Henry Hamilton Cousins 
as well as his father, Capt. Jacob Cousins, should have devoted themselves 
to seafaring pursuits. The latter began to follow the sea when sixteen years 
of age ; the former was only seven years old when he came to California from 
Maine in the brig Josephine around Cape Horn with his father, and in that 
long, tedious voyage upon the high seas began his lifelong affection for the 
deep, his intelligent interest in the mastery of an ocean vessel. The expira- 
tion of the voyage brought him to Eureka and this city he since has con- 
sidered his home, although the duties of his occupation frequently have taken 
him to other parts of the west and to other seaports of the Pacific ocean. As 
early as 1848 his father came to San Francisco as master of a vessel. Return- 
ing to the east in 1853, he made his next trip around the Horn in 1862, in 
which year he anchored the brig Josephine in the harbor of San Francisco. 
During the following year he came to Eureka in command of the brig Glencoe, 
owned by the Dolbeer & Carson Company. For many years he sailed from 
Eureka as master of ships and to this harbor in 1870 he brought the Wash- 
ington Libby, one thousand tons, which had the distinction of being the first 
ship of that size to cross the bar. He had the further honor of sailing the 
first boat up the Eel river. With his passing in 1885 there came to an end 
a long and prominent connection with the maritime development of Hum- 
boldt county. 

For many years Capt. Henry Hamilton Cousins sailed with his father. 
The experience and calm judgment of the elder captain proved valuable to 
the younger man when later he came into the command of ships for himself. 
By training as well as native endowments he is well qualified for the life he 
has chosen. During 1905 he organized the Humboldt Stevedore Company, 
of which he was the first and only superintendent. Since 1906 he has been 
at the head of the Cousins Launch and Lighter Company, an organization 
whose inception he not only fostered, but which he owns, and whose upbuild- 
ing he promoted. In addition to other important duties he served for eight 
years as a member of the harbor commission, an important work for which his 
experience admirably qualified him. He has been twice married. All of his 
children were born of his first marriage. One, Ellen H., is deceased, and four 
are living, namely : Henry G., Mrs. Edna J. Phillips, Gilbert W. and Willard 
W. Notwithstanding his remarkably active life, with its occasional dangers 
and its frequent vicissitudes, he retains the enterprise of his earlier years, a 
forceful personality and vigorous temperament enabling him to maintain 
business relations of importance and even to enlarge the measure of his 
interests. Progressive in citizenship, he favors movements for the benefit 
of his home city and county, and is a warm advocate of every beneficial project. 

JAMES BOYCE.— The Humboldt county hospital, of which Mr. Boyce 
has been the superintendent since 1910, has an established reputation for 
scientific care given to inmates and skilled supervision given to the adjacent 
tract of vegetable, fruit and hay land. Although the original structure, con- 
sisting of main building and two wings, was erected in 1890, it has been so 
well maintained that it creates an impression of twentieth-century modernity, 
and its strong, substantial lines indicate efficiency as well as attractive type 



276 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of architecture. Among similar institutions in the state it stands first in every 
department. The surgical ward and operating room are modern in construc- 
tion and equipment, the drug store carries a full line of drugs for the filling 
of all prescriptions, the halls are wide and airy, the rooms large and well 
ventilated. The water system includes an electric deep-well pump, an electric 
fire pump affording exceptional fire protection and a storage tank with a 
capacity of twenty-three thousand gallons. A large laundry affords the best 
facilities for all the work of the institution and there is also a steam-heating 
plant of sufficient size to heat the entire building. Besides the main hospital 
there are two cottages for tubercular patients and a detention home for unruly 
children. The grounds, twenty acres in extent, have been beautified in front 
of the hospital by planting trees, putting in a lawn and walks, and setting out 
shrubs and rose bushes. From the meadow in the rear are cut annually about 
twenty-five tons of clover hay and eight tons of oat hay, this being used for 
the horses and the six Jersey cows kept on the farm. Hogs also are raised in 
small numbers, while berries and vegetables are raised for the use of the 
hospital. The capacity of the institution is one hundred inmates. So far as 
possible they are taught the value of self-help and are asked to care for their 
beds and rooms and assist as able in the lighter work of the farm. Each 
Sunday services are held and during the week lectures are occasionally given, 
while other forms of entertainment are provided when practicable. The 
present superintendent has installed a new system of bookkeeping which 
enables him to tell at any time the exact financial standing of the hospital 
as well as the cost of any article large or small. 

The superintendent of the hospital was born in Dunlopsville, Union 
county, Ind., November 10, 1861, and passed the years of boyhood in New 
York City, whence in 1882 he came to California. After one year in Del Norte 
county he came to the Eel river district in Humboldt county and here helped 
to erect one of the first creameries, being himself one of the pioneers in the 
creamery business in the valley. For seven years he engaged in farming 
in Santa Barbara county, after which he returned to Del Norte county and 
devoted four years to ranching. Since 1910 he has been superintendent of the 
Humboldt county hospital at Eureka and has brought to bear intelligent 
supervision and wise management, so that the hospital stands on a par with 
similar institutions irt the state. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E. Since coming to this county he has purchased valuable 
redwood timber and these lands represent an investment of considerable 
magnitude and growing importance. Through his marriage to Miss Maude 
Deo, a native of Illinois, he is the father of two children, namely : Beryel, who 
married Augusta Maxwell, and has one child ; and Mabel, who married P. A. 
Guyot, and has three children. 

THOMAS M. BROWN.— From the earliest colonization of the Atlantic 
seaboard to the pioneer development of the extreme west successive genera- 
tions of the Brown family bore a part in the transformation of the frontier into 
fertile fields and productive farms. The first to take up the westward march, 
Josiah Brown, was born, reared and married in South Carolina, but became 
a pioneer of Kentucky during 1806. Daniel Boone and a few sturdy frontiers- 
men had preceded him and were endeavoring to hold their ground in the 
midst of savage Indians. Driven by fear of the Indians, he took his family 
to Tennessee in 1808 and remained there for twenty years, engaged in pioneer 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 277 

agriculture. AVhen he took up government land in Illinois in 1828 McLean 
county, where he settled, was still in its infancy as an agricultural center, its 
resources undeveloped and its riches of soil unknown. There Josiah Brown 
died at the age of fifty years. 

During the brief sojourn of the family in Kentucky, John W., son of 
Josiah Brown, was born in 1807, but practically all of his young life was 
passed in Tennessee, where he married Rachel Allen, a native of Overton 
county, that state. Accompanied by his family, in 1829 he joined his father 
in Illinois and two years later enlisted in the army for the Black Hawk war. 
At the close of that struggle he returned to his McLean county homestead, 
but in 1841 he moved his family to Missouri and settled in what is now Har- 
rison county. Upon the organization of the county in 1846 he was elected 
the first sherifif. For twenty successive years he held the of^ces of county and 
circuit clerk. When the little town of Bethany (the county seat) was started 
a mile from his farm he was chosen the first postmaster, and with the help of 
his son, Thomas M., cut down the timber on what was to be the main street 
of the village. During the Civil war so many people were in financial trouble 
that, with customary generosity, he aided them by buying their land or 
becoming security on their notes, and as a result he became encumbered him- 
self and never retrieved his fortunes. In 1847 his wife had died, leaving him 
with a large family, of whom the eldest, Thomas M., was born in Overton 
county, Tenn., January 26, 1829, and was eighteen at the death of the mother. 
The family were earnest members of the Christian Church and possessed the 
moral and religious stabilit}^ characteristic of practically the entire pioneer 
element of our country. When the father died in 1873 at the age of sixty-six 
he was mourned throughout the entire county of his residence. 

Two years after the death of his mother Thomas ]\I. Brown left home in 
company w^ith five other young men bound for California. They traveled by 
the old Sublett cutoff and the Truckee route. On the 22d of September they 
arrived at Steep Hollow, Nevada county, Cal., and the next month they 
camped near Sacramento, whence Mr. Brown went to Stockton and thence 
to Jamestown, Tuolumne county. No success rewarded his efforts as a miner. 
In February, 1850, still in company with his friends, he bought four yoke of 
oxen and a wagon and drove to Trinity county, where their oxen were 
wounded by arrows shot by the Indians and injured so seriously that it was 
necessary to kill them. Next INIr. Brown joined a company of sixteen men 
who tried to dam the river at Ounce bar, for the purpose of working the bed 
of the stream, but the plan failed and those interested lost all they had. As 
an example of the prices of that period, it may be stated that Mr. Brown paid 
$4 for a paper of common tacks. In October, 1850, he moved to Weaverville, 
where he and another man took a contract to build a log cabin. Afterward 
he drove oxen, then bought an outfit of his own and also mined to some extent. 
In the fall of 1851 he went to Oregon gulch. A few months later he had a 
disastrous mining experience on French corral in Nevada county. Buying a 
store and hotel on the east fork of Salmon river in Klamath county, he spent 
several years there. In May, 1857, he was appointed deputy sheriff of 
Klamath county, his duty being to collect taxes from foreign miners. 

After an absence from Missouri of eight years Mr. Brown returned home 
in the fall of 1858, traveling on the steamer Sonora to Panama, on the 
Aspinwall to Havana and on the Philadelphia to New Orleans, where he took 



278 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a river boat to Cairo, 111., and from there finished the journey by stage. In 
1860 he came across the plains accompanied by his family and worked at 
Orleans bar during the winter of 1860-61. In the fall of 1861 he was elected 
sheriff and continued as such until Klamath was disorganized, a part of it 
being absorbed by Humboldt county. In 1869 he again became interested in 
mining and was the sole owner of a large property on which he built a five- 
mile ditch and a sawmill, but the enterprise proved his financial ruin. After 
three years of vacation from the office of sheriff, in 1877 he was elected sheriff 
of Humboldt county. Eleven elections were held from that time until his 
death in 1907 and each time he was chosen to the same office, in which he 
proved exceedingly efficient, fearless and acceptable. In addition he served 
for eleven years as tax collector. His wife, Surrilda J. (Poynter) Brown, was 
born in Kentucky in 1831, and was reared in Illinois. Their marriage occurred 
in Missouri in 1847. The wife died about a year before the husband, and they 
are survived by a daughter, Martha Jane, wife of Henry B. Hitchings, of 
Eureka.' Fraternally he was a Mason, Odd Fellow and Elk. 

MARTIN T. WADDINGTON.— California has always been proud of 
her loyal, native-born sons and among them is Air. Waddington, who was 
born in Waddington, Humboldt county, February 29, 1884, and is the son 
of Alexander Waddington, a native of Blackburn, Lancashire county, Eng- 
land, having been born there in 1844. He attended the public schools of that 
county and later engaged as weaver in the woolen mills of Blackburn. At 
the age of eighteen he decided to come to the United States and he then 
located in Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business for a few 
years, leaving there to come to California in 1867. Locating in Humboldt 
county, he homesteaded on a claim of eighty acres in the Eel river valley, 
where the store now stands. This claim was all unimproved, being covered 
with a heavy growth of underbrush and timber, but he commenced the clear- 
ing of it and at last put it into shape for farming and the building of his 
home. In 1894 he opened a small merchandise store on the home place and 
soon built up a good trade. This is the same fine store that the son has 
active charge of today. He also engaged in dairying for a short time, but the 
business of the store grew to such an extent that he was obliged to give up 
his farming interests and devote all his time to the store. He actively 
managed the business until 1906, when he retired to a well-earned rest, leav- 
ing the management of his affairs in the capable hands of his son Martin. 
He then moved to San Jose and there died in 1910. He was also interested 
in a stock ranch in Garberville and was always active in all political affairs 
of his county, and the postoffice, on the home place in the store, was named 
after him, Waddington. He was an active, industrious man and one who 
was well liked by every one in the community. He was a member of the 
Blue Lodge, F. & A. M. He was married in Eureka, May 14, 1883, to Julia 
A. Branstetter, a native of Humboldt county, and she still resides on the home 
ranch with her son. Martin T. attended the schools of the Coffee Creek dis- 
trict until he was fifteen years of age, at which time he entered the store 
to help his father. He has followed the general merchandise business ever 
since and has been very successful. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, 
F. & A. M., and the Royal Arch of Ferndale, B. P. O. E. and I. O. O. F. of 
Eureka. He was married January 20, 1912, to Enid Hindley, also a native of 
the county, and they have one child, Audrey. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 279 

THOMAS BAIRD.— The life which this narrative deUneates began at 
Chipman, Queens county, New Brunswick, October 31, 1835, and closed in 
Humboldt county, Cal., February 22, 1908. Between these two dates there 
was an era of great activity, whose identification with California began with 
the arrival of Mr. Baird in San Francisco during 1858. Hearing of an oppor- 
tunity to secure employment in the sawmills and logging camps of Hum- 
boldt county, he determined to come hither. An attack of typhoid fever 
had left him emaciated and enfeebled and in no condition for further ocean 
travel, but he boarded one of the vessels plying the waters along the coast 
country and at Trinidad (the customary landing place of that period) he 
was transferred to a surf-boat, from which he was washed out upon the 
beach and tossed to and fro by the waves. It was not until he had been 
washed upon the beach four times and then rolled back upon the breast of 
the angry surf that he was rescued by the men on the shore and taken to a 
house, unconscious and more dead than alive. When able to work he 
secured employment in the sawmill of John Vance in Eureka. Next he 
worked at a logging camp in Ryan slough. 

As a partner of Allen McKay, David Evans and other men, familiar with 
the logging and milling business, Mr. Baird bought from the original firm 
of Dufif & Ryan the plant now known as the Occidental mill. After having 
continued in the business until 1871 he disposed of his interest and formed 
a partnership with the late John M. Vance in the commission business, fitting 
up a wharf and warehouse at the foot of F street. During 1884 he purchased 
the water front property at the foot of E street since known as Baird's wharf, 
and to this he removed his warehouse. The Baird wharves were the steam- 
ship landings for the city and Mr. Baird acted as agent for the original 
steamer, Humboldt, from the time the vessel was built until it was lost near 
Point Gorda in 1895. After Eugene Woodin in 1901 had purchased his 
wharf property, which is now used by the North Pacific Steamship Company, 
he devoted his attention to an oversight of his property interests in the city 
and country. Besides land on Maple creek he owned a tract of one thousand 
acres on the Areata road near the tannery and on that great ranch stood a 
shingle mill which he operated for some years. Fraternally he held member- 
ship with the Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , of Odd Fellows, Mount Zion Encamp- 
ment and the Veteran Odd Fellows Association. In Humboldt county, 
April 12, 1866, he married Lydia T. Vance, also born in Chipman, N. B., 
a sister of the late John M. Vance; she died June 1, 1901, leaving two 
sons, John R. and C. Alvin. 

JOHN ROBERT BAIRD.— The local freight and passenger agent of the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Eureka, was born in this city April 29, 1868, 
the son of the late Thomas Baird, a pioneer of the county, also represented on 
this page. John R. received his education in the public schools, supple- 
mented by attendance at the Pacific Business College in San Francisco. 
After an association in the lumber business and transportation lines with 
his father, he succeeded the latter in 1894 as agent for the Humboldt Steam- 
ship Company and later for four years engaged as agent for the Pacific 
Coast Steamship Company. During 1901 he came into the employ of the 
Eel River and Eureka Railroad Company, now the Northwestern Pacific 
Railroad, as freight agent at Eureka, which position he has since filled with 
recognized efficiency, and in January, 1915, he was made the local freight 



280 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and' passenger agent. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Elks and 
Woodmen of the World. His marriage in 1894 united him with Miss Inez 
Stearns, who was born in Bradford, Maine, and by whom he has one son, 
John C. Baird. 

HON. PIERCE HOWARD RYAN, SR.— Through years of effort in 
private mercantile affairs Major Ryan was equally effective in other activities 
and the same qualities that distinguished his business record were con- 
spicuous in his political life. The Ryan family is of ancient Celtic lineage 
and he himself was proud to claim Ireland as his native land, yet there could 
be found no citizen more loyal to the United States and particularly to Cali- 
fornia than this almost lifelong resident of the new world and pioneer of the 
west. At the time he was brought across the ocean by his father he was a 
child of three years and his early recollections were of Boston, where he 
received his education and where he married. It was not long after the dis- 
covery of gold in the west that he resolved to leave the Atlantic coast for that 
of the Pacific and so the cosmopolitan tent city of San Francisco became his 
temporary headquarters early in the '50s, while in 1855, at the age of twenty- 
four years, he arrived in Humboldt county, self-reliant and thoroughly 
capable of earning a livelihood by business enterprise. Mercantile pursuits 
engaged his attention throughout the balance of his busy and all too brief 
existence. As the founder of the firm of Ryan & Dawson, which was later 
absorbed by the Ryan Dry Goods Company, and the proprietor of the concern 
popularly known as the White House, he was a pioneer merchant of Eureka 
and a leader in all the movements for the enlarging of patronage and the 
attracting of country customers to this excellent trading place. 

Many men would have found the management and developing of such 
a business an all-sufficient task, but Mr. Ryan found ample leisure for par- 
ticipation in public enterprises and political movements, in addition to filling 
the office of commissioned major of the National Guard in California, a 
position that gave him the title by which he was generally known. At the 
time of his arrival in Eureka he found the city absolutely without fire pro- 
tection and one of his first acts was to promote and assist in the organization 
of the volunteer fire department, a company that later did much to prevent 
undue loss by fire in the city. A forceful public speaker, with the ready wit 
of the Hibernian and the eloquence so often noted in the race, he united with 
this gift a splendid command of language, a thorough familiarity with national 
problems, a keen insight into the best methods of meeting public needs and 
an intense desire to promote the welfare of his county. As a member of the 
state assembly for one term and as state senator for two terms, he ably 
represented the interests of this district in the state legislature, where he 
promoted many valuable measures and was the author of the logging lien 
law to protect the -rights of laborers in logging camps. His helpful life came 
to an end in 1889, when he was fifty-eight years of age and removed from 
Humboldt county one of its leading men, whose name is worthy of remem- 
brance in local annals. By his marriage to Annie B. Rice, who was born in 
Nova Scotia and died in Humboldt county in May, 1913, he had six children, 
three of whom, Pierce H., Jr., George R. and Margaret I., are now living. 

Pierce Howard Ryan, Jr., now city attorney of Eureka, was born in this 
city December 28, 1873, received a high school education here and in 1896 
was graduated from the law department of the University of ^Michigan at 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 281 

Ann Arbor, being admitted during the same year to practice before the 
supreme court of California. Elected city attorney of Eureka, in 1897, he 
was afterward chosen his own successor for four successive terms. In the 
practice of his profession he has gained a reputation, not only as an orator, 
but also as one of the leading lawyers of Northern California. He is a widower 
with one son, Pierce Howard, representing the fourth generation to bear that 
name in the Ryan family. Fraternally Mr. Ryan is identified with the Eagles 
and Elks, of which latter fraternity he is Exalted Ruler of Eureka Lodge, 
while along investment lines he has become associated with the Humboldt 
National Bank as a stockholder and director. 

HAROLD GORDON GROSS, B. S., M. D.— In his twenty and more 
years of successful medical practice at Eureka and in that vicinity Dr. Gross 
has done more than to acquire a high professional reputation. He has worked 
with his brother physicians for the advancement of the projects which they 
have learned to believe will conserve the resources of the community by 
promoting efficiency, and he has co-operated with his fellow citizens generally 
in popular movements which have had the object of elevating social con- 
ditions or standards of living. As a private enterprise, outside of his pro- 
fessional work, he has been carrying on ranching on a large scale, owning the 
Butler Valley ranch, near Maple creek, this county, and though its opera- 
tions are becoming rather extensive, he has enjoyed supervising them and 
taken keen pleasure in watching the development of this beautiful property. 

Dr. Gross is of Canadian birth, a native of Sussex Vale, near Fredericton, 
New Brunswick, born September 1, 1867. In May, 1876, he came with his 
mother to Humboldt county, Cal., so that the greater part of his early educa- 
tion was received in the public schools in Eureka. In the year 1884 he went 
east to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Boston, Mass., 
where he was graduated in 1888 with the degree of B. S. He had his profes- 
sional preparation in the medical department of Flarvard University, Cam- 
bridge, Mass., graduating in 1891 with the degree of M. D. For some years 
following his graduation he was interne in the City hospital at Boston, but 
he returned to Eureka in 1893 to enter general practice, being thus engaged 
until within the last few years. Recently he took a thorough course at the 
Manhattan Hospital College, New York City, in diseases of the eye, ear, 
nose and throat, and has since made a specialty of their treatment. Dr. Gross 
has been one of the interested workers in establishing ideal conditions at the 
Sequoia hospital, an institution of which Eureka has reason to be very proud, 
and he is serving as one of its staff as well as a director. His interest in all 
the activities of his profession is shown by his membership in the Humboldt 
County Medical Society, the California State Medical Society and the Ameri- 
can Medical Association. He is assistant surgeon for the Northwestern Pa- 
cific Railroad and a member of the Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons. 
During a busy career he has found many opportunities for helpful service 
in the course of his daily work, and he has been unselfish in attending to his 
patients and untiring in his efforts to give them the benefit of the most skillful 
modern treatment. He is very conscientious in keeping up-to-date in his 
profession. 

The Doctor's fine property, the Butler valley ranch, near Maple creek, 
comprises sixteen hundred acres of valuable land, the greater part of which 
is still in timber, one hundred and fifty acres being in arable condition. Ten 



282 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

acres have been planted in Spitzenberg apples. He has gone into dairying to 
some extent, having a herd of registered Jersey cattle, many of the Island 
strain. This fact is typical of everything that has been undertaken on the 
place. Dr. Gross is working toward the development of a model ranch, and 
he has made a wise beginning. He has acquired other business interests, being 
a director in the Humboldt Steamship Company. 

In Eureka, July 22, 1898, Dr. Gross married Miss Lena Sweasey, a native 
daughter of this city, and they have a family of three children, James, Marian 
and Katherine. 

HON. FREDERICK W. GEORGESON.— The name of Georgeson needs 
no introduction to the citizens of Humboldt county on account of the diversity 
of accomplishments that have been brought about or at least made possible 
through the efforts of Mr. Georgeson in the line of agriculture, milling and 
banking, as well as in his public capacity of mayor. However, it is un- 
doubtedly true that the accomplishment that meant the most to the largest 
number of people was the part which he played in bringing to fruition the 
building of the railroad into Eureka. He worked unceasingly in the gather- 
ing of data regarding income and advantages to be derived from the extension 
of the road of the Northwestern Pacific from San Francisco to Eureka, and 
had it not been for the determination and persistency of Mr. Georgeson and 
his colleagues of the Humboldt County Railway Promotion committee it is 
probable that the road would not have materialized for at least twenty years. 

In the veins of Mr. Georgeson flows the blood of Scotch ancestors and 
he himself is a native of that country, his birth occurring in Walls, Shetland 
Islands, Scotland, September 16, 1858, son of George and Catherine (Mouat) 
Georgeson, both of whom were descendants of old and honorable families in 
that country. The father was a prosperous merchant and ship-owner, owning 
several vessels which were engaged in cod and herring fishing. It had been 
the father's most cherished wish that the son would settle down in his native 
country and to that end he had laid elaborate plans, but these were destined 
to go unfulfilled, for in the meantime the son had had visions of even brighter 
prospects in the new world, and at the age of eighteen he bade farewell to 
home and friends and set out for the United States. When he arrived at his 
destination in California he had just $20 left from the allowance which his 
father had given him, but he was not disturbed regarding the condition of 
his finances. Going to Sonoma county he turned his hand to whatever offered 
an honest livelihood, his chief occupation being as a clerk, following this also 
in Mendocino county, whither he went from Sonoma county. After another 
short stay in the last mentioned county he came to Humboldt county, in 1879, 
going directly to Blocksburg, where at the instigation of Mr. Helmke, for 
whom he worked in Sonoma county, he opened a merchandise business in 
which they were both interested. The business proved a splendid success 
and was continued for six years. With the means which Mr. Georgeson had 
in the meantime accumulated he was able to devote his attention to a line 
of business which had always been especially interesting to him, namely the 
wool business, with which he also had more or less to do while engaged in 
the merchandise business, wool being one of the commodities handled. He 
was thus enabled to make a special study of the various grades and became 
further familiar with the business by learning the mountain trails and becom- 
ing acquainted with the inhabitants. It has been said that no wool buyer in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 285 

the west traveled more miles or more thoroughly investigated the manage- 
ment of the sheep business than did he. As a representative of the firm of 
Shubert, Beale & Co., he traveled throughout the counties of Humboldt, 
Mendocino, Sonoma, in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, as well as 
in the states of Nevada and Oregon, his purchases at times amounting to 
one million pounds of wool a day. This business declined when the tariit* 
upon wool was reduced, and finally, after a service of ten years with the firm 
mentioned, he resigned his position and in Eureka resumed wool operations, 
making purchases for a large eastern firm. Finally, however, he abandoned 
the business altogether, in 1896, and at the same time identified himself with 
the Humboldt County Bank. After the death of Cashier Libby he was 
elected to fill the office thus vacated, a position which he filled acceptably 
for twelve years. Subsequently he served as president of this institution for 
five years, from 1905 to 1911. 

In 1910 ^Ir. Georgeson bought his present ranch of three hundred acres 
near Pepperwood, on Eel river, which is one of the show places of Humboldt 
county. Here he has erected a fine two-story country residence, with the 
suitable outbuildings, besides which he has built a laurel sawmill and a red- 
wood shingle mill. As a protection to his ranch from the washing of the 
waters of the Eel river he has built a system of jetties at a cost of about 
$10,000, which will protect his land against the further ravages of the 
turbulent Eel river. His land is as fertile as the valley of the Nile, and on 
it he raises alfalfa to perfection without irrigation, and he is enabled to cut 
four or five crops a year. It is his intention to keep and milk two hundred 
cows, an undertaking which will bring his income up to $20,000 per annum. 
It is not too great praise to say that he has one of the finest ranches in the 
county, and he is constantly on the lookout to improve its fertility and pro- 
ductive capacity. 

x\s an indication of the regard in which he is held by his fellow-citizens 
came his election to the office of mayor of Eureka in 1911. He filled the office 
to the entire satisfaction of those who had been responsible for his election, 
and he was solicited to continue in the office, but repeated solicitation was 
unavailing, as his personal interests demanded his constant attention and 
necessitated his removal to Pepperwood, hence the impossibility of again 
becoming a candidate for the office. 

On November 26, 1886, Mr. Georgeson married ]\Iiss Ellen T. Thompson, 
a native of Iowa, where their marriage took place. She was the daughter 
of J. F. Thompson, an account of whose many accomplishments will be found 
in his sketch, elsewhere in this volume. Three children have been born of 
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Georgeson : Franklin T., an architect of high 
repute in Eureka, a graduate of the department of architecture at Berkeley, 
and an account of whose life will be found in this volume ; Donald, who is 
employed in the office of the Standard, having full charge of that paper ; and 
Frederick W., Jr., at home with his parents. In addition to the many interests 
already enumerated Mr. Georgeson owns the Larabee tract, containing two 
hundred twenty acres, which he is now subdividing and selling off in five, 
ten and twenty acre tracts. This property is located on Larabee creek 
tributary to Eel river, is rich in soil and well adapted to horticulture and 
agriculture, especially the raising of alfalfa and potatoes. Mr. Georgeson 
was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., Eureka, exalted 



286 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to R. A. degree in Humboldt Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., is a member of Eureka 
Commandery No. 35, K. T. ; Oakland Consistory, Scottish Rite, and Islam 
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; also Eureka Lodge No. 652, 
B. P. O. E. 

Through his own earnest perseverance and adherence to high principles 
in all of his transactions he has carved out for himself a career vi^hich he may 
well look back upon with pride, and is today in possession of the well deserved 
respect and confidence of the entire community. 

HON. JOHN H. G. WEAVER.— To have been chosen the first president 
of the Humboldt County Bar Association and to have been retained in the 
office as its sole incumbent is no slight honor, and it is a matter worthy of 
more than trivial mention that one should be prominently associated with 
the bar of the same city for a period of nearly forty years, taking charge of 
cases that involve legal technicalities, winning frequent victories in the most 
exacting and intricate court trials, and rising into prominence as advocate 
and counselor. Such honors have come to Mr. Weaver and such prominence 
has been his in a long association with the bar of Eureka and Humboldt 
county, where he has been a resident through years of successful activity. In 
seeking a location for the practice of law he came west from Michigan, where 
his previous life had been passed and his education obtained. A native of 
Coldwater, Branch county, that state, he was born September 6, 1846, and 
was attending school at the outbreak of the Civil war. At the age of eighteen 
years, February 22, 1865, he enlisted as a private in Company I, Eleventh 
Michigan Infantry, Army of the Cumberland. He served until after the close 
of the war, when he was mustered out and honorably discharged September 
23, 1865. After he had completed the studies of the high schools at Quincy 
and Coldwater, Mich., he took the scientific course in Hillsdale College and 
was graduated in 1872 with the degree of B. S. Having begun the study of 
law in an office at Coldwater, he later entered the University of Michigan, 
from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1874. During the 
same year he was admitted to practice before the courts of Michigan. Im- 
mediately thereafter he removed to Kansas and was principal of La Cygne 
Schools for two years. 

A school teacher at Areata for a year after his arrival in Humboldt county 
during April of 1876, Mr. Weaver came to Eureka in 1877 and has engaged 
in law practice here ever since. The Republican party has had in him an 
experienced and wise local leader and he has been deservedly conspicuous in 
all of the party affairs here. For one term he served as city attorney of 
Eureka and in the sessions of 1883 and 1885 he represented the county as 
assemblyman in the state legislature. Fraternally he was made a INIason in 
La Cygne (Kan.) Lodge, but since 1878 he has been a member of Humboldt 
Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M. Since 1886 he has been honored with the office 
of commander of Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., at Eureka, and in 
all of that period he has led the Grand Army in its local philanthropies, its 
kindnesses to the living and its tributes of honor for the dead. By his mar- 
riage to Miss Flora Williams, a native of Indiana, he has two daughters, 
Charlotte and Bonita, both graduates of the University of California and 
young ladies of culture, training and accomplishments. The younger daughter 
at present is a teacher in the Madera (Cal.) high school. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 287 

GEORGE W. OWSLEY, — Almost phenomenally successful in his various 
undertakings, and especially so in his real estate ventures, George W. Owsley, 
of the firm of Hunter & Owsley, of Eureka, is today one of the leading men of 
that vicinity and of Humboldt county. He was for a number of years asso- 
ciated with the lumber industry, when a young man, and now owns extensive 
timber lands in this county. He also owns valuable farm lands, and has 
mining interests in Alaska which are as yet undeveloped but are undoubt- 
edly of great value. He has been closely associated with the financial and 
commercial life of Eureka for many years and is accredited as one of the most 
reliable and trustworthy members of the community. He is prominent in all 
matters which tend toward the development of the community and municipal 
progress and social betterment, and is a prominent factor in the governmental 
affairs of the city. 

Mr. Owsley is a native of Illinois, having been born in Pike county, 
October 11, 1861. His father was William Owsley and his mother Deborah 
(Johnson) Owsley. The father was a farmer and when George W. was five 
years old he removed with his family to Holt county. Mo., where the son 
grew to manhood. The father died many years ago in Missouri, and the 
mother passed her last years in Eureka, at the home of her son. There were 
eight children in the family, of whom only three are living at the present 
time : the respected citizen of Eureka, and two sisters, who reside in San 
Francisco. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Owsley were spent in Missouri on his father's 
farm, where he assisted with the farm work and attended the public schools 
in his district. When nineteen years of age he determined to come to Cali- 
fornia, and made the trip alone, reaching Sacramento in 1880. There he 
remained for three months, when he came to Eureka, and has since that time 
made his home in Humboldt county. For a time he worked in the woods, 
being first employed by Charles Hill. Later he was employed in the con- 
struction work of the railroad on Elk river. 

The marriage of Mr. Owsley took place at Bridgeville, Cal., uniting him 
\vith Miss Lizzie Donaldson, a native of Oregon, and the daughter of William 
and Martha Donaldson. Her parents removed from Portland, Ore., to Eureka 
when she was but four years of age, and she grew to womanhood in Hum- 
boldt county, receiving her education in the public schools. She has borne 
her husband three children, Grace, Mamie and Le Roy. 

Following his marriage Mr. Owsley lived for a time at Rohnerville, where 
he made his home for some twenty-four years. During the great mining 
excitement of 1898 he went to Alaska on a prospecting trip but returned that 
same fall. He then engaged in the real estate business at Rohnerville, buying 
and selling real estate and making a specialty of redwood lands. He has 
become heavily interested in timber lands and at present owns one thousand 
and five acres of tan oak and pine, two hundred acres of which is good pro- 
ducing farm land. He also owns much other real estate and residence prop- 
erty, including a ranch of one hundred and eighty acres on Elk, river, a 
residence property in Ferndale, and a residence in Eureka, where he makes 
his home. 

In addition to his timber and land interests Mr. Owsley is associated 
with various financial and commercial interests in Eureka and is one of the 
stockholders in the Humboldt National Bank in Eureka. He is also part owner 



288 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in a gold and ruby mining property in Alaska which promises to prove of 
great value. There are ten members of the corporation and altogether their 
property covers an area of four thousand acres. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Owsley are well known throughout Humboldt county, 
and in Eureka they are especially well and favorably known and possess a 
wide circle of warm friends. Mrs. Owsley has been her husband's close com- 
panion and true helpmeet through all the years of their married life, and he 
gives her credit for a large measure of his splendid success. He has won his 
way up through the force of his own energy, his ability and willingness to 
work hard and his determination to carry out any undertaking that he enters 
upon. His judgment is clear and logical, and this has enabled him to make 
his investments in such a manner that his returns have been certain and 
have come soon. Altogether he is one of the most desirable citizens that 
Humboldt county boasts and is today a power for progress and well-being in 
the community. 

FRANK R. SWEASEY— Of the law firm of Leiss & Sweasey, in San 
Francisco, is a Humboldt county "boy" who is making so good that the 
home folks are quite justified in feeling proud of him. Mr. Sweasey is the 
son of Richard and Annie M. (Wilson) Sweasey, and was born in Eureka, 
December 20, 1875. He received his early education in the Eureka public 
schools, and still keeps in close and friendly touch with the friends and com- 
panions of those "barefoot" days. After graduating from high school he com- 
pleted a three years' scientific course at the University of California. After- 
wards he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, from which he was graduated in 1900, with the degree of LL. B. 

Although he chose an eastern school for his alma mater, this loyal son 
never for a moment contemplated deserting his native state, and immediately 
on receiving his sheep-skin he returned to San Francisco, where he was 
admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in 1901, being associated 
with Nathan H. Frank, the leading maritime lawyer of San Francisco; there- 
after for five years he was in the office of Gillett & Cutler, and for two years 
of that time was in charge of their Eureka office. In 1909-10 he was appointed 
the first attorney for the Superintendent of Banks of the State of California, 
serving under the then Superintendent Alden Anderson. Mr. Sweasey formed 
his present partnership with Mr. Emil Leiss in 1912, under the firm name of 
Leiss & Sweasey, and together they have builded a most enviable business 
reputation. 

Mr. Sweasey, despite his business success and popularity in the Golden 
Gate city, has never forgotten Eureka, or lost his affectionate interest in the 
affairs of Humboldt county. He still maintains his business relations with 
his native city, and has many interests here. Probably the most important 
of these is the Humboldt Steamship Company, of which he is secretary and 
member of the board of directors. 

The greatest compliment which he has paid to his home county, how- 
ever, lies in the fact that he chose his wife from among her daughters, the 
present Mrs. Sweasey being the former Miss Barbara Ann McLeod, native 
of Fortuna, Humboldt county. In San Francisco both Mr. and Mrs. Sweasey 
have a wide circle of friends, and Mr. Sweasey is a member of the San Fran- 
cisco Bar Association, the Commonwealth Club and the Economic Club, the 
latter two numbering among their membership the most influential and pro- 
gressive men of California. 





iP^^K^-z^^^ /i/e^iA^^_^^3o-tn.^nx_ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 291 

JAMES BERRY BROWN was born July 12, 1837, in Camden, Preble 
county, Ohio. He was the scion of a long puissant line of ancestors com- 
mencing almost at the threshold of the pioneers of American freedom. Pos- 
sessed with the stimulus of a high ambition and the heritage of a sturdy an- 
cestral stock, he has proved himself the heir of moral purity and excellence 
and of great educational force and power in the community in which he has 
lived for the last fifty-three years. 

All his ancestors were Friends or Quakers in religious faith, and the 
earlier ones came to this country with the William Penn colonists near the 
close of the seventeenth century, and settled near Camden, New Jersey. 
Later they moved to Virginia, and still later from there to North Carolina, 
where they were at the time of the Revolutionary war. After this they 
divided on the slavery question, the proslavery wing going further south, 
finally becoming slaveholders, and those opposed to slavery came north and 
settled in Ohio, near Circleville and in Preble county, where they formed, 
with other Friends, quite a colony. Mr. Brown's mother, Nancy (Berry) 
Brown, was of Scotch-Irish descent. Her parents were Scotch Covenanters, 
or Presbyterians. His grandfather served with William Henry Harrison 
in the War of 1812. 

As soon as he was old enough he attended school, such as they had in 
those days. In the fall of 1847 the family moved to Lee county, Iowa, where 
he also attended school until the spring of 1849, when his father, as did many 
others, caught the gold fever, and started across the plains to California with 
ox teams. Although he was only twelve years of age at this time, his father, 
before starting for California, put him to work with a neighbor farmer for the 
summer at $4 per month. His father, however, soon returned from California, 
broken in health, and James Berry was thrown upon his own resources not 
only for his own living and education, but he had to assist the family as well. 

He received his early education in the schools of Ohio, and finally, after 
they had moved to Iowa, by dint of the strictest economy, he was enabled to 
attend the state normal department of the University qf Iowa in 1855 and 
1856, where he could not stay to graduate, but did stay long enough to 
receive from the head of that department a certificate entitling him to teach 
in the state of Iowa "all the English branches." He taught his first school 
in Cincinnati, Appanoose county, Iowa. He was then only nineteen years of 
age and in that school he enrolled sixty-four pupils, ranging from five to 
twenty-one years of age — indeed a big task for the first school of a young 
man of only nineteen years. His school must have been a success, for he 
taught there three years. When not teaching he was going to school, work- 
ing on the farm and in the mills to get means to acquire more schooling 
that he might be the better prepared for educational work — his chosen life 
work. 

With the Pike's Peak gold excitement in the spring of 1859 came the 
"parting of the ways" which comes to most men. He caught the fever, like 
many others, and in May, 1859, he, his brother, Jesse R. Brown, and another 
partner, drove from his father's home in Iowa for Pike's Peak, elated and 
hopeful of great success. He left a father and mother, a brother and three 
sisters, expecting to return soon. But they never met again. Before they 
reached Pike's Peak they changed their plans and headed for California, the 
land of gold and sunshine. After a long, slow and tedious journey through 



292 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

deserts, over mountains and across plains they arrived in Butte county, on 
September 30, 1859. 

His first work in California was herding sheep on Table Mountain. The 
following summer he worked on a farm near Chico. It was here he cast his 
first vote, which was for Abraham Lincoln, the martyr and the greatest man 
of his time. It took nerve to so cast a vote in some places in this state at 
that time. The state was then in a political turmoil. Speakers were then 
going up and down the state discussing the great question that was dis- 
rupting the Union, and the state was saved to the Union only by a hair's 
breadth. The rebel sentiment was strong in many parts of the state. 

Mr. Brown was in San Mateo county when Fort Sumter was fired upon. 
He attended the great Union demonstration on July 4th of that year in San 
Francisco, where General Sumner (who had just succeeded Gen. Albert Sidney 
Johnston, who had for some time been in command of the Department of the 
Pacific, and who was later one of the leading generals in the Confederate 
army) was the notable in the great procession and demonstration. 

Mr. Brown, then as now, was loyal to the core, and on November 26, 
1861, at the Presidio, enlisted in the first regiment that was mustered to go 
east, via isthmus, into active service at the front. But to his great disappoint- 
ment the regiment was retained on this coast, split into small detachments, 
which detachments relieved the regulars stationed at the various localities so 
they could be taken east where hostilities between the north and south had 
commenced. Mr. Brown's company and one other were sent to Santa Bar- 
bara, where they remained until April, 1862, when they were returned to 
San Francisco Bay and landed on Alcatras Island. They remained there but 
a short time when they were sent to Fort Humboldt, in Humboldt county, 
where they remained in the service until their terms had expired and they 
were then taken to San Francisco and discharged. In 1864 their service in 
Humboldt county consisted mainly in tramping over the mountains sup- 
pressing the uprisings of the Indians. 

Having seen much of Humboldt county during this service, and having 
formed a favorable opinion of the county, he decided to return to it ; so, on 
January 5, 1865, he took passage on the old bark Jeanette, Captain Smith in 
command, and after a voyage of twenty-nine days, with nothing left to eat 
but salt codfish, pea-soup, hot cakes and coffee, landed at the foot of F 
street in Eureka. 

In coming here it was his purpose to again take up the vocation of teach- 
ing. His first position was as teacher of the Bucksport school, where he 
remained three years. In April, 1868, he was elected principal of the Eureka 
schools, and in the following November he was appointed county superin- 
tendent of schools. He filled these positions jointly until the end of 1874, 
when he declined reelection as county superintendent, and devoted his whole 
time to his work as principal of the Eureka schools. In the fall of 1886 he 
was again elected county superintendent of schools. He then resigned as 
principal of the Eureka schools and devoted his whole time to his duties as 
superintendent. He served as superintendent in all twenty-two years, and as 
teacher in this county thirty-two and one-half years. He has been engaged 
in educational work in this county for forty-eight and one-half years. 

Mr. Brown is of a positive, unbending nature, and maintained the strict- 
est discipline in school — severe at times — and some thought on occasions too 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 293 

severe and needlessly so. He was an enthusiastic worker in the school room, 
and had the faculty of awaking in his pupils the same enthusiastic spirit he 
possessed, as well as the faculty of imparting to them the knowledge he had 
gained. 

While he demanded and compelled the most rigid deportment in the 
school room, the most exact compliance with his rules of government, he was 
genial without and held the highest esteem and respect of his pupils, and 
we believe, among the thousands that attended his school, not one can be 
found today that does not honor and respect him — proud that they had once 
been a pupil of his — and all feel that his teachings and the influence he 
exerted upon them while they were under him have largely moulded their 
lives in the right direction and are proud to call him teacher. The influence 
upon their lives of his sterling integrity and his moral purity and excellence 
can never be fully known, but undoubtedly it has assisted largely in the bet- 
terment of their lives, and thereby in the upbuilding of this community. 

The teacher of our youth attunes the chords that stretch far down 
through the coming centuries and as they are attuned so will they resound. 

Mr. Brown recognized the fact that a school should fit the pupil for the 
struggle of life, and not to relieve him from it ; that an education should not 
be a surface shine, but should evolve character and fit the pupil for the 
opportunity when it comes, and it comes at least once in a lifetime to all. 

Many of his recommendations while superintendent of schools of this 
county have been formulated and enacted into laws and are now a portion 
of the laws of this state governing our school system. 

This man stands out preeminently as an educator, the upbuilder of char- 
acter, the moulder of moral sentiment — the man who, probably more than 
any other man in the community, instilled into the rising generation truth- 
fulness of thought which leads to honesty of action. 

It is great consolation to him in his advanced years to have his old 
pupils, now many of them the fathers and mothers of families, come to him 
and renew the old-time memories of by-gone school days, as they 
frequently do. 

Mr. Brown was made a Mason in 1868, is a past master of Humboldt 
Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of which lodge he has been secretary for thirty-five 
years, and which office he now fills. His reports to the Grand Lodge of 
Masons of California are models of neatness, full and concise in statements, 
and perfect in form — so much so that they have attracted the attention of 
the Grand Lodge. 

He helped organize what was known as the Eureka Guard, from which 
grew the present company of the Naval Reserve, and which was a company 
of the National Guard of California. It was organized in 1879. He was 
elected first lieutenant at its organization and afterwards captain ; was 
finally commissioned and mustered brigadier-general of the Sixth Brigade 
of the National Guard of California, and is now on the retired list as such. 

He is a charter member of Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., and 
a past commander of the post. His love of country and interest in the growth 
of patriotic sentiment is second to none. He takes great interest in the 
Grand Army and loves to meet with the boys of '61 to '65 around the camp- 
fire and hear them spin their old-time war stories. 



294 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

His present family consists of his wife, Adele Cummings Brown, a 
daughter, Katherine Lueve Brown, and himself. 

The above is a brief sketch of his life — nothing in it startling, strange or 
heroic ; yet it shows an effort to accomplish the best that was in him, and, 
through his calling, the impress for good he has made upon the consciences 
of the thousands of youths of our land is far-reaching, beyond estimate, and 
cannot be measured in dollars and cents. He was and is a man of high ideals 
and his aim was to so teach and act that those who went forth from under his 
tuition should have like ideals. The best one can do is equal to the best any 
other one can do. Pompey buys a brush, whitewashes a fence, and earns 
fifty cents. This is the best he can do. Patti sings a song and earns $1500. 
Millet paints "The Angelus" and earns $150,000. If each does his best, 
isn't each entitled to equal credit? 

Today Mr. Brown is honored and respected by all his grown-up pupils, 
by his neighbors and friends, by all who know him, as being a man of ster- 
ling integrity, of moral purity and force, of truthfulness in thought, of hon- 
esty in action. His sun will go down, but his influence for good will live 
on and on, always tending towards the light. 

JOHN U. HALTINNER.— From the 'age of eighteen years Mr. Haltin- 
ner has made his home in the United States, having at that time crossed the 
ocean from his native country, Switzerland, in the hope that the new world 
might afford to him greater advantages than appeared to be offered in the 
land of his birth. The fact of having an uncle in Santa Rosa caused him to 
come at once to the Pacific coast and to seek the county-seat of Sonoma 
county, where in the brewing plant of the uncle he found immediate employ- 
ment. The privations of early poverty had made him self-reliant and natural 
endowments of industry and perseverance aided him in his effort to rise 
out of the class of lowly paid day laborers. It became possible for him 
in the course of a few years to buy the brewing plant from his uncle, to whom 
eventually he sold the property. 

A long identification with the brewing business in Santa Rosa was fol- 
lowed by the removal of Mr. Haltinner to Eureka in 1895 and here he bought 
the Eureka brewery, formerly owned by P. McAllenan, a plant somewhat 
small in dimensions, but characterized by the excellence of its brew. For 
seven years he continued the business without any partner, but at the 
expiration of the time he formed an association with A. Johnson, the two 
remaining together doing business under the name of the Humboldt Brewing 
Company for eighteen months, when they sold out to Mr. Kuehnrich, who 
in turn sold to the present owners. In 1905 he made a trip to Switzerland, 
Germany and France, and after some time passed in those countries returned 
to Eureka and entered the employ of the Humboldt Brewing Company. He 
had charge of their steam beer plant until 1908, when he resigned and retired 
from active business affairs, since which time he has lived quietly at his home, 
No. 279 Hillsdale avenue, and with his wife and three children has held the 
confidence of associates and the warm regard of friends. Humboldt county 
has in him a stanch believer in its future prosperity and a firm advocate of 
all those measures calculated to promote the common welfare. 









^ 
^ 




HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY' 297 

LEWIS SHERMAN EAST.— A son of one of the pioneer families in 
Humboldt county, Cal., and one of the most progressive and successful farm- 
ers in the vicinity of Alton is Lewis S. East, a prominent man in the affairs 
of the county, where he has recently been chosen president of the Hum- 
boldt County Farm Bureau, being prominently connected also with many 
other interests and enterprises in that part of the state. 

The father of Lewis S. East was John Samuel East, a native of London, 
England, where he was a farmer. Before his marriage he went to Australia, 
and at Adelaide was united with Miss Sarah Jane Sweeney, a native of Dub- 
lin, Ireland. In Australia Mr. East followed farming, giving it up in 1861, 
when he brought his family to California, by sailing vessel, landing at San 
Francisco. Until 1863 he resided in Marin county, in that year coming to 
Humboldt county. Settlement was first made on Eel river island at the 
mouth of the river; from there removal was made to Cuddeback, where Mr. 
East started to take up a claim, but the Indians were so troublesome that 
he had to take his family into Hydesville for safety, thence later going to 
Rohnerville. There he was engaged in making shaved shingles for about 
two years, after which he purchased a sixty-five acre ranch on Eel river bot- 
tom, one mile below Alton, on which he made great improvements, residing 
there until his death, January 2, 1891, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife 
died in 1895, at the age of fifty-three. 

There were nine children in the East family, the two oldest having 
been born in Australia : Daniel J. is a stock rancher residing at laqua, Cal. ; 
Edward G., a commission merchant, resides in Eureka ; Adeline, who was 
born in Marin county, became the wife of A. L. Zahner, proprietor of the 
Star Hotel, Fortuna ; John R. is a farmer and retired rancher, residing near 
Alton ; William J. is a dairyman and race horse driver at Rohnerville ; Lewis 
S. is the subject of this sketch ; Sarah J. died at the age of nineteen ; Mary died 
at six years of age ; Emily Theresa is now the widow of Seth Drake of 
Fortuna. 

Lewis Sherman East was born at Rohnerville November 19, 1870, and 
grew up on the farm in the Eel River valley. He was married December 17, 
1896, to Miss Elizabeth Ellen Davis, of Alton, the daughter of Harrison 
Davis, a native of Ross county, Ohio. Mrs. Davis was in maidenhood Margaret 
Keating, a native of London, England. She was raised in Australia until 
seventeen, when she came to Humboldt county, Cal. Here occurred her mar- 
riage to Mr. Davis. He became the owner of a farm on McDiarmidt Prairie, 
making his home there until accidentally killed by a train in 1906. His widow 
still makes her home in the vicinity of Alton. They were the parents of 
twelve children, ten of whom are living. Mrs. East, who was next to the 
oldest, was reared and educated here. Mr. and Mrs. East have one child, 
Ethel M., who is a freshman in the L'niversity of California at Berkeley. 

Aside from the management of the East Brothers ferry, one mile below 
Alton on the Eel river, which he personally operated for ten years, Mr. East 
has been engaged in farming, dairying and stock raising ; his present farm 
consists of one hundred ten acres of bottom land and sixty-five acres of 
grazing land. He is breeding thoroughbred and high grade Jersey cattle, 
having a herd of forty-two milch cows. He owns an orchard of seventeen acres 
where he raises fine apples, shipping fifteen hundred boxes per year. 

Mr. East is the president of the Humboldt County Farm Bureau, to 



298 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

which office he was elected in August, 1914. The other officers of this bureau 
are: H. E. Adams, of Carlotta, Cal., vice-president; C. J. McConnaha, secre- 
tary and business manager; A. H. Christensen, farm adviser. The four 
directors at large are: F. A. Cummings, Ferndale; E. B. Bull, Ft. Seward; 
F. A. Newell, Fortuna; and F. E. Morrell, Areata. Besides these there is a 
director elected from each of the thirteen farm centers in the county. 

Numerous other companies claim the attention of Mr. East, for besides 
the above-mentioned position, he is a director in the Ferndale Agricultural 
(Fair) Association, vice-president of the Dairy Association at Ferndale, a 
member of the Ferndale Cow Testing Association and of the Rohnerville 
Percheron Horse Company, of which he is also treasurer, this company own- 
ing the celebrated gray imported Percheron stallion, Idumeen, five years old, 
weighing twenty-one hundred and thirty pounds, and costing $4,800. Mr. 
East is also president of the Eel River Valley Chamber of Commerce, which 
was organized in 1914 for the purpose of promoting the best interests of the 
Eel River Valley. He is a member of the Republican county central com- 
mittee. 

Fraternally Mr. East is a member of Eel River Lodge No. 210, L O. O. F., 
at Rohnerville, of Hydesville Encampment, L O. O. F., and is past officer in 
both. He and his wife are members of the Rebekahs at Hydesville. Mr. East 
likewise holds membership in the Golden Star Parlor, N. S. G. W., at Alton, 
having been through the chairs. 

COGGESHALL LAUNCH & TOW BOAT CO.— The important fac- 
tor in the life and prosperity of every seaport is necessarily its shipping. 
The value of its imports and exports, combined with the size, number and 
efficiency of its carriers, registers on the commercial thermometer the size 
and importance of the port in the business world. Had an article been writ- 
ten about the close of the nineteenth century on the shipping industry as 
connected with the inland waters of the Humboldt bay, it would have touched 
upon the now obsolete wind-jammer, at the present time relegated to ancient 
history as regards the commerce of the Pacific coast ports very much as is 
the whaler of Atlantic coast ports ; superseded in her work and importance 
by the modern steamer of much greater tonnage and carrying capacity. The 
steamer propelled by its own power combines efficiency, despatch and econ- 
omy impossible in the deposed wind-jammer. As great a change as is notice- 
able in the large outside cargo carriers may be noticed in the class and char- 
acter of bottoms used in the inland waters of the bay. Were the bay business 
handled today with the same equipment used at the time the wind-jammer 
handled the commerce of this port and were the crude methods of that time 
still in vogue, the dispatch demanded by the outside vessels while in the bay 
completing cargoes could never be given. 

The inland transportation of the Humboldt bay is an auxiliary of the 
outside. Methods on the bay have advanced and system has been inaug- 
urated where formerly it was ''every man for himself." As far as the steamer 
is ahead of the practically discarded sailing ship, so far are the bay craft of 
the present day ahead of the class of boats used in the olden times. During 
the opening year of the twentieth century the transportation of two million 
shingles from some mill up in one of the sloughs to the tackle of a ship would 
have taken a large share of the lighter equipment of the bay. The pike-pole 
navigators, several of whom were doing business then, would have been 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 299 

utilized in the task. Today an order for five million shingles delivered along- 
side would give no one any particular concern. They would be loaded on 
lighters, of which there are several capable of handling from one million to 
a million and a half. The load would be taken in tow by a launch of suf- 
ficient power to handle and dock a large steamer. More easily than under the 
old system one million shingles were handled, this whole large lot would be 
docked alongside. The modern launch, equipped with from fifty to one hun- 
dred or more horse-power, has taken the place of the picturesque relic of the 
"good old days" and the man with the pike pole. Shipping coming in from 
outside demands the services of a force of longshoremen greatly in excess 
of the number required in former days when the men went to the vessels, 
taking cargo in the stream and at wharves several miles distant from the 
city wharves, mostly in row boats or in small and unreliable launches. Today 
the gasoline marine engine is conceded to be as reliable as steam, and no 
matter what number of men may be required to work a ship, they are put 
aboard from a large launch with celerity and certainty. 

In the olden times large picnics were handled by means of small lighters 
which were tied up to a central wharf. When a load was procured the pic- 
nickers were towed down the bay to the desired place. Today when there 
is a picnic, with an attendance of upwards of four thousand, a service is 
inaugurated composed of powerful, comfortable boats, capable of carrying 
from one hundred to two hundred persons, and these leave for the picnic 
grounds at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes. Formerly parties wishing to 
go to the trans-bay town of Samoa hired a row boat and pulled across. Many 
times a breeze would spring up prior to their return, making the bay choppy, 
so that the rowers would return drenched to the skin. In former days ves- 
sels wanting boiler water and loading at points on the bay where the desired 
article was not obtainable, were under the necessity of leaving their docks 
and steaming to Eureka to secure water before going to sea. At present 
vessels wishing oil and water lay at their dock and an oil or water barge 
comes alongside giving them whichever they desire, the ship thus being 
saved delay and consequently saved money as well. 

These comparisons between conditions on the bay in the past and at the 
present time are not made in a spirit of criticism. The methods and equip- 
ments of those days were sufficient for the then requirements. When the 
need for larger, better service came, there were men ready to embrace the 
opportunity. The result is that the waterfront is up-to-date. Steamship men 
and travelers are quick to appreciate the launch service on the Humboldt. 
Those who have visited at every port on the Pacific concede that the launches 
here are superior in equipment, design and comfort to any vessels of the 
same class on the entire coast. In 1912 the underwriters of San Francisco 
were considering the advisability of accepting risks on launches and sent their 
representative to survey the launches on the Humboldt bay. As a result 
they adopted them as a standard to which the San Francisco launches must 
adhere in order to be considered insurable risks. 

One June morning ten or more years ago a transparency reading 
"Coggeshall Launch Co., Ferry to Samoa," appeared at the foot of F street, 
Eureka, (this street being the launch center of the port). Capt. W. Coggeshall 
was the "Company," being himself president, secretary, office boy, ticket 
taker, and master of the little boat of twenty-passenger capacity which he had 



300 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

purchased from William McDade, the Humboldt bay shipbuilder who since 
has made a reputation as a master builder extending from Puget sound to the 
Pacific coast. No one knew anything about Captain Coggeshall except that 
he evidently was a Yankee and smilingly stated that he was from Nan- 
tucket, an island off the Massachusetts coast. When he left on his scheduled 
trips across the bay on the little boat, the Island Home, the transparency was 
left to "hold down the job" until he returned. The trim boat attracted favor- 
able attention, but there were already two or three small power boats on 
the bay and the people did not understand how another launch could support 
its owner. Yet within three months Captain Coggeshall had designed the 
Nantucket, Mr. McDade had built the boat and it was in commission, for a 
long time running as the Pomona. The next step of the venturesome Captain 
was the building of an office and the taking in of the transparency. It was 
thereupon freely predicted that the building of the large boat would finan- 
cially ruin the owner, for the Nantucket was the first passenger launch in 
the port and there seemed little use for such a vessel. Yet within a year a 
third launch was designed and built, the next year a fourth was added, a 
year later a fifth was added to the possessions of the company, this being 
the Wannacomet. Two years later the Miacomet was launched and put into 
commission. The first boat was built thirty feet in length with seven horse- 
power ; the last boat was sixty-five feet long, with one hundred and thirty- 
five horse-power. 

After having operated an exclusive passenger service for the first two 
years. Captain Coggeshall then bought one small lighter. At the present 
time, either through purchase or by building, he has come into the owner- 
ship of eleven. The first lighter carried fifteen tons cargo and the last one 
was built for two hundred tons. The company, which is now capitalized at 
$50,000, owns the six launches and eleven lighters, employs a superintendent 
and from sixteen to twenty men, and has the reputation of working its men 
the shortest hours and paying them the highest wages of any company of 
a similar nature operating on any Pacific coast port. About 1911 the com- 
pany purchased the ferry steamer Antelope from the Hammond Lumber 
Company, together with their lighters and good-will, that concern being a 
competitor in a way. 

The Marine Exchange of Humboldt bay was started by Captain 
Coggeshall about 1909. Finding that the general public were in ignorance 
concerning the movement of vessels in San Francisco harbor and along the 
coast, he established the exchange in order to systematize such information 
and to serve as an auxiliary to the general business of the shippers. From 
its nature it is of course not a money-making proposition. About 1907 the 
Captain made a contract with the government to operate as United States 
mail contractor on all the steam schooners running between Eureka and 
San Francisco. Prior to that time the mail had come to Eureka on two 
steamship lines exclusively. Through his system every steamer between 
this port and San Francisco became a mail steamer and the efficiency of the 
service was greatly enhanced. It had not been uncommon for an interval to 
occur of three days between mails, but under the present system the port 
practically has one mail in and one mail out every day, the exceptions being 
infrequent. All the lighters and launches of the company were designed by 
the Captain and built by Mr. McDade. During the Pacific coast visit of the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 301 

great American fleet the Captain took the Nantucket and Wannacomet to 
Monterey bay and San Francisco, where they attracted perhaps a greater 
degree of admiring attention than any other boats in evidence. The reputa- 
tion of the company for reliable service is fully established and each year they 
handle three hundred thousand passengers between Eureka and the various 
places of call on the bay. 

When the company took over the New Era park about 1910 its only 
claim to notoriety was a broken-down wharf, a redwood open dance platform 
and several acres of fine trees. Within three months from the date of trans- 
fer New Era park opened up with a casino, 70x150 feet, with a fine floor and 
modern appointments. In point of excellent floor and size of the building, 
Humboldt bay now has the best recreation park and Casino north of San 
Francisco. The first Chautauqua ever held in northern California had its 
headquarters on these grounds, the Casino being used as the auditorium. This 
article is not written for the purpose of exploiting the Coggeshall Launch 
& Tow Boat Company ; yet it is impossible to treat of the bay transportation 
business without dwelling upon the individual and the concern responsible 
for the remarkable transformation of the past decade. Business made the 
great improvement in transportation and Captain Coggeshall happened to be 
the man to work everything out to a definite end. There will always be an 
opportunity at this port. Humboldt bay will be a standard in marine matters 
as long as there are practical men to take advantage of the local opportunity. 
Shipping and commerce are here and the bay business therefore must neces- 
sarily prosper as long as it is under the superintendence of men who thor- 
oughly understand the work and its requirements. 

J. S. MURRAY. — Though not one of the oldest citizens of Eureka, Hum- 
boldt county, Mr. Murray holds the record among its present inhabitants for 
longest continuous residence^ — from 1858 to the present time. For several 
years previously the family had been settled in Humboldt county. He is now 
living retired, but by no means inactive, his beautiful lawn, flower and vege- 
table gardens making his home one of the features of the neighborhood in 
which it is located, and all cared for by his own labor. The Murray family 
have contributed much to the best citizenship of the place, and the father, 
the late John S. Murray, the first representative of the family, made many 
of the original surveys in Humboldt county. 

John S. Murray was a native of Scotland, born at Dysart, near Edin- 
burgh, where he passed his early years. When a young man he went out to 
New Zealand. There he married Janie S. Deuchar, who was born in Aber- 
deenshire, Scotland, and they continued to live in New Zealand until after the 
birth of their eldest two children. Attracted by the stories of gold discov- 
eries in California, these adventurous young people determined to try their 
fortune, and in 1849 came to this country, arriving at San Francisco. After 
two years' residence in that city they came up to Humboldt bay, which Mr. 
Murray had first visited in December, 1850, during the gold excitement at 
Gold Bluff. He returned to San Francisco, and in the spring came back with 
his family, landing in what is now Hvimboldt county May 31st with his wife 
and two children. They first lived at Areata (then called Union) for several 
years, in 1858 moving to Eureka, where a permanent home was made. Mr. 
Murray was engaged almost exclusively at his profession, surveying, for 
which he found plenty of demand, and was considered so skillful and reliable 



302 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

that he was chosen county surveyor several times. He lived to the age of 
sixty-four years, surviving his wife, who died when about fifty-five years old. 
J. S. is the eldest of their four children ; Margaret S. died in Humboldt county ; 
George D., of Eureka, born at Areata, is judge of the Superior court ; Lucy 
A., born at Areata, is the wife of Daniel O. Barto, who resides at Urbana, 111., 
being connected with the University of Illinois. 

J. S. Murray was born March 17, 1848, so he has lived in Humboldt 
county from the age of three years. His education was begun at Areata, but 
acquired mostly at Eureka, where he has lived ever since he removed thither 
with his parents in the year 1858. During his business life he was engaged 
principally in clerical work, beitag a bookkeeper by profession. He began 
in the employ of L. C. Schmidt & Co., hardware merchants, was subsequently 
with the H. H. Buhne Company, in the same line, and later became connected 
with A. W. Randall, real estate operator, who afterward had a private bank 
and in time a state bank. After Mr. Randall's failure, he took a position with 
Belcher & Crane, who carried on an abstract business, remaining with them 
for a period of five or six years. He is now living retired, one of the most 
esteemed residents of Eureka. During his long association with various busi- 
ness houses of the city he became acquainted with many residents of the 
place, by all of whom he is regarded with the utmost respect, for his kindly 
disposition, modest character and sterling personal qualities. Mr. Murray 
built the pleasant cottage home at No. 1407 Fifth street which he and his wife 
have occupied for many years, and the beautiful lawn, profusion of flowers,, 
shrubbery and vegetable garden show the loving care which Mr. Murray 
bestows upon them. The place is a veritable landmark of Eureka. Fraternally 
he is a Mason, and a past master of the blue lodge at Eureka. 

In 1872 Mr. Murray was married at Eureka to Miss Mary W. Cutten, a 
native of Nova Scotia, who came to this city in the '60s with her father, Robert 
D. Cutten, at that time a widower with a family of six children, three sons 
and three daughters. Mr. Cutten was a ship carpenter and spar maker, and. 
after a time became engaged in the manufacture of shingles. Mr. and Mrs. 
Murray have had three children : Jane, who is the wife of H. A. Buck and 
living in San Francisco ; Edward S., of Eureka, and Keith C, who lives at 
San Francisco. The parents are members of the Unitarian Church, with 
which all the family have been associated. 

EDGAR C. COOPER.— Since the world began, affairs of state and of 
government have ever attracted the attention of the most able men of 
the age, challenging their greatest powers, and closely associating them 
with the intimate details of the life of city, state or nation, and ultimately, in 
its largest sense, with the progress of the world. This is particularly so in 
these later days when the science of government has been recognized, and the 
political life of a man lasts only so long as he serves the people — or at least 
keeps them thinking that he does. This last, however, is increasingly diffi- 
cult, and it is quite safe to say that in the commonwealth of California, the 
men who today hold offices in the state are of the finest that are to be found 
here or elsewhere. Among this class may be named the present president of the 
Great Republic Insurance Company of Los Angeles and late state insurance 
commissioner, Edgar C. Cooper, of Eureka, who was appointed to this im- 
portant position by Governor Gillett during the latter part of his term of office, 
and whose term expired in June, 1914. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 303 

In addition to requisites of character and ability, it seems especially ap- 
propriate that the people should have confidence in, and be served in such a 
capacity by, a native son, which Mr. Cooper is. He was born in Eureka, 
Humboldt county, October 6, 1868. He is the son of Solomon and Eliza 
(Wilder) Cooper, natives of England and Maine, respectively, who were mar- 
ried in Massachusetts and came from that state to California in 1852, locating 
in Humboldt county in 1856, and thereafter making that their home. The 
father taught school and later became receiver of public moneys in the United 
States land office at Eureka, which position he held for nineteen years. Edgar 
C. received his education in the public schools of Eureka, graduating from 
the Eureka Academy, and afterward from the Hastings College of Law, in 
San Francisco, in 1891. 

After completing his law studies and being admitted to the bar, young 
Mr. Cooper returned to Eureka, where he began the active practice of his 
chosen profession in partnership with Arthur W. Hill. The private practice 
of the law was not destined to be his life work, however, for his strongest 
inclinations were toward public service, and obtaining the nomination for 
district attorney of Humboldt county on the Republican ticket, in 1898, he 
was elected by a handsome majority. He served in this capacity for four 
years, and in 1903 he was elected city attorney of Eureka, again polling 
a decided majority. He continued to occupy this position until 1906, 
when a wider field opened as the natural result of his unusual ability and his 
splendid grasp of the affairs of the state, and he went to Sacramento as 
private secretary to Governor Gillett. In this new capacity Mr. Cooper 
made many friends and again proved his ability to handle difficult situations 
and to hold in his magnificent mind the multitude of details to be summoned 
when they were of vital importance to his chief. As a further recognition of 
his merit. Governor Gillett, in June, 1910, appointed him insurance com- 
missioner of California, which position he filled until June, 1914, when he 
resigned to assume the presidency of the Great Republic Life Insurance Com- 
pany of Los Angeles. To this companj^'s interests he is giving his active 
attention and the benefit of his years of professional experience. 

Mr. Cooper was married in Eureka, being united with Miss Margaret 
Johnson, a native of Humboldt county, who died in Sacramento in 1909, 
leaving two children : Elizabeth Marie and Dorothy Prescott. 

Always keenly interested in the affairs of his city, county and state, Mr. 
Cooper has been a factor in the affairs of his party for many years, and in 
Eureka, which he still claims as his home, and where he holds large financial 
interests, he is recognized as one of the most influential men in the civic 
affairs of the city. He is progressive and aggressive, broad-minded and clear- 
headed, with a wonderful faculty for grasping a situation in a few moments 
and retaining the details. 

Another phase of affairs w^hich interests this genial statesman is the 
fraternal life of his home city, where he is a member of several of the promi- 
nent orders. Although he has necessarily been away from Eureka for sev- 
eral years, his present official headquarters being in Los Angeles, and his 
secretaryship to the governor requiring his entire time in Sacramento, and 
as insurance commissioner with an office in San Francisco, he has retained 
his several memberships in the orders where he was initiated as a young man, 
feeling that there he would be more at home in the organization. Among 



304 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

such fraternal orders are the Masons, Elks, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the 
World and the Foresters of America, and it goes without saying that he is 
prominent in the Eureka parlor, N. S. G. W. 

The services that Mr. Cooper has rendered his county and state have been 
clean and energetic. He has never faltered in the execution of his duty, 
and the affairs of his office have always been conducted in a manner that has 
defied criticism, rather demanding praise and appreciation, even from his 
political opponents. 

HARRY W. JACKSON was born in Abbot, Piscataquis county, Maine, 
the son of Elisha B. and Corrilla (Kendall) Jackson, both of whom were 
also born there. The father came to California by way of Panama, in 1851, and 
followed mining at Grass Valley until 1859, when he returned to Maine, where 
he was married. Besides being successfully engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness, he also manufactured shingles at Abbot, Maine. In 1875 he brought his 
family to Areata, Humboldt county, where he entered the employ of Falk, 
Chandler & Co., lumber manufacturers, near Areata, where he became a 
contractor for the logging department and afterwards was similarly engaged 
with the Elk River Mill and Lumber Co. at Falk until he returned to his home 
in Areata. In his death in 1905 there passed away one of the old time lumber 
men. In 1883, associated with George W. Chandler, and others, he started 
a mill at Blue Lake under the firm name of Chandler, Henderson & Co., which 
mill was moved to the north fork of Mad River in 1886, the present site of the 
Riverside mill, and in the Blue Lake mill in 1883 his son Harry W. Jackson 
began his career in the lumber business. E. B. Jackson was interested in the 
mill until his death. His wife's demise occurred in Areata in 1897. 

The only child born to his parents, Harry W. Jackson was born Jan- 
uary 28, 1863, and was reared in Abbot, Maine, attending the public schools 
until 1875. It was in that year that he came to Areata with his parents. 
After completing his studies in the public schools, he entered the Oakland 
High school, from which he graduated in June, 1883. Immediately thereafter 
he returned to Humboldt county and in the following month entered the 
employ of Chandler, Henderson & Co. as bookkeeper, at the time the mill was 
started at Blue Lake. Besides having charge of the office he incidentally had 
charge of the goods also. In 1886 the mill machinery was moved to River- 
side, where a new mill was built and at that time Mr. Jackson bought Hender- 
son's interest, and the firm became Chandler- Jackson Co. He continued as 
general manager and operated the mill under the above firm name until 1889, 
when Mr. Chandler sold his interest and retired. The remaining partners 
then incorporated the Riverside Lumber Co. with Mr. Jackson as president, 
and under this title business was carried on until 1903, when they associated 
themselves with Charles Nelson Co. of San Francisco and purchased the 
Korbel Mills, also the Areata & Mad River railroad, at the same time incor- 
porating the present company. Northern Redwood Lumber Co., with H. W. 
Jackson, president and general manager ; L. Everding, secretary ; Frank 
Graham, vice-president, and Charles Nelson Co., treasurer. It is significant 
that after twelve years the officers are still the same as when the business 
was started. 

Since then the company has operated both mills and each has been 
enlarged until its capacity has doubled, having at present a combined capacity 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 307 

of about two hundred thousand feet per day. Dry kilns have been erected so 
that dry finished lumber is shipped from the mill. The company owns exten- 
sive holdings of two billion feet of standing redwood timber accessible to 
the mill. Mr. Jackson is vice-president and general manager of the Areata 
& Mad River railroad, which' operates a standard gage road of twelve miles 
from the two mills to Areata wharf, their shipping point, where vessels are 
loaded for all parts of the world. The mill company has also built many 
miles of railroad through the woods, at present operating about twelve miles 
for bringing the logs to the mill. The town of Korbel has a population of 
about four hundred fifty people, who are housed in buildings erected and 
owned by the mill company. 

Aside from this company Mr. Jackson is interested in the Charles Nelson 
company of San Francisco, of which he is vice-president. This latter com- 
pany owns and operates mills at Mukilteo and Port Angeles, Wash., and 
Merced Falls, Cal. For the past twenty-nine years Mr. Jackson has been 
general manager of the company and has always been on hand not only in 
immediate touch with the two mills, but also in close touch with the lumber 
industry on the Pacific coast. For the last few years he has also had the 
general supervision of the manufacture of lumber for the Charles Nelson 
company's plants. He is president of the Humboldt Manufacturers Associa- 
tion of Eureka, which owns and operates the tugs on Humboldt Bay, and is also 
president of the Humboldt Stevedore Company of Eureka. He is also a 
stockholder and director of the Bank of Areata and a stockholder in the 
Areata Savings Bank. 

Mr. Jackson was married in Oakland, being united with Alica M. Betan- 
cue, a native of that city. Mr. Jackson was made a Mason in Areata Lodge 
No. 106, F. & A. M., is a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., of 
Eureka; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and of Oakland Consistory, 
Scottish Rite, Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco, and with 
his wife is a member of the Order of Eastern Star. Mr. Jackson is also a mem- 
ber of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., Areata, as well as Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. He is an active member and supporter of the 
Areata Chamber of Commerce and also the Eureka Chamber of Commerce. 
He believes firmly that the principles of the Republican party are for the best 
interests of this county. 

GEORGE HENRY MINER.— Some seven miles south of Petrolia lies 
the ranch of George Henry Miner, a young cattleman whose success has 
gained him a position among the substantial operators in his section, where 
he controls eight hundred acres of grazing lands upon which he is raising beef 
cattle and hogs. Mr. Miner has made his way by hard work, but he has 
found time to interest himself in the general welfare, and besides giving due 
attention to his own affairs, encourages all local enterprises which are aids to 
progress, and is looked upon as one of the promising citizens of his vicinity, 
the kind which constitutes the backbone of any community. 

Mr. Miner's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Miner, were early settlers in the 
Mattole valley and among the most highly respected residents of that region 
in their day. Both are deceased, and they are survived by five children : 
Bertha, now the wife of Harry E. Hurlbutt, of Alton, Humboldt county ; 
Annie, wife of Harry Cowan, of Briceland, Humboldt county; George Henry; 
Lee, who lives in the state of Washington ; and Delia, wife of S. Nielson, a 



308 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

groceryman at Eureka, Humboldt county. These are the heirs to the Miner 
estate, which includes the larger part of the ranch now operated by George 
Henry Miner. 

George Henry Miner was born December 6, 1879, in the Mattole valley, 
where all his life has been passed. He attended the local public schools, hav- 
ing very good advantages, and since he began agricultural pursuits on his 
own account has been doing well, both as farmer and stockman, though cattle- 
raising has been his specialty. He owns an undivided two-fifths interest in 
six hundred and forty acres as one of the heirs of the Miner estate, and 
leases one hundred sixty acres adjoining. His beef cattle and hogs are in 
good demand in the market, and he is extending his operations as his increas- 
ing capital permits, progressing conservatively but steadily. His property 
lies to the right of the road from Petrolia to Upper Mattole. Mr. Miner is a 
man of friendly, hospitable nature, generous in his relations with his fellow 
men and socially inclined, and he is a member of the Farm Center and one 
of its enthusiastic advocates. He is particularly concerned over the public 
school conditions of his locality, and is at present serving as school trustee, 
in which position he has given efficient service. Politically he supports the 
principles of the Republican party. 

At the age of twenty-five years Mr. A-Iiner was married to Miss Belle 
Lowry, a native of Humboldt county, who has proved a congenial companion, 
sharing the estimation and friendly regard in which her husband is held by 
all his neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Miner have four children, Edith, Allen, 
Doris and Ruth. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World 
at Petrolia. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ARCATA.— A distinct advance was 
made in the financial affairs of Areata and vicinity with the opening of the 
First National Bank in October, 1913, and with the chartering of the institu- 
tion to conduct a general commercial banking business. Local association 
with the new enterprise appears in the fact that the capital stock of $50,000, 
fully paid up, is held almost wholly by Areata citizens, only small blocks 
of stock being in the hands of outside people. The first officers of the bank, 
the men who are guiding its financial policy in these early years of growth 
and development, are as follows: President, Isaac Minor; vice-president, 
Peter Johansen ; and cashier, J. C. Toal. The president and vice-president also 
act on the directorate in conjunction with A. N. Hunt, Frank Graham and 
Thad A. Smith. 

The structure occupied by the bank, owned by President Alinor and 
leased to the bank officials for a term of years, was erected especially for 
banking purposes and contains every equipment suggestel by modern banking 
necessities. In exterior appearance it is simple but substantial, the re-inforced 
concrete being not only fireproof, but also able to withstand the ravages of 
time for several generations. On the northeast corner of Tenth and H streets, 
occupying a space 35x75 feet, in a large lot, the building with its cheerful 
finishing of light tan stone paint, with its illumined sign over the large double 
doors and its large windows lettered in gold, forms a durable and modern 
addition to the business section of the town. Entering the bank one finds an 
L-shaped lobby 10x25 in the south end and 10x65 on the west, finislied with a 
six-inch marble base and three oak wall desks. The floor is a variety of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 309 

mosaic known as the Terranzo finish. Around the walls are plaster pillars 
twelve feet apart, surmounted by ornamental caps. A beam ceiling, together 
with a five-foot wainscoting, of native pine in the working space and fumed 
oak in the lobby, and a quartered oak counter and partition separating the 
working space and lobby, complete the interior woodwork design. 

The electric fixtures of the bank are modern and the ground glass globes 
give a soft and mellow light. Artificial light, however, is not often found 
necessary, for the building is exceptionally well lighted by large windows on 
the south and west and by two skylights, each ten feet square, over the main 
working space, together with another of the same size over the directors' 
room. The vaults are of modern construction, with sixteen-inch re-inforced 
concrete walls, ceiling and floor, and steel railroad iron set a few inches 
apart in concrete, giving a strength that even a modern sixteen-inch gun 
would have some difficulty in battering to pieces. The outer door is of very 
heavy design and is fitted with a seventy-two-hour, double time lock, and also 
a combination lock of most modern design. The safe deposit department is 
equipped with one hundred and forty-eight modern safe deposit boxes, weigh- 
ing twenty-five hundred pounds and lined with heavy steel. Some of the 
boxes are fitted with combinations and others with keys, and all are adapted 
to the storage of valuable papers, jewelry or coin. A private room known 
as the coupon room has been fitted up for the use of people desiring to rent 
boxes. A strong steel grill and a steel door separate the safe deposit depart- 
ment from the bank vault, in which is the Diebold coin safe, the last word 
in burglar-proof safes. It is fitted with a seventy-two-hour triple-time lock, 
working automatically from the inside, no bolts being exposed on the outside 
of the safe. The interior is equipped with chests for gold and silver with 
combination locks on each. The interior of the vault is lined with Bessemer 
steel, with a four-inch space between the steel and the concrete, which keeps 
the interior of the vault entirely dry. A feature of the bank interior is the 
ladies' rest room, in the north end of the public lobby, where may be found 
a desk telephone for the free use of women, also Avriting materials and easy 
chairs. In the rear of the building there is a directors' room twenty feet 
square, while opening off the public lobby is the office of the vice-president. 
In the construction of the building it was the aim of Mr. Minor to utilize 
the services of the workmen of Areata as far as possible, and he also en- 
deavored to secure the materials in Humboldt county, thus proving his loyalty 
to the people and products of his own locality. In the modern structure with 
its substantial equipment he has realized his ambition to secure the best 
facilities and has made it possible for the bank to adopt for its slogan the 
motto, "Equipped for service." 

JAMES AUGUSTUS HADLEY, M. D.— In the midst of the will-of-the- 
wisp allurements of far-distant fields it is seldom that a young man selects 
for his permanent home the town of his nativity and the vicinity of his early 
educational training, but the choice of Dr. Hadley in selecting a suitable loca- 
tion for the practice of medicine brought him back to Areata, where he was 
born October 3, 1884, and where his early education was obtained in the com- 
mon schools. The Doctor is a son of James L. and Elizabeth (Newsome) 
Hadley, natives respectively of Vermont and Canada, the former a pioneer 
of 1880 in Humboldt county, where he engaged in teaching in the Indian 
school at Orleans, continuing as a schoolmaster until ill health obliged him 



310 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to relinquish active duties. The parents still make their home in Areata. 

It was through the influence of his brother-in-law, Dr. F. H. Bangs, that 
Dr. Hadley selected medicine as his preferred field of practice. Accordingly 
he directed his studies with that object in view. Largely through his own 
determined efforts and self-reliant industry he was enabled to take the com- 
plete course of lectures in the Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, from 
which he received the degree of M. D. in 1911. Returning to Areata, he 
opened an office and began to devote himself to a general practice. From the 
first he has been successful. The fact that he has a personal reputation from 
childhood for integrity and high principles of honor has been of the utmost 
value to him in his professional affairs. During 1913 he erected on Sixteenth 
street a fine, modern hospital of fourteen beds, with full surgical equipment 
and all modern appliances, the institution being conducted under the title 
of the Hadley Sanitarium at Areata. In 1914 he incorporated the Areata 
Fraternal Hospital, of which he is president and manager, as well as medical 
director. By his marriage to Hildegard C. Ostermann, a native of Nevada 
City, Cal., he has two sons, George Gordon and Alvin Bruce. Besides being 
a member of the Humboldt County and California State Medical Associations, 
the Doctor acts as physician for the following orders at Areata : Eagles, Red 
Men, Ancient Order of Foresters, Companions to the Order of Foresters, 
Woodmen of the World, Women of Woodcraft, U. P. E. C, I. D. E. S., and 
the National Croatian Society. The Doctor has his offices in the suite of 
rooms his brother-in-law, Dr. F. H. Bangs, occupied thirty years ago. 

FLORENCE HENRY OTTMER, M. D.— It is the privilege of sttccess- 
ful men to have a hobby aside from the specialty that forms a large part of 
their very existence, and Dr. Ottmer, in the midst of engrossing duties as 
a physician and surgeon at Eureka, is no exception to other professional lead- 
ers in having a line of recreation that gives him both work and refreshing 
change of occupation. Always a lover of animals, he has become an expert 
both with the gun and the fishing rod, and many of his vacations are spent 
in the woods or along the streams. As he wandered through fields and forests 
he came to observe and study the birds of Humboldt county, and this study 
led to the making of a collection which is now almost complete. His office 
possesses unusual interest, for in addition to the equipment to be found 
among the possessions of all modern physicians, there is also an exhibit of 
birds native to the county, as well as the skins of bears and other animals that 
have fallen beneath his unerring marksmanship. Almost every year he goes 
to the mountains for a bear hunt and, in the air of the forest and in search 
for game, he finds needed change from the arduous and at times exhausting 
duties of his profession. 

A taste for materia medica and a love for the country come to Dr. Ottmer 
as an inheritance from his father, the late H. C. Ottmer, M. D., who was 
born, reared and educated in Germany, and was a graduate of the St. Louis 
Medical College in Missouri. For perhaps twenty-five years he engaged in 
practice in Warren county near Warrenton, Mo., and there his son, Florence 
Henry, was born December 4, 1861. Three other children were born of that 
marriage, his wife being Helen Archer, who was born in Missouri of Vir- 
ginian parentage. After her death, which occurred at the age of thirty-two, 
the Doctor married her sister, by which union he became the father of two 
children. During 1877 the family came to California. About eight miles from 




^/^.(Qt^^^i^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 313 

Healdsburg in Sonoma county the Doctor bought a large fruit ranch on 
Dry creek and there he conducted extensive fruit enterprises with excellent 
results. Longevity was characteristic of his family, his father living to be 
ninety-five and his mother one hundred and three, while his own death 
occurred at the age of nearly eighty years. 

It was not the wish of Dr. Henry C. Ottmer that his son, F. H., should 
enter the profession in which he himself had achieved noteworthy success, 
and his opposition to the plan was so great that he refused to pay the expenses 
of a medical education. With sturdy resolution of purpose, the young man 
set about earning his own way through college. After graduating from the 
State Normal School at San Jose he taught for two years at Bodega, Sonoma 
county, and then took the course of lectures in Cooper Medical College, San 
Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1887. A year was then spent in 
post-graduate work at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 
City. On his return to California he began to practice in the southern part 
of Humboldt county, but in 1891 removed to Eureka, where since he has 
established an important practice, ranking as one of the foremost physicians 
of the city. His love of nature finds expression in the cultivation of a farm 
of one hundred sixty acres near Yuba City, Sutter county, which he is 
developing into a fruit farm, setting it out chiefly to peaches and almonds. 

With his wife, who was Miss Annie Flutchinson, a native of Santa Rosa, 
this state, he shares in the good wishes of the people in every class of society 
and forms a distinct accession to the citizenship. Having no children of 
their own, they adopted two orphans, Alice E. and Esther M. For some time 
Dr. Ottmer officiated as president of the Gentlemen's Driving Club of Eureka. 
His fraternities are the Elks, Woodmen of the World and Red Men. Partisan- 
ship has not appealed to him in political issues and he maintains an inde- 
pendence of thought that finds expression in a ballot for such candidates as 
he deems best qualified to represent the people, irrespective of party ties. In 
his chosen field of professional labor he has been prospered and abundantly 
merits the prestige and popularity accorded him. 

THOMAS CARR. — Nothing contributed to the American colonization 
of California in greater degree than the discovery of gold. In the years 
following that memorable occurrence men sought the Pacific coast from every 
section of the world, among these Argonauts being Thomas Carr, a native of 
Belfast, Ireland, and an immigrant to the United States in young manhood. 
Daily toil in Wisconsin brought him a livelihood, but nothing beyond a bare 
subsistence, so that he was eager to try his fortune in the great unknown 
region beyond the barren plains and desolate mountains. Nor did he have 
reason to regret the decision that made him a resident of California, for 
although he failed to find the hoped-for wealth in the mines and did not, in- 
deed, become very rich at any time or in any occupation, he made a com- 
fortable living and gained many warm, devoted friends in both Trinity and 
Humboldt counties." 

After having made his home at Weaverville, Trinity county, from 1852 
to 1868, in the latter year Mr. Carr removed to Humboldt county and settled 
in Eureka, where he was a pioneer carriage-maker. From that time until 
his death he was identified with the county seat. It was his good fortune to 
retain to the last his mental and physical faculties. His clear memory enabled 
him to recall many thrilling events of the '50s and frequently he narrated 



314 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

early happenings that had much to do with the shaping of ultimate achieve- 
ments in the west. Personally he possessed the ready wit of his race, the 
habit of viewing the world with a cheerful spirit and a keen humor from 
which his kind heart kept every trace of satire. While living in Trinity 
county he became a charter member of the North Star Lodge No. 61, I. O. O. 
F., and Stella Encampment No. 12, while later he identified himself with the 
Veteran Odd Fellows of Weaverville. Through his marriage to Anne Hodgins 
he became the father of five children, namely : Elizabeth H., Mary A., Emma 
G., Edward Baker and Kate L., Mrs. Harpst, of Eureka. The first-named 
makes her home with Mrs. Harpst, and the others are deceased. 

ISAAC MINOR.— The president of the First National Bank of Areata, 
which institution he organized and opened for business in October, 1913, is 
Mr. Minor, a pioneer of December, 1853, and through all the intervening years 
an associate in movements for the permanent upbuilding of Humboldt county. 
Whether the elements entering into his success were innate personal 
attributes or whether in part they were quickened by the circumstance of his 
early identification with California, it would be impossible to determine. 
Sufhce it to know that he reached the success and that Humboldt county has 
been the center of his large enterprises. To him belongs the credit for the 
building of the Warren Creek standard-gauge railroad, which makes possible 
a convenient connection with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Also to 
him may be given credit for the development of a granite quarry near Areata, 
a plant mining a fine quality of granite that splits like wood, but hardens 
when exposed to the air. Sawmills, creameries, electric lighting systems, 
freight vessels, timber lands and farms represent the varied character of his 
commercial connections and the remarkable change that has come into his 
life since he arrived in Areata, friendless, without money or influence, and in 
the frontier environment of the then Uniontown, the original county seat of 
Humboldt county, took up the task of rising out of day labor into inde- 
pendence. How well he succeeded in reaching the goal of his ambitions is 
a matter of common knowledge throughout the entire county, whose resources 
have been developed under his sagacious supervision and whose opportunities 
he believes to be as great as those oiTered by any section of the state. 

Descended in the third generation from Gen. Ephraim Douglas of Revo- 
lutionary war fame, Isaac Minor is a son of Samuel and Louise (Keller) 
Minor, natives respectively of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and during early 
married life residents of the last-named state, where their son, whose name 
introduces this article, was born on a farm April 8, 1830. The wife and 
mother died in the Keystone state at forty years of age, and later the father 
became a pioneer of Iowa, where he spent his last days in the home of a 
daughter. During the fall of 1851 Isaac Minor came via Panama to California. 
The voyage up the Pacific to San Francisco on the old ship. Monumental City, 
consumed forty-nine days and was filled with peril. More than once the 
passengers had to take turns in pumping the water out of the unseaworthy 
craft. The vessel cast anchor in safety, but on its next voyage was lost. 
March of 1852 found Mr. Minor in Sacramento, where the great flood was in 
progress. All night he worked for $1 an hour, carrying off goods that were 
being destroyed by water. In the morning he waded out through the water 
and walked to Chinese Camp in Tuolumne county, where he spent eighteen 
months in prospecting and mining. Chance brought him to Humboldt county 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 315 

during the latter part of 1853. Being young, energetic and capable, he had 
no trouble in securing work, but his independence of spirit led him to prefer 
to work in his own interests rather than in the interests of others. 

A store at Orleans bar on the Klamath river would have brought Mr. 
Minor large profit and permanent employment had it not been for the hostile 
Indians, who killed all of his neighbors and threatened his life, so that after 
two years at that place he was forced to leave. It was during the same period 
of Indian hostility that he became a warm friend of Ulysses S. Grant, then a 
lieutenant, who ten years later was one of the most distinguished figures in 
American military affairs and general of the entire army, but who at that 
time was unknown and obscure, stationed at Fort Humboldt to provide pro- 
tection for settlers against the Indians. For seven years Mr. Minor operated 
and owned a pack-train and sold goods at the mines, meanwhile meeting with 
many thrilling adventures. His savings were invested in a stock ranch at 
Camp Anderson on Redwood creek and he operated the property until the 
savages burned his buildings and killed a number of his neighbors. To guard 
against further depredations soldiers were stationed on the Minor ranch 
during the winter of 1859. When the troops left conditions remained quiet 
until 1863, when a further outbreak on the part of the Indians caused Mr. 
Minor to leave that district and to join his family at Areata. At the beginning 
of the Indian war he owned one thousand head of cattle and at its close he 
scarcely had one hundred left, but even more disastrous was the damage done 
to buildings of his own and his neighbors, while the greatest disaster of all 
was in the loss of life, his brother, Samuel Minor, being among the many to 
fall victims to the hostility of the savages. When peace had descended upon 
the valley and peaceful vocations were once more possible, he bought one 
hundred and forty acres one mile from Areata on the bottom land and there 
he lived for sixteen years, meanwhile not only farming but also building and 
operating two sawmills with Noah Falk as a partner. Next he built a mill 
at Warren creek four miles north of Areata and operated it for fifteen years 
until the plant was burned to the ground. About 1885 he built the Glendale 
mill, from which power is furnished for the Blue Lake electric light system. 
About 1898 he built a creamery, and other buildings on his ranch six miles 
north of Areata and established a station which he named McKinleyville. A 
corps of employes was put to work at the creamery, store, hotel and farm, 
as well as in the Glendale store and on the broad acres of timber land. About 
the beginning of the twentieth century he sold twenty-six thousand acres of 
redwood land in Del Norte county for $960,000, ten thousand acres in Law- 
rence creek in Humboldt county for $250,000, and three thousand acres on the 
north fork of Mad river for $180,000, and the money received from these sales 
he invested in fifteen thousand acres of sugar pine land fifteen miles from 
the Yosemite valley, considered the finest tract of such land in the entire 
state. This he afterwards sold at a good profit. However, he still retained 
four thousand acres of redwood timber, with mills for the sawing of the 
lumber, as well as one-fourth interest in five ships used for carrying lumber, 
and stock in the tugs used in towing vessels over the bar. Later on he turned 
the property, with mills and vessels, over to the children, who worked the 
timber all out. In 1914 Mr. Minor completed the Minor Theater, opposite 
the First National Bank Building. It is said to be the finest theater in the 



316 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

county, in fact as well equipped as any in the state, and he has also completed 
three store buildings adjoining it. This is now the best portion of the business 
section of the town. 

Mr. Minor was married in Areata to Hannah Caroline Nixon (a sister 
of William Nixon), who was born in Fayette county, Pa., December 28, 1839, 
and at the age of three years was taken to Iowa, coming in 1852 via Panama 
to California, where her marriage was solemnized December 20, 1855. Twelve 
children were born of the union, six of whom grew up, as follows : Theodore 
H. and Isaac N,, who became capable assistants of their father in his large 
business operations, the former now an extensive oil operator in P>akersfield, 
and the latter owning the Glendale mill property, where he has a large dairy; 
Mary E., Mrs. H. D. Pressey, of Petaluma. this state ; Bertha A., Mrs. L. D. 
Graeter, of Areata ; David K., who was also an assistant of his father, but 
now lives in Oakland ; and Jessie Irene, Mrs. Waters, who resides in Santa 
Rosa. The mother of these children passed away in 1906, and in 1908 Mr. 
Minor was married to Miss Caroline Cropley, a native of Alichigan. The 
Cropley family subsequently came to California and Mr. Cropley became 
proprietor of the tannery in Areata. In regard to fraternities Mr. Minor has 
made no associations except with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
Politically he votes with the Republican. party. His personal qualities as a 
man of sterling worth, together with his exceptional business qualifications, 
have given him prominence and prestige throughout the county where, after 
over sixty years of intimate identification, he is still in the forefront 
of financial, agricultural, logging, quarrying and railroad affairs, a man among 
men, and a citizen of whom his adopted county may well be proud. 

FRANK W. DINSMORE.— The assistant secretary and local manager 
of the Mercer-Fraser Company at Eureka is a member of a Canadian family and 
claims New Brunswick as his native province, having been born in Charlotte 
county November 22, 1868. In the forests near his early home he learned the 
trade of a woodsman and became quite skilled in the use of the axe, so that 
he earned a fair livelihood while still a mere lad. In the meantime he received 
favorable reports concerning opportunities for work in the woods of Cali- 
fornia and for this reason was induced to come to Humboldt county, arriving 
at Eureka on the 1st of June, 1888. Immediately he began to work in the 
lumber woods adjacent to this town, continuing through a long period of 
efficient activity. His fine qualities of head and heart had won the attention 
of the Mercer-Hodson Company and he was taken into their employ during 
1901, remaining with the concern in the later change of title to the Mercer- 
Fraser Company. Through the purchase of stock in 1907 he became a partner 
in the company, with which he has since been identified as assistant secretary 
and manager. His rise from hardships, without influence except his own 
energy and perseverance, to an excellent position with an established con- 
cern, in which he is financially interested, proves him to be a man of force 
of character and energy of will. Fraternally he holds membership with Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F. By his 
marriage to Miss Jessie Gow, a native of Humboldt county and the daughter 
of a pioneer, he has three children, Laura, Theodore and Frances. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 319 

ALBERT NATHAN HUNT.— Although not a native of California, Al- 
bert Nathan Hunt is a pioneer in the strictest sense of the word, coming to 
the mining districts in an early day, when he was but a lad, and spending his 
boyhood days so deep in the wildernesses of the California mountains that he 
was able to attend school but three years. In spite of this handicap, however, 
Mr. Hunt has prospered exceedingly in all his undertakings and is today a 
man of wealth and influence and an active power in his community for good. 
He has been associated with the most vital interests of Humboldt county 
for many years, and in Areata where he resides, he is acknowledged to be 
one of the most progressive and broad-minded men of the thriving little 
city. He is interested in many enterprises, but his chief interest lies in real 
estate, farms, farming and cattle-raising being his principal investments, and 
today he owns and operates some of the finest and best improved properties 
in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Hunt was born in Vinal Haven, Knox county, Me., September 30, 
1857. His father was Hon. Fitz Albert Hunt, a stonemason by trade, and 
operated quarries, getting out stone for buildings and monuments ; he also 
ran a farm. He lived in Maine all his life. For thirty-six years he held the 
office of justice of the peace in his township and later was assemblyman for 
many terms. The mother, Jane Calderwood, died when the present citizen, 
of Areata was but three weeks old, and when he was a lad of but a few years 
he was taken to be reared by an aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. John Jayne, 
living in Washoe county, Nev. With these relatives he made his home from, 
that time until he reached manhood's estate and started out in life for him- 
self. From Nevada he removed with Mr. and Mrs. Jayne, when he was still 
a small child, to California, about 1864, locating on Yuba river. Sierra county, 
six miles from Downieville, where the uncle was interested in mines. 

When young Hunt was nine years old the family moved to Compton- 
ville, where he attended school for a few years, and later moved into a dis- 
trict where there were no schools within distance that he could attend. He 
remained on the farm working for and with his uncle until he was twenty-one, 
when he went to work on neighboring ranches, saving his earnings and giv- 
ing them to his uncle to apply on the payment of a loan on his ranch. Later 
he went to Pike City and worked for the Alaska Mining Company in their 
mines as a night watchman. After a year of this work the properties were 
destroyed by fire and while he was again looking for employment he received 
an offer to make posts and ties for the company. His brother-in-law, John 
Robertson, was engaged at that time contracting for the making of posts 
and ties, and Mr. Hunt determined to make a venture in the same field. 
Accordingly he secured the proffered work under contract, and not since 
he was nightwatchman at the mines has he ever worked for anyone or ever 
received a wage for his service, ever since working for himself. 

For the next six years Mr. Hunt was successfully engaged in the making 
of posts and ties, under contracting arrangements, and succeeded in accumu- 
lating an appreciable sum of money. He was anxious to try his hand at 
farming and dairying, and also to establish for himself a permanent home. 
Accordingly, in 1887, he came to Humboldt county, for a short time being in 
Eureka, and all the while looking for a satisfactory opportunity to purchase 
land. He finally chose a forty-acre tract of Areata bottom land, partly im- 
proved, which is now his home place. For this land he paid $100 per acre, 



320 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the highest price paid up to that time, and he was thought to be very unwise, 
but the rise of land has been gradual and a twenty-acre tract adjoining his 
ranch has lately sold for $600 an acre. Here Mr. Hunt started in the dairy- 
ing business with four cows, making butter by hand, and selling it to private 
parties in town. The second year he increased his herd by the purchase of 
ten more cows, bought at intervals during the year. Now he has a splendid 
herd of forty-five picked milch cows, classed as one of the best in the valley. 

When he first began dairying there was not a creamery in the valley, 
and Mr. Hunt was one of the founders of the first creamery built and was 
its first president, and managed it for four years. He gave his services with- 
out compensation, in order that the new enterprise might be made a success. 
This creamery was started in 1893 and was then called the Areata Creamer}'- 
No. 1, but is at present known as the United Creameries, Inc. Mr. Hunt was 
president and director of the company for four years, and its present success- 
ful business standing is largely due to his unselfish efforts. He is still a 
stockholder in the enterprise. 

Mr. Hunt has continued to add to his real estate holdings, and is now 
one of the largest land owners in the county. About eight years after the 
purchase of the first tract he bought ten acres adjoining the home place on 
the north, paying $150 an acre, all of which was improved land. Two years 
later he added another tract of twenty acres on the south side of the home 
place, for which he paid $200, and still later bought eighty acres north of 
Mad river which has since been well improved, and another twenty acres has 
been added to it, making the ranch one hundred acres, this being in charge of 
his son, Herbert Hunt. The home place, and the later additions of acreage 
have been vastly improved by Mr. Hunt and brought under a high state of 
cultivation. He built a large barn and a commodious, modern residence in 
1901, which are a credit to the community, and a monument to the thrift of the 
owner. 

In 1906 Mr. Hunt made another notable addition to his holdings by the 
purchase of the Dr. Farrar ranch, six miles north of Bridgeville on the Van 
Dusen river. This ranch comprises some two thousand acres and is one of 
the most highly improved stock ranches in Humboldt county today. His son, 
Stanley A. Hunt, has charge of the place, which is devoted to raising cattle, 
sheep and hogs and livestock generally. Mr. Hunt now gives his attention 
to buying and selling, but makes a specialty of dealing in cattle, being one 
of the largest individual dealers in the county. 

Other matters have secured their share of the attention of Mr. Hunt and 
he is generally interested in the business activities in Areata. Among the 
newer and more recent undertakings in which he is interested may be men- 
tioned the First National Bank of Areata, of which he is a director. He has 
always been keenly interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the com- 
munity, and has done much for the upbuilding of his part of the county. He 
is wide awake to the progressive spirit of the times, and with the same 
business sagacity that he has applied to commercial pursuits with such 
great success, he views the civic affairs of the city and the governmental 
affairs of county and state, building for the future, as well as caring for the 
present. In politics he is a Republican, a party man of the highest type, 
supporting his party because he believes the party is right, but willing and 
ready at all times to use energetic measures to be certain that it stays right, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 321 

and that it strives only for the best of the community and of the people 
generally. 

Mr. Hunt, together with his family, is a member of the Alliance Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, in which he is an influential personality and he 
and his wife are members of the official board. The family and home life 
of Mr. Hunt is full of interest. He was married May 2, 1881, in Plumb 
Valley, to Miss Mary Ann Robertson, a native of California, and born Janu- 
ary 14, 1862, in Forest City, Sierra county. The parents of Mrs. Hunt both 
came from England, her father, John Robertson, having been born in Birming- 
ham, February 13, 1823, and her mother, Eliza Rudd, in Devonshire, in July, 
1825. They both came to California by way of the Isthmus, but became ac- 
quainted after reaching the coast, and were married in Sierra county, about 
1860. In the early days of his life on the coast Mr. Robertson engaged in 
mining, but later followed his trade as a blacksmith. He died in Humboldt 
county in 1909, his wife having passed away in Sierra county a few years 
previous. 

Air. and Mrs. Hunt became the parents of nine children, all but one 
of whom are now living, Charles Elmer, their eldest born having passed 
away when twenty-six years of age. The living members of their family 
are Cora Bell, now married to Andrew Jackson Taylor, and living in Modesto ; 
Stanley Albert, manager of the Bridgeville ranch ; Flerbert Wesley, who mar- 
ried Jessie Whitmore, and is manager of the Mad river ranch ; Vernon Les- 
ter, now attending dental college in San Francisco ; William Vinal, manager 
of the home ranch ; John Russell, attending Humboldt State Normal ; Chester 
Eugene and Geraldine. They are all well known in Humboldt county, where 
they were born, and where they received their education. 

Mr. Hunt is more actively engaged in business than ever and still man- 
ages and controls his extensive interests, besides which he is associated with 
all movements of interest in and around Areata. However, he attributes his 
success in no small degree to the assistance of his faithful wife, who was 
always ready to aid with faithful hands and to lend him every encourage- 
ment in achieving their ambition to own their own home. His ambition, 
fostered from childhood, was the owning of his own ranch and working with 
stock. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are very kind and charitable and are known 
for their liberality and hospitality. Mr. Hunt is well read, and keeps posted 
on all questions of public interest Avhile the financial pulse of the country is 
constantly under his eager fingers, and judged with the skill of an expert 
financier. 

HUGH WEBSTER M'CLELLAN.— For thirty years before his death 
a resident of Eureka, Air. McClellan was always considered one of the most 
desirable citizens of that place, and became associated with a number of its 
interests. But his principal reputation was acquired in the sheep business, in 
which he engaged extensively and successfully, in that connection having" a 
wide acquaintance all over northern California. After settling at Eureka he 
made investments from time to time in the city, owning bank and factory 
stock, but his attention centered about his agricultural operations, which he 
carried on to the end of his days. 

Mr. McClellan was of Scotch ancestry, and his branch of the family was 
established in this country by his great-grandfather, who came from Scot- 
land and settled on a large farm in Franklin county, Mass. It was a valuable 



322 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

property and he carried it on successfully, and most of his children followed in 
his footsteps, adopting agriculture as their calling. One of his sons, John, was a 
member of the general assembly in Massachusetts and for many years a 
prominent politician of that commonwealth. 

Hugh ]\IcClellan, father of the late Hugh Webster ]\IcClellan, was born 
in Franklin county, Mass., was a prosperous farmer all his life, and died in 
his prime, at the age of forty-five years. He was a man of modest disposition 
and retiring habits, and his principal interest outside of the cultivation of his 
farm was in his church. On political questions he was a stanch Whig, but he 
never took part in party activities or public affairs. He married Lucy Smith, 
also a native of Massachusetts, who survived him and remarried, removing to 
Chautauqua county, N. Y., and thence to Aurora, 111., where she lived to the 
age of eighty-two years. Her son Hugh Webster McClellan was born October 
31, 1837, at Charlemont, Franklin county, Mass., and was but five years old 
when his father died. He was a boy of twelve when he accompanied his 
mother to Chautauqua county, N. Y., and a few years later the family settled 
in Illinois, where his pioneer experiences began. When he was sixteen he was 
employed breaking raw prairie land in Kane county, that state, and two 
years later he went up to Fillmore county, Minn., where he found work in a 
sawmill. In 1857 he joined a railroad surveying party working over the 
southern part of that state, and two years later he set out for the Pacific 
coast. He made the journey by way of New York City and the Isthmus of 
Panama, landed at San Francisco, and soon afterward took passage on the 
steamer Columbia for Crescent City, Cal., to join his brother, Rhominer Smith 
McClellan, who had preceded him to the west in 1852 and had been in the 
livery and freighting business at Crescent City since 1854. The Columbia 
made three round trips before she could make a safe landing at Crescent City, 
so that Mr. McClellan spent two months on the ocean between his embarka- 
tion and his arrival at Crescent City, where he spent the next three years in 
his brother's employ. Then he concluded to try his fortune in the new min- 
ing country in the Boise basin, in Idaho, whither he journeyed by way of 
Jacksonville, Ore. In time he purchased his brother's business, operating 
pack trains principally between Umatilla, Ore., and Idaho and Montana, and 
he had a prosperous experience, adding several hundred dollars to his acquisi- 
tions by its sale in the year 1866. On one of his trips he covered a distance of 
five hundred miles, with forty-five pack mules, through a wild and sparsely 
settled region supposedly infested by Indians ; and though he had no special 
protection he was not troubled much by the savages, nor did he suffer any 
loss of stock or provisions by the way. 

By this time he was anxious to make a visit to his old home in Massa- 
chusetts, but it proved very expensive, for the brother-in-law with whom he 
left his money while in New York City lost it, and Mr. McClellan had to 
borrow $40 to meet his expenses on the return trip to California. He resumed 
freighting, conducting a pack train between Umatilla and points in Idaho, 
and though he had most of the adventurous experiences which the daring- 
souls of that day had to face he was fortunate in escaping disastrous conse- 
quences, either to himself or his property. It was while thus engaged that 
he made an acquaintanceship which led him into what proved to be the 
chief business of his life. He met a man who was in search of a young man 
to go into partnership with him in the sheep business, and .they came to terms 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 323 

before long, the arrangement being that Mr. McClellan was to work as an 
employee two years, and then become a partner. After the association was 
formed they purchased twenty-two hundred head of sheep, which they drove 
to near Bridgeville, in Humboldt county, Cal., and the two men continued to 
hold their interests in common for the five years following, doing a highly 
satisfactory business. Then they divided their property, the partner retiring 
with a competency, and Mr. McClellan keeping his share of the sheep and the 
range, which gave him a fine start for the extensive business he was to 
develop. He became known as one of the most successful sheep raisers in 
Humboldt county, his pastures covering eleven thousand acres of deeded land 
and an equal area of government range, on which he grazed about five thousand 
head of sheep, as well as about one hundred cattle and a few horses. Besides, 
he owned a twelve-hundred-acre tract of farming land in Coos county, Ore. 
In 1881 he established his home at Eureka, at which place he resided the rest 
of his life, dividing his time between his home and his ranch, which he man- 
aged with excellent judgment. In addition to his attractive home at Eureka 
he acquired considerable city property, and he gave part of his time to the 
management of his banking and manufacturing interests. He was one of the 
organizers of the Humboldt Bay Woolen Alills Company, of which he Avas 
a director; was a director of the Humboldt County Bank for a number of 
years and also held the same connection with the Home Savings Bank. Pub- 
lic affairs never received any share of his attention except what he thought 
was due to the community from any public-spirited citizen whose duty to his 
fellow men required him to take a stand on questions affecting the general 
welfare. He had the moral courage and unshakable honesty of his Scotch 
blood, and his conservativeness was the caution of forethought and not the 
disposition to lag behind when new ideas were on trial. All that he pos- 
sessed he acquired through his own efforts, and he deserved the success he 
won. Yet he always had a kindly feeling for young men just commencing to 
climb the hard road over which he had "arrived," and was ready with encour- 
agement and assistance to give them a timely lift. His death occurred at 
Eureka December 31, 1911, in his seventy-fifth year. Mr. McClellan was a 
member of Lincoln Lodge No. 34, K. P., of Eureka. He was a Republican 
in his political views. 

In Humboldt county, July 24, 1872, Mr. McClellan married Miss Martha 
Cook, who was born in Henry county, low^a, daughter of Joel and Charlotte 
(Thornburg) Cook, and the following children were born to them : Hugh 
Smith, who died when fen years old; Lucy C, who died when two years old; 
John W., who has managed his father's ranch for a number of years ; Jean- 
nette, Mrs. Graham ; Gertrude, Mrs. Eraser, and Ethel, all of Humboldt 
county. 

ANNA BARBARA GASSER.— The possession of strong, forceful char- 
acteristics, an inheritance from Teutonic ancestry, has enabled Dr. Gasser 
to rise by invincible determination to a high position among the osteopathic 
practitioners of Northern California. Her father, Frederick Wille (well-to-do 
farmer of the Black Forest in Germany), brought the family to California 
and settled in Stockton in 1878. The daughter received the advantages of 
the schools of the San Joaquin valley. Mental and physical qualifications 
admirably adapted her for the difficult profession of nursing and she engaged 
in such work with growing success and popularity, first at Stockton and then 



324 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in the Burke Sanitarium near Santa Rosa. In 1890 she became the wife of 
Henry Gasser. Recently Dr. Gasser purchased a ranch of four hundred and 
twenty acres near Phillipsville, Humboldt county, which Mrs. Gasser named 
Fairmont ranch. It was improved with a vineyard and a varied assortment 
of apples, pears, peaches, plums and prunes. It is her intention to develop 
the ranch into a summer health resort known as Camp Gasser, and in this 
large enterprise she has the cordial co-operation of Mr. Gasser, who will 
have the purest of milk and butter, the freshest of eggs, the fattest of 
poultry as well as the choicest fruits for the guests of the country home. 

A complete course of study at the California College of Osteopathy, San 
Francisco, followed by graduation in 1903, prepared Dr. Gasser for her life 
work and further preparation was had through a special course in electricity. 
In Eureka she owns a comfortable bungalow at No. 1036 E street and here 
she has her office. In the decade of her practice she has won an unusually 
large list of patients and friends. As a practitioner she combines skill and 
tact with an unusually profound knowledge of the needs of the body as well 
as accuracy in diagnosis of disease, so that she is remarkably well qualified 
for success in the profession. The State Association of Osteopathy and 
journals dealing with the science receive a due share of her attention and she 
continues to be a thoughtful student of the profession, affiliating with her 
alma mater as well as the parent school in Missouri. While a large practice 
leaves her little leisure for outside enterprises, she is a member of the Civic 
Club of Eureka and gives her support to all organizations or movements for 
the permanent progress of the city and county. 

HENRY MELDE.— Even from his earliest childhood floriculture has 
appealed to Henry Melde with peculiar emphasis. In Silesia, Germany, where 
he was born, he began to care for a little garden of vegetables and flowers 
when he was only six years of age and at thirteen he sold grapes of his own 
raising. So unquestionably keen and strong was his liking for that line of 
work and so deep his interest in watching the development of plant life that 
he was apprenticed to the nursery business, and after completing his appren- 
ticeship he became assistant in a large nursery in Dresden and later served in 
a similar position in Leipsic and Erfurt, during this time developing his natural 
appreciation by cultivated tastes and thorough training. During the years 
1871 and 1872 he was in and near Rio Janeiro, Brazil, making a scientific study 
of tropical vegetation. Shortly after his arrival in New York City in the fall 
of 1872 he secured employment as an assistant in a florist's establishment 
and in that capacity decorated the famous Delmonico restaurant. For six- 
teen years after his arrival in San Francisco via Panama in 1874 he followed 
his chosen occupation there, first as a landscape gardener for Gen. W. H. 
Barnes, later as florist and gardener for Governor Latham and eventually 
established himself as a florist in that city, having a nursery of his own. How- 
ever, the location did not prove desirable, as the vapor thrown off in the man- 
ufacture of strong acids at the chemical works destroyed his plants. It 
was for this reason that he decided to try a new location, choosing Eureka, 
among the sequoias, as his field of operation. 

Since coming to Eureka in 1890 Mr. Melde has devoted himself very 
closely to his chosen calling and has received the growing appreciation of 
people competent to judge in such matters. Not easily or rapidly did he 
win his way to recognition as one of the foremost nurserymen of northern 
California, but an intelligent mastery of his occupation has enabled him to 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 325 

make good. A brief period was given to the raising of vegetables, but as 
soon as practicable he started a nursery. The initial step in this direction 
was the buying of a tract of stump land near Sequoia Park, and then he 
cleared the land of its stump and brush, so that it was in shape for profitable 
work. For the convenience of the business he has erected three hothouses 
with twelve thousand feet of glass, and this affords ample facilities for the 
growing of delicate plants and flowers requiring careful nurture. One of his 
chief pleasures has been the developing of new kinds of plants and flowers, 
and the Cactus Dahlia represents his latest effort in that direction. Some 
of his special varieties have been shipped to the east and even as far away as 
Germany, for his reputation is by no means limited to the county and state of 
his residence, but extends among florists and nurserymen in other sections 
of the world. His residence is built on seven big redwood stumps. The 
foundation, which is utilized as a basement, is not only unique, but for per- 
manency and durability could not be improved upon, and its use demonstrates 
the forethought and genius of the builder. 

After an absence of forty-one years from his old German home, in the 
fall of 1913 Mr. Melde returned thither, not only for the purpose of renewing 
the friendships of early youth, but also in order to study plant conditions in 
Belgium, Holland and Germany. While away he had the privilege of 
attending the International Exhibition at Ghent and found it a source of 
artistic delight as well as occupative advancement. Among the collection 
of plants that he brought back with him to this country there were new 
varieties of rare plants. His work is his joy and his life. His family consists 
of his wife, also a native of Germany, and three sons, two of whom are his 
able assistants. 

Mr. Melde is very optimistic for the future greatness of Humboldt 
county. Its forests are the finest and most imposing in the world. When 
one considers the age of the sequoias and all that has happened during their 
centuries of growth, to say nothing of the beauty which they add to the 
scenery, it is well worth a trip across the continent for one day's view. Mr. 
Melde is convinced that Humboldt county will some day be a very popular 
summer resort, only needing exploiting of its natural advantages and cli- 
matic conditions to bring it to the attention of the public. 

EGIDIO TANFERANI. — For fourteen years a resident of Humboldt 
county, Cal., where he owns a valuable ranch adjoining the town of Loleta 
where he is engaged in the dairy business, Egidio Tanferani is a native of 
Italy, where he was born in Monte Crestese, near the city of Domodossola, 
Novara, April 18, 1870, his father being Ennocente Tanferani, a farmer and 
dairy man of importance at Monte Crestese. Both parents are still living, 
Egidio, the oldest of their six children, receiving his education in the public 
schools, and from a lad making himself useful on the farm, learning dairying 
as it was done in that part of Italy. In 1901 he left his native land, coming 
to Eureka, Cal., where he immediately found employment in a dairy near 
Ferndale, Humboldt county. Five years later he rented a ranch near Fern- 
dale, and one year later removed to the P. Kelly place near Ferndale, where 
he leased one hundred twenty acres of bottom land and became very suc- 
cessful in the management of a dairy of eighty cows. After seven years spent 
on the Kelly place he had accumulated some means, and being desirous of 
owning a ranch he in 1912 purchased his present property from Hill Broth- 



326 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ers, an estate which comprises fifty-eight and one-quarter acres of land 
adjoining Loleta. This ranch being all rich bottom land, Mr. Tanferani here 
raises hay, beets and carrots, and the product of his dairy herd of forty milch 
cows he sells to Libby, McNeill & Libby Company. Upon his estate he has 
erected commodious buildings, including a modern two-story residence, 
where he has made an attractive home for his wife and three children, Clelia, 
Ennocente and x\ngel. Mrs. Tanferani was before her marriage Felecita 
Leonardi, born in Monte Crestese, the daughter of Angelo, a dairyman and 
farmer. She came to Humboldt county in March, 1909, and in April of that 
year married Mr. Tanferani. In his political interests, Mr. Tanferani is a 
member of the Republican party. 

JESSE N. LENTELL. — Much of the important engineering work 
which has made Eureka so desirable a place of residence and so favorable a 
location for manufacturing and other business enterprises is the work of 
Jesse N. Lentell, a leading civil engineer of this portion of California, v/ho 
served eleven years in this capacity for the city. In that and other capaci- 
ties he has made a name for accuracy and reliability so well deserved that 
he has had the honor of making the large relief map of Humboldt covxnty 
which formed part of the' county's exhibit at the Panama Pacific Exposition 
of 1915, at San Francisco. He did this work under contract with the county 
supervisors. Mr. Lentell has a state map, and a number of city and county 
maps to his credit, railway and road surveys, and other work requiring 
expert knowledge of his profession. In the course of a busy career he has 
acquired interests of considerable value, particularly in water and water- 
power projects and timber lands on the Mad river in this region. 

Mr. Lentell's father. Rev. Jesse V. Lentell, was a Baptist minister, and 
was stationed at Worcester, Mass., at the time of the birth of his son Jesse. 
His mother's maiden name was Louisa R. Burroughs. Jesse N. Lentell 
was born at Worcester January 31, 1861, and was a child when his father 
removed with the family to Amherst, growing up at the various places to 
which his father's work took the family. His high school education was 
received at Amherst, Mass. His brother Junius V. Lentell having gone out 
to Nebraska, became engaged in farming at Valley, that state, and he 
persuaded Jesse to join him. The latter was then twenty years old. He 
farm.ed and taught school in Nebraska for a while, until he decided to rettirn 
east and fit himself for civil engineering, taking a special course in that 
science at Lebanon, Ohio. After that he came out to California, locating at 
Oakland in the year 1883. There he became a deputy in the city engineer's 
office, working for the city one year, after which he took a position with 
the Contra Costa Water Company, now known as the Oakland Water 
Company. He remained in their employ for a year and a half, at the end of 
that period, in 1886, coming up to Humboldt county and settling at Eureka, 
where he still makes his home. Before long he had been commissioned to 
resurvey the city, fixing grades and street lines, and he made the first city 
sewer plan. Having made a reputation by his excellent work he was given 
the position of city engineer, which he held for eleven years, during which 
time he also filled the position of county surveyor for two years," combining 
the duties of both offices very effectively. His next work was for the 
Eureka and Klamath River Railway Company, surveying and laying out its 
road from Samoa to Little River, about twenty miles, and he has since been 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 329 

called upon to make various other railway surveys and locate railroads. 
For one summer season he had charge of the Crescent City and Grants 
Pass Railroad. In 1907 he located the Trinity state highway, from Salt 
creek to Alad river, a stretch of twenty-eight miles. He has made plans 
for a gravity system of water supply for the city of Eureka, to obtain pure 
city water from the Mad river as well as electric power, at a cost of one 
million dollars. In 1898 he published a state map, which he revised in 
1904; besides which he published a map of the city of Eureka and several 
maps of Humboldt county, and also of several counties in California. The 
many large works to his credit, some of them carried out under difficulties 
which would have appalled a man of less resource, are sufficient evidence 
of his ability and thoroughness. Personally he is a citizen whom Eureka 
is proud to claim. 

Mr. Lentell makes his home at No. 3120 D street. Eureka. He was 
married at Eureka in 1908 to Mrs. BVances Sunol Angus, a talented teacher 
and writer. She met with an automobile accident at San Jose in 1910, 
which proved fatal. Fraternally, Mr. Lentell is a member of Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., and Eureka Lodge No. 636, L. O. O. M., and he also 
belongs to the Humboldt Club. 

EDWARD JACKSON ROGERS.— Ed Rogers, as he is popularly called, 
is the proprietor of the Rogers Resort, an excellent hotel near Bridgeville, 
Cal., of which property he is joint owner with his mother. The whole- 
hearted generosity and kindness of his nature which have endeared him to all 
his patrons are the outgrowth of Mr. Rogers' Irish ancestry, for both his 
parents were natives of the Emerald Isle whose people are known for the 
spontaneity of their temperament; and the ready wit of that nation is well 
exemplified in Air. Rogers, whose smiling face and genial manner have made 
him perhaps the most popular of all the hotel-keepers in southern Humboldt 
county. 

The mother of Mr. Rogers was Jennie Lewis, who removed with her 
parents from Ireland to Canada at the age of one year; thence she went to 
San Francisco, at which place she met and was married to Edward Hugh 
Rogers. Of this marriage three children were born : John H., who is now a 
dairyman at Lexington, Wash., and is married to Mary Friel of Ferndale, 
Cal., by whom he has six children (Genevieve, Estella, Norton, Neil, Margaret 
and John) ; Genevieve, now the wife of AA^atts Jeans, a farmer in Idaho ; and 
Edward Jackson, who was born on the Van Dusen, near Carlotta, Humboldt 
county, June 26, 1876, and grew up in the hotel business at Rogers Resort, of 
which he is now the proprietor. The father had lived in both New York and 
San Francisco, and upon coming to Humboldt county started out for himself 
in the hotel business. He built the old Van Dusen House below Flannigan's 
mill, which was the first hotel and summer resort on the Van Dusen river and a 
very popular place. This house was burned, after which Mr. Rogers built the 
present Rogers Resort four miles north of Bridgeville. The father died 
twenty-three years ago, at the time of his death being the owner of twenty- 
two hundred acres of land. The mother is still living and runs the Hotel 
Grand at American Falls, Idaho. Rogers ranch is located sixteen miles south 
of Carlotta and now comprises about three hundred acres and is owned by 
Mr. Rogers and his mother, where he is also engaged in raising cattle, his 
brand being two 3's facing each other. 



330 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Rogers" popularity is bringing him well deserved advancement in 
his chosen line of work, and he neglects no means of making his hostelry 
one that will be frequented by numerous visitors. At present he is spending 
thousands of dollars in building an addition to the main structure, rebuilding 
and remodeling, and beautifying the grounds and drives about the hotel ; 
and it is safe to prophesy that the years will bring to Mr. Rogers unprece- 
dented success in his business in return for his efforts to make his hotel 
an ideal one for his guests. 

GEORGE UNDERWOOD.— Few men in any field of work have the 
satisfaction of experiencing more real success than Mr. Underwood has been 
rewarded with in his forty years as an educator. Now, filling his fourth term 
as county superintendent of the public schools in Humboldt county, Cal., he 
has every reason to feel gratified with the approval his unselfish efforts have 
met, for the large majority he received at each election is an unmistakable 
indorsement of his services. The loyalty and support of his associates in 
the profession, and of former pupils, however, afford him probably his 
greatest pleasure and have been a spur to continued achievements for many 
years past. Mr. Underwood is a native of Ohio, born April 29, 1855, at 
Pleasant Ridge, Hamilton county, son of Benjamin F. and Mary Jane (Bell) 
Underwood. He was reared in the state of his birth, and after obtaining what 
education the common schools there afforded took a thorough course at the 
National normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, an institution of high standing 
whose influence undoubtedly had much to do with his early proficiency in the 
profession. He had been brought up as a farmer boy, but he commenced 
teaching at the age of nineteen years and has followed the calling without 
interruption since. For five years he was engaged in the district schools of 
Butler county, Ohio, but he was ambitious to try his fortune in the great west, 
and in the year 1882 he settled in California. He immediately secured a 
position as teacher, and did notable work at Rohnerville, Humboldt county, 
where he was principal of the public school for a period of fifteen years, 
during which time the grammar school of that place attained a reputation 
as one of the best of its class in the state. Mr. Underwood's successful 
methods and conscientious, effective attention to his pupils attracted general 
notice, and in the fall of 1902 he received the nomination of county superin- 
tendent of schools, on the republican ticket, being elected by a majority of 
two thousand. His fellow teachers and former pupils took an active part in 
the campaign, giving him personal support and winning over their friends in 
large numbers, and his constituents had no reason to regret their choice. Since 
then he has been re-elected to succeed himself in 1906, 1910 and 1914 with 
large majorities. He first entered upon the duties of his office January 1, 1903, 
and modestly but resolutely set about the task of introducing into all the 
schools of the county the methods which had proved so superior at Rohner- 
ville. His re-elections are sufficient evidence that he has not disappointed the 
people in his grasp of his responsibilities or his ability to carry them. They 
have given him a free hand and encouraged him to do his best, and he has 
not failed them, the fine record he has made for himself being merely the 
reflection of the high standard whjch the schools of Humboldt county have 
attained under his administration. Before his election as superintendent he 
refused offers of other positions because of his interest in his work at Rohner- 
ville, which was returned in kind by his fellow citizens there. The basis of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 331 

his system is to instruct pupils in the method of acquiring information for 
themselves rather than teaching them the comparatively few things which 
may be mastered by pure effort of memory, instructing them to know things 
because they know the "reason why." It is to his special credit that his 
pupils at the Rohnerville grammar school were admitted to the third year 
of the Berkeley and other high schools of the state without the usual pre- 
paratory course. Because of his authoritative position among educators he 
has frequently been solicited for contributions to educational journals and 
other publications, his articles having a popular circulation. 

Mr. Underwood is highly appreciative of the trust which the citizens of 
Humboldt county have placed in him, and also of the friendly esteem in 
which he is held by his fellow educators. Throughout his career he has 
endeavored to increase his fitness for his chosen work by continued study, and 
as a scholar he is looked up to by all who have had the opportunity of 
estimating his attainments. His executive ability has been as valuable as his 
mental training in every position he has been called upon to fill, and he has 
developed as new responsibilities have come to him, proving capable wherever 
placed. All his efforts are being directed toward maintaining a state of 
efficiency in the Humboldt county schools above criticism, and his energy 
has aroused a similar spirit among all his assistants. 

In 1884 Mr. Underwood was married to Miss Annie Davis, daughter of 
John B. Davis, who came to Rohnerville in pioneer days. Three daughters 
and one son were born to them, the son dying in infancy. The daughters 
are : Stella Irene, who served four years as her father's assistant and is 
now the wife of S. C. Forsey, residing in Oakland ; Rilma Anita and Dariel May, 

Mr. Underwood is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, belonging to Eel River 
Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., and Eel River Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Rohner- 
ville, and with his wife is a member of Rohnerville Chapter No. 76, O. E. S. 
Mrs. Underwood is a member of the Congregational church. Mr. Underwood 
has been a prominent member of the Ninth District Agricultural Association, 
which he served as secretary for a period of seven years. AVith his family 
he resides at No. 1016 Ninth street, where their many friends and acquain- 
tances are welcomed with true hospitality and goodwill. 

WILLIAM S. CLARK.— There is hardly a phase of the development 
of Eureka, Humboldt county, with which William S. Clark, the present 
mayor of the city, has not been associated during the thirty years of his 
career as a business man here. His father, the late Hon. Jonathan Clark, 
owning large real estate interests here, opened Clark's addition to the town 
and had planned and started the second enlargement at the time of his 
death. Up to that time William S. Clark had followed his early inclinations 
for agricultural pursuits, but when the care of the valuable estate passed into 
his hands he had to continue the work begun if he expected to realize on it, 
and thus his extensive operations had their origin. His transactions have been 
numerous and important, establishing stable values in dififerent portions of 
the town, for like his father he has planned with an eye to the future good, 
a fact which has been sufficiently apparent to enhance his popularity. The 
townspeople have shown him many honors and at present, besides holding 
the chief executive office, he is commissioner for Humboldt county to the 



332 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Panama-Pacific Exposition. His business and social connections are nu- 
merous and creditable. 

Mr. Clark is a native of Humboldt county, born February 20, 1858, at 
Bucksport, son of Jonathan and Maria (Ryan) Clark. His education was 
acquired in the public schools of Eureka. When he began work he applied 
himself to farming, and as soon as he became of age his father turned over 
to him the management of a dairy farm of six hundred acres which he owned, 
at Table Bluff, this county. This occupied his attention for several years 
following, and he was gaining steadily in knowledge and experience of the 
calling he had chosen when his father's death made it necessary for him to 
handle all the interests of the estate instead of the comparatively small 
portion which he had looked after prior to that time. He has but one sister, 
Eliza, and her interests as well as their mother's have been faithfully cared for 
by Mr. Clark. 

As his real estate operations have been his chief responsibility it will 
be interesting to see how much Mr. Clark has contributed to the growth 
of his city in that line. Little of the second enlargement of Clark's addition 
to Eureka had been sold when he assumed his father's interests, and he 
sold off most of the remainder in town lots. In 1900 he platted a third enlarge- 
ment to the Clark addition, a tract of about two hundred acres which 
within a few years he had sold in acre blocks or as residence lots. Now 
most of the southwestern portion of the residence district of Eureka is com- 
prised in Clark's additions, and Mr. Clark has also been interested in an 
eastern addition to the town — thirteen acres on Seventeenth and J streets 
which he laid out in company with Ernest Sevier. Large lots were laid 
out and the subdivision, sale and improvement of the tract were planned with 
the greatest care, no pains being spared to convert it into highly desirable 
residence property. Many handsome homes have been erected thereon. 
Mr. Clark also built the South Park race track, which he has since cut up 
into city lots. To encourage home builders the Eureka Land & Home Build- 
ing Association was formed, and he has been one of the influential factors in 
shaping its policy, which has provided opportunities for those desiring to 
acquire homes, without capital or financial backing. He is a director of that 
concern and an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is 
a past president. His personal investments in the city are so large as to be 
proof positive of his sanguine opinion regarding its continued prosperity. 

For a number of years Mr. Clark has supplemented his private activ- 
ities with public service. After two terms of service in the city council he 
was elected mayor in 1903, and his administration was so favorably remem- 
bered that in June, 1913, he was elected for another term, which he is now 
filling. It was quite in keeping that the honor of representing Humboldt 
county at the Panama-Pacific Exposition should fall to him. Politically he 
has always been a Republican. Socially he is a member of the B. P. O. Elks 
and of the Sequoia Yachting and Boating Club, being a director of the latter 
body, which he helped to organize. 

On June 2, 1886, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Celia Griffin, Avho was 
born in Humboldt county, daughter of John and Mary Griffin. A family of 
four children has been born to them : Jonathan Earl, Alice E., William S. 
and Lee D. 




/8u^u/i// 



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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 335 

ROBERT HENRY. — The genius of the inventor seems full often to 
have flowered in the heart of the pioneer, v\^ho ever made a virtue of necessity 
and constructed for himself from the materials at hand such implements and 
tools as were needed for his work. And it was no unusual thing for these same 
articles to prove far better than one had ever deemed possible, and from such 
simple beginnings as these have come great inventions and articles of value 
to mankind. A California pioneer who possesses the gift for invention in a 
marked degree is Robert Henry, of Blue Lake, who already has given the 
world a number of clever devices and who is now at work on several more 
which he hopes soon to have perfected in all their minor details. 

Mr. Henry is a native of York county, New Brunswick, having been 
born on a farm near Fredericton, October 4, 1844. He was the son of Robert 
and Elizabeth (Scott) Henry, both of whom died when Robert was a small 
child. He attended private schools for a few years, this being before the days 
of public schools in that part of the province. Besides being left an orphan, 
circumstances were such that he was forced at an early age to start out for 
himself. He worked in the woods in the spring of each year driving logs 
on the rivers, and working on the ranches in the neighborhood during sum- 
mers when the work in the woods was slack. The first year he received 
$7 a month for his labor, and the second year was raised to $10. 

Following this line of occupation Mr. Henry lived in New Brunswick 
until he was twenty-one years of age, when he determined to come to the 
United States, where the opportunities were better and where he would 
also escape the rigors of winters in the north. Accordingly he landed at 
Alpena, Mich., situated on Thunder Bay, Lake Huron, and there found em- 
ployment in the woods at Milltown. Shortly after accepting this portion, 
however, he was taken ill with typhoid fever and returned to Alpena, and it 
was -not until three months later that he was able to resume work. Upon 
returning to the woods he was paid $35 a month, and in the spring of the 
year he went out on the log drive at $3.50 a day. During the summer he 
worked on the state highway between Alpena and Saginaw and in the winter 
again worked in the woods. The following year he returned to New Bruns- 
wick. At that time a railroad from Bangor to St. John was in course of con- 
struction and suggested to Mr. Henry the idea of opening a general mer- 
chandise store. Accordingly he built a store and hotel on the shore of Magua- 
davic lake. There he continued successfully for two years, after which he 
sold the store and hotel and engaged in the butcher business, supplying the 
railroad company with meat. When the road was completed this store was 
closed, and although at a later date the same company urged him to open 
another similar place at a new construction camp, Mr. Henry did not like 
the conditions and so declined the offer. In 1873 he went into New Hamp- 
shire and again worked in the woods, having charge of the blacksmith shop 
for the lumbering camp. In December, 1873, he removed to Wisconsin, 
where he was with the Eau Claire Lumber Company, first in the woods and 
later in charge of the blacksmithing. The wages paid for logging were much 
higher, however, being often as high as $4 a day, and he later returned to 
the better paid labor. At another time he cooked for a crew of eighty men 
on the drive on the Eau Claire river in Wisconsin. 

A brother of Mr. Henry had for several years been located in California 
and his letters from the coast telling of the climatic advantages and of the 



336 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

higher wages to be had were the direct cause of his decision to come west. 
It was November 9, 1875, that he arrived at Eureka and during that winter 
he cooked for a crew of men on the Washington claim, where they were 
making shakes. The following summer he worked in the woods, and began 
at that time his search for land on which he might locate. There were at that 
time many men who were supposed to be locators but whose chief interest 
was in getting money from the uninitiated, who was often shown one piece 
of land and later found that he had filed on another, often many miles away. 
Mr. Henry had several unpleasant experiences with this type of tricksters, 
but his native intellect and his attention to detail saved him from serious 
mistakes. Later he filed on several good locations and after a time began him- 
self to locate others. This occupation he followed for several years, meeting 
with much success and making many warm friends by his careful attention to 
details and his absolutely fair dealings with the settlers. 

This work was eventually given up for the work of timber expert and 
contract estimating on timber acreage land, an occupation which he followed 
successfully until within the last few years. 

Many years ago Mr. Henry determined to build a permanent home at 
Blue Lake and at the earliest possible opportunity the foundation for the 
future home was laid. This was in the year that President McKinley was 
assassinated. This home is considered one of the finest in Blue Lake. After 
the death of his first wife several years ago this property was sold, but Mr. 
Henry still makes his home in the pretty little city. In October, 1913, in Blue 
Lake, he married M'rs. Mary J. (Hodgson) Barnum. Born near Toronto, 
Canada, she removed with her parents to Minneapolis, Minn., in 1860, and in 
1866 married Edwin Barnum, a native of Hamilton, Canada, and a soldier in 
the engineer corps in the Civil war, enlisting from Minnesota. He was en- 
gaged in the real estate business, but later removed to North Dakota, where 
he farmed for eleven years, then became a merchant in Lakota, afterwards 
retiring to Duluth, Minn., where he died in 1910. In the fall of 1912 the 
widow came to the vicinity of Redding, Cal., and in 1913 came to Blue Lake. 

Mr. Henry is well known throughout Humboldt county and has many 
friends wherever he is known. He has been a member of the Masonic 
lodge since 1868, having been made a Mason in Solomon Lodge No. 6, Fred- 
ericton, and since 1882 has been a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, 
Eureka. 

Although he is retired from active business life, Mr. Henry is always 
busy. His workshop is the center of his manifold activities and he is planning 
and working constantly on some one of the several inventions which he hopes 
soon to be ready to patent and give to the world. Among them is a window 
fastener, also a cuspidor lifter, both of which are a success. Several other 
articles have already been put on the market with much success and there 
are at present several more in the process of passing through the patent 
office. One of these is an ingenious automatic device to prevent fish from 
leaving the main canal and going into the small irrigating ditches and getting 
on the land, which will save millions of fish a year to the government. 

DANIEL MATHESON. — The city assessor of Eureka has seen much 
of life on the western hemisphere and has endured innumerable privations 
not only in the logging camps of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but also in 
the undeveloped mining regions of Alaska, where he prospected during a 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY ZZ7 

pioneer period that considerably antedated the famous rush to that country. 
The experiences that came to him enriched his Hfe with thrilling adventure, 
but added nothing to his store of savings and for these he has depended 
largely upon the ordinary occupations of the work-a-day v^^orld. The memories 
of his early life cluster around the little town of St. Stephen in New Bruns- 
wick, where he was born December 17, 1860, and where he received such 
meager advantages as local schools made possible. The family was poor and 
the need of self-support was thrust upon him while yet a boy on the home 
farm. Although skilled in all kinds of farm work he did not turn to the 
tilling of the soil for a livelihood, but instead found employment in the 
lumber woods of his native province, where his skill as a woodsman and his 
splendid health enabled him to earn higher wages than many others in the 
same occupation. 

During the years of his employment in New Brunswick forests i\Ir. 
Matheson heard much concerning the excellent wages paid in the logging 
camps of California and these favorable reports induced him to come to 
Eureka in the fall of 1882. He was then a young man scarcely twenty-two 
years of age, in the prime of physical strength and able to lead the crew 
in the logging camps and at the sawmills. To such as he naturally there 
came ready employment at fair wages. After almost three years in the forests 
of Humboldt county he went to Siskiyou county in 1885 and there had his 
first experiences in mining camps. While recognizing the fascination of the 
mines, he was not satisfied with the location and so in the spring of 1886 
sought the unexplored mining regions of Alaska. For a considerable period 
he mined at Juneau, a camp then scarcely known to the outside world and 
containing so few of the actual necessities of existence that the record of 
its pioneers is a story of almost incredible hardships. 

It was in the midst of such a primitive environment that Mr. Matheson 
remained for two and one-half years. Upon his return to Eureka in the fall 
of 1889 he resumed work in the logging woods, but later took up the in- 
surance business and acted as agent for a number of prominent old-line 
companies. IMeanwhile he acquired local prominence in the Republican party 
and did much to promote the welfare of that organization in his home town. 
In 1906 he was a candidate for the office of city assessor of Eureka, to which 
office he was duly elected and is now serving his fourth term, which he fills 
with fidelity and painstaking accuracy. With his wife, who was Mary 
^lurray, a native of Eureka, and their son. Earl, he has established a comfort- 
able home in this city and is regarded as one of the public-spirited citizens, 
whose activity is proving helpful to local progress. With characteristic civic 
pride he has identified himself with the Eureka Board of Trade and has co- 
operated with all of its movements for the advancement of the town. In local 
fraternities he is no less prominent than in local politics, being a member of 
the Eagles, a leading worker in the blue lodge of Masons and at one time 
or another the incumbent of all the offices in the local camp, Woodmen of 
the AVorld. 

JAMES MILTON FARLEY.— A native of California, and a resident of 
Humboldt county for more than twenty years, James Milton Farley is de- 
scended from one of the well known pioneer families of early California days. 
His entire lifetime has been passed within the confines of his native state, 
and for the greater part of that time he has been engaged in farming and 



338 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

dairying pursuits. His present home place is on the Eel river, and he is 
especially interested in dairying and the raising of registered and graded 
live stock. 

Mr. Farley was born in Sonoma county, a short distance from Petaluma, 
January 15, 1854. He is the son of Francis Hall Farley, a native of Ohio. His 
mother vi^as Elizabeth (Kraut) Farley, born in Indiana. In 1852 the family 
crossed the plains with ox teams, to California, locating in Sonoma county. 
There were six children in the family at that time, and the present honored 
citizen of Ferndale was not born until two years later. The Farley family 
is one of the oldest and best known of the early pioneers, having lived in 
California since the time of their first coming to the state. When the son, 
James Milton, was a few years of age they moved from Sonoma county to 
Marin county. Here he attended the public schools until he was fifteen years 
of age, after which he remained at home assisting his father with the farm 
work until he was twenty-one. Later the father returned to Sonoma county, 
where he engaged in stockraising and farming until the time of his death. 

It was in 1875 that young Mr. Farley first left home and engaged in 
business for himself. His first venture was in the leasing of a ranch at 
Point Rey, consisting of some two thousand acres, and here he engaged in 
dairying and stock-raising, maintaining a herd of two hundred milch cows. 
For seven years he remained on this ranch, following this line of endeavor, 
and always meeting with the greatest of success. At the end of this period 
he sold his interests here, and moved to near Petaluma, where he purchased 
a ranch and again engaged in dairy farming and stock-raising, continuing here 
for another period of seven years, and making this venture as successful as 
the previous one. 

It was in 1895 that Mr. Farley came to Humboldt county, locating at 
Hydesville, where he was employed in the creamery. Within a short time 
he was made manager of this creamery, remaining in charge until 1902. 
He then returned to Ferndale and went to work for John Neilsen, on his 
ranch on Eel River island. Mr. Neilsen was engaged in dairying and farm- 
ing, and for ten years Mr. Farley was his trusted employee and intimate 
friend. At the end of that time Mr. Neilsen deeded him a tract of forty 
acres of partially cleared land, which is the present home place of Mr. 
Farley. Here he is engaged in farming and dairying, and is meeting with 
much success. He has cleared and improved the land, and brought it under 
a high state of cultivation. At present he maintains a herd of about twenty- 
five graded and registered milch cows. 

The marriage of Mr. Farley occurred in San Francisco, September 11, 
1884, uniting him with Miss Maggie Winters, the daughter of John and Kate 
(Currey) Winters, and a native of Philadelphia, Pa. After Mr. Winters' death, 
the mother brought her two children to California, making their home first 
in Marin county, afterwards living in Petaluma, where she was married to 
John Neilsen, after which Mr. and Mrs. Neilsen lived in Humboldt county, 
engaged in farming ; both are deceased. Mrs. Farley has borne her husband 
eight children, six of whom are living : Nellie, Mrs. Ed Ammer, of Ferndale ; 
Mable, Mrs. Antonsen, of Eureka ; Ambrose ; Katie, wife of Frank Ammer, 
of Ferndale ; Violet, Mrs. Milton Sweet, of Aberdeen, Washington ; and 
Harold. 

Mr. Farley is exceptionally well liked in his community. He is a man 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 339 

of much reserve, quiet and dignified, but also respected and trusted by his 
friends and acquaintances. He is interested in all local questions, and is 
progressive in his ideas. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations. In 
the conduct of his business affairs he is thrifty and industrious, and his suc- 
cess has been won by careful and conscientious effort. 

ELIJAH H. FALK. — Lumbering has always been one of the leading 
industries which have contributed steadily to the wealth of Humboldt county, 
preeminently the one for which she is most noted; and the men who have 
been connected therewith are looked upon as chief among the factors in her 
business development. Her rich timber lands have not only attracted invest- 
ors and practical lumbermen, but incidentally to their exploitation have come 
railroads, shipping interests and the various mercantile enterprises which 
inevitably spring up around prosperous communities of workers, in need of 
clothing, food and other household supplies and possessing the means to 
procure comforts. Mr. Falk's connection with the lumber industry is highly 
important. That he has gained the reputation of being the most skillful mill- 
wright in California and that many of his best productions are in Humboldt 
county, speaks well for the lumber mills of this region and for his mechanical 
gifts. He has built a greater number of lumber mills than any other man 
in this part of the state, so it is an established fact that he has done his full 
share in bringing her manufacturing facilities in that line to the high point 
of development for which Humboldt county especially is renowned. 

The present mayor of the city of Eureka, Elijah H. Falk, is a native of 
Ohio, born October 4, 1850, near Findlay, Hancock county, son of David 
and Mary (Christman) Falk. His parents were born in Pennsylvania, mov- 
ing out to Ohio in the early forties. Mr. Falk took up a government claim 
and farmed it the rest of his life. By trade he was a carpenter, and he worked 
at both callings. His death occurred in Ohio when he was sixty-eight years 
old. Five of his family still survive : Noah H., now a resident of Areata, 
Humboldt county ; Sylvanus lives in Ohio ; Elizabeth is the wife of John 
Kyser, of Ohio; Elijah H. is mentioned below; Jonas lives at Newberg. 

Elijah H. Falk spent his youth and early manhood in Ohio, remaining 
there until 1878, the year of his removal to Humboldt county, California. 
During the quarter of a century which followed, his services as a millwright 
were in constant demand, and among the notable plants of his construction 
may be mentioned the Falk mill, the Warren Miner saw and shingle mill, 
the C. K. James sawmill, the Elk River sawmill, the Harpst shingle mill, the 
Carson shingle mill, the Shipyard sawmill, the original Hammond mill, known 
then as Vance mill, the immense Hines sawmill in Santa Cruz county and the 
Bucksport shingle mill, in connection with which latter he built a drying 
plant — the only shingle dryer of its kind in Humboldt county. By its use all 
the shingles are dried before shipping, this process reducing the weight two- 
thirds and the expense of shipping in proportion. Several days are required 
to dry the shingles with hot air, which is sent through the first department 
at the rate of thirty-two miles an hour and through the select kiln at the 
rate of twCnty-four miles an hour. The capacity of the kiln is one million, 
four hundred twenty-eight thousand shingles, two hundred four cars, each 
holding seven thousand, being put in at once. The output is thus one hun- 
dred twenty thousand daily, and though the process seems tedious and is 
expensive it means so great a saving on freight that the drying equipment 



340 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

has justified itself to the great satisfaction of the mill owners. Mr. Falk was 
the manager of the Bucksport mill for nearly a year. Some time after his 
arrival in California he located at Areata, Humboldt county, moving from 
there in 1882 to Elk river, where in association with Messrs. HoUey. Harpst 
and Stafford he erected the Falk sawmill and remained for several years, 
giving his attention principally to the extensive business .done at that plant. 
Since 1886 he has maintained his home at Eureka. Mr. Falk has been the 
designer of many other mills besides those mentioned, and his name will live 
with those of the ablest workers in the lumber regions of California. His 
achievements as a mill builder leave no room for doubt as to his natural 
endowments as a mechanic, or his ability to grasp the business possibilities in 
his line. Yet these qualities have been no more important in his useful career 
than the substantial traits of persistence, untiring effort and unwavering 
devotion to whatever he has undertaken. Eureka is proud to count him 
among her citizens, and he is esteemed for his fine personal characteristics 
as he is respected for his strong mentality. With the vision to see great 
things in his work and to bring them about by his faith and perseverance, he 
has realized some of the most sanguine dreams which the early lumber 
operators in this part of California cherished. 

Mr. Falk was married, in Ohio, to Miss Amelia J. Deabler, a native of 
Pennsylvania, born July 30, 1849. Of the children born to this union five are 
living, namely : William S., of Eureka ; Dr. Charles C, of Eureka, a leading 
physician and surgeon ; Dr. Curtis O., also a physician, of Eureka ; Laura B., 
who was graduated from Leland Stanford University in 1906; and Dr. Vernon 
Eugene, a physician at Modesto. He was a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, 
F. & A. M., also a member of Scottish Rite. He is an active member of the 
First M. E. Church of Eureka, and he is president of the Board of Trustees 
and is chairman of the Finance Committee, and is a member of the Board of 
Stewards. 

Though most of his time has been applied to business; Mr. Falk was for 
many years a Republican, but since 1906 he has espoused the cause of the 
Socialist party, being a firm believer in its principles. June 21, 1915, he was 
induced by his friends to become a candidate for mayor of Eureka and was 
elected by a plurality of three against three opponents. July 6, 1915, he took 
oath of ofiice, assuming the duties on July 12th for two years. His aim is to 
raise Eureka to high standards in business as well as morals and his policy 
is justice to all mankind. 

ALONZO JUDSON MONROE.— The lineage of the Monroe family is 
traced back to Scotland, the progenitors locating in Connecticut in colonial 
days. Love of the frontier and fondness for adventure in unknown regions 
are family characteristics, which find expression in the life of Alonzo Judson 
Monroe when, with gun and dog, he enjoys a hunting expedition into the 
woods far from the haunts of civilization In his father, Alonzo W., a native 
of Connecticut, the same traits found expression in a voyage to California 
around the Horn during 1850, when he joined a crowd of gold-seekers allured 
by the prospects of fortunes in the mines. A short period of mining in Trin- 
ity county convinced him that such work held no possibilities for him, so in 
1854 he came to Humboldt county and embarked in stock-raising near Hydes- 
ville, but later took up butchering at Eureka. When Nevada began to come 
into the public notice as a mining center he went to that state and was for- 
tunate in locating rich prospects. In honor of his home town of Eureka, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 341 

Cal., he named the new settlement Eureka and for years the mining town 
enjoyed a national distinction denied to its western parent-town. The locator 
of the Nevada mines returned to his old home, took up mercantile pursuits 
and continued in Humboldt county throughout his remaining years. In 
Masonry he was a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M. 

The marriage of Alonzo W. Monroe united him with Anna Maria Albee, 
a native of Michigan and a relative of Israel Putnam of colonial fame. Her 
father, Joseph Porter Albee, came to California in 1852, via Panama, and 
settled among the pioners of Weaverville, and in 1854 settled in Hum- 
boldt county, where in 1862 he was killed by Indians on Red- 
wood creek. The children of the Monroe family were named as follows : 
Joseph P., Alonzo Judson, John W. (deceased), Charles A., Horace P., Mrs. 
Nettie S. Stover, William H. T. and Mrs. Jennie Worthington. Born on a 
ranch near Hydesville, Humboldt county, October 19, 1858, Alonzo Judson 
Monroe attended the public schools at Eureka during boyhood. At the age 
of seventeen he began the study of law in the ofifice of S. M. Buck, of Eureka, 
but after three years of assiduous application to books his eyes were weak- 
ened to such an extent that he was forced to seek other work. After his 
eyes failed he worked two winters in sawmills, one summer in the woods, 
made two trips to Honolulu as a sailor on a lumber vessel, worked a year 
in the mines in Humboldt county, Nev., and engaged in other manual labor. 
With the restoration of his eyes to normal condition he resumed the study 
of law and in 1882 was admitted to practice in the superior courts, while 
November 13, 1894, he was admitted to the circuit and district courts and to 
the circuit court of appeals. From the first he has practiced in Eureka, where 
he is among the leading attorneys. For one term he served as district 
attorney of Humboldt county and in addition he has been city attorney of 
Eureka, Areata and Blue Lake. 

Mr. Monroe was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., 
of which he is past master ; also a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, 
R. A. M., Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam Temple A. A. O. 
N. M. S., San Francisco. He is a past grand master of the Grand Lodge of 
Masons of California and with his wife is a member of Camelia Chapter, 
O. E. S. Other organizations having his name enrolled as a member are the 
Knights of Pythias, Native Sons of the Golden. West and the Elks of Eureka. 
Mr. Monroe and his wife are members of the Congregational Church in 
which they have taken a prominent part. For many years he has been a 
leading local worker in the temperance cause. By his marriage to Miss Lucre- 
tia Anna Huntington, a native of Illinois, he has three sons, namely : Thomas 
H., a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, a lieutenant in the Sixth 
U. S. Infantry, stationed at El Paso, Tex. ; Joseph P., and Hammond Mc- 
Dougal, of Eureka. 

PATRICK QUINN.— A resident of Humboldt county for almost fifty 
years, Patrick Quinn has always been classed among the substantial citizens 
of his section, and he may well be proud of the results he has to show for an 
industrious career. He owns and operates a large ranch in Table Bluff 
township, and in improving this property has not only made a competence 
for himself and provided a living for his family, but has been a unit in the 
advancement and progress of the whole region. A man of his sturdy qual- 
ities, energy and ambition is a desirable acquisition to any community, and 



342 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

his useful life has brought him respect from all his neighbors and associates 
everywhere. 

Mr. Quinn's parents, John and Catherine (Whalen) Ouinn, were natives 
of Ireland, the father born in County Waterford, and both are now deceased. 
When a young man John Quinn came to America, bringing one of his broth- 
ers with him, and they settled in Ontario, Canada, where they soon found 
work in a mill. They spent the remainder of their lives in that country. 

Patrick Quinn was born in Ontario in 1842 and grew to manhood there, 
remaining in his home town until he came to California, in the year 1865. 
The long journey was made by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and he landed 
at San Francisco in February, 1866. During the next four months he worked 
in a sawmill in Marin county. Then he joined fortunes with James Tierney, 
with whom he purchased a ranch on Salmon creek, in Humboldt county, Cal., 
paying $3,500 for the property. For several years they operated it in partner- 
ship, until 1872, in which year Mr. Quinn bought the property he has ever 
since occupied, in Table Blufif township, this county. During the forty years 
and more of his residence there he has continued the work of improvement 
steadily, with the result that the property has increased wonderfully in 
value, both as an agricultural and a real estate proposition. It comprises 
three hundred and fifteen acres of particularly productive soil, which Mr. 
Quinn has cultivated wisely, as its present condition shows. From the begin- 
ning he has been very successful, and he has combined dairying with general 
farming very profitably, keeping forty fine milch cows. His chief agricultural 
products are large quantities of grain. Through his industry and thrift Mr. 
Quinn has become one of the well-to-do farmers of his section, and he is still 
looking after his affairs with his customary interest and foresight, enjoying 
his work with the satisfaction which comes when perseverance has had its 
rewards. Aside from several years' service as school trustee he has taken 
no direct part in the administration of the local government, though he has 
always used his influence for the encouragement of progressive movements 
and to uphold high standards of citizenship. Politically he has been a stanch 
supporter of the Democratic party, but has limited his activities to the casting 
of his ballot. 

On February 5, 1872, Mr. Quinn was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
McNulty, who was born in Texas, daughter of Owen McNulty, with whom 
she came to California in 1854. Mr. McNult)^ a well known citizen in his 
day, owned a fine ranch in Humboldt county which he carried on up to the 
time of his death. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Quinn : 
Catherine, who is the wife of A. C. Buxton, of Fortuna ; John F., an attorney, 
in successful practice at Eureka; William J., a physician, who took his pro- 
fessional course at Cooper Medical College, San Francisco; Owen P., residing 
at the old home ; Alice M., a school teacher ; Irwin F., an attorney ; Frederick 
A., a graduate of St. Mary's College; Albert E., head time-keeper for the 
Pacific Lumber Company ; Harold J., a student in Jefferson Medical College, 
Philadelphia, and a graduate of the University of California ; and Evelyn M. 

Mrs. Quinn has naturally been interested in the educational advantages 
of the neighborhood, feeling that the early training of children is vitally 
important, and she has shown her willingness to co-operate with her neigh- 
bors in securing the best privileges obtainable by several years' service as a 
member of the school board of Clark district. 




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\2)JjiM^t^^^tj*t. Ci^iyu^JUi^a.ya>c, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 3'47 

JASPER ANDERSON.— The difiference between the former methods of 
hit-and-miss farming and the latest scientific methods are nowhere better 
illustrated than in the case of Jasper Anderson, who is one of the most pros- 
perous farmers of Hydesville and vicinity, his ranch being conducted on 
absolutely scientific principles. He owns some of the most valuable property 
in the county, including a splendid farm of over four hundred acres near 
Hydesville, where he makes his home, and a stock ranch of eight hundred 
acres at Roger's Resort, in Van Dusen township. His home place is a model 
of care and splendid management, every detail being as carefully looked after 
as the afi^airs of the most modern office, and no possibility for waste or fric^ 
tion is allowed. House, barns, fences and land are kept in careful condition 
and the greatest returns are secured for the least possible outlay of effort. 

Mr. Anderson is a native of Iowa, born in Monroe county, near Eddy^ 
ville, December 28, 1848. His father, Charles Anderson, was a native of 
Indiana, and there was married to Miss Matilda Frame. Later they became 
pioneer settlers in Iowa. In 1857 they again moved westward, coming 
first to San Francisco, and later locating at Lathrop, San Joaquin county, 
where the father died at the age of forty-five years. There are eight children 
by this marriage, and later the mother married again, becoming the wife of 
Isham Davis, by whom she had one son. Six months after his mother's 
marriage with Mr. Davis, Jasper Anderson went to live with an older brother 
in Sacramento, where he remained for some five or six years, working on the 
farms in the valley. In 1871 he came to Humboldt county and homesteaded 
on Mad river, remaining there for a year. He then engaged in sheep shear- 
ing, becoming one of the most rapid sheep shearers in the county, being 
able to shear one hundred sheep a day. When the shearing season was over 
he turned his attention to the manufacturing of buckskin gloves, in this 
enterprise being in partnership with his brother J. W. They bought the 
raw hides, tanned the buckskin by hand, and so were assured of a superior 
quality of material. One winter he and a partner killed three hundred deer 
on Mad river, tanned the hides the next spring and manufactured them into 
gloves in Hydesville. The product sold in Humboldt county, where it was 
well received. 

Mr. Anderson was married in Hydesville, January 1, 1884, to Miss Eleanor 
Case, the daughter of Horace S. and Caroline (De Lasaux) Cooper Case, pio- 
neers of Hydesville. Mrs. Case's first husband was William Cooper, a pioneer 
farmer and miller, who was shot by the Indians in 1861. A history of the 
Cooper family will be found in the George William Cooper sketch. Mrs. 
Anderson was born in Canyon City, Ore., but has been a resident of this 
vicinity since a babe of four months and received her education here. She 
owned a small piece of land which formed the nucleus of the present splendid 
farm. Mr. Anderson also rented her father's ranch' for several years, and 
later he and his wife became the possessors of the entire place. There are 
about two hundred forty acres of tillable land in this property, which is one 
of the best in the vicinity. He runs about one hundred head of cattle on the 
Van Dusen ranch, and conducts a dairy of about thirty or forty cows on the 
home farm. He also has some forty or fifty head of horses, principally mares 
and colts, and is interested in the breeding of fine Percherons, being the 
owner of the imported stallion Janvire, of that strain. Mr. Anderson is 
recognized as one of the most modern and progressive farmers and stock- 



348 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

men in the county, and takes great pride in the care and management of his 
places. Among the improvements which he has installed may be mentioned 
electricity for lighting and an electric dynamo for running the milk separator, 
while other improvements are also in contemplation. 

Mr. Anderson is fifth in a family of eight children, as follows : Susan, 
John, Eliza, Jane, Jasper, Charles, Meriah (who died when a small child) 
and Harrison. Mrs. Anderson has borne her husband seven children, all 
natives of Hydesville, five of whom are living : Horace, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere in this edition ; Amy, who became the wife of George Robison, 
of Hydesville, and died leaving one child, Earl W. ; Arthur Jasper, who 
assists his father with the management of the home place, married Miss 
Sophia Petersen, and has one child ; Pearl, the second wife of George Robison, 
and the mother of two children, Letha and Maxine ; Hazel and Wallace, 
residing at home. 

Mr. Anderson espouses the principles of the Republican party politically 
and is an independent thinker on all questions of local import, giving his 
support to men and measures, rather than following political lines. He is 
progressive in his tendencies, and any movement which tends toward the 
betterment of local conditions, whether educationally, socially, morally, or 
commercially, is certain to have his hearty support. He is a member of the 
Hydesville Lodge, I. O. O. F., and the Encampment, and is especially promi- 
nent in Odd Fellow circles, having been through the chairs in both orders. 
Both he and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Rebekahs and are especially 
interested in the social gatherings of this organization. 

WRIGHT S. CURLESS.— Largely interested in mining ventures in 
Placer and Trinity counties, Wright S. Curless, now retired from active 
business pursuits, is one of the prominent citizens of Blocksburg and keeps 
in close touch with local affairs of interest and importance and is keenly alive 
to all that is for the general welfare of his home town. He is a member of the 
well-known Curless family of Humboldt county and has made this county 
his home since 1877. He is well known throughout the county and the fam- 
ily is especially well represented, there being four generations of Curlesses 
within its confines, numbering nearl}^ a hundred in all. Prominent among 
them may be mentioned George Curless, Talburt Curless and Mrs. Flora 
Perry, of Blocksburg ; Albert Curless, of Fruitland ; George Curless, of 
Eureka; Mrs. Rose Langlin, of Fortuna ; Paul Curless, of Mendocino City; 
Henry Curless, of San Bernardino county ; and John Curless, of Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa. 

Mr. Curless is a native of Indiana, born in Frankfort, Clinton county, 
July 29, 1842. His father, Wright S. Curless, Sr., was a native of New Jersey, 
while his mother, Rosanna Ashton, was born in Ohio, where she was reared 
and educated and where she met and married Mr. Curless. They removed to 
Iowa in 1851, locating near Cedar Rapids, and there Wright S., who was 
nine years old at the time of the change, grew to maturity, attending the 
public schools and assisting with the farm work. There were eleven children, 
of which Wright S. was the ninth born. They are : William, Samuel, Sarah, 
Henry, John, Biar, Arthur, Charles, Wright S., George W., Mahaley Ann. 
The mother died in Iowa in July, 1870, and the father, who was born in 1802, 
died in Wisconsin when sixty-nine years old. 

It was in 1859 that Mr. Curless first came to California and has been 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 349 

a resident of the state since that time. He crossed the plains with ox teams 
and located for a time in Butte county, where he was engaged in taking care 
of stock. In 1861 he went to Texas, crossing the plains by the southern route, 
and returned the same year to California, by the northern route, each time. 
with horses and wagons, locating this time in El Dorado county, and engag- 
ing in placer mining. He joined the state militia in that county and for several 
years during the Civil war saw active service. In 1877 Mr. Curless came to 
Humboldt county and has since that time continued to reside here. He 
engaged for a time in ranching, being in the sheep business for two years 
and having as high as two thousand head at one time. He then became road 
overseer from Burr creek to Alderpoint, continuing in this capacity for two 
and a half years and then engaging in teaming, following this occupation 
until in 1888. At that time he engaged in the liquor business in Blocksburg, 
until the town was voted dry in July, 1914, since which time he has been 
retired from active business pursuits. Mr. Curless is a man of strict business 
principles, and during the years that he conducted his liquor business he 
always abided by the laws of the state and his place was orderly and law- 
abiding. He is well liked in his community, and stands high in the esteem 
of the business men. 

The marriage of Mr. Curless occurred in Cloverdale, Cal., in 1879, uniting 
him with Miss Mary Carpenter, of that place. They have become the parents 
of two children, both sons, who are well known in this county. Of these 
the elder, Joseph, now resides in San Francisco, while the younger, George 
S., is employed in the mines in Trinity county. In his political preferences 
Mr. Curless is a stanch Republican and is well informed on all governmental 
subjects, county, state and national. He is an independent thinker and forms 
his judgment and opinions quite independently of party lines or restrictions. 
He has taken a prominent part in fraternal affairs throughout his life and is 
identified with several beneficial organizations, being especially interested in 
the affairs of the Odd Fellows, his membership in this order being claimed 
by the lodge at Truckee, Nev., where he joined many years ago. 

THOMAS BAIR— AVithout doubt one of the most notably successful 
residents of his section of Humboldt county is Thomas Bair, president of the 
Bank of Areata and one of the most extensive land owners in northern Cali- 
fornia. His achievements are the more remarkable in view of the fact that he 
commenced the struggle of life unaided, and he deserves all the good fortune 
that has crowned his efforts. A resident of the state since 1855, his early ex- 
periences here brought him into contact with some of the most typical phases 
of its pioneer days, the arduous labor of transportation before railroad and 
shipping facilities were developed, picturesque customs and dangerous call- 
ings, most of which are now but memories and live only in the history of 
olden times. Mr. Bair's holdings of timber and agricultural lands comprise 
thousands of acres and these and the bank constitute his principal interests. 
^Ir. Bair's father, Hugh F. Bair, was born in Ohio and for a number of 
years was engaged in farming in Arkansas, where he died when forty years 
old. His wife survived but a few months longer and Thomas Bair was thus 
fully orphaned when but nine years of age. Born September 26, 1844, in 
Aladison county. Ark., he was a boy of eleven years when he crossed the 
plains with his uncle, who settled in Shasta county, Cal. Only a month later 
he commenced to make his own living, hiring out to a merchant who was 



350 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

engaged in freighting on the Trinity river. His youth might have seemed a 
drawback to his usefulness, but he rode the bell horse of a mule train which 
packed through the mining districts in the mountains of northern California. 
Liking the work, he continued at it, and was economical with his earnings, 
so that by 1863 he had saved enough to buy a small mule train and for the 
next three years he did freighting on his own account in Montana and Idaho. 
Selling out, he came to Areata, Humboldt county, in 1867, and became super- 
intendent of the packing train owned by a merchant of the town, who car- 
ried on several branch stores at various points in the mining districts. He 
was thus engaged for five years, at the end of which time he had accumulated 
enough to buy the train and soon afterward he also became interested in 
general merchandising, having purchased the stock of goods kept in the 
general store at Fort Gaston, on the Hoopa Indian reservation. It was 
about this time that he was appointed a government post trader, and for 
the next sixteen years acted in that capacity and carried on a general mer- 
cantile business at Fort Gaston. He also owned about two hundred mules, 
which he used in transporting his merchandise from Areata to the fort, forty 
miles distant, in packing government supplies and in freighting all over the 
northern part of the state. Mr. Bair discontinued his interests at Fort 
Gaston when the fort was abandoned. 

During the time he was in business at the Indian post Mr. Bair estab- 
lished his home at Areata, of which town he is still a resident. He had been 
interested in founding the Bank of Areata, which was organized with a cap- 
ital of one hundred thousand dollars, and he has been president from the 
beginning, directing its affairs to the entire satisfaction of all the stock- 
holders and in such manner as to win the confidence of the townspeople 
interested in its conduct. Mr. Bair's financial ability and judgment have been 
tested in many transactions. Though progressive, keeping thoroughly abreast 
of the spirit of the times, he is conservative of the bank's resources and 
most of the loans are made on first mortgages, with the depositors' money 
protected to the utmost. His success in the management of this institution 
has gained him an honorable position among the best financiers of the 
county and his influence in preserving high standards and encouraging safe 
methods of banking has been a recognized factor in the adoption of such 
measures as safeguard the interests of depositors and inspire their trust. 

In common with most investors in Humboldt county lands Mr. Bair 
has acquired interests in the redwood timber region. He took a leading 
part in the organization of the Redwood Land & Investment Company of 
Eureka, was elected its first president, and continued to hold the position 
for a number of years, the company under his supervision making extensive 
investments in redwood lands in Humboldt county. His agricultural prop- 
erty includes two valuable ranches on the Areata bottoms, near the town. 
Mr. Bair has always devoted himself closely to the care of his business af- 
fairs, and though he has always worked hard he has retained his mental and 
physical vigor unimpaired. He has never aspired to public honors or taken 
any active part in public life, or in politics beyond the casting- of his vote, 
with which he supports the Democratic party. Of domestic habits and unas- 
suming disposition, he finds his greatest pleasure, outside of work, in his 
home. Mr. Bair was a charter member of North Star Lodge No. 39, Knights 
of Pythias, in which he still retains his membership. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 351 

Mr. Bair married Miss Alice Boyce, who was born in Michigan and died, 
leaving two sons, Thomas H. and Frederick. His second marriage was to 
Miss Mary F. Stone, a native of. Illinois. The sons have the management of 
their father's immense stock ranch in Humboldt county, about thirty thousand 
acres of valuable land. 

SILAS V. MORRISON. — Determining at an early age to master the 
creamery business, Silas V. Morrison, when twenty-one, apprenticed himself 
to the old Humboldt Creamery Company, and for six months worked without 
wages to learn the rudiments of the business, the while he milked cows nights 
and mornings at a neighboring farm for his room and board. As would be 
but natural with one who was so determined to learn, he progressed rapidly 
and when a short time later the Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia desired 
to build a creamery and conduct the same, young Morrison was recommended 
to them as the very man they were searching for, and accordingly he was 
put in charge of this work, building, equipping and for three years conduct- 
ing this plant with great success. This was his introduction into his chosen 
work, and since that time he has prospered greatly. He is now the manager 
of the Ferndale Branch of the Northern Division of the California Central 
Creameries and for a period of years has been associated with this mammoth 
organization, first as salesman, introducing their products into new terri- 
tories. He stands high in the esteem of the company and in his management 
of the Ferndale branch of the industry is meeting with his accustomed success. 
The local plant is an extensive one and consists of the two-story frame struc- 
ture which is the creamery building, one hundred forty-six by forty-eight 
feet ; a three-story dry milk plant of corrugated iron, one hundred twenty feet 
by forty-eight feet ; a store-house seventy feet by eighty feet of corrugated 
iron and containing two stories; and a cooper shop containing a carpenter 
shop, tin shop, plumber's shop, these latter employing two coopers, two tin- 
smiths and- two carpenters, constantly employed. There is a can manufac- 
turing plant in the second story of the creamery building, where the latest 
improved machinery for making and sealing cans is installed, all dry milk 
cans being scientifically sealed under vacuum. 

Mr. Morrison is a native of California and of Humboldt county, having 
been born in Pacific township, September 6, 1870, on the Bear river, in a 
log cabin. His father, Silas W. Morrison, was a '49er, and a native of Zanes- 
ville, Ohio. He crossed the plains in 1849 with ox-teams, first locating in 
Placerville, and later going to Weaverville, Trinity county. From there he 
came into Humboldt county and located on the Bear river in 1856, where he 
took up government land and engaged in the stock business, being a pioneer 
in this line in the county. He brought in some of the first herds of cattle 
that came into the county, and the first thoroughbred bull in this part of the 
state was his. He died October 23, 1911, at the age of eighty-three years. 
He remained a stockman until the end of his life, although he retired from 
active business a few years before his death. He is well remembered through- 
out the county, and wherever his name is known it is respected as that of a 
man of sterling worth and proven ability. He served as supervisor for his 
district about 1874, but thereafter declined all public honors, preferring to 
devote his time and attention to his personal aiifairs. He was married to Miss 
Delia Sweet, of Buffalo, N. Y., in Humboldt county, she having crossed the 
plains with her parents in 1858, coming to Humboldt county when she was 



352 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a mere child. She is still living in Ferndale at the age of sixty-three years. 
There were three children in the family, all sons, and all residents of Humr 
boldt county. Of these, Sanford B. is connected with the Kausen- Williams 
Hardware Company of Ferndale; Silas V. is the subject of this sketch; and 
George William is engaged in stockraising and ranching on the old Morrison 
homestead on Bear river. 

The childhood of the present manager of the Ferndale Branch of the 
California Central Creameries was passed on his father's ranch, where he 
early learned to bear his share of the farm duties. He attended school in 
Pacific township and later entered the Eureka Academy and Business Col- 
lege, graduating in 1889. His first business experience was as a farmer and 
dairyman and he early conceived a desire to become associated with the 
creamery business. He sought employment at the old Humboldt creamery, 
and, on being told that there was no need for more men, he asked to be taken 
on as an apprentice, as stated above, and the result was he became manager 
for the creamery plant of the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia. After 
three years he had accumulated some money, and, purchasing a herd of forty 
cows, rented a ranch and engaged in dairying for himself. During this time 
he met with a bad accident, a horse falling with him, and as a result was 
crippled for five years, this necessitating a grave change in his plans. Later 
he rented the Bunker Hill Creamery with three hundred cows, and for a 
time conducted it with great success, at the same time being engaged in 
buying and selling cattle. He continued thus for four years, then sold his 
cattle and with the proceeds bought a thirteen hundred-acre ranch in the 
Mattole district, which he still owns. He then engaged in business in Fern- 
dale for seven years, being a stockholder in the Aggeler-Morrison-Hansen 
Company, General Merchandise, of Ferndale, and an active member of the 
firm. At the end of this period he disposed of these interests to his partners 
and became associated with the California Central Creameries as salesman, 
introducing their products first at Portland, Ore. His territory included 
Washington and Oregon, and he met with much success in his efforts to intro- 
duce the C. C. C. products throughout those states. Later he was transferred 
to the San Joaquin valley, to Lemoore, Kings county, where he established 
a plant for the California Central Creameries. He then came back to Fern- 
dale and took charge of the local plant in August, 1913, and now makes his 
home here. 

The scope and extent of the business of the California Central Creameries 
are very great, and the Ferndale plant is one of their most important. Their 
products are butter, sweet cream, cheese, dry whole milk in powdered form, 
and dry skim milk in powdered form. This branch (Ferndale) has just filled 
a contract for two hundred thousand pounds of butter for the United States 
navy, in five-pound cans, and also an order for one hundred fifty thousand 
pounds of the same for use in Alaska, in two-pound cans. The milk drying 
plant was installed in 1911 and during the second year of its operation, 1912, 
the farmers who are its patrons as milk producers were paid $18,000 more 
for their skimmed milk than they received for the same when it was used 
for the production of casein instead of dry milk. This means a clear profit 
of that amount ($18,000) to the farmers and dairymen of Ferndale and 
vicinity, the creamery drawing its patronage from a radius of five miles. The 
increase for 1914 will be very great over the preceding years, as the cost of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 353 

production has been decreased with the increase of the amount of goods 
handled. The creamery has its own ice plant and refrigerating system. The 
power plant consists of three boilers consuming fuel oil and generating four 
hundred horsepower steam, which is drawn off and used for sterilizing, 
evaporating, etc. So far as the mechanical power is concerned and the power 
for the electric steam plant, the company buys its electricity from the Western 
States Gas & Electric Company. The creamery is in operation every day of 
the week and uses an average of one hundred twenty-five thousand pounds of 
milk per day. 

The products of this creamery have come into competition with the 
products of the best creameries of the world and have always won recognition. 
In Chicago at the National Dairy Show, 1913, the company exhibited dry milk 
products and was awarded the first premium. Every precaution is taken 
to have the products scientifically clean and pure. There is a wardrobe where 
the employes change into fresh white linen before entering the work rooms, 
and throughout the plant all modern means are employed to insure the desired 
sanitary end. The products are all pasteurized and the cans in which the 
milk is delivered are all washed and sterilized by steam and dried by hot air, 
thus ensuring their perfect cleanliness and also saving the housewife from 
the arduous task of washing the heavy milk cans. 

The Ferndale Branch is one of eleven creameries, the distribution of the 
major portion of the products being made through the shipping office at 
425 Battery street, San Francisco. The Northern Division includes Ferndale 
and Eureka, in Humboldt county, and Crescent City, in Del Norte county, 
with C. E. Gray of Eureka as the manager. He is also assistant manager of 
the entire system of the California Central Creameries, of which A. Jensen, 
425 Battery street, San Francisco, is president and general manager. The 
creamery department is under the management of Chevelier Turner ; George 
Smith is foreman of the dry milk department ; Fred Johnson is master 
mechanic and has charge of all construction, repairs and extension work; 
Joseph ]\Iabry is head bookkeeper; G. O. Doff is foreman of the cheese fac- 
tory ; Henry JMarvel is foreman of the laboratory. 

The marriage of Mr. Morrison was solemnized in Oakland in 1896, uniting 
him with Miss Nellie J. Moore, the daughter of Charles Moore, of Monticello, 
Napa county, Cal., and of their union have been born two children : Marcus 
Fae and Allen Ross, both attending the local schools. Mr. Morrison has 
many friends throughout the county and is well liked wherever he is known. 
He is a prominent member of several fraternal orders. He was made a 
Alason in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., also a member of Ferndale 
Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. He is a Republican in political principles, but has 
never taken an especially active part in politics, for with him business comes 
decidedly first, and he has led a very busy life. He is a public spirited and 
progressive man, however, and whatever is for the general welfare of the 
community is certain to receive his support. He is always in favor of any 
movement which tends to the betterment of social, moral and educational 
conditions, and such questions as advancement in educational lines and good 
roads movements receive his hearty endorsement and. unqualified support. 

HENRY STANLY SEELY.— A native son of whom Areata and Hum- 
boldt county are very justifiably proud is Henry Stanly Seely, prominent 
merchant of Areata, and at present mayor of that thriving little city, and at 
all times one of her most progressive and influential citizens. 



354 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Seely was born in Areata, January 15, 1875. His father was John S. 
Seely, one of the early Humboldt county pioneers, and his mother was 
Virginia (Deuel) Seely. Both are well known in this county, where they 
passed many years of their lifetime, and where they are held in the highest 
esteem by all who knew them. The son, Henry Stanly, spent his boyhood 
days in Areata, attending the public and later the high school, graduating 
from the latter in 1895. For a few years after completing his education he 
remained at home with his parents, working at various occupations in his 
native city, and in December, 1895, he accepted a position as assistant book- 
keeper for the Vance Redwood Lumber Company, remaining in their employ 
for fourteen months. At the end of that time he went to work for the J. C. 
Bull, Jr., Co., but in a short time gave up this position to accept an opening 
as bookkeeper for the Humboldt Manufacturing Company, of Areata. He 
remained with this company until December, 1902, when he purchased an 
interest in a general merchandise store in Areata, and was appointed man- 
ager and secretary of the same. The reorganized firm was known as the 
Seely & Titlow Company, and is at present one of the most flourishing busi- 
ness houses in the city. The scope of their enterprise has been increased 
since Mr. Seely took charge of the business and many improvements have 
been made in every department under his careful and skillful direction. 

Mr. Seely has always been interested in political affairs and has been 
actively associated with the public interests of his community for many years. 
He is a Republican in his affiliations, but is an independent thinker, well 
informed, and by no means bound by party lines in his handling of vital 
public questions and conditions. He is open-minded and progressive and has 
been an important factor in the upbuilding and development of Areata. His 
election to the office of mayor is only one of the many evidences of the con- 
fidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens. For many years he has been 
vitally interested in the educational conditions in the city, and for six years 
has served continuously as a member of the board of trustees for the grammar 
school, and has given freely of his time and ability for the benefit of the 
public school system. 

Socially and fraternally Mr. Seely is also very popular. He is a promi- 
nent member of several of the best known local lodges and is closely associated 
with the general management of their affairs. He is a member of the Native 
Sons, and secretary of the local parlor; also a member of the Eagles, and 
secretary of the local lodge ; he is a Mason, and a member of the Blue Lodge. 
Mr. Seely was also one of the men who organized the Areata Club, and since 
its organization has been its secretary. 

The marriage of Mr. Seely took place in Areata, December 25, 1896, 
uniting him with Miss Helen Alameda Howell, a native of Colorado, born 
in Denver, November 13, 1874. She is the daughter of Wm. H. and Eliza- 
beth (Nugent) Howell, and came to California with her parents in 1893, locat- 
ing in Humboldt county, where they are well and favorably known. Mrs. 
Seely has borne her husband four children. They are John, Grace, Charles 
and Mildred. 

CLAUDE S. WOTEN.— As cashier of the First National Bank of 
Scotia since 1910, Claude S. Woten is well known throughout Scotia and 
the surrounding country as a man of ability and integrity of character, 
kindly, accommodating, and the truest type of a Christian gentleman. 




^--^S3^ ^^cP-^^^^Pb 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 357 

The bank has grown almost phenomenally under his capable ministration 
of its affairs, the deposits increasing by leaps and bounds, from $45,949 
on June 30, 1910, to $274,249.60 on June 30, 1914, an increase of something 
over six hundred per cent, in four years. Mr. Woten is also deeply inter- 
ested in religious work and is superintendent of the Sunday school of the 
Presbyterian church of Scotia, where he is doing much for the young peo- 
ple of the city. This really seems to be his greatest aim in life, the help- 
ing of others to live better, fuller and happier lives, appreciating and 
understanding the value of right living and right thinking in every detail 
of daily living. He is also vitally interested in educational affairs and has 
rendered valuable service to Scotia as a member of the school board, of 
which he is at present the clerk. His desire to acquire a more general 
knowledge of administration of business has induced him to take a course 
in business administration and higher accountancy with the La Salle Exten- 
sion, University of Chicago. 

Mr. AVoten is a native of Nebraska, born in Gage county, September 
9, 1882. His father, William Woten, is a farmer and owns a farm at 
Adams, Gage county. Neb., where he and his wife are living at present. 
He is a native of Indiana, where he was reared and where he met and 
married Susan Swanner. Their union was blessed with eight children, 
four sons and four daughters, five of whom are still living, Claude S. 
being the only one residing in California. The boyhood days of the 
present respected citizen of Scotia were passed on his father's farm in 
Nebraska, and his early education was received in the common schools 
of his district. Later he attended the Cotner University for two years, 
taking a commercial course, and also studying the modern sciences. Com- 
pleting his commercial course he was apprenticed to learn the drug busi- 
ness, but this he found was not to his liking, and after six months he 
secured a position in the State Bank of Adams, at Adams, Neb., where he 
remained for a year, and then engaged with the First National Bank at 
St. Joseph, Mo. Following this he was with the Burlington Railway in 
their accounting department at Omaha, Neb., remaining until he received 
an offer of a position with the Columbia National Bank, at Lincoln, Neb. 
This position he filled until this bank was consolidated with the First 
National Bank of Lincoln, when he reentered the employ of this latter in- 
stitution, remaining until 1907, when he became possessed with a desire 
to come to California, and so resigned his position and departed for the 
west. He came at once to Eureka where he accepted a position with the 
Bank of Eureka, where he remained for three years, making many friends 
and meeting with the greatest success in his business life. At that time he 
came to Scotia to accept the position of cashier with the First National 
Bank of Scotia, which he has since filled. This bank is one of the sound- 
est in the state, and much of its splendid growth may be rightly attributed 
to the personal popularity of Mr. Woten. The officers are all men of 
splendid standing and strong personal character, being well known local 
business and professional men. They are : Donald McDonald, president ; 
P. E. Garland, vice-president; C. S. Woten, cashier; while the additional 
directors are E. L. Cottrell and H. E. Crawford. 



358 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The marriage of Mr. Woten occurred in Adams, Neb., in 1907, when 
he was united with Miss Dorothy Bryson, of that city. Of their union 
have been born three children, Marian, William and Carlton. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Woten are popular with a wide circle of friends in Scotia, 
where they are members of the best social set. Mr. Woten is also prom- 
inent in fraternal circles, being an influential member of the Masons at 
Fortuna, and a member of Weeott Tribe, I. O. R. M., No. 147, at Scotia. 
He is broad minded and progressive and the best interests of city, county 
and state are ever his chief concern, and any movement for the social, 
educational or commercial interest of his community is certain to receive 
his instant and hearty support. 

CHARLES E. HELWIG.— The city of Eureka with its various Hnes of 
activity has drawn within its hospitable and ambitious limits many men whose 
business capacity and fine traits of citizenship would be a credit to any 
community in the country. Foremost among these is Charles E. Helwig, 
president of the Union Labor Hospital and proprietor of the Metropole Shav- 
ing Parlor. A native of Ohio, he was born in Montgomery county, June 15, 
1860. Dr. Adam Helwig, the father of Charles E., was a native of Witten- 
berg, Germany, and on coming to America with his parents, resided in 
Pennsylvania, where he was educated in the public schools and later entered 
Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, from which he was graduated 
with honors. His brother, John Helwag, afterward became president of the 
college, holding the position for fifteen years. Having decided to adopt the 
profession of medicine, Adam Helwig became a student in the Eclectic Medi- 
cal College of Cincinnati, from which in due time he was graduated. He began 
the practice of his profession in Dayton, afterward going to Troy and later 
to Brookville, Ohio, in all of which cities he received the patronage and 
appreciation due his ability and fine personal characteristics. He was resid- 
ing at Brookville at the time of his demise. The mother of Charles E. Helwig 
was Leah Stauffer, born at Canal Dover, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and came 
of good old German stock. She is now in her eighty-fourth year and still 
makes her home in the residence in Dayton built by her husband in 1870. Of 
the seven children born of this union five are living. 

After receiving his education in the public schools of Dayton, Charles E. 
Helwig entered Wittenberg College with the intention of taking up the 
profession of his father. After two years spent in the study of medicine, he 
left college to enlist in the army as a musician, and was with the regiment 
which finally captured the Sioux Indians that had perpetrated the Custer 
massacre. August 11, 1878, he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh United 
States Infantry, taking part in the" campaign against the Sioux Indians and 
capturing their chief. Sitting Bull, and, in the spring of 1879, took them to 
Standing Rock Agency. After five years with the Eleventh Infantry, he 
served in the Seventh Cavalry for the same length of time, in the capacity 
of Trumpeter, and for another five years as Chief Trumpeter of the Tenth 
United States Infantry. After seventeen years of honorable service he re- 
ceived his discharge in 1895, and retired to private life, taking up his residence 
at San Diego, Cal. Although seeing fifteen years of active service, Mr. 
Helwig was only wounded once. This was during the campaign with the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 359 

Sioux, at the battle of A/Vounded Knee, in December, 1890, when he was struck 
in the left leg by a Winchester ball, which he still carries. AA^hile in the 
army he was stationed at Forts Custer, Assiniboin, Beauford, Yates, 
Berthold, Meade, Abraham Lincoln, Reno, Sill and San Diego Barracks. It 
was while located at the latter place that he was married to Miss Grace 
Favorite, a native of the State of AVashington. 

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American AA^ar Mr. Helwig enlisted, in 
1898, in the Tenth United States Infantry, his old regiment, serving in the 
Cuban campaign. On being mustered out, in 1899, he returned to his home 
in San Diego, but very soon thereafter removed to Arroyo Grande and 
opened a barber shop. The year 1901 found him the proprietor of a barber 
shop in the Grand Hotel at Eureka, where he continued for three years. Now, 
however, his place of business is at No. 306 Second street and is known as 
the Metropole Shaving Parlor. It is strictly up-to-date, having every line of 
equipment necessary to make a complete barber shop, and Mr. Helwig has 
come to be regarded as one of the reliable and successful business men of the 
town. In 1906 he was made Vice-President of the Board of Directors on the 
organization of the Union Labor Hospital at Eureka. This structure, which 
is located at the corner of Harris and H streets, has been enlarged until the 
improvements and furnishings represent an expenditure of $40,000. It is one 
of the most modern structures of its kind in design and equipment, especial 
attention being given to sanitation, ventilation and light. It was built 
primarily -for woods and sawmill men, but later the corporation decided to 
include those of other unions. The fee is only $10, which sum entitles them 
to all the benefits of the hospital, including nursing, medical attention, board 
and care. In 1910 Mr. Helwig was made President of the Board of Directors. 
He is likewise President of the Bonneville Gold Mining Company, and bids 
fair to be as successful in this as in his other numerous ventures. Fraternally 
he is a member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., of which he is Treasurer; 
is Past Commander of the Knights of Pythias, and is connected with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Loyal Order of Moose. He belongs 
to Major Frank S. Rice Camp No. 54 of the Spanish-American AA^ar Veterans, 
of which he is Quartermaster. For three years he was president of the Barbers' 
Union. Mr. Helwig is a Republican, but has never sought or accepted ofhcial 
position. 

RICHARD ANDREW GREEN.— One of the energetic and public spir- 
ited business men of the thriving little city of Alliance is Richard Andrew 
Green, well known as a prosperous merchant and generally admired and re- 
spected for his sterling qualities as a man and a citizen and highly regarded 
as a business man of judgment, foresight and high standards. Mr. Green is a 
native of California, and has lived in various parts of the state, but has always 
returned to Humboldt county as the most desirable place to establish and 
maintain a permanent home. 

Mr. Green was born in San Francisco, July. 13, 1870, and in 1871 his parents 
removed to Humboldt county, locating in Areata. They remained there for 
one year and then moved to Alliance, where they have since resided. The 
son attended the public schools of the village, and later entered the Eureka 
Business College, where he was graduated in December, 1891. Returning to 
his home in Alliance, Richard Green secured employment on one of the neigh- 
boring ranches, and for four years worked for the farmers of that district. 



360 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

learning the details of farm life and management. In 1895, on the organiza- 
tion of the Union Mercantile Company of Alliance, he became a stockholder 
and entered the employ of the company as secretary of the board of directors 
and clerk for the company. The building was completed and the store opened 
July 1, 1895. He continued with this company for four years, then accepting 
a position with the Great American Importing Tea Company and going to 
San Francisco, where he remained but a short time before he was transferred 
to Hanford, Cal., where he was placed in charge of that company's store 
there, October 1, 1899. He remained in this connection in Hanford for eighteen 
months, when he resigned his position and returned to Alliance, where he 
was employed at ranching for about a year. 

It was in 1902 that Mr. Green engaged in the merchandising business in 
Alliance, and in this occupation he has since remained. At that time, in part- 
nership with W. J. Hill, he purchased the interests of the Union Mercantile 
Company of Alliance, and they carried on the business in the same building. 
Later in the same year Mr. Hill sold his half interest in the business to F. M. 
Janes, the firm being known as Janes & Green, engaged in general merchandis- 
ing. In 1911 another change was made in the partnership, Mr. Janes selling his 
interest to John Green, a brother of Richard Green, and the brothers have 
since conducted the business under the firm name of Green & Green. From 
a comparatively small beginning they have built up a large and flourishing 
trade, and have met with great success in their undertaking. They are 
well known throughout the valley, and their merchandise is of a high stand- 
ard of excellence. 

Aside from his business interests Mr. Green is prominently associated 
with many of the affairs of the town and is regarded as one of the most influ- 
ential citizens. He is a member of the Areata Tribe No. 156, I. O. R. M., of 
which he is a trustee. He is also prominent in the circles of the Woodmen 
of the World and is one of the managers of Areata Camp No. 472. In 
politics Mr. Green is a Democrat and has been actively interested in political 
questions during his residence in Alliance. He is wide awake to all matters 
which pertain to the public welfare, and is well posted on questions of public 
interest. For the past twelve years he has been post-master of Alliance, 
and has given the greatest satisfaction in the discharge of his duties. 

The marriage of M'r. Green took place in Blue Lake, June 4, 1899, uniting 
him with Sarah Ann Hogan. Mrs. Green is a native of Humboldt county, 
born in McKinleyville, October 9, 1880. She is the mother of six children, 
all well known in Humboldt county, where they have many friends. They 
are Margaret Ellen, John Andrew, Richard James, William Francis, Cecil 
Irving and Harold Joseph. 

Mr. Green comes of one of the oldest pioneer families of the county. His 
father was John Green, a native of Ireland, born in County Clare, in 1837. 
He followed farming in Ireland and while he was yet a young man went to 
Australia,, where he remained for a short time before coming to California. 
He located in Humboldt county and for a time worked in the woods and the 
lumber camps, later purchasing a ranch near Areata, which is now the home- 
place, and on which he engaged in farming until his death in 1901. His wife, 
the mother of the present honored citizen of Alliance, was Margaret Haugh, 
also a native of County Clare, who still makes her home in Areata. She was 
the mother of nine children, all of whom are living, Richard A. being the 
second in order of birth. 




^'^^^ M. 73.^^M^^4 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 363 

THOMAS MILES BURNS. — Known throughout Humboldt county as 
the owner of Burns ranch at Bridgeville, Thomas Miles Burns is also known 
as one of the largest sheep and cattle growers of the district, as well as one 
of the leaders in the affairs of the Republican party and an acknowledged 
power for good in his community. He takes an active interest in all the 
governmental affairs of his home county and also of the state, and while 
never seeking official preferment, yet is one of those who directs the policies 
of the Republican party in Humboldt county, which naturally is strongly 
Republican. He is a man of great executive ability and a natural leader of 
men and affairs and his splendid grasp of large situations, his foresight and 
judgment are valuable assets to any cause with which he may see fit to ally 
himself. He has for many years been engaged extensively in breeding 
Merino sheep and has made an unusual success of this undertaking. He is 
making a specialty of raising thoroughbred Rambouillet, Delane and Ameri- 
can or Spanish Merino sheep, keeping them in separate flocks ; he finds a 
ready sale for his splendid proportioned rams in different parts of California. 
Recently he has been running strongly to cattle, owing to the serious inroads 
made on the sheep by coyotes, mountain lions and other beasts of prey in 
the mountain ranges, where heretofore he has grazed large numbers of his 
flocks. He is raising a cross of the Red Polled, Durham and Hereford cattle. 
He owns and operates a ranch of some fifty-seven hundred eighty acres on 
the Van Dusen river at Bridgeville, but his residence and headquarters are 
located three quarters of a mile south of Bridgeville. It runs back to Burr 
creek on the south and Larabee creek on the north, and is also well watered 
by numerous other streams and springs. 

Mr. Burns came to California in 1849, starting from Henry count^^ Tenn., 
Avith his parents when he was a lad of nine. His father, William Henry 
Burns, was a native of Mississippi, while his mother was Caroline Griffith 
of Tennessee, where his parents were married. There were born to them 
four children, three of whom grew to maturity and are now living in this 
state. They are : Laura, now the wife of Henry Furry, retired, and living in 
Sacramento; Thomas M., the subject of this sketch; and Daniel M., who 
was secretary of state at the time George C. Perkins was governor of Cali- 
fornia ; he resides in San Francisco, and is extensively interested in mining, 
being the owner of two silver mines in Durango, Mexico. 

Thomas M. Burns was born in Henry county, Tenn., December 15, 1839.. 
When he was nine years old the family, consisting of the parents and four 
children, started for California with ox teams in the spring of 1849. The 
father was taken ill while crossing the plains and at Ft. Hall he died. The 
mother and children made their way onward and settled in Sacramento, 
which at that time was practically a city of tents, there being very few 
houses of any description. One of the children soon sickened and died, and 
within the year the mother also fell a victim to cholera and died. The 
children were then put out in different families, Thomas and Daniel being 
together in the family of a man named Sullivan. Later Daniel was with a 
family named Selkirk and Thomas M. went with the firm of Frink & Alsip, 
stockmen and dairymen, with a large ranch eight miles north of Sacramento, 
on the Nevada road. There he worked in a dairy, farmed and cared for stock, 
meantime learning all the fundamentals of the business in which he has 



364 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

since been engaged so successfully. This firm also had a very large dairy 
ranch two miles south of Sacramento from which they supplied the city 
with milk. Later this firm purchased a property on the west side of the Sac- 
ramento river, below Rio Vista, Solano county, in the Montezuma hills, com- 
prising about two thousand acres, and upon this they removed their stock 
and dairy enterprise. They milked about one hundred cows, making butter 
and cheese, which they shipped to San Francisco by boat. Besides dairying 
they also carried on farming and stock-raising. Mr. Burns' sister Laura lived 
with a family named Travers near Woodland, where they owned a ranch of 
two hundred acres. She was married to Henry Furry there, and later Thomas 
M. went to Woodland and engaged in farming with his brother-in-law, rent- 
ing the Travers ranch and another place of three hundred acres near Cash- 
ville belonging to a man named Low. After two years he gave up the man- 
agement of these ranches, and in 1870 came into Humboldt county and 
bought a range-right from Sam Hogan. As soon as the surveys were made 
he also took up and used his own rights, purchasing from the government 
and neighbors, until he became the owner of his present splendid tract of 
fifty-seven hundred and eighty acres. He has raised as many as three thou- 
sand sheep, together with some cattle and horses, but is now working more 
heavily into cattle, owing to the increasing annoyance from coyotes and 
other wild animals that prey upon the sheep. He plans in the future to 
keep about eight hundred head of thoroughbred sheep and to run them on 
the home ranch, while the outer ranges will be given over to cattle and 
horses. In his sheep industry, as stated before, he is breeding the three strains 
of Merino sheep, i. e., Rambouillet, Delane and American Merinos, bringing 
in new blood from choicest flocks of different states, thus securing the finest 
bred rams and ewes. 

The man^iage of Mr. Burns occurred in January, 1883, uniting him with 
Miss Minnie E. Brown, of Humboldt county, a granddaughter of the cele- 
brated John Brown, the great abolitionist and martyr of slavery, one of the 
most historic characters in American history. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. 
Burns have three children, two sons and a daughter, all well known in Hum- 
boldt county : Edwin M. is married to Miss May Hufford, and they have two 
children, Mildred Anna and Thomas Monroe ; this son is associated with 
his father in the management of the ranch ; Nellie G. is the wife of George 
Sturm, also associated with the elder Mr. Burns in the ranching business ; 
and Charles L., who resides in San Francisco. The mother died in 1902, at 
the age of thirty-eight years. 

Mr. Burns takes an active part in all local questions of importance, and 
is always allied with any movement for progress and general upbuilding. 
He is keenly alive to the advantages of good schools, and has rendered val- 
uable service as a member of the local school board. He has received many 
evidences of the confidence of his political constituents, and many oppor- 
tunities have been given him for nominations for high offices in the county, 
but these he has always declined, preferring rather to serve as a private 
citizen. He has, however, been a member of the county Republican central 
committee, and stands high in the confidence of his party throughout the 
state. In his business life Mr. Burns has always been especially successful. 
He is preeminently a self-made man, making his way as he was obliged to 
do from earliest childhood. He has forged steadily ahead, always along 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 365 

broad constructive lines, and his present success is builded on a firm foun- 
dation of honesty, integrity, and thorough application to business. 

JOHN O'NEILL.— The Eureka Marble & Granite Works, established 
thirty years ago by John O'Neill, have been conducted the greater part of that 
time by Mr. O'Neill, who is the manager of the company. A man of sub- 
stantial qualities and sterling integrity, he has been looked up to by the 
large circle of his acquaintance, and has been one of the respected and influ- 
ential business men of Humboldt county for years. Side by side with his 
personal ambitions and endeavors, he has kept the good of his city and county 
at heart and is known as one of the enterprising citizens of his adopted home, 
where he settled in October, 1884. 

Mr. O'Neill was born in St. George, Charlotte county. New Brunswick, 
July 6, 1852, son of Arthur and Hannah (Barry) O'Neill, both natives of 
Ireland. John O'Neill can barely remember his father, as he was but a 
child when the latter died. He was a tailor by occupation. The family 
consisted of six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom John was the 
fourth in order of birth. His brother, William E. O'Neill, is also a resident 
of Eureka. The mother died in New Brunswick twenty years ago. 

John O'Neill received a common-school education and remained at home 
until seventeen years of age, when he went to Clearfield county. Pa., and was 
employed at lumbering for two years. At the end of this time he returned to 
St. George and for two years was employed in surveying logs for the River 
de Lue Railroad Company on the Merimichi river. He then apprenticed 
himself at the granite business in St. George, and afterward, in the fall after 
the fire of 1876, cut stone in St. John. After his return to St. George he 
engaged in the granite business for himself and while thus engaged became a 
stockholder and director in a company organized to build the Grand South- 
ern Railroad from St. John to St. Stephen. He acted as secretary of the 
company mos't of the time until the road was completed and turned over to 
its bondholders. He then sold out his business and came to Eureka, and 
since October of that year has made his home in this favored region, for to 
him "Humboldt county is the greatest county on earth." Organizing the 
Eureka Marble & Granite Works the year of his arrival, associated with his 
brother-in-law, T. L. Cofifey, who remained only a short time, Mr. O'Neill 
continued his connection with the business for the next twenty-two years. 
After running it alone for fifteen years, he took L. M. Klepper into partnership. 
When Mr. O'Neill decided to make a change, in 1906, he sold his entire interest 
to Mr. Klepper. After being retired for about three years he became president 
of the McKay Steamship Company, with offices at Eureka. In this association 
he was successful, managing their affairs satisfactorily until the company went 
out of business. Afterwards he was induced to re-enter the marble business 
as manager of the Eureka Marble & Granite Works, which position he is 
filling at the present time. The works occupy a spacious structure of 
modern construction located at Nos. 1501-1509 Fifth street and very com- 
pletely equipped with the latest stone-cutting and polishing machinery. The 
size and appointments of the establishment speak well for the spirit of 
progress which characterizes the business men of Eureka, for few towns of the 
same class can boast such pretentious works in a similar line of business. 
However, the constantly growing interests of the city and county will appre- 
ciate the existence of so modern a plant within reach. The firm deals in all 



366 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

kinds of marble and granite and does cemetery and building work, making a 
specialty of mausoleums, vaults, monuments and tablets. Mr. O'Neill has 
been the guiding spirit in the conduct of the works and justly, for he is a man 
whose opinion is sought and valued, his judgment on business matters 
being considered sound by those who should know. His foresight has 
reaped the reward of his policy of conservative progress. His unswerving 
honesty and integrity have inspired the respect and confidence of all who 
have had dealings with him in any association. His love and admiration for 
Eureka and Humboldt county are well known by his friends, who know he 
may be counted upon to give his aid, and influence to every well-intended 
project for the development of the city and county. His ambition, energy 
and high moral character have combined to make him one of their most 
desirable citizens as was shown by his election in December, 1913, as presi- 
dent of Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, a position his years of experience 
and abiding faith in the wonderful resources of the county so well qualify 
him to fill. 

Mr. O'Neill identified himself with the Republican party in 1896, having 
been a Democrat previous to that time, but is now an Independent in politics. 
He was married to Miss Julia Coffey, also a native of St. George, and they have 
two children living : John, who is engaged in fruit growing and resides at 
home, and Arthur Edward, an accountant with the San Joaquin Light & 
Power Company, in charge of their Corcoran office. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill 
have a most comfortable residence at No. 3501 California street. They are 
Catholics in religious faith, belonging to St. Bernard's church at Eureka, 
and he is a charter member of the Knights of Columbus and the Young 
Men's Institute, and served as the first Grand Knight of the former. 

WHITING G. PRESS.— The California climate, while not valued in 
dollars and cents in the list of the resources of the state, has never been 
considered a negligible factor in her wealth. The variety of' opportunities 
ofifered for capital and labor on the Pacific coast is almost infinite, and those 
who come to this favored region seeking ideal conditions for wholesome 
living are seldom disappointed. One of the best known figures in the busi- 
ness and manufacturing life of Eureka, Humboldt county, today, was at- 
tracted hither by the equable, temperate atmosphere, and with the quick com- 
prehension of the trained judge of commercial possibilities soon became 
impressed Avith the abundance of good things with which nature endowed this 
section. His interest took the concrete form of investment, and there are 
now two large plants in this part of the state as the result of his activities : 
the shingle mill of the Whiting G. Press Company at Eureka, and the pack- 
ing house of AV. G. Press & Co., salmon packers, at Requa, some fifty miles 
or so up the coast, at the mouth of the Klamath river. AVhiting G. Press is 
at the head of both concerns. He is a Chicago man, who resides in Eureka 
during the summer season. 

Mr. Press has had an energetic career. Born September 29, 1847, near 
Coldwater, in Branch county, Mich., he is a son of William H. Press, a native 
of Rochester, N. Y., who married in that state and moved out to Branch 
county in 1828. He was a farmer by occupation and lived under pioneer con- 
ditions in his new home. Whiting G. Press was born in a log house, with- 
out stove or other modern comforts, his mother cooking by the fireplace. He 
left home when a youth of sixteen, and when eighteen went out to Jesup, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 367 

Iowa, where he worked on a farm for two months. Returning to Michig-an 
he taught school for a short time, in a log building, and also attended Hills- 
dale (Mich.) College, at which institution he was a fellow student of the 
late Will Carleton, poet and editor. In his nineteenth year he went back to 
Iowa, where he became engaged as an insurance solicitor, working under 
William Trembor, of Freeport, 111., manager of the Winneshiek Fire Insur- 
ance Company of Freeport, 111., traveling a year and a half for this concern. 
In this short period he had managed to save several thousand dollars, and, 
being ambitious to do something for himself, went to Yankton, in what was 
then Dakota territory (now South Dakota), taking up a preemption claim and 
homestead in Yankton county, about six miles north of the city. He farmed, 
conducted a number of real estate operations, and founded the Dakota Ad- 
vertiser at Yankton during the few years of his residence there, devoting his 
paper to immigration items, general news and information concerning the 
development and upbuilding of the region. In this connection especially he 
became acquainted with the leading spirits of the times there, including 
such famous old-time characters as General Beadle, who was one of Mr. 
Press's intimate friends and the principal contributor to the Advertiser ; 
Governor Burbank ; Judge Brookings ; ex-Senator Frank Pettigrew of South 
Dakota; the notorious Alexander McKenzie of North Dakota; and Gen. 
Edwin S. McCook, who was shot by Wintermuth. Mr. Press was standing 
beside General McCook at the time of the shooting. After two successive 
dry seasons, during which the clouds of grasshoppers were so thick they 
"obscured the sun," he found the few thousand dollars capital with which 
he had entered Dakota in 1871 swept away, and thoroughly discouraged he left 
the territory in the fall of 1874 with thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents in 
his pocket. He was practically "broke" when he arrived at his destination, 
Chicago, 111., but he has reason to consider the incident one of the most for- 
tunate in his career. His pluck and everlasting enterprise had not deserted 
him and he hardly had time to realize his misfortune before he was on his 
feet again. At the corner of Van Buren and State streets he stopped to 
read a sign, "Agents Wanted." Upon inquiry he found men were wanted to 
sell woven wire mattresses and was at once engaged. On his very first trip, 
which took him over Illinois and Iowa, he met with record-breaking success, 
his sales amounting to more than those of any other three salesmen com- 
bined. When the Woven Wire Mattress Company was organized he became 
a heavy stockholder and manager of the concern, having the direction of its 
affairs for three and a half years, during which it prospered so well that 
his profits amounted to sixty-six thousand dollars. The mattresses were intro- 
duced all over the United States. 

Mr. Press's subsequent experiences have been varied and almost uni- 
formly successful. Having acquired sufficient capital to embark upon more 
extensive operations, he formed a partnership with S. R. Boardman, then a 
Chicago lumberman and banker, and under the name of Boardman & Press 
they did a successful business as grain and stock brokers in Chicago for two 
years, having their offices at No. 154 LaSalle street. They dealt in stocks and 
bonds. About this time Mr. Boardman had to take over the management of 
the Cincinnati, Effingham & Quincy Railroad, the company having defaulted 
to him, and Mr. Press took the presidency of the company, which he suc- 
ceeded in putting on its feet again after three years of skillful, systematic 



368 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

direction. He had acquired a considerable interest in the road, which he Avas 
able to sell at good advantage. In 1877 he organized the firm of W. G. Press 
& Co., Stock Exchange brokers, of Chicago, which has had a continuous ex- 
istence since, being now the oldest house of the kind doing business on the 
Chicago Board of Trade, noted for paying one hundred per cent on the dollar 
on demand. Its reputation is typical of the kind of business Mr. Press has 
always been instrumental in promoting. He is progressive to a degree, but 
conservative in his operations, placing his capital to the best advantage, 
even when results have to be awaited patiently, rather than risking his own 
money or that intrusted to him in enterprises with hazy or uncertain pros- 
pects. He still remains at the head of the house of W. G. Press & Co., which 
has offices downtown and at the Union Stock Yards. 

Real estate has always appealed to Mr. Press for permanent investment, 
as his immense holdings in Chicago indicate. All told he built and owns 
seven hundred and fourteen feet of four-story stone buildings in that city, 
on the south side, including the Press apartments at the corner of Sixty- 
second street and University avenue. All human interests have their attrac- 
tions for him, and thus he has diversified his own life and work and taken 
advantage of his own strong position to assist and encourage others. It is 
said he has furnished and published more market reports than any other 
man living. It was he who furnished the data for the plot of "The Specu- 
lator," written by George Broadhurst and played by Roland Reed, and Mr. 
Press blocked out the play and financed its production to show his faith in 
the playwright, who had once been a clerk in his Chicago office. M'r. Broad- 
hurst has since successfully produced "What Happened to Jones," "Why 
Smith Left Home," "The Last Chapter," "The Man of the Hour," and other 
notable dramas of modern life. 

The causes for Mr. Press's interest in the climate of Humboldt county 
had their beginning in 1876, when he was prostrated with the heat while at 
the Centennial in Philadelphia. In 1896, when out west inspecting his gold 
mining property near Prescott, Ariz., on the Hassayampa river twelve miles 
from that city, he became overheated and suffered from sunstroke a little 
later, at Colorado Springs, Colo., when the temperature reached one hundred 
and ten degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. For several months his life was 
despaired of. In 1898 he had another attack, at the Board of Trade in Chicago, 
and another in 1899. Since then he has been unable to endure the summers 
east of the mountains, and he spends the months of June, July and August 
in Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., whose climate can hardly be rivaled for 
equability, the mean temperature being fifty-five degrees. For twenty-five 
years there were only two days when the temperature rose above seventy- 
five, and the lowest record in winter has been thirt}^ degrees. The first 
summer Mr. Press spent there he was obliged to remain in a dark room all 
the time, but he is now able to enjoy the delightful days which prevail 
throughout the season. His active mind soon sought the interesting features 
of the place, and in 1902 he became interested in the lumber industry. He 
now owns about one hundred million feet of standing timber, and other prop- 
erty acquired in connection with the development of his timber holdings, a 
shingle mill and six hundred feet of water front and wharf at Eureka. Nat- 
urally the development of the same has created considerable activity in indus- 
trial conditions in the vicinity. Mr. Press investigated thoroughly the claims 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 369 

made for the durability and other desirable qualities of redwood shingles 
and then decided to go into their manufacture. The shingle mill of the 
Whiting G. Press Company has a capacity of three hundred thousand shingles 
per day, and the product has a wide reputation, based on the tests of time 
which redwood shingles have endured. Probably the most notable example 
cited is the building once one of the group belonging to the old military 
post at Eureka, established about 1852 for protection from the Indians. 
The building, passed into private ownership but still standing on its original 
site, is probably typical of the dozen or so which constituted the 
old station. It has been neglected and mutilated, but the redwood shingles 
with which it was covered over sixty years ago are still there and in excellent 
condition. General Grant, then a lieutenant, was stationed here in 1853. 
Instances of redwood shingles in first-class shape after forty years of service 
are common enough in this region, and on the strength of these facts the 
Whiting G. Press Company has sold its shingles with a guarantee for the 
buyer's lifetime in perfect safety. Mr. Press is president of the company ; 
Gillman C. Knapp, secretary ; M. E. Wrigley, manager. The very interesting 
little article which accompanies their product to the consumer presents some 
facts of general interest and statistics which cannot but appeal to anyone 
who has ever heard of the famous redwood forest. 

This growth is contained in an area of perhaps two thousand square 
miles, lying close along the shores of the Pacific between the Oregon line 
and the bay of San Francisco, about three hundred miles, with a varying 
breadth of from six to twenty miles. It is over two thousand years old, and 
its exploitation presented problems in the way of lumbering, as well as com- 
mercial operations, unknown because unnecessary in any other region. Unlike 
any other timber on the earth, it is adaptable to almost every requirement 
or use to which wood is put. As a forest tree, it is practically indestructible 
by fire. Almost every home and barn and fence on the western slope of Cali- 
fornia has been constructed of this valuable material, and wh-en the unin- 
itiated visitor shows wonder as he begins to realize the size attained by these 
botanical giants he will likely hear of the pioneer who built his house and 
barns and fenced his claim with lumber from one tree. In the outhdng 
groves, on the edge of the strip, the trees are comparatively small, and 
fortunately the early demand for timber was easily met by mere trimmings 
from the edge, leaving the heart of the forest for the present generation, 
which has profited by the wasteful methods practiced some years ago by 
lumbermen in other woods and is conserving with foresight and cutting dis- 
criminately. The sight of a fallen tree trunk which a man cannot climb, of 
the felling of one immense tree, is enough to set the stranger thinking. In 
the midst of a number of large specimens he is likely to underestimate their 
size, until convinced by the indisputable facts of actual measurement. Again, 
the symmetry of the trees, beautiful from the nature lover's standpoint, is 
equally welcomed by the lumberman, for there is little waste when the 
growth is so perfect. Here is another stupendous fact. In the timber regions 
of the southern and western states, according to authorities,- five thousand 
feet, board measure, is the average yield per acre ; when it reaches as high 
as ten thousand feet to the acre the land is called heavily timbered. The same 
authorities estimated the average on a tract of redwood (one hundred and 
thirty-seven thousand acres) at forty-four thousand feet, and on one portion 



370 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of ninety-six thousand acres in Humboldt county claimed eighty-four 
thousand feet as a fair average ! Many an acre contains ten or twelve trees 
ranging from six to twelve feet or more in diameter and from two hundred 
to three hundred feet in height, good timber to the very top. The region 
around Humboldt bay, being most convenient, was lumbered over first, but 
over sixty years ago operations were begun in Humboldt county. The first 
shipment of redwood from Humboldt bay was made in 1854 by WilHam 
Carson. Of late years all the redwood timber has come from this section. 

Fortunately the earliest operators had no adequate idea of the value 
of redwood, or of the vast supply, or they might have cut as recklessly as 
the first comers in other lumber regions have done, and with as mischievous 
results. It is only within comparatively recent years that the manufacture 
of shingles from redwood has become an established industry, and a com- 
paratively few men have devoted their mills exclusively to this product, with 
the most gratifying results. The Press Company prides itself on owning 
the largest and most complete redwood shingle mill in existence, and its 
methods of manufacture have reached a degree of perfection which should 
assure an unrivaled product. The bolts from which the shingles are made are 
taken from newly cut timber, fresh and sound. The shingles are dried before 
shipping, for the saving in freight expenses as well as the evenness attained in 
the scientific process, so that there is no danger of warping. The durability 
of redwood is no doubt attributable in large measure to the slow growth ; 
and it is a question whether the long life of the trees may be due to the lack 
of variation in temperature which prevails in the redwood belt — only forty- 
five degrees, the thermometer having ranged between thirty and seventy-five 
degrees Fahrenheit for twenty-five years during which records have been kept, 
with only two days which were above seventy-five and two or three when 
it was below thirty. 

The business of the Press Company has had a steady growth. Its ac- 
quired timber lands have sufficient lumber for a generation of manufacturing. 

Mr. Press belongs to the generation which has done big things for the 
country, and in his transactions he has had the privilege of coming into direct 
contact with many of the figures foremost in these operations, financiers, 
captains of industry, capitalists and politicians, particularly in Chicago, where 
his business headquarters have been maintained. 

CHARLES A. JOHNSTON.— The exploitation of the oil fields in the 
vicinity of Petrolia, Humboldt county, was begun as far back as 1865, and 
although not much progress has been made it would seem that the situation 
is due more to the difficulty of finding a satisfactory method of obtaining 
the oil rather than to, the scarcity of the product. Charles A. Johnston has 
lived in that section since 1869, owns quite an extensive tract of oil-bearing 
land, and is probably the best informed man on local conditions of the kind 
that has ever lived at Petrolia. He has faith in the ultimate value of the 
fields as adequate processes of extracting the oil are devised, but meantime 
he is working all the lines of practical profit which have already been proved 
feasible in this region, and his success with commercial apple and walnut 
orchards has done much to encourage the culture of those two crops in the 
lower Mattole valley. All his work as an agriculturist has been carried on 
in the most progressive manner, but it is as a horticulturist, particularly as 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 373 

an orchardist, that he has done most for his locality and probably for 
himself. To some extent he is ^so engaged in stock raising. 

Mr. Johnston was born in Jones county, Iowa, not far from the present 
site of Des Moines, April 16, 1849. His parents, Charles B. and Catharine 
(Smith) Johnston, were natives of Ohio, in which state they married. The 
father was a frontiersman all his life. Moving with his family from Ohio 
to the vicinity of Galena, 111., they went farther west from there, into Iowa 
and Missouri, back again to Iowa, and thence over the plains to California 
in 1852. Charles B. Johnston was personally acquainted with Abraham 
Lincoln as well as other notable characters of the middle west. Fortu- 
nately, in the pioneer days of Iowa, he had befriended Black Hawk, the 
Indian chief, on several occasions and they were friends. But when the 
Black Hawk war broke out he enlisted, and, knowing the country, served 
as a scout and spy. During the war he was captured and owed his life to 
Black Hawk, who aided him to escape by furnishing him a horse. His 
experiences qualified him thoroughly to lead his party across the plains, 
and he was chosen captain of the ox team train. Happily they had only 
one small skirmish with the Indians en route, on the Platte river, and drew 
up safely at LaPorte, near Gibsonville, in Sierra county. There the John- 
ston family first settled, Mr. Johnston engaging in mining at that location 
for six years, and for one year he was at the Cabbage Patch, in Yuba 
county, where he mined and kept hotel. Thence they moved to the Prairie 
diggings near Brown's Valley, Yuba county, remaining there until 1863, 
after which for several years they were on a nearby ranch, which he 
operated. In 1868 Charles B. Johnston came to the Mattole, and took up 
one hundred and sixty acres of land at Upper Mattole, where most of his 
remaining days were passed. His death occurred at Petrolia in 1885, when 
he was seventy-five years old. His widow died there in 1902, at the age 
of eighty-five years. Nine children were born to them, only three of whom 
now survive, William, the eldest son, having been accidentally killed in 
July, 1914; he was an employe at the Anaconda mine. Cava Ann is the 
widow of Jacob Miner, and lives at Petrolia. Samuel S., of National City, 
San Diego county, Cal., was formerly postmaster there. 

Charles A. Johnston was but three years old when the family crossed 
the plains to this state. As the localities in which his youth was spent were 
sparsely settled, and pioneers were still too busy with the immediate 
business of gaining a living to establish community affairs on a proper 
basis, he had very meager school advantages, but he has educated himself 
by reading and self-study and thus has become a well informed man, 
besides having plenty of experience of a practical kind. He rode after 
stock on the ranges, did teaming between Petrolia and Centerville for two 
years, and eventually became interested in agricultural pursuits, to which 
he devotes most of his time at present. His land holdings comprise three 
ranches, his home place known as Walnut Drive Farm of three hundred 
acres, the Seaside Ranch of eighty acres at the mouth of Mattole river, 
and the Buckeye Ranch of seventeen hundred twenty acres five miles east 
of his home place. As previously mentioned, he has gone quite extensively 
into the culture of walnuts and has also raised some prime apples. Mr., 
Johnston is a Progressive Republican, but has never been an aspirant to 
public office. 



374 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

In 1872 Mr. Johnston was married to Miss Sarah Clark, daughter of 
Charles Clark, a Petrolia pioneer, and she 4ied leaving two children : Will- 
iam, now in Alaska, who married Carrie Giacomini, of Petrolia, and has two 
children; and Addie L., wife of Rev. Ernest Grigg, a Methodist Episcopal 
minister of Areata, and mother of three children. On June 29, 1879, Mr. 
Johnston married the second time by the Rev. Parkhurst at Upper Mattole, 
being united with Miss Evaline Langdon, daughter of Joseph Avery and 
Phoebe Jane (Andrews) Langdon, the former a native of New York state, 
the latter of Iowa ; they were married in Michigan. Five children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Langdon before they crossed the plains to California 
in 1853. The father had come out before, in 1851, returned for his family, 
and established the home at Table Bluff, Humboldt county, for a time, in 
1857 removing down to the Mattole valley, where he owned the Buckeye 
stock range. He died at Wadsworth, Nev., in 1876, the mother in Petrolia 
in 1880. Mrs. Johnston is a native daughter of Mattole, born near the pres- 
ent site of Petrolia, and was the third white child born in the valley, where 
she was reared and educated in the public schools. Seven children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnston : Sarah Ellen is the wife of Fred 
McKee, a shipper, of Needle Rock, Mendocino county, and they have one 
child, Doris E. ; Phoebe L. is married to James Lawson, a carpenter of 
Petrolia, and has two children, Leland L. and Clyde N. ; Minnie L. is the 
wife of Horace H. Stewart, who lives at Petrolia and is associated with 
Thomas A. Johnston in running the father's stock ranch, and they have 
one child, Charles Calvin ; Thomas Avery is running the stock ranch in part- 
nership with Mr. Stewart ; Katie E. has been teaching for seven years in 
the Honey Dew district school at Upper Mattole; Charles F. is woods 
superintendent at Needle Rock; Ethel E. is living at home. 

Mr. Johnston is a member of Mattole Lodge No. 92, K. P., at Petrolia, 
of which he is past chancellor. He and his wife are attendants at the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church at Petrolia, he being a member of the board of 
trustees. They are enterprising and liberal and carry out the old California 
spirit of hospitality. They seem ever ready to aid those who have been 
less fortunate than themselves and give freely of their time and means to 
aid movements of benefit to the community and its people. Mr. Johnston 
IS a lover of fine horses and has raised some fine specimens of standard 
horses. Of late years, however, he has discontinued breeding them and is 
giving his time to horticulture. 

Mr. Johnston has kept in close touch with the oil prospects at Petrolia. 
There are seepages on the Buckeye ranch. All the oil wells bored have 
contained gas. Wells were first dug in this field in 1865. Many were sunk 
to a depth of one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, but only three 
yielded oil in any quantity. The Doe well, about one mile west of Petrolia, 
was followed down two thousand feet, but yielded nothing, not even gas or 
water. J. W. Henderson sunk the first well on Joel Flat, called the Hen- 
derson well, went down five hundred feet, and thought he had a ten-barrel 
well. Between fifty and seventy-five barrels were packed out, and on the 
assumption that the well would continue flowing he went to the city to 
get a tank to store the oil in. By the time he returned the well had caved 
in, and nothing more was ever done with it. The second well, on the 
Edmonstone ranch, about six miles up the north fork of the Mattole, was 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 375 

also five hundred feet deep and yielded the same quantity of oil, most of it 
being obtained at ninety feet; it is a gasser. The third well was in the 
McNutt gulch, and oil was struck at three hundred feet ; it gushed water, 
oil and gas, flowed one day and was capped, but soon caved in, and as it 
was owned by local men no further effort was made to develop it. A 
fourth well, the Buckeye, showed considerable oil. A fifth, the Brown & 
Knowles, was sunk in 1865 and yielded oil at one hundred and fifty feet, 
and oil stands in that well to this day. 

Operations ceased thereafter until 1891, in which year the Far West 
Oil Company dug a well on the Buckeye. They went down eight hundred 
feet, at five hundred feet finding a lot of oil, but when the tools were lost 
they abandoned that well and moved over to Davis creek. Again they sunk 
an eight-hundred-foot well and obtained a considerable quantity of oil, but 
the hard times of 1893 caused a cessation of interest for the time. In 1901 
other companies came into the field, a Mr. Mcintosh sinking the first well 
attempted that year, on the Zanona land. He went down fifteen hundred 
feet and claimed to have a fifteen-barrel well. The next was the Wild 
Goose well, sunk in 1901-02, ten hundred three feet deep. Oil was struck 
first at two hundred twenty-one feet, and the stratum was sixty feet wide. 
At five hundred and fifty-five feet there was a flow of gas strong enough 
to throw the tools out of the well ; two hundred feet below quite a big flow 
of oil was found, and at ten hundred three feet they lost the tools, which 
were fished for a month without success. This was without doubt about a 
fifteen-barrel well, and is still flowing gas. The next work was done by a 
Mr. Craig, who put down two wells up the north fork, the first, seven 
hundred feet in depth, yielding some gas but no oil ; the second, eight hun- 
dred feet deep, had a considerable flow. The Weed well on the north fork, 
four hundred feet deep, flowed gas but no oil, and the Humboldt well, om 
Buckeye creek, went nineteen hundred feet deep with no oil to speak oL 
Then a well was tried at Upper Mattole, the Hoagland well on E. J. Etter's 
ranch, sunk to a depth of seventeen hundred feet; it produced fairly well. 
Mr. Johnston has a large acquaintance among the prominent oil men of the 
east, as well as in California, many of whom have investigated this territory 
and have been enthusiastic. Unfortunately, long time leases have been held 
by inactive people so the live men could get no foothold. Mr. Johnston is 
optimistic for the future of the Mattole country, his faith being unshaken 
that some day it will be a profitable and active oil field. 

PETER RATTI was born in 1880, near Lucca, Italy, where he was 
reared and received his education in the public schools. He followed farm 
work in his native land until 1903, when he came to the United States and 
located in Eureka, Cal. Here he was employed in the woods for the Scotia 
Lumber Company, Vance Lumber Company and others until he quit to enter 
the employ of the Diamond Fruit Company as a clerk, and afterwards was 
with the Italian-French restaurant until he saw an opportunity to engage in 
business for himself. In 1913 he bought from Mr. Massei the grocery and fruit 
store on the corner of Fifth and F streets, and here he has continued in 
business. Under the name of the Humboldt Fruit Company he has built up 
a large trade in groceries, fruits and vegetables, using an auto delivery in 
his business. 



376 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Fraternally Mr. Ratti is a member of the Druids and Moose, and politi- 
cally is a Republican. 

FRANCIS R. HOREL, M. D.— Skill in therapeutics and exceptional 
ability as a diagnostician have gained for Dr. Horel the confidence of his 
patients in all classes. Nor is his professional usefulness limited to Areata, 
his home town, for he is called into service in other parts of Humboldt county 
and now acts as a director on the medical staff of the Sequoia hospital at 
Eureka. AVhile he is a man of splendid business qualifications, keen in judg- 
ment and capable of placing a correct valuation upon property of all kinds, 
and while he has been connected with large enterprises, notably the Thomas 
Devlin Tanning Company of Areata (in which he is vice-president and a 
director), it is nevertheless as a physician and surgeon that his best qualities 
are exemplified and that his highest usefulness has been manifested. Endowed 
with tenderness and sympathy hidden beneath the customary reserve of the 
professional man, his presence brings cheer to the discouraged and hope to 
the suffering, and his kindly, helpful and skilled ministrations have made his 
presence a blessing in many a home. 

The Horel family, of English ancestry, was founded in America by 
Samuel Horel, who left England at twenty-one years of age and settled on a 
tract of raw land in Wisconsin. At the time of his death he was forty-six 
years of age. Among the children of his union with Sarah J. Roberts was 
a son, Francis R., born on the Wisconsin farm at Waukesha, February 28, 
1851, and reared to a life of the most arduous labor in the midst of surround- 
ings that still indicated the frontier. Through his own determined and am- 
bitious efforts he secured an education, working his way through the uni- 
versity at Galesville, Wis., and later earning the money with which to defray 
his expenses in medical college. He is a graduate of the renowned Rush 
Medical College, Chicago, one of the greatest schools of its kind in the world, 
and is a member of the class of 1885. For six years he practiced in St. Paul, 
Neb., after which he spent a short time as house physician of the Nebraska 
state insane asylum at Hastings. 

Since he embarked in practice at Areata in 1901 Dr. Horel has become 
widely known throughout this section of country, where his professional abili- 
ties receive the recognition that is their just due. Meantime he has aided 
movements for the commercial upbuilding of the locality. Not the least im- 
portant of his efforts is that, in connection with others, of reclaiming the 
tide marsh lands near Areata which will be suitable for manufacturing sites. 
Among his investments are redwood tracts in this part of the state as well as 
a comfortable home in Areata. Through his marriage in 1878 to Lois E. 
O'Brien he became the father of three children, J. Earl, Ruth F. and Lois A. 
His fraternities and societies are numerous and include Areata Lodge No. 106, 
F. & A. M. ; Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M. ; and Eureka Commandery 
No. 35, K. T., both in Eureka; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Fran- 
cisco, and Oakland Consistory No. 2. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish 
Rite Mason, and with his wife is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. 
He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. In the line of his profession he is a member of the Ameri- 
can, State and County Medical Associations, as well as the Pacific Coast 
Association of Railway Surgeons. He is local surgeon for the Northwestern 
Pacific Railroad. 




^i:*^. 



^:2, 



^-^--^^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 379 

MRS. ANTONIETTA MOZZINI.— It was in the year 1896 that Mrs. 
Antonietta Alozzini, now a prominent resident and well known business 
woman of Loleta, Humboldt county, Cal., first came to this county, her 
husband having- died two years previously at Santa Cruz, Cal., where he had 
been the owner of the Swiss Hotel. When Mrs. Mozzini came to Loleta, it 
was a place of but one store, a blacksmith's shop and a few shacks, but it has 
since become a prosperous business place of considerable importance, and 
]\Irs. Mozzini has invested in property here, being now the owner of two 
residences in the town. Previous to her coming to Loleta Airs. Mozzini's 
two brothers, Stephen and Antonio, had been located in the vicinity for sev- 
eral years, engaged in the dairy business, wherein they were meeting with 
much success. Mrs. Mozzini became their housekeeper for four years, at 
which time they sold their lease, Antonio returning to Ticino, his native home 
in Switzerland, Stephen remainirtg in Loleta, where he leased the Ellery 
place and continued the dairy business. Two years later the sister bought 
a one-half interest with him, the two since then having continued dairying 
on this estate, which comprises over two hundred acres of rich bottom land 
near Loleta. Here they have a herd of one hundred twenty milch cows, the 
milk being sold to Libby, IMcNeill & Libby. In 1909 they leased the 
Buhne ranch near Elk River Corners, a dairy ranch consisting of one thousand 
forty acres, and purchased the stock, at present milking two hundred cows 
on this property, the milk being retailed in Eureka, where it is known for 
its high standard and excellency. This is the largest dairy in the county, so 
that Avith the two dairies they are by far the most extensive dairymen in 
the county. Mrs. Mozzini and her brother, who are known among the most 
successful dairymen in the county, having done much to bring the business 
to a high sanitary condition, are also members of the Ferndale Cow Testing 
Association. 

Mrs. Alozzini, a business woman of marked ability and attainments, and 
an educated and well informed woman, was born in Camdrino, Canton Ticino, 
Switzerland, one of a family of nine children, of whom six lived to grow up, 
namely : Frank, at present a farmer in his native canton ; Stephen, the 
partner of Mrs. Alozzini in Loleta, Cal. ; Antonio, who spent many years in 
Humboldt county, Cal., where he became well and favorably known and left 
numerous friends when he returned to Switzerland, where he now follows 
the occupation of farmer ; Peter, also a farmer in Ticino ; Theresa, now Mrs. 
Yermeni, engaged in dairying on the Elk river, Cal. ; and Antonietta, the 
youngest, the Airs. Alozzini who now makes her home in Loleta, Cal., where 
she is a well known business woman and is engaged in dairying in partner- 
ship with her brother. The maiden name of Airs. Antonietta Alozzini was 
also Alozzini, as was her mother's maiden name, her parents, Alartin and 
Alartina (Alozzini) Alozzini, being farmers in Camorino until the time of 
their death. They were well-to-do people and the daughter received an 
excellent education in the local schools of her native place. Besides her 
mother language she also took up the study of French. She was married in 
her home town in 1886 to Paul Alozzini, a native of the place, who had spent 
some years in California, where he was the proprietor of the Swiss Hotel in 
Santa Cruz, Cal. He made his home, however, in Switzerland, until the 
burning of his hotel in Santa Cruz, when he returned to this state and rebuilt 
the hotel, his wife joining him in California April 1, 1891. He continued to 

10 



380 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

operate the hotel until 1894, when he sold it, his death occurring a few months 
later. Two years later Mrs. Mozzini joined her brothers, who were engaged 
in the dairy business near Loleta, in Humboldt county, where she has since 
made such a success as the partner of one of her brothers in the business, and 
is prominent as a member of the Rebekahs. 

Four children have been born to Mrs. Mozzini, namely : Nancy, who 
resides with her mother; Martina, now Mrs. Moskete, of Elk River; Martin, 
who is engaged in the dairy business at Elk River Corners ; and Gemmaleta, 
who is bookkeeper for Mozzini & Co. 

It is interesting to note that the business of dairying on a large scale 
is carried on with eminent success by a woman in her new home, a native 
of a foreign land which is noted for its herds of cattle and flocks of sheep 
and goats among the mountains and valleys of the Alps region. 

HENRY WAY. — A love of the sea was perhaps the most prominent 
characteristic of Mr. Way in his boyhood years and this was undoubtedly due 
to the fact that he lived in one of the seaport towns of England, where the 
sight of the ocean steamers awakened visions of the distant countries whence 
they had come or the interesting regions to which they were sailing. His 
native town was Bridport, a small village in Dorsetshire, where he was born 
December 10, 1848, and where he had such schooling as local institutions of 
learning afl^orded. Scant as were his early advantages, he has become a 
man of broad information and musical as well as literary culture, familiar 
with the best literature of the current era and the most famous music of past 
centuries, this being the result of his own ambitious efforts to promote mental 
attainments. 

To apprentice a youth whose deepest love was in the direction of a sail- 
or's life and attempt to turn his activities into the channel of things mechan- 
ical was such a serious mistake that the youthful apprentice himself re- 
belled at undertaking the work of a moulder and machinist. Barely three 
weeks passed before he ran away to enter the British navy and gratify his 
desire to go to sea. For two years he was a student in the naval school. 
Shortly after New Year's of 1865, when only sixteen years of age, he was 
attached to the receiving ship. Victory, and thence transferred to the dis- 
patch boat, Sparrow Hawk, bound for California via the Horn. While sail- 
ing in the South Atlantic waters he was cast away with others of the crew 
on the Falkland Islands following the wrecking of the ship in a severe storm. 
Rescued from the islands, he then sailed through the Straits of Magellan and 
up the coast to Valparaiso, Chile, and Callao, Peru. Instead of proceeding 
to San Francisco, he was sent to Honolulu and after three weeks ordered to 
Victoria, British Columbia. A brief period of time was spent on Queen Char- 
lotte Island in the quelling of an Indian uprising. Ordered back to Vic- 
toria, he next sailed to San Francisco and anchored in the harbor of the 
Golden Gate December 5, 1865. Giving up his connection with the vessel, 
he shipped as a sailor on a merchant marine to England. During 1866 he vis- 
ited Australia and China and from the latter country crossed to Victoria, 
British Columbia. 

After having been emplo3^ed for eighteen months at Port Gamble, Kit- 
sap county. Wash., Mr. Way came to California, landing in Humboldt county 
August 1, 1868. At Eureka he entered the Ryan & Dufif mill, later known as 
the Occidental mill, and when a new building was erected he took a leading 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 381 

part in securing a plant adequate, modern and convenient. For thirty-eight 
years he remained in the same position. Meanwhile he had witnessed man}' 
changes in the county. The lumber business had enjoyed its era of remark- 
able prosperity, but had begun to be partially supplanted by other features of 
modern industrial life. The few pioneers had been encouraged by the arrival 
of new settlers, eager to have a part in modern development. Agriculture and 
horticulture had begun to be appreciated as important factors in the highest 
prosperity. The work of developmei;it called for constant activity on the 
part of pioneers and he was not dilatory in doing his part in the general up- 
building. After leaving the mill he had charge of the detention home for 
three and one-half years, but is now retired from active affairs. 

Fond of music and the possessor of an excellent bass voice, Mr. Way 
has been a distinct acquisition to the musical circles of the community and 
he and his wife have ranked for years among the most popular singers in 
Eureka. Church work also has enlisted his sympathy and service. Imme- 
diately upon his arrival in 1868 he united with the First Congregational 
Church of Eureka, in which he was one of the eight charter members. For 
a quarter of a century he had charge of the Sunday school and the choir and 
for five years his wife served as organist. For some years they have been 
actively associated with the Episcopal Church, where Mr. Way had charge 
of the music for a period of successful service and his wife was soloist for 
five years. Mr. Way toured the county with Professor and Madam Roswald 
as bass soloist. Locally he took the leading part in Pinafore, Mikado, Papita, 
Little Tycoon, Chimes of Normandy and other popular operas. Prior to 
their marriage, which was solemnized April 3, 1877, Mrs. Way bore the name 
of Emma Pengilly. Born on the famous little island of Jersey, an English 
possession, she is a normal graduate and had a successful experience in the 
English schools, besides teaching a private school in Eureka for twenty-five 
years. Nor is her ability limited to instruction in the common branches of 
study, for in addition she is recognized as a remarkably efficient teacher of the 
Bible, and the Sunday school classes under her supervision have been for- 
tunate in enjoying the services of one so familiar with the Scriptures and so 
capable in expounding them to the spiritual benefit of all. As a speaker she is 
original, talented and always at ease. Frequently she has been called into 
service in private theatricals and when the Ingomar theater was opened 
at Eureka she had the honor of speaking the first lines at the first production 
given in the new house. Of her children the only daughter, Alice, a graduate 
of Guild Hall School of Music, London, is now the wife of J. W. Bell, of 
Burnley, England. The sons are Arthur W., of Eureka, and Ernest H., of 
Oakland. Fraternally Mr. Way is a charter member of the Improved Order 
of Red Men, the Ancient Order of Foresters and is a member also of For- 
tuna Lodge of Odd Fellows, besides being allied with the Veterans' Asso- 
ciation of Odd Fellows. 

HENRY A. KENDAL, librarian of the Eureka Free Library, was born 
in Tipton county, Ind., September 25, 1858. He remained on the farm with 
his parents until twenty-one years of age, receiving such education as the 
district schools of the time afforded. He then worked his way through a 
three-year course at the Normal College, Danville, Ind., by intervals of teach- 
ing and in the service of the college library. He taught after graduation for 
three years in the Alabama State Normal School for colored teachers at 



382 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Marion and for one year in the same institution at Montgomery after its 
removal to the latter place. He also studied law at intervals and w^as ad- 
mitted to the bar, but found the law office less inspiring than the school room. 

Mr. Kendal was married to Miss Candace Burroughs, of Rensselaer, In- 
diana, in 1886. They are the parents of one child born in Alabama but which 
died in infancy. 

Mr. Kendal entered the Indian school service at Hoopa reservation in 
1893. Since that time he has resided continuously in Humboldt county, and 
has taught in the public schools the greater part of the time since the termina- 
tion of his work at Hoopa. During his active teaching service in this 
county he served four years on the County Board of Education. Mr. Kendal 
became city librarian in December, 1911, and has since given his time and 
attention unremittingly to this important position. 

LOUIS PIERRE DORAIS, M. D.— The genealogy of the Dorais family 
extends back to a long line of French ancestors in the old Province of Nor- 
mandy, but the Doctor himself was born in the county of Huntingdon, 
Province of Quebec, not far from the New York state line, on the Canadian 
side of the boundary. In boyhood he became familiar with the French 
language and the traditions associated with the land of his forefathers, but 
at the same time his early education was in the English language. At the 
age of fourteen he was sent to the Montreal public schools for a year. Next 
he spent four years as a student in the Jacques Cartier Normal School of Mon- 
treal, after which he continued the classicak studies for two years in L'As- 
somption College, an institution affiliated with the Laval University of Que- 
bec. On the completion of the regular course he was graduated in 1886 with 
high honors. Having been qualified by his studies for the work of an edu- 
cator, he turned his attention to teaching schooF and was thus engaged in 
Essex county, Ontario, Canada, for four years. Meanwhile he had heard 
much concerning the Pacific coast section. Favorable reports caused him 
to relinquish the interests that held him in Canada and remove to the western 
coast. On the 6th of January, 1891, he arrived at Spokane, Wash., from 
which point he proceeded to Oregon. For three years he remained in that 
state, alternating school teaching with work on a farm. 

A decision to enter the medical profession led the young French-Canadian 
to California in 1894, and later he worked his way through the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco and was graduated with the de- 
grees of M. D. and Ph. G. In 1902 and 1903 he held the important position of 
oculist and aurist at the French hospital in San Francisco, but his health hav- 
ing been impaired by too close attention to his specialties, he resigned in the 
summer of 1903 and removed to Flumboldt county. Since then he has been 
engaged in the practice of his profession at Eureka, where he is also asso- 
ciated with the Union Labor Hospital and has built up an enviable reputation 
for remarkable skill in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and 
throat. 

In 1912 the Doctor made an extensive tour of the United States and 
Canada, and on his return he decided to take a more active interest in the 
civic affairs of his home town. He was one of the organizers of the Eureka 
Development Association, a body which has for its purposes the general wel- 
fare of the city of Eureka. He drafted the by-laws of this organization, served 
on its first board of directors, and on several important committees. But it 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 383 

was by his thorough and efficient research work of the true sanitary conditions 
of the Eureka Water Company's water supply that he rendered his most 
valuable assistance to Eureka when this municipality acquired its own water 
system in 1914. 

Along the line of his profession, Dr. Dorais is identified with the Hum- 
boldt County and California State Medical Associations, while in the fra- 
ternities he is a Mason of the Royal Arch Chapter, past chancellor com- 
mander of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Humboldt Club. On 
March 6, 1906, he was united in marriage with Miss Clarissa Hanna, and three 
sons, Sydney Pierre, Wilfred Leon and James Jasper, have blessed their union. 
Mrs. Dorais was born in Areata and has been a lifelong resident of Hum- 
boldt county, where her ancestors were early settlers. Her paternal grand- 
father, the late Judge Hanna, was an honored and influential pioneer of 
Eureka, and her maternal grandfather, Sheriff Lothian, was elected in 1853 
to serve as the first sherifif of the newly organized county of Humboldt, fill- 
ing the office with fearlessness and tact at a time when its responsibilities 
were heavy and its duties the most arduous. 

NATHAN HAUCK.— Mr. Hauck's standing among his fellow agricul- 
turists in his section of Humboldt county has been clearly shown in his elec- 
tion as the first president of the Eel River Valley Farmers' Association, now 
known as Rohnerville Center since the establishment of the Humboldt County 
Farm Bureau. His achievements in his chosen calling, thoroughly progres- 
sive policy in carrying on his own work, and his hearty co-operation in the 
various movements among farmers for securing more favorable conditions 
of working and living, entitle him to the recognition he has won. He has the 
industrious disposition and capacity for labor necessary for success on the 
farm, supplemented with a keen intellect Avhich has enabled him to system- 
atize his operations to the best advantage, and he has been quick to adopt 
many of the modern devices for eliminating old laborious processes. The 
farmer of today, with their assistance and a moderate amount of competent 
hired help, is able to accomplish more than double the work under the old 
system, and to give thought to good management rather than expend all his 
energies on daily duties, which consume time, without allowing him to get 
ahead. None has been more prompt to see the benefits which follow up-to- 
date methods than Mr. Hauck, and his influence has gone far towards intro- 
ducing many such into his neighborhood. 

Mr. Hauck's father, Peter Hauck, was a successful farmer in Rohner- 
ville township, Humboldt county, and his grandparents, Adam and Julia 
Hauck, were farming people in Germany during most of their lives. The 
grandfather was accidentally killed while serving as a watchman in a little 
German town, at the age of fifty-three years. Peter Hauck was born Decem- 
ber 3, 1830, in Bavaria, Germany, where he was reared. When but fifteen 
years old he set out for America, alone, making the voyage to this country 
in a sailing vessel, in 1846. He landed at New Orleans, where he found work 
in a wagon factory, though he had no training for such employment. His 
only capital consisted of his strength and a willing disposition to make him- 
self useful. He completed an apprenticeship to the trade, and helped to 
build wagons which were used in the Mexican war. Having decided to try 
his fortune on the Pacific coast he bought a ticket for California, via Panama, 
February 10, 1852, and arrived at San Francisco after a comparatively pleas- 



384 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ant and interesting voyage. Thence he proceeded to Trinity county, locating 
at Weaverville, where he followed mining until the fall of 1853. From that 
time to the close of his life he was a resident of Humboldt county, where 
for a time he found employment in the mills and was engaged in logging on 
the Eel river. In 1855 he commenced to operate a pack train between Areata 
and the Salmon river, and he was thus engaged for a period of ten years, 
though not all this time over the route mentioned. Ordinarily it was a very 
profitable business, though often dangerous. During the Indian war Mr. 
Hauck packed for the government for eighteen months, during which 
he had many narrow escapes owing to the unsettled conditions. Having 
been thrifty and saving he accumulated some means, and by 1867 was ready 
to settle down to agricultural pursuits. In February of that year he bought 
the farm in Rohnerville township which was ever afterward his home, a 
ranch of sixty-five acres which he cultivated very successfully and improved 
greatly, equipping the property with all the conveniences which go to make 
up a comfortable home place. He erected a modern house, well appointed 
and comfortably furnished, had a vegetable garden for his family and an 
orchard of four acres which produced well, and for many years carried on 
dairying, in addition to general farming. He also made a specialty of rais- 
ing Berkshire hogs, keeping on an average forty head, and in his active years 
was an all-around enterprising agriculturist. Towards the close of his life 
he gave up some of his activities, but retained the supervision of his property. 
Besides his home ranch he owned one hundred acres near Fortuna, also 
devoted to general farming. His death occurred May 18, 1906. He was not 
only a man of substantial qualities, but personally one of the best liked men 
in his locality. He was a Mason, belonging to Eel River Lodge No. 147, 
F. & A. M., and for several years had the distinction of being its oldest living 
member. He was a past master of that body, and his family prizes a copy 
of the resolutions passed in acknowledgment of his gift of a sword to the 
lodge, the first known instance of the kind in the LTnited States. We quote 
the resolutions herewith : 

"The committee having in charge the matter of shaping in suitable form 
for record, on the minutes, the gift of a sword, by Brother Peter Hauck, do 
respectfully submit the following : From the inscription we learn that this 
sword was carried by a brother in active service, was presented as early as 
1863, during that period of strife when the Great Brotherhood of Masonry 
shone with such luster, and that the donor, the oldest living member of this 
lodge, cast his lot with the fraternity in 1861. For more than the average 
term of human life, a period of forty years, our worthy brother has been 
permitted, by Providence, to be instrumental in the upbuilding of Masonry 
in this jurisdiction, adhering to the lodge in its adversity as well as in its 
prosperity and through all these years, as a citizen, his career has been 
marked by unswerving integrity and honor, as a Mason his charity and 
zealous adherence to the principles of the fraternity have been an inspira- . 
tion to all. We take advantage of this occasion to record our high apprecia- 
tion of so valuable and unique a present. 

"This is the first instance on record (for this lodge at least) where the 
candidate has complied with the request of the 'worshipful master' 'to deposit 
in the archives of the lodge some mineral or metallic substance as evidence 
that he was then and there made a Mason.' May this gift be a constant re- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 385 

minder to us of the thoughtfulness and solicitude, on the part of our beloved 
brother, for the welfare and prosperit)^ of this lodge, of the many noble and 
generous deeds that he has left as a heritage to us, and 

"Resolved, that we hereby tender our sincere and heartfelt wish that 
he may enjoy many happy years and that this sword may be carried by those 
'worthy and well qualified' and who will do honor to the Great Brotherhood 
of Masonry. 

"J. W. RYAN, 
"E. B. LORING, 

"B. H. McNeil, 

"Committee." 
Mr. Hauck always enjoyed his Masonic association and took pleasure in 
the lodge meetings. In political principles he was a Republican, but in voting 
supported the best man, without reference to the party. He married. May 
1, 1866, Nancy Lamb, a native of the state of Indiana, who came to California 
with her father, Alexander Lamb, in 1864. She died in 1899, leaving three 
children : Alice M. ; Nathan, and Fred C, the latter residing in Eureka. The 
daughter married Robert Malloy, a blacksmith at Alton; he was a black- 
smith on Dewey's flagship May 1, 1898, at the battle of Manila bay. 

Nathan Hauck was born March 20, 1876, on the home place in Rohner- 
ville township, Humboldt county, attending school and graduating in the 
Alton district. He also attended the business college at Eureka, and then 
for several years assisted with the work on his father's farm. Being ambitious 
to get in touch with modern thought and methods in agriculture, he went east 
and took a course at the University of Wisconsin (at Madison), which has a 
high reputation as an agricultural training school, and graduated therefrom 
in 1909. On his return he took charge of the old home place of forty acres, 
which had come into his possession, where he still lives and has his principal 
interests. Eight acres are planted in apples and cherries. He also gives par- 
ticular attention to the raising of Poland-China hogs, .having all registered 
stock brought from the east, and he sells fine hogs to various markets along 
the coast and in the east. Mr. Hauck has shown such intelligent judgment 
in his various operations, and made such a success in all the lines to which 
he has given special attention, that his work is noted with interest in his 
locality, and he is helping to raise its standards in every branch of farming. 
He is a member of the Dairymen's Association of Ferndale. 

Fraternally Mr. Hauck is a Mason, belonging to Eel River Lodge No. 
147, F. & A. M., at Fortuna; Ferndale Chapter No. 78,' R. A.' M., and to 
Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Rohnerville Chapter, O. E. S. He 
also belongs to the Alton ■ Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West. 
Politically he is a Republican and active in the work of the party. 

Mr. Hauck married January 4, 1911, Christina Marguerite Hansen, who 
was born in Alton, the daughter of Mr. P. Hansen, who is also represented in 
this work, and they have one child, Winifred. 

MARTIN LARSEN. — There is no country of Europe that has sent to 
the United States a higher grade of citizens, nor a class that more quickly 
absorbs the principles of American life and thought, than has Denmark. 
The Dane who comes here as an adult adapts himself with splendid ability 
to the ways of the new country, and in the next generation the children are 
true Americans of the highest type. In the schools they rank ahead of prac- 



386 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tically every other nation in scholarship and in the business and professional 
world they quite hold their own. One of the citizens from the little kingdom 
who is well and favorably known in Humboldt county is Martin Larsen, of 
Areata, whose home is situated some two miles north of the town. He has 
resided in this county for many years and has won many sincere friends 
by his sterling qualities of mind and heart and he is ranked as a citizen 
of which the community may well be proud. 

Mr. Larsen was born in Kedeby, on the Island of Langeland, in Den- 
mark, March 12, 1878. He attended the public schools of his district for a 
short time, but the circumstances in the home were such that at fourteen 
years of age he was forced to start out for himself. He worked for a year or 
more on the neighboring ranches and then determined to come to America, 
where he hoped to find better conditions and greater opportunities for ad- 
vancement. He landed at New York and came directly to California, locating 
in Marin county, December 10, 1893. Here he found employment on a farm, 
remaining in Marin county for four years. In 1897 Mr. Larsen removed to 
Humboldt county, locating at Blue Lake, where he again found employment 
on the dairy and stock farms of that vicinity. From Blue Lake he later 
removed to Ferndale, where he was in the employ of J. M. Hanson on his 
dairy ranch for some time. For two years he also worked for his brother 
John Larsen, on Salmon creek, where he was engaged in dairying and gen- 
eral farming. From Salmon creek Mr. Larsen moved to Areata Bottom and 
leased the ranch opposite the United Creamery No. 1, and engaged in dairy- 
ing for himself. Here he remained for seven years and met with much suc- 
cess. He increased his herd of milch cows from time to time, until he owned 
about twenty head. Later he leased sixty acres of improved land from the 
old Clark estate and again engaged in dairying and general farming. He 
moved to this place in the fall of 1912 and has resided there since. He has 
increased his stock to thirty head of milch cows and is being very successful 
in his undertaking. He is a stockholder in the L^nited Creameries, Inc., and 
was a director for three years. 

Aside from his business enterprises, Mr. Larsen is a man of much public 
spirit and takes a keen interest in all matters of general welfare. He is a 
Democrat in politics and is well informed on all current issues. He is a 
member of the Woodmen of the World, and is affiliated with the lodge at 
Ferndale. He is also a prominent member of the Danish Lutheran church 
in Areata and secretary of the board of trustees, taking an active part in all 
the afifairs of the denomination and in all their church work. 

The marriage of Mr. Larsen took place at Salmon Creek, Humboldt 
county, October 14, 1905, uniting him with Miss Matilda Christine Olsen, 
also a native of Denmark, born July 8, 1879. She came to Humboldt county 
in 1903. She is the mother of three sturdy children, two sons and one 
daughter. These are Curtis Merwin, Martin Randolph, and Laura Matilda. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Larsen have a wide circle of friends in their community 
where they are respected and admired. 

Mr. Larsen is the son of Lars and Karen Petersen, both natives of Den- 
mark; the father was born July 12, 1822, and followed dairying the greater 
part of his life and always resided in his native country. The parents are both 
demised. 



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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 391 

GEORGE H. GRAY. — As one of the most practical and successful of 
the pioneer farmers and stockmen of Humboldt county, George H. Gray is 
entitled to mention, being a man of splendid attainments, forceful, enter- 
prising and intelligent above the average. He is a native of Indiana, born 
in Rush county, November 22, 1832, and is descended from a long line of 
English ancestry. His father, Isaac Gray, w^as born, reared and educated 
on the Isle of Wight, England, and there he married Sarah Hawkins, also a 
native of the island. Seven children vv^ere born of this union before they 
migrated to the United States, locating in Rush county, Ind., where George 
H., the youngest child, was born. In 1838 they removed to Illinois, settling 
near what is now Coatsburg, in Adams county, where they took up a prairie 
farm, improving and cultivating it for many years. Here the youngest son 
grew to young manhood, receiving his education in the public school of the 
district, this being held in a log cabin of the most primitive type, without 
window glass, heated by a huge fireplace, and furnished with log-hewn fur- 
niture, and tables made from splits. Up to the time he was twenty-one he 
worked on the farm with his father and at that time he determined to come 
to California. He made the trip across the plains in 1854, paying his way 
by driving an ox-team. Arriving in California he stopped at Diamond 
Springs, El Dorado county, for a year and did well in the mines, but spent 
his savings in unprofitable prospecting the following year in Amador county. 
He then went to Santa Rosa valley and worked on a ranch for wages, saving 
his earnings, until he was able to buy a herd of young cattle. These he 
drove into Humboldt county, in 1859, herding them on the hills at Fort 
Baker and on the Van Duzen river. The same year he took a claim in the 
Bald hills district and drove his cattle there, and commenced the erection of 
a house. He went into Hydesville for supplies and when he returned it was 
to find that the Indians had raided him, killing most of his cattle and scatter- 
ing the rest. He gathered together what few were left and in 1860 drove 
them to the Bear river, where he leased them on shares until 1861. He 
rented a farm at Flydesville for a year and in 1861 returned to Larabee creek, 
and that winter, through severe weather and Indian raids, he lost the rest of 
his cattle, and spring found him $200 in debt. He again commenced to work 
for wages, paid off his indebtedness, and made a new start. Later he bought 
a claim at laqua, in 1864, where he engaged in stock-raising. He took in a 
partner, and they purchased more land, owning quite a large range, with 
large numbers of stock. Leaving his partner in charge of the stock range, 
Mr. Gray, in 1868, purchased one hundred sixty acres in the Eel river valley, 
near where Alton now stands, and engaged in agriculture for three years, 
this being his first attempt in this line. 

It was in 1871 that Mr. Gray purchased his present home place near 
Hydesville from Dr. Theodore D. Felt, paying $10,000 for the two hundred 
seventy acres that made up the estate, which is one of the finest in the 
county. In 1878 Mr. Gray sold his interest in the laqua stock ranch to his 
partner and has since given his time and attention to the care of his home 
farm. He has made many valuable improvements and has been engaged in 
diversified farming and dairying. He also owns much other valuable prop- 
erty in the valley, including a dairy ranch at Van Duzen, containing four 
hundred acres, which he leases; a part of the old Quick ranch near Carlotta ; 
some time ago he purchased the old Porter place in Hydesville, where he 



392 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

makes his home, this containing six acres, and having one of the best resi- 
dences in town, which Mr. Gray renovated and improved before taking 
possession. 

The marriage of Mr. Gray took place in Eureka, September 1, 1868, unit- 
ing him with Miss Martha C. Creighton, the daughter of Thomas H. Creigh- 
ton, one of the well known pioneers of Humboldt county. She is a native 
of Santa Clara county, but had lived in Eureka for some time before her 
marriage. She has borne her husband two children, a son and a daughter, 
both of whom have been reared and educated in Humboldt county and well 
known and highly respected. Of these, Mary is now the wife of Rasmus 
Beck, a farmer of Hydesville, and is herself the mother of two children, 
Luella and Everett; and George, who died after his marriage to Miss May 
Cuddeback, leaving his widow and one child, Laura Merl, now fifteen years 
of age and residing in San Jose with her mother. 

The record of Mr. Gray throughout his long residence in Humboldt 
county has been one of enterprise, integrity and industry. His many reverses 
have not embittered him, but rather have only developed the magnificent 
strength of his character, and made him what he is today. Although well 
along in years he is strong and active, both in mind and body. He is recog- 
nized as a citizen of unimpeachable honor and integrity and his word is as 
good as his bond, and better than the bond of most men. He has taken an 
active part in the affairs of the community, and is a stanch supporter of the 
Republican party, although he has never sought official preferment. He is 
prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of the Odd Fellows, Hydes- 
ville Lodge, No. 250, and also of the Encampment, and has passed through 
all the chairs of these orders. Both he and Mrs. Gray are members of the 
Rebekahs and Mrs. Gray is also a member of the Christian Church. 

FRED A. LEACH. — The Leach family has been settled in this region 
from pioneer days, Fred Leach, the father of Fred A. Leach, now a leading 
business man of Fortuna, having located in Trinity county, of which Hum- 
boldt county once formed a part, in 1853, and moved from there to Rohner- 
ville in 1864. He opened the first blacksmith shop in that part of the Eel 
River valley, and was successfully engaged at his trade until his death. Fred 
A. Leach was also in business at Rohnerville for a time, but for over twenty 
years he has been established at Fortuna, where he has acquired a variety 
of interests which indicate a progressive and energetic spirit. He has en- 
couraged and supported a number of local enterprises which have proved of 
distinct benefit to the town, bringing better business facilities and improved 
conditions of living. 

Fred Leach, the father of Fred A. Leach, was born on a farm in Michigan, 
October 10, 1828, and was very young when he accompanied his parents to 
Cleveland, Ohio, where they died. His father was a blacksmith, and he 
learned the same trade, which he continued to follow throughout his life. 
In 1849 Mr. Leach was married in Cleveland to Miss Alameda Cordelia Foster, 
who was born in that city June 7, 1829, and they lived there a few years longer, 
until Mr. Leach caught the gold fever. In 1853 he brought his family across 
the plains, making the journey by ox team, and that year located at Weaver- 
ville. Trinity county, where he soon found work at his trade in the mines. 
Employment was plentiful and well paid, and he was successful during his 
residence at that place, whence he removed to Rohnerville, Humboldt county, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 393 

in the year 1864. Here he started a blacksmith shop of his own, the first in 
that part of the Eel River valley, and he became one of the substantial, highly 
respected citizens of the town, where he remained the rest of his life, dying 
there August 20, 1893. He long survived his wife, who passed away in 1880. 
Of the nine children born to this couple only three survive at this writing 
(1914). Mr. Leach was one of the early settlers in Trinity county, and as 
a man of high character and real worth deserves a place among the founders 
of civilization in this part of California. 

Fred A. Leach was born July 5, 1870, at Rohnerville, Humboldt county, 
where he grew to manhood, living with his parents until he reached the age 
of nineteen years. Meantime he attended the local public schools, also 
assisting his father in the blacksmith shop, thus early acquiring a familiarity 
with mechanical work which has aided him greatly since he took up his 
chosen line. When he left his father's employ he commenced to learn tinning 
and plumbing, and after giving two years to the trade went to San Francisco 
and followed it there for one year. Returning to his home town he bought 
out a store and commenced business on his own account, in 1890, and he 
did business there for the next three years, though in the meantime, in 1892, 
he had acquired similar interests at Fortuna. At the latter place he began 
very modestly, continuing to run his establishment at Rohnerville also for a 
year, until he concluded the one at Fortuna had sufficient promise to justify 
him in giving all his attention thereto. With the growth of the town his 
patronage increased, until he now has a large number of customers, and he 
has also put in a fine stock of hardware. He entered the latter line in 1904, 
in which year he built the commodious place of business which he still owns 
and occupies, and he has taken in a partner, the firm name being Leach & 
Smith. Other enterprises have been added as conditions seemed favorable. 
For a short time Mr. Leach conducted a garage, and he now has the agency 
in the Eel River valley for the Studebaker cars. For a number of years he 
was active in the management of the Bank of Fortuna as a member of its 
board of directors, serving from 1905 to 1912, and he has also been a director 
of the Fortuna AA^ater Company. Successful in the management of his own 
affairs, his participation in those controlled by others is sufficient to gain for 
them the confidence of the citizens of the town, who feel that his approval 
is sincere and his opinion of real value. 

Air. Leach was united in marriage, on July 22, 1900, with Miss Clara E. 
Kehoe, who was born December 10, 1870, at Clinton, Pa., and came with 
her parents to Humboldt county in the year 1883. No children have been 
born to this union. Fraternally Mr. Leach is a member of the Freemasons. 
Originally a Republican in politics, he has of late been in sympathy with the 
Progressive wing of the party. 

G. HOSKINS, M. D. — One of the most important personages in any 
community is always the physician and surgeon, the man to whom people 
must turn in their hour of greatest need, and whose judgment and wisdom 
and honesty they must trust unquestioningly in matters of the greatest import. 
Is it small wonder, then, that such an one is subject to the most rigid scrutiny 
and that he is alwa3^s more or less under the microscope of the public eye, 
and that his good points and also his faults are somewhat magnified, accord- 
ing as the observer finds there the qualities that he trusts or distrusts? It is 
a pleasing condition, therefore, when a young physician enters into a new 



394 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

community and finds there a welcome and makes for himself a place in the 
hearts of the people. This is the case with Dr. G. Hoskins, physician and 
surgeon, who came to Ferndale in April, 1914, and who already has established 
himself in the confidence of the people. He is a man of skill and learning, 
and this is coupled with a natural adaptability to the practice of medicine, and 
is aided and abetted by a keen studious mind and a great love for his calling. 

Dr. Hoskins is a native of Iowa, having been born at Buena Vista, October 
8, 1886, the son of Fred and Mary L. Hoskins, who at present reside at Santa 
Rosa, Cal. The family left their home in Iowa when the son was six years 
of ag'e and went to Grand Junction, Colorado, where the father engaged in the 
hardware business. It was here that young Hoskins grew to manhood, com- 
pleting the common and high school course, and for two years attending the 
University of Denver. .It was in 1905, when he was nineteen years of age, 
that the family migrated to California, and he at once matriculated at the Uni- 
versity of California, at Berkeley, where he completed his college course. In 
1906 he entered the Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, graduating 
with honors in 1910. He then served as interne at the City and County 
Hospital for one year, following this with another year of similar service at 
the St. Mary's Hospital. He then opened offices for himself in San Francisco, 
and for a time enjoyed a lucrative practice in the city. He felt, however, that 
greater opportunities, both from a point of service and from general advance- 
ment in his profession, were to be found in a smaller community, where he 
might establish himself and "grow up" with the town, and accordingly he 
came to Ferndale and established himself here, with the avowed intention of 
making this place his home. His offices are in the Williams block, and 
already he is enjoying a lucrative practice. 

The marriage of Dr. Hoskins took place in San Francisco, May 19, 1912, 
uniting him with Miss Ruth Lesser, the daughter of J. Lesser, a San Fran- 
cisco merchant. Mrs. Hoskins is a woman of rare charm and, quite inde- 
pendently of her husband's professional standing, is making a warm place for 
herself in the social life of Ferndale, where she is an acknowledged addition 
to any circle. 

It is well worth noting that Dr. Hoskins is descended from one of the 
best known surgeons of the Civil war, his paternal grandfather. Dr. Henry 
Hoskins, having been a very successful physician and having seen much 
service during that troubled period. One of the strongest points in the 
professional equipment of this young physician at Ferndale is his splendid 
ability to diagnose a case correctly, almost from the beginning. This seems 
to be a natural talent, and realizing its wonderful value. Dr. Hoskins has 
cultivated and developed it for the good of suffering humanity. 

JORGEN C. CHRISTIANSEN.— The dairy interests of the celebrated 
Ferndale district in Humboldt county have always received a splendid impetus 
and support from Jorgen C. Christiansen, who since 1882 has been a resident 
of this county, having come here directly from his home in Schleswig, Ger- 
many. He is a pioneer in the creamery business in Ferndale, and is also the 
father of A. H. Christiansen, the farm adviser of the county, Humboldt being 
the first county in the state to take advantage of this provision of the state 
law. The sketch of the younger Mr. Christiansen appears elsewhere in this 
volume, but it is worthy of note that he received his first impulse toward a 
scientific study of farm and dairy conditions from his splendid, capable father. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 395 

and the admirable record that he has made throughout the county in his 
official capacity is a living tribute to the faith of the older man. 

Mr. Christiansen is a native of Tonder, Schleswig, Germany, and v^^as 
born January 16, 1852, when that part of the present empire was a part of 
Denmark, the transfer not taking place until 1864. His father, Andreas 
Christiansen, was a small farmer, and owned his own little home and plat of 
ground. He died in Schleswig at the age of sixty-nine years. The mother, 
Annie Marie Christiansen, lived to be ninety-five years of age, also passing 
away in Schleswig. There were four children in the family, Jorgen C. being 
the only son. Of the three daughters, Anna Christine is now the wife of 
Jacob Trulsen, a farmer and dairyman in Schleswig ; Annie Marie died in the 
old country, unmarried; and Katrine D. is now the wife of Jens Jensen, a 
dairyman, of Grizzly Bluff. The son of this family was brought up to work 
and at an early age he learned the practical lesson of industry and application. 
He attended the public schools of his native village and was reared and con- 
firmed in the Lutheran church. When he was still a lad he was apprenticed 
to a shoemaker and mastered that trade, serving in all three years. Following 
this he opened a shoemaker's shop of his own, where he continued in business 
for many years. When he was twenty-six years of age (1878) he Avas married 
to Miss ^Nlarie Christine Nissen, the daughter of Hans M. Nissen, who lives 
in Ferndale and is now past the age of eighty-seven. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Annie Schmidt, is also living, and, like her husband, is almost 
ninety years of age. They were both born in Schleswig, as was their 
daughter, her marriage to ]\Ir. Christiansen being solemnized at the Nissen 
home place, June 29, 1878. 

It was not until 1882 that Mr. Christiansen was seized with the American 
fever and determined to come to California. Up to that time he had continued 
to conduct his modest shoe shop. He disposed of his interests and, leaving 
his wife and son in Schleswig, sailed from Hamburg for New York, crossed 
the continent by rail to San Francisco, and from there went by the steamship 
Humboldt to Eureka, arriving June 16, 1882. The following day he went to 
Ferndale, to work on a dairy farm, where a position was awaiting him. He 
soon sent for his wife and child. Mrs. Christiansen, with her small son, then 
only eighteen months old, made the long journey alone, joining her husband 
October 21, 1882. For some time Mr. Christiansen continued to work as a 
farm hand, but the fourth year of his residence in Humboldt county he rented 
land and commenced farming and dairying for himself. For many years he 
continued to rent, but fourteen years ago, in 1900, he purchased his present 
home place of twenty-five acres, where he has since resided. He has been 
a prime factor in the organization of several creamery companies and in the 
general development of this great industry. He helped to organize the Ex- 
celsior Creamery Company, which was one of the first in the Eel River valley, 
being a prime mover in this enterprise, and also later on in the organization 
of the Capital Creamery Company, the Excelsior having been sold to the 
Central Creameries Company. He is now president of the Capital Creamery 
Company, which is located on the Grizzly Bluff road, about a mile and a half 
east of Ferndale and which uses the milk from about one thousand cows daily. 
They manufacture extra fine creamery butter, which is mostly sold in the 
San Francisco markets, their selling agents being Witzel & Baker, com- 
mission merchants, of that city. They also manufacture a high grade of 



396 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

casein. The Capital Creamery Company was organized February 26, 1902, 
the ofificers at the present time being: Jorgen C. Christiansen, president, 
having served since the organization of the company; Christian Terkelsen, 
vice-president; F. A. Nasher, secretary; H. G. Sweet, treasurer, and Bernard 
Crowley, manager. 

In addition to his prominence in the commercial world, Mr. Christiansen 
has also acquired a place of power and influence in social, fraternal and edu- 
cational circles. He was active in the organization of the Danish Brother- 
hood in Ferndale, and was the first president of that order here, and is now 
trustee and librarian of the Gimle Lodge No. 95 in Ferndale. He is also 
a member of the Dania Society, and of the Danish Sisterhood, Mrs. Christian- 
sen also being a member of this latter organization. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Christiansen still adhere to the Lutheran faith in which they were reared 
and take an active part in the affairs of the church in Ferndale. Besides 
their eldest son, who was born in Schleswig, and who takes such a prominent 
part at this time in the affairs of Humboldt county, there are two other 
children, both born in Humboldt count)^ Of these Annie is now the wife 
of John Rossen, a dairyman of Point Kenyon, and Jorgen M., who makes his 
home with his parents, is associated with his father in the management of 
the farm. 

FRANK B. JACOBS.— Another of the early pioneers of Humboldt 
county, and a man who has been a vital factor in the development of the 
county, is Frank B. Jacobs, manager of the Areata lumber yards of the North- 
ern Redwood Lumber Company. He has been with this company for a 
period of years and has been steadily advanced in positions of responsibility 
and trust. For some time he has been talking of resigning his position here 
and retiring from active business pursuits. Whenever he does resign there 
is no question but that his loss will be keenly felt by the company. 

Mr. Jacobs is a native of Maine, having been born in Kennebec county, 
May 19, 1847. He is the son of Bailey and Lucy (Chandler) Jacobs. His 
father was a native of Winthrop, Kennebec county, Me., and for the greater 
part of his life followed the trade of a shoemaker. For a short time he was 
engaged in farming, but soon returned to his shoe shop as the more profit- 
able occupation. He died in Maine in July, 1877. The boyhood days of the 
son, Frank B., were spent in close association with his father and much of 
his time was passed in the shop, where he learned at an early age the shoe- 
maker's trade. He attended the public schools in his district, graduating 
from the grammar school. When fifteen years of age he went to Massachu- 
setts and for a few months was employed in a factory making shoes for the 
army. The conditions in his native New England did not suit him, however, 
and he determined to seek his fortune in the larger field of opportunitj^ offered 
by the west. Accordingly he left Maine in 1868, coming directly to California 
and locating at first in San Mateo county. Later he removed to Santa Cruz 
where he found employment with the Chandler & Harrington Lumber Com- 
pany, working in the woods. 

It was in 1881 that Mr. Jacobs first came to Humboldt county, where 
he has since made his home. He secured employment with Chandler & 
Jackson (a logging firm), and for some time worked in the Avoods at Jolly 
Giants. The following season he was transferred to the mills of Falk, Chand- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 397 

ler Co. On leaving Falk & Co. he became foreman of lumber yards for 
the Riverside Lumber Company in Areata and continued with their suc- 
cessors, the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, and Mr. Jacobs has been 
one of their trusted employes ever since. When he at first took charge of 
the yards in Areata, the work had only been started for a short time and the 
enterprise was not very large. It increased rapidly, however, and is now 
one of the large lumber yards in the county. The management of Mr. 
Jacobs has been in no small measure responsible for the growth of the busi- 
ness and his work has been unusually efficient and capable. 

Aside from his splendid qualities as a business man, Mr. Jacobs has 
many warm personal friends. He is a Republican in politics, and is well 
informed on topics of general interest and wide awake to all that pertains 
to the welfare of the community. 

The marriage of Mr. Jacobs took place in Areata, December 5, 1891, 
uniting him with Mrs. Inez Jane (Brown) Armstrong, a native of Ohio, 
born in Perrysburg, Hancock county, July 16, 1848. Her father was Ben- 
jamin Brown, born in Canada, April 24, 1804. He married Julia Ann Blaisdel, 
in Albion, .New York, in 1833. Mrs. Brown was a native of New York state, 
born August 24, 1817. Mr. Brown was a millwright by trade and lived 
in Ohio for many years, following his trade there until 1852, when he came 
with his family to Oregon, locating in Washington county, on the Tualitan 
river. He remained for some time, but eventually removed with his family 
to Humboldt county, Cal., making the trip from Oregon on horseback and 
locating at Areata. Here he engaged in the carpenter's trade and also con- 
tracting and building. He died in Areata, March 5, 1875. His wife passed 
away at the family home in Areata, January 11, 1889. 

The daughter, Inez Jane Brown, now Mrs. Jacobs, crossed the plains with 
her parents in 1852, when she was a child of some four years. The family 
located in Oregon and there she spent her girlhood. Later they removed to 
Humboldt county. She remained at home with her parents, attending school 
most of the time until her marriage with William Armstrong, September 15, 
1867. Mr. Armstrong was a native of Kentucky, born January 18, 1838. He 
crossed the plains with his parents in 1851, coming directly to California and 
locating in Humboldt county. Here he followed the occupation of farming 
until the time of his death, July 9, 1880. There were three children born 
of this union, all of whom are well and favorably known in Areata and 
Humboldt county. They are : Emily S. Armstrong, married in 1885 to James 
B. Sherborn; Jessie Armstrong, married in 1890 to George Hinckley; and 
Calvin Armstrong, married in 1898 to Miss Mabel Dickerson. The second 
marriage of Mrs. Armstrong, uniting her with Mr. Jacobs, was solemnized 
December 5, 1891. 

In the intermarriage of the Jacobs-Brown-Armstrong families, three of 
the oldest and most honored pioneer families of the county have been united. 
They have all been residents of Humboldt county for many years and have 
been actively associated with the development of the best interests of the 
county and of the state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs are well known through- 
out the county and are popular with a wide circle of friends and acquaint- 
ances. Their home in Areata is full of comfort and good cheer and is a 
popular gathering place with their many friends. 



398 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

HOGAN J. RING, M. D. — To comparatively few physicians is it given to 
remain in one location for more than a quarter of a century, winning the 
confidence of an increasing list of patients and caring for, in sickness, the 
little ones of those whom years before they had successfully brought through 
the usual ailments and contagious diseases of childhood. Such has been the 
happy experience of Dr. Ring, who since 1887 has continuously engaged in 
practice at Ferndale and is now the owner of one-half interest in the Ferndale 
general hospital, finding in his private and hospital practice, in membership 
in the Humboldt County and California State Medical Associations, and in 
service as medical examiner for various life insurance companies, the diversi- 
fied professional activities essential to modern medical' progress. There is 
always interest in tracing the steps which lead our foreign-born citizens out 
of obscurity into professional or commercial prominence, and in the case of 
Dr. Ring we find that his first step toward independence occurred in his 
migration to the new world from Norway, where he was born near Chris- 
tiania, February 17, 1851, and where he had passed an uneventful youth on a 
farm about ten miles from the capital of Norway. During 1866 he sailed 
across the ocean on the Emerald, an old-fashioned sailing vessel, that even 
then was losing its prestige in the growing popularity of the more expensive 
liners. Via the St. Lawrence river and the great lakes he traveled to Min- 
nesota, where he settled in Fillmore county. Being an excellent violinist, 
he used that talent to defray the expenses of two years of study in the Pres- 
ton schools. After leaving school he was employed for four and one-half 
years as an apprentice and clerk in a Preston drug store. During 1872 he 
and his former employer opened a drug store at Whalan, jNIinn., and he 
managed the business for two years, then hired a manager, but still retained 
his interest in the concern. 

It had been the ambition of Dr. Ring from boyhood to enter the medical 
profession, but the way did not open until he had accumulated a little fund 
through the savings of his work as a druggist. Thereupon he began the study 
of therapeutics and in 1877 he was graduated from the Bennett Medical Col- 
lege of Chicago. After some months at Whalan he removed to Hastings, 
Neb., in the fall of 1878 and in 1881 located at Grand Island, Neb., and while 
there served as coroner of Hall county for two years. From there he came 
to California in 1887 and settled at Ferndale, the scene of all his subsequent 
professional labors. August 1, 1876, he married Ida O. Lowe, who died at 
Ferndale, June 7, 1901, leaving five children, namely: John Glenellyn, of 
Fruitland ;, Verna Helen, Mrs. P. W. Hunter, of Fortuna ; Mildred. Mrs. W. 
S. Moore, of Ferndale ; Ronald Lowe, attending the University of California ; 
and i\rden G., attending Ferndale high school. The second marriage of Dr. 
Ring was solemnized October 7, 1903, and united him with Mrs. Eleanor 
(Black) Andreasen, a native of Ireland, and the widow of Olaf Andreasen, of 
Ferndale. Of this union there are two children, Harlyn J. and Ingwald M. 
Dr. Ring's fraternities, in mOst of which he has served as medical examiner, 
include membership in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., Ferndale Chap- 
ter, R. A. M. ; Ferndale Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., in which he is a past grand; 
Aurora Lodge No. 51, K. of P.; Woodmen of the World; District Court No. 
976, Court of Honor; and Grand Island (Neb.) Lodge No. 1, A. O. U. W., of 
which he served as the first medical examiner. A number of valuable prop- 
erty holdings in Humboldt county indicate his desire to accumulate a com- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 401 

petency for later years when active professional interests will no longer be 
possible, while his love of the artistic and beautiful is indicated by his 
attractive residence in Ferndale, a place made attractive by his personal su- 
pervision of the grounds and at the same time delightful through the gracious 
hospitality extended by the Doctor and his wife to their guests. 

JOHN TRIGG.— The life story of the man who began at the bottom 
of the ladder and worked his way up round by round, planting his feet always 
firmly on the rungs of honesty, reliability and industry and in the end reaching 
the top, with many years of strength and usefulness yet to enjoy, is certain 
to contain, not only much of interest, but, as well, much that may be of great 
profit to the young man who is himself starting out on his journey of life 
with his own fortune to carve from the untried future. In such biographies 
may be mentioned John Trigg, of Ferndale, who came to Humboldt county 
from his native province in Canada, when he was yet a young man and 
commenced to work by the month on the various farms in the county. The 
service that he rendered was always to the best of his ability and that 
was no small thing. He was ever willing, industrious and eager to learn, and 
so always found ready employment. As the years went by he accumulated 
a comfortable bank account, and later engaged in farming and dairying for 
himself. Today he conducts one of the most profitable and attractive dairy 
farms in the county, modern and up-to-date in all its appointments and highly 
sanitary. His milk check for the month averages throughout the summer 
months the goodly sum of $500, and in addition he has the various by-products 
of the dairy and the increase from fifty head of graded milch cows. Mr. Trigg 
is a progressive man in the broadest and best sense of that word. He is 
giving his children the best educational advantages that the country affords, 
and they are exhibiting a marked aptitude in both music and scholarship. In 
all the interests of the community he is wide-awake to the welfare of the 
public and stands for progress and general improvement along sane and 
substantial lines. 

Mr. Trigg was born near Whitby, about thirty-two miles east of Toronto, 
Canada, January 7, 1859, the son of William Trigg, Sr., and Mary Ann 
(Edwards) Trigg. His grandparents, both paternally and maternally, were 
natives of England, born in Kent, close to the Aldershot Barracks. In his 
own family there were ten children, all of whom grew to manhood and 
womanhood, and eight of whom are living at present. They are : Mariah, 
died at the age of twenty-five years ; John, the subject of this article ; William, 
dairyman at Ferndale ; Sarah H., the wife of C. A. Pettigill, residing at 
Coquille, Ore. ; Robert, farmer at Whitby, Canada, where he owns the old 
Trigg farm ; George, residing at Ferndale, Whatcomb county, Wash., where 
he is engaged in the dairy business ; Lucy E., the wife of George S. Davis, 
dairyman at Coquille, Ore. ; Charlotte E., wife of W. L. Kessner, dairyman 
at Coquille, Ore. ; Mary J., the wife of George W. Kistner, bicycle repair 
shop, Ferndale; and Elizabeth, who died at the age of twenty-one. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Trigg were passed on the home farm near 
Whitby, where he remained until he was twenty-four years of age. The 
educational advantages were meager and he being the eldest boy many 
responsibilities fell upon his shoulders when he was yet a lad. He early 
assumed a full share of the farm work and worked with his father until at, 
the age of twenty-four years he determined to make an independent start 



402 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in life. For the following three years he worked for various farmers in his 
community and, at the end of that time, when he was twenty-seven, together 
with his brother William, came to Humboldt county, Cal., where he has since 
made his home. The brothers arrived in Ferndale on the night of January 
20, 1885, and at noon of the 23d they went to work, by the month, on a dairy 
ranch in the vicinity. For eight years Mr. Trigg continued this work, giving 
the best of service, making many friends and accumulating a substantial 
bank account. About this time he met and married Mrs. Esther LaMar, the 
widow of John LaMar, and the only daughter of James Smith, who will 
be remembered as one of the few pioneers of the Ferndale district. He was 
born in Yorkshire, England, and came to America when he was twenty-nine 
years of age. He settled in Delaware and lived in the East for three years. 
During that time he was married in Delaware, and with his bride started for 
San Francisco, coming by way of the Horn on a sailing vessel taking nine 
months for the trip. He remained in San Francisco for six years and then 
came to Humboldt county, locating on the ranch that was his home until the 
time of his death, at the age of ninety-two years. He was president of the 
grange and an important factor in the development of the Ferndale district. 

The year before his marriage Mr. Trigg rented the Smith ranch and has 
continued to conduct this property ever since. He owns, in addition, twenty- 
five acres, and also rents an additional seventy-five acres adjoining, besides 
owning a one hundred-acre dairy ranch at Coquille, Ore., and forty acres at 
Ferndale, Wash. On his local property Mr. Trigg has recently installed the 
Sharpless system of milking machine, which he finds a success and great 
convenience in milking his fifty cows. He has been interested in the creamery 
business of this district and was a director of the old Pioneer Creamery Com- 
pany, which sold out to the Libbey McNeill Company. He is an important 
factor in the dairy interests of the county and is recognized as a man of 
knowledge arid authority on such subjects. He is also well informed on all 
subjects of general farming and agriculture and takes a prominent part in 
all that pertains to these industries in Humboldt county, and especially in 
the vicinity of Ferndale. 

In addition to his prominence in commercial circles, Mr. Trigg also 
occupies, an equally prominent place in church, educational and fraternal 
circles. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church seven years 
ago and is now a trustee and a prominent worker in that denomination. He 
has been a meiuber of the Knights of Pythias in Ferndale for more than 
twenty-six years and a member of the Odd Fellows in Ferndale for more than 
twenty-five years and during all that time has given of his best for the good 
of both orders. He has been a member of the Rebekahs for twenty-five years 
and of the Myrtle Encampment for three years, and was a charter member 
of the Woodmen of the AVorld. He is also a member of the Fraternal Brother- 
hood and of the Women of Woodcraft Circle. In his political affiliation Mr. 
Trigg is a Republican. His support has always been given for the advance- 
ment of the best interests of the community and for the upbuilding of the 
community and of the state. 

At the time of her marriage with Mr. Trigg Mrs. LaMar was the mother 
of four children by her previous marriage, and these children have been reared 
and educated by Mr. Trigg as his own. They are : Grace and Edith, both 
residing at home ; George K., residing in Trinity county ; Ernest J., residing 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 403 

at Battle Ground, Wash., and married to Miss Sarah Wooldridg-e, of Fortuna. 
Mr. and Mrs. Trigg also became the parents of four children, as follows: 
LesUe P., a graduate of the Ferndale High School, class of 1914; John W., 
Jennie E., and Robert S., all students in the Ferndale schools and residing at 
home with their father. Mrs. Trigg, who for so many years was a prominent 
figure in the social, church and fraternal circles of Ferndale, having been 
closely associated with her husband in all such activities, died July 10, 1906, 
at the age of forty-seven years. Since her death Mr. Trigg has devoted his 
time exclusively to his children and to his commercial interests. 

JOHN CHRISTENSEN.— As a leader among the Danes at Ferndale, 
and a prominent factor in commercial, social, fraternal and educational affairs 
of his home community and of Ferndale district, John Christensen takes his 
rightful place as a man of splendid qualities of heart and mind, wonderfajly 
energetic and progressive and especially successful in his many business 
undertakings. He is president and general manager of the Valley Flower 
Creamery Company, and was one of the prime movers in its organization and 
estabHshment, besides conducting two of the most profitable dairy farms in 
the district. He is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows and also a member 
of the Danish Singing Society at Ferndale and other Danish benevolent 
associations in which he is a leading spirit. His home life is altogether 
delightful, his wife being a woman of much charm of manner and pleasant 
hospitality, who takes a great interest in the success of her capable husband. 
There are five children in the family and all are more or less musical, and 
several musical instruments grace the home. While Mr. Christensen is 
intensely interested in his business affairs he also finds plenty of time for the 
enjoyment of the companionship of his family and for the social life of the 
community where he makes his home. 

Mr. Christensen is a native of Denmark, born at Sig in Jutland, Sep- 
tember 24, 1878. His father, Wilhelm Christensen, was a dairy farmer and 
owned a splendid ranch of eighty acres. He is now deceased. The mother 
was Metta P. Larsen in her girlhood days, and is now living in Denmark at 
the age of fifty-eight years. She was the second wife of her husband, and 
bore him four children, of whom John, the subject of this article, is the 
eldest son. There were also four children born of the first marriage, Bodil, 
Mrs. C. P. Frey, the wife of a dairy farmer at Modesto, being a half sister 
of Mr. Christensen, they being the only members of their family in America. 
Mr. Christensen was reared on his father's farm in Denmark, where he early 
learned to do his share of the farm labor, working hard when he was yet a 
mere boy. He attended the public schools and was confirmed in the Lutheran 
church. When he was but little past fourteen years of age he went to 
Schleswig, Germany, and learned the creamery business, serving an appren- 
ticeship of eighteen months. In 1894 he came to America, landing in New 
York in May, and coming at once to Humboldt county, the journey being 
made with his half sister, Mrs. Frey, who now resides at Modesto. They 
came to Port Kenyon on the Salt river, on the steamer Weeott, which was 
then making the run from San Francisco to this point, which is Mr. Christen- 
sen's present home. He went to work on the Francis place at Ferndale for 
one N. P. Hansen, as a dairy hand, and continued to work for wages on 
various dairy ranches of the district until some two years after his marriage, 
which occurred in 1900, uniting him with Miss Elise Jacobsen, a daughter of 



404 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

J. T. Jacobsen, a farmer of Metropolitan, who has a family of nine children, 
of whom Mrs. Christensen is the eldest. In November, 1902, Mr. Christen- 
sen rented a ranch and engaged in the dairy business for himself. His first 
place was the Grinsell place, which he still conducts, and three years later 
he also rented the Zanone place, and now runs them together, milking in 
all about eighty cows. 

Mr. Christensen was also the manager of the old Pioneer creamery for 
five years, and then, in order to benefit himself and his neighbors by the 
establishment of a creamery nearer home, he helped to organize and establish 
the Valley Flower Creamery, of which he is president, as well as general 
manager. This is one of the most sanitary and up-to-date plants in the 
county, all the latest scientific devices and methods being in use. It is capi- 
talized for $20,000, divided into four thousand shares at $5 per share. Mr, 
Christensen does the testing and also the buying of all supplies, and the 
marketing of the product. Other officers are : Eugene Larsen, vice-president ; 
Robert H. Flowers, secretary and bookkeeper, and the Russ-Williams Bank- 
ing Company, treasurer. On the board of directors are John Rossen, A. Zana, 
John Brazil, Anton Enos, Robert H. Flowers and John Christensen. This 
creamery is a great financial success and is meeting the needs of the com- 
munity in a splendid manner. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have many warm friends in their home 
neighborhood, in addition to the many business associates of Mr. Christensen, 
who is well liked by those who come in contact with him. Mr. Christensen 
is a member of the Ferndale Lodge No. 379, I. O. O. F., and has taken an 
active part in the affairs of the order for many years, passing through all the 
chairs. He is a member of Myrtle Encampment, of which he is Past C. P., 
and was representative at the Grand Encampment at Santa Cruz, in 1911, 
and was there appointed Deputy Grand Patriarch by the Grand Master. He 
is especially prominent in the Danish societies, and is an influential member 
of the Dania Society and also of the Danish Brotherhood, being an ex- 
president of both ; he is also active in the local Danish Singing Society. 

One of the strongest interests of Mr. Christensen's life has been in 
educational affairs. His own early advantages were seriously curtailed, but 
after coming to Ferndale he attended night school for many months, taking 
advantage of every opportunity to improve his knowledge of the English lan- 
guage and to acquire general information, and in both these ambitions he 
was exceptionally successful. His interest in the school system of the county 
has taken a practical turn and he has given his hearty support to the up- 
building of the public school in the Port Kenyon district, where he makes 
his home. This district stands throughout the county as being an excep- 
tionally good one. It employs two teachers and has a term of nine months 
each year. The average daily attendance is fifty-four pupils and the records 
of scholarship are very high. The building is commodious and well cared 
for and the salaries paid are good. The board of trustees consists of Mr. 
Christensen, Charles Sweet and Archie Morrison. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen 
have themselves five children who have profited by the splendid conditions 
of the local schools, where they have attended. They are : Therese Marie, 
Walford John, Bernard Lester, Verna Petrea and Curtiss Clarence. The 
interest of Mr. Christensen in educational progress is, however, far from 
selfish, being along broad lines of culture and progress. 





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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 407 

CHARLES PARSONS SOULE.— Mr. Soule's association with the busi- 
ness Hfe of Humboldt county has been and is primarily as a banker, but his 
influence as an authority on financial matters has extended into various fields 
of enterprise. His strong personality, liberal ideas and courage in taking a 
progressive stand on questions afifecting vitally the vi^elfare of town, county 
or wider territory have made him one of the live factors in the promotion of 
all movements whose object has been the betterment of local conditions, 
whether of a business nature or purely in the interest of social improvement. 
Possessed of ability which needed an adequate outlet, and high principled in 
his dealings with all men, he has been found competent and trustworthy in 
every test. He is an honorable descendant of honored American ancestry. 
The name he bears has been a respected one in New England from Colonial 
days. His father. Philander Soule, born in Maine in 1812, emigrated to Cali- 
fornia in the early '50s, locating at San Francisco, where he joined his brother, 
Samuel Soule, who became a prominent business man. After a stay of a 
year or more in San Francisco he returned to Maine, where he remained until 
1867, that year returning to California with his family and settling at San 
Francisco., in which city he made a permanent home. He died there in 1896, 
at the great age of eighty-four years. Mr. Soule was a farmer, and at various 
times in his life also engaged in merchandising. He married Abigail Burn- 
ham, who died in 1853. The Soules trace their lineage back to George 
Soule and Miles Standish, both passengers on the Mayflower in 1620. 

Charles Parsons Soule was born September 18, 1851, at Winslow, Me., 
and was named for a cousin of his mother, a prominent business man of New 
York. His education was obtained principally in his native state, in the 
public schools and at Colburn Classical Institute, Waterville. After coming 
to San Francisco, in November, 1867, he took a course at the Pacific business 
college to receive special preparation for business. His career as a banker 
began in July, 1868, when he became messenger in the employ of the Bank of 
California, in San Francisco, and at the instance of that institution he was 
sent the following year to Virginia City, Nev., where he acted as bookkeeper 
in the office of the Virginia City and Truckee Railroad Company. Returning 
to the Bank of California in the spring of 1870, he was employed as clerk 
there until the summer of 1871, when he went back to Nevada to take the 
position of bookkeeper for the agency of the Bank of California at Hamilton, 
White Pine county. In January, 1873, he was offered the position of cashier 
in the bank of Paxton & Curtis, at Austin, Nev., and accepted, holding it 
until he was elected to represent his district in the Nevada legislature, for 
1879-80. At this time he moved to Reno and was admitted to membership 
in the banking firm of Paxton, Curtis & Co., the association lasting until the 
firm discontinued banking operations in that state in the spring of 1889. Mr. 
Soule then returned to California, in the fall of the year settling at Eureka, 
where he has since resided. 

It was not long before Mr. Soule was in the thick of business activities 
here. Largely as the result of his efforts the Bank of Eureka and the Savings 
Bank of Humboldt County, in both of which he holds positions of high re- 
sponsibility, were established, and their success has been attributed measur- 
ably to his farsighted policy and conservative management. He was director 
and cashier of both banks until 1902, when he was elected president of the 
Bank of Eureka and vice-president of the Savings Bank, in which capacities 



408 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

he is still connected with their operation. Mr. Soule has always used his 
influence in financial circles to place local business on a sound footing, and 
whenever possible has aided the merchants and other business men of the 
town by accommodations when in his judgment conditions could be worked 
out to the best advantage by so doing. He is conservative to a proper degree, 
but experience has taught him that generosity and unselfishness are not in- 
compatible with good business methods, and this policy has been instru- 
mental in making many progressive movements successful. In this respect, 
as much as in the discharge of public duties directly intrusted to him, he 
has shown an exemplary degree of public spirit. 

In 1891, when the Humboldt chamber of commerce was organized, Mr. 
Soule was one of the organizers, and served as trustee and treasurer con- 
tinuously until the present time, except the year 1904, when he served as 
president. He belonged to this organization at the time it secured an appro- 
priation from the Federal government for the improvement of Humboldt 
Bar, and as such assisted in securing the enactment of legislation giving the 
sum of $1,750,000 for the construction of the jetty and the deepening of the 
channel. This was subsequently augmented by $1,037,000 and recently by 
a further sum of $500,000. He was one of the movers in the formation of the 
Humboldt County Development Committee, which is doing effective work. 
Other enterprises in which he has been interested are the Eureka Water 
Company and the Skinner-Duprey Drug Company, in both of Avhich he has 
been a director. He was one of the committee of citizens chosen to solicit 
a donation for a free public library building for Eureka, and the handsome 
library obtained is a credit to the city and to those who gave their services 
to secure it. Mr. Soule has been a prominent member of the Humboldt Club, 
took an active part in founding it, was made a trustee at the time of its 
organization, and has since served a term as president. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Elks and the Masons, in the latter connection belonging to 
the Knights Templar and the Shrine ; he has attained the thirty-second degree. 
On political questions Mr. Soule is a Republican. 

On August 6, 1872, Mr. Soule was married, at Hamilton, in White Pine 
county, Nev., to Mrs. Mary A. (Herriott) Kennedy, daughter of Ephraim and 
Frances (Waugh) Herriott. She is a native of Pennsylvania. The only child 
of this union. Amy D. Soule, is the wife of H. W. Lownsberry, of San Jose, 
Cal., who has two daughters, Eleth Agnes, born in 1898, and Carmine Soule, 
born in 1906. 

BYRON DEMING.— The pioneer of '50 is the recipient of special honors 
and the subject of particular distinction in California. Few of that brave band 
are living today and those that survive have witnessed the wonderful growth 
of our fair state. They have seen the going of the old ox team and the com- 
ing of the steam train and have seen changes that seem more wonderful 
than a tale from the Arabian Nights. After more than half a century of life in 
California, Mr. Deming may well be called the pioneer of Humboldt county. 
Born in Salisbury, Addison county, Vermont, October 15, 1826, he attended 
the subscription schools in the county for several years. After completing 
his schooling, he was employed in the woolen mills in the vicinity, following 
the trade of machinist, afterwards rising to the position of superintendent of 
the mills. It was while engaged in the mills that he sustained a serious 
injury that has caused him considerable trouble in life. It seems that in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 409 

working about the machinery one day, his arm became entangled in the 
shaft and he was injured in such a way as to break his arm and tear the liga- 
ments, leaving him in a deHcate state of health for the greater part of his 
life. In 1850, hearing of the discovery of gold in California, he decided to 
leave the East and join the seekers for gold. In June, 1850, taking passage 
on a steamer by way of Panama for San Francisco and crossing the Isthmus, 
he took passage on the steamer Oregon, arriving in San Francisco July 22, 
1850. Only remaining there a short time, he next went to Sacramento and, 
entering the mines on the Tuolumne river, engaged in mining for himself 
and became very successful in his search for gold. AVhile living in Sacra- 
mento an epidemic of cholera raged in the year 1851, but he was fortunate 
enough to escape the dread disease. Hearing of the gold strike in Humboldt 
county in 1851, he decided to go there and see the field for himself. Coming 
over the mountains by way of the Trinity River to Trinidad, he encountered 
great obstacles for there was no wagon road and every foot of the way was 
marked by terrible hardships. He had taken passage on a ship to sail to San 
Francisco but it was wrecked in the harbor of Trinidad so he had to remain 
there. Here he engaged in lightering, carrying the cargo from the large 
boats ashore in a flat-bottomed boat. For this work he received sixteen dollars 
a ton, and there being a great deal of trade at Trinidad at the time, he became 
financially benefited. All the supplies for the mines in the interior were 
shipped first to Trinidad and from there on pack-mules to the mines. He also 
built a saw-mill and engaged in lumbering, but in 1854 he gave up his light- 
ering business and moved to Uniontown, which is now the city of Areata. 
When he first located in Uniontown there was no town at the site of the 
present city of Eureka, all the ships landing at Uniontown. His first enter- 
prise was to build a wharf two miles long extending out into the bay, and on 
this wharf was built the first railroad, in California, built for the purpose of 
handling the large quantities of freight that the ships brought to the port. 
Two other men were associated with Mr. Deming in this work, Henry Walker 
and Stillman Daby, it taking them four months to complete the work. The 
mails only reached the port once a month after the ships started to make 
Uniontown a port of call. About the time of the completing of the wharf the 
Indian wars of Humboldt county broke out but he did not take an active part 
in them. As there was no undertaking establishment in Uniontown, he de- 
cided to engage in that business, and did so for a number of years. Aside from 
this, he took up the making of pack-saddles, and, though not an adept at the 
trade, he worked up a large business. Men came from far and near to obtain 
one of the Deming pack-saddles. The first one he made was from a box and 
later his reputation as a saddle-maker extended from Oregon to Arizona. 
Giving up his undertaking business in 1885, he opened a general repair shop, 
conducting this several years with much success. He was a natural mechanic 
and the people of the surrounding country would come for miles to have 
him mend their broken implements. The saying was, "Something broken? 
Take it to B. Deming." He acquired considerable land in Areata which he 
still possesses. He is a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., 
at Areata, having joined the lodge in Vermont in 1850. He was the founder 
of the lodge in Areata and is the only surviving charter member. He also did 
a great deal toward founding the Presbyterian Church in Areata and was 
instrumental in securing the services of clergymen from San Francisco, the 



410 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Reverend Mr. Scott being the first pastor of the church in Areata. Mr. Dem- 
ing was superintendent of the Sunday school for a number of years. He 
served as justice of the peace for fifteen years, has held office as a deputy 
sheriff, deputy county clerk and notary public for years and was also county 
coroner. He has always taken an active part in all temperance work and has 
entered whole-heartedly into all movements pertaining to- the good of the 
community. Being a stanch Republican he has also entered extensively into 
all political afifairs. He married, in Areata, May 26, 1856, Jane A. Pratt, a 
native of Middlebury, Vermont. When but three years of age Mrs. Deming 
moved with her parents to Ontario, Canada, locating at Chatham, a town 
situated between Lake Erie and Lake Huron. At the age of twenty-three 
she came to California with a cousin, coming by way of the Isthmus of 
Panama, engaging passage on the steamer Columbia with Captain Dahl in 
charge of the ship, to San Francisco. They are blessed with three children : 
Eugene Albert, deceased ; Byron B., who is married and living at Auburn, 
Placer county, and Charlotte Louise, deceased. Mr. Deming is truly a pio- 
neer of the county and many monuments attest his good works. He is a man 
who has always been actively associated with all public affairs tending to 
upbuild the community, one whose word is as good as his bond and one who 
holds the highest regard of his fellow men. He is known from one end of 
the county to the other as a reliable citizen and one for whom everyone has 
only the highest praise. 

WALTER ELGEN CLARK.— A native son of Humboldt county, and 
the son of one of the oldest of the California pioneer families, Walter Elgen 
Clark has all his life resided in this county, and has been engaged in farming 
since he completed his education. He has made a success of farm- 
ing, first for himself, making his initial independent venture when he was 
little more than a lad ; and later as manager for his father's extensive farm- 
ing and stock-raising interests, he has won for himself a reputation for care- 
ful attention to detail and for good judgment and business sagacity that is in 
itself a valuable possession. 

Mr. Clark was born in Areata, Humboldt county, Cal., April 20, 1877. 
He is the son of Schuyler and Mary Jane (Johnson) Clark, natives of Canada; 
the father was born January 4, 1848 ; he came to San Franciscp, California, 
iSTovember 25, 1868, and came direct to Humboldt county, and for eight years 
was employed in the lumber woods and in rafting logs across Humboldt bay, 
between Areata and Eureka. In 1872 he invested his savings in land on 
Areata bottoms. This he cleared and improved, and engaged in farming. He 
was successful and added to his holdings other properties hereinafter men- 
tioned. 

He was married in Areata, March 31, 1876, and of this marriage were 
eight children, five of whom are living. Walter Elgen was second oldest in 
order of birth, and is giving his best efforts to the care of the large property 
entrusted to him by his father, who makes his home with him. The son 
attended the public schools of the Alliance district until he was seventeen, 
helping his father on the farm, mornings and evenings, and during vacation 
times. In 1894 he gave up attending school and became associated with his 
father in the active management of the farm, and for a few years they con- 
ducted the home place together, engaging in diversified farming and dairy- 
ing. His first independent venture was in 1896 when he rented a farm 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 411 

from his father, stocked it with cattle, and commenced farming for himself, 
making a specialty of dairying. For six years he continued this enterprise 
with the greatest success, and at the end of that time rented another of 
his father's farms and continued his undertaking on a larger scale. 

It was in August, 1911, that Mr. Clark gave up farming for himself 
and took over the management of his father's business, the elder Mr. Clark 
retiring from active business life at that time. Since then he has devoted 
himself exclusively to these extensive affairs, and has proven a most efficient 
manager and a profitable farmer. His father owns several large farms, includ- 
ing cattle ranches and ranges and timber claims, all of which are under his 
supervision. The estate includes one hundred eighty-three acres of bottom 
land, all improved ; one hundred six acres of pasture land at McKinleyville ; 
one hundred twenty acres on Fickle Hill, which Mr. Clark is at present im- 
proving and putting in shape for pasture land and stock range ; and one 
hundred sixty acres of timber claim. On the pasture land at McKinleyville 
they have extensive herds of cattle. They also have an interest in the United 
Creamery at Areata, Mr. Clark himself being largely interested in the enter- 
prise. 

Aside from his business interests, Mr. Clark possesses a wide circle of 
life-long friends and acquaintances, and is well known throughout the valley 
and is deservedly popular. He is a prominent member of St. John's Episcopal 
Church at Areata, and in politics is a Progressive Republican. He is progres- 
sive in every sense of the word and is always interested in matters of public 
interest when the issue is one that involves the general welfare of the com- 
munity. 

The marriage of Mr. Clark and Miss Ana Margaret Myers took place 
in Eureka, September 25, 1901, Mrs. Clark, like her husband, being a native 
of California and of Humboldt county, born in McKinleyville. She is the 
daughter of Henry and Catherine (Buchta) Myers, natives of Germany and 
pioneers of McKinleyville, Humboldt county, where they reside on their old 
homestead. 

CHARLES ALBERT MURDOCK.— Though he has lived in San Fran- 
cisco for the last fifty years, Charles Albert Murdock has grateful memories 
of the period of his youth spent in Humboldt county, and the county recalls 
with pride that this man who has been permitted to lead a life of uncommon 
usefulness is the son of one of her earliest representatives in the California 
legislature, the late Albert Hamilton Murdock. 

Albert Hamilton Murdock and his wife, Charlotte Dorothy Hills, were 
both natives of Leominster, Mass., and descended from early settled families 
of that commonwealth. His earliest ancestor in America was Robert Mur- 
dock, of Roxbury, Mass., a Scotch emigrant of the Plymouth colony, whose 
descendants were mostly manufacturers and traders of New England. Joseph 
Hills, from whom Mrs. Murdock traced her descent, was an early English 
emigrant of 1638, who did the state good service. Some of his posterity set- 
tled in Leominster and began the manufacture of combs, for many years 
the principal industry of that town. John Buss, another of Mrs. Murdock's 
ancestors, served in the Continental army during the Revolution. 



412 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Albert Hamilton Murdock was born in 1815, and came to California in 
1849. After experiencing three fires in San Francisco he joined others in 
March, 1850, in an expedition on the schooner Paragon to Humboldt bay, into 
which the Trinity river was supposed to flow. The little craft was wrecked at 
Point Saint George, but many of the company, persisting in their purpose, 
reached the bay, and were among the early settlers of Uniontown, now 
known as Areata, Humboldt county. Major Murdock, as he was generally 
called, was one of these, and he engaged in merchandising until 1854, wh^ 
he relinquished that business to take up his duties as assemblyman, having 
been elected to represent the district in the state legislature. In 1860 
he became interested in mining in Grass Valley. In 1864 he sold out his 
interests in Humboldt and became a stock broker in San Francisco, remaining 
there until his death, in 1877. His wife, who had joined him in California in 
1855, bringing their three children, died in San Francisco in 1894. 

Charles Albert Murdock, the eldest child of his parents, was born January 
26, 1841, in Leominster, Mass., where he attended the common schools up to 
the age of fourteen years, at which time he was in the high school. Arriving 
in Uniontown in 1855, as there were no public school advantages he taught 
his younger brother and sister and a few other small children for a short 
time, and when Robert Desty established a school he and his pupils joined it. 
In less than six months his school days ended. For the next six years he 
did whatever he could to help his father, who was postmaster and general 
trader, and owned some land. He worked in the garden and on the farm, and 
had charge of Murdock Hall, where all entertainments and dances were held. 
At one time he conducted a tin shop and was the only tinsmith in Humboldt 
county. He was the first librarian of Uniontown, and often acted as secretary 
at public meetings. In 1863 Mr. Murdock was appointed, by Abraham Lin- 
coln, as register of the land office at Humboldt, and removed to Eureka. He 
sold many acres of the best timber land on Mad river for a dollar and a 
quarter an acre in greenbacks, which cost seventy-five cents in gold. Miller 
Preston was about the only man who appreciated the opportunity. The posi- 
tion, though responsible, was not remunerative,. and in the following year he 
resigned and became clerk to the quartermaster at Fort Humboldt. 

In June, 1864, Mr. M'urdock accepted an appointment as clerk to the 
superintendent of Indian affairs, Mr. Austin Wiley, and removed to San 
Francisco, where he has since continuously resided. At the conclusion of 
Mr. Wiley's term he was for a time bookkeeper, doing some work as a news- 
paper reporter in the evenings. Then he was for a year or so in business as a 
money broker. In 1867 he entered the employ of M. D. Carr & Co., book and 
job printers, and soon afterward acquired a small interest. Subsequently the 
firm became C. A. Murdock & Co., so continuing until 1909, when it became 
the Blair-Murdock Company. 

In 1883 Mr. Murdock served a term as assemblyman from San Fran- 
cisco. He was a member of the board of education from 1894 to 1897, and 
filled an unexpired term as civil service commissioner in 1902-03. These 
positions were all unsought, most of them coming to him by appointment. In 
1907, when Edward Robeson Taylor was intrusted with the selection of a 
board of supervisors to succeed the notorious Schmitz-Ruef board, Mr. Mur- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 413 

dock was one of the eighteen, and has held the position ever since, his present 
term expiring in January, 1916. 

With all his business and official duties Mr. Murdock has led a life of 
broad, unselfish service to his fellow men, accepting his opportunities as a 
privilege and discharging the responsibilities they have brought as a solemn 
trust. In 1875 he was an organizer of the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society of 
San Francisco, and is now vice-president. He is a member of the board of 
directors of the California School of Mechanical Arts, of the Associated Char- 
ities, of the Babies' Aid, and representative of the Protestant Charities on the 
Central Council of the Native Sons and Native Daughters for the Care of 
Homeless Children. He is secretary of three endowment funds, aggregating 
over eighty thousand dollars, for beneficence and charity in connection with 
the First Unitarian Church. For fifty years he has been an attendant of the 
Unitarian Church, superintendent of the Sunday school for about forty years, 
and vice-president of the National Conference. For twenty-two years he 
has edited the Pacific Unitarian. 

Since '1877 i\lr. ]\lurdock has been a member of the Chit-Chat club, 
devoted to discussion of literary and economic questions. He also holds 
membership in the Unitarian, Commonwealth and Sierra clubs. He has never 
joined any secret societies. 

By his first marriage, to Miss Alice J. Meeker, daughter of David Meeker, 
which took place in San Francisco in April, 1871, Mr. Murdock had no chil- 
dren. She died in 1884, and in February, 1891, he married for his second wife 
Winifred W. White, daughter of Ammi White. Her death occurred in 1903. 
Three children were born of this union : Osgood, now a junior in the Uni- 
versity of California ; Margaret Elliot, a graduate of the San Francisco nor- 
mal school, engaged in teaching ; and Edith King, a high school pupil in San 
Francisco. 

Air. Murdock is thankful for good health, good friends and abundant 
opportunity for service and general helpfulness. He feels that he was favored 
in spending nine years in his formative period in Humboldt county, with its 
bounty and beauty, and settled by so fine a group of enterprising and high- 
minded citizens. 

FRED REINHARD— Was born in the village of Kerns, Canton Unter- 
walden, Switzerland, December 13, 1882, being the youngest child born to 
Maria and Christiana (Scholle) Reinhard, farmers of that locality, where 
the father died ; the mother is still making her home there. 

Fred Reinhard was brought up on the farm and received his education 
in the public schools, after which he learned cheese making and followed 
this occupation until 1912. Having heard good reports from California, he 
determined to come hither, and, March 22, 1912, he arrived in San Francisco, 
making his way immediately to Eureka, Humboldt county. He soon entered 
the employ of a lumber company at Korbel, continuing with it and other 
companies in that vicinity until January 1, 1914, when he came to Eureka 
and entered the employ of the Myrtle Grove Cemetery as sexton, to which 
position he has since given his time and ability, and his services are appre- 
ciated. He was reared in the Catholic faith and is a member of St. Bernard's 
Catholic Church. Politically he espouses the principles of the Republican 
party. 



414 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

PROF. P. S. INSKIP. — A veteran educator in California, having been en- 
gaged in teaching in the pubUc and high schools of Humboldt county from 
1868 until resigning from the principalship of the Fortuna high school in the 
fall of 1914, Prof. P. S. Inskip is one of the best known and most highly re- 
spected educators of the state. His w^ork as a teacher is of an especially high 
class, his students being known at the University of California at Berkeley 
and at Leland Stanford University as among the best prepared high school stu- 
dents that enter either college, their standing at these higher institutions 
showing that in addition to the acquisition of knowledge they have also been 
taught that even more valuable accomplishment, namely, how to study and 
acquire. The welfare of the student has always been the first consideration 
with Professor Inskip, and during his fourteen years as principal of the 
Fortuna high school he has done much for the general standard of the com- 
munity, interesting parents and friends in the work of the students, and also 
in literary and scientific knowledge for its own sake. He is himself a man 
of superior attainments and a deep scholar. Coupled with this are the many 
years of practical application of his knowledge and the constant study which 
have kept him so well abreast of the times, all of which conspire to make him 
a man of great learning, and a friend and counsellor of rare ability. He is a 
man of fine presence and engaging personality, and his retirement has de- 
prived California schools of a man of more than ordinary ability. He has 
been granted the state teacher's pension under the recently passed law, and 
is now making his home with his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. 
I. T. Smith, of Fortuna, his wife having passed on some ten years ago. 

Professor Inskip is a native of England, born in Hertford, January 23, 
1845. His father, Harry Inskip, was a manufacturer of linseed oil, cotton 
seed oil, and the cakes and meals from these same seeds and oils, and was 
one of the largest manufacturers in that line in England. He died in England 
at the age of fifty-one years. The mother was Jane Albin in girlhood ; her 
father was for many years at the head of the custom house at Spalding, 
England. She bore her husband ten children, of whom Professor Inskip 
was the fifth born. He was educated in private schools until he was about 
sixteen years of age, when he entered Haileybury College, a military school, 
from which he graduated in 1867. In that year he left England for America, 
coming by way of the Horn, in company with one Thomas Howell, who had 
a brother living at Hydesville, Cal. The two young men landed at San 
Francisco, later making their way into Humboldt county, and in 1868 Mr. 
Inskip was granted a certificate and commenced his long and splendid career 
as a teacher in the public and high schools of the state. His first school 
was at Grizzly Bluff, where he made a decided success of his undertaking. 
Later he served as principal of the Ferndale school for five years, taught for 
fourteen years at Port KenyOn, in the Eureka high school for two years, and 
then, in 1900, became principal of the Fortuna high school, serving in this 
capacity continuously until his resignation. He was married to Miss Ida 
Chapin, the daughter of Orrin Chapin, at Ferndale, in 1875. Of their union 
were born three children, two sons and one daughter, all of whom were 
born and educated in Humboldt county, and they still make their homes here. 
They are : Philip, who resides at Ferndale ; Augusta, now Mrs. I. T. Smith, 
of Fortuna, with whom Professor Inskip now makes his home ; and Herbert, 




as^. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 417 

station agent at Fields Landing, who married Miss Maude Knight, and they 
afe the parents of three sons, Donald, Philip and Herbert, Jr. 

Professor Inskip is very popular throughout Humboldt county, especially 
with his former students, who are legion. He is a Democrat in his political 
preferences, and for this reason has never been officially elevated in educa- 
tional affairs, Humboldt county being strongly Republican. 

SETH A. FRANK.— The genial and popular manager of the Helmke 
Mercantile Company is not indebted for his success in life to an indulgent 
early fortune or the backing of influential friends. His youth contained 
more of discouragement than inspiration. He was born at Rohnerville, Hum- 
boldt county, INIarch 11, 1875, the son of Atys and Belle (Drake) Frank. His 
father, when a little lad, came across the plains with ox teams and wagons. 
The father was a horseman. The mother was born near Alton, Humboldt 
county. The subject of this sketch was left motherless at the age of eleven 
years and, going to Bridgeville, made his home with his aunt, Mrs. Alzina 
Barnum. His attendance at the public schools was interrupted at the age of 
fifteen and although very young he became familiar with the responsible side 
of existence, .working on ranches for others until twenty-one. Mr. Frank 
then assumed charge of his aunt's business affairs in Bridgeville, with whom 
he continued to live for seven years, only severing this connection to enter 
the employ of the Helmke Mercantile Company of Blocksburg, which he 
served in the capacity of clerk for five years and was then made manager of 
their large general store. He has filled this important position in such a 
manner as to win the appreciation, not only of his employers but the entire 
community. He is one of the very prominent and capable young men of the 
town and all things point to a continuation of his success and a widening 
of his usefulness and responsibility. Although a Republican, he is an inde- 
pendent voter, preferring to vote for the man rather than the party. He is 
associated with the Odd Fellows, holding membership with Hydesville Lodge 
No. 250. Mr. Frank was married in Fortuna November 5, 1908, to Miss 
Edna Swortzel, a native daughter of Fortuna, and whose parents were W. J. 
and Emma L. (Gushaw) Swortzel, natives of Virginia and California re- 
spectively. The father came from Missouri to California when about twenty- 
one, in 1874, and became a lumber manufacturer, who, with George Williams, 
built what is now the Humboldt Alilling Company's plant at Fortuna. He 
was supervisor at the time of his death. The mother makes her home in 
Fortuna. Mr. and Mrs. Frank have three children : Paul, Keith and Atys. 

CURTIS OLIVER FALK, M. D.— Back to the time of his earliest 
recollections Dr. Falk has been identified with Humboldt county, for he was 
less than one year of age when brought hither by his parents and here he 
received such advantages as local schools made possible. The family of 
which he is a member comes of old eastern stock. His father, Elijah Falk, 
was a mechanic of exceptional ability and earned a livelihood at the trades 
of machinist and millwright at Mount Cory, Ohio, where the Doctor was 
born January 18, 1876. It was later in the same year that a home was estab- 
lished in Humboldt county, where the father followed his trade and educated 
the children. Many would have been satisfied with the educational oppor- 
tunities of Eureka, but after the young man had completed the business 
course in the academy and had received his diploma in 1893 he placed before 
himself the task of earning the expenses of a medical education. At the age 



418 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of eighteen years he matriculated in the Cooper Medical College arid there 
took the complete course of lectures, graduating with the degree of M. D., 
in December, 1897. Efficiency had been his aim in the class room. Every 
opportunity to extend his professional know~ledge was grasped with enthu- 
siasm and energy. With an excellent theoretical education, needing for its 
completeness only the inestimable advantage of experience, he began to 
practice at Loleta, Humboldt county, in January, 1898, but three years later 
he returned to Eureka to form a partnership with his brother, Charles C. 
Falk, M. D., and from that time until 1911 the brothers were associated in 
professional practice. 

As a founder of the Sequoia hospital and associated with his brother in 
the founding and building of the Northern California hospital at Eureka 
(the latter the most modern and sanitary hospital between San Francisco 
and Portland), Dr. C. O. Falk has contributed to the hospital service of the 
city. For six years he filled the office of county physician, in which capacity he 
endeavored to promote the public health and arouse a general interest in good 
sanitation. The Humboldt County, California State and American Medical 
Associations have been organizations enlisting his intelligent co-operation 
and earnest alliance, while in the fraternities he has been associated actively 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order 
of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Foresters of America. By his 
marriage to Annie C. Hall of New York he has three children, Audrey, Stead- 
man and Curtis Lane. Desirous of securing the best possible local educa- 
tional advantages, he gave five years of efficient, careful and wise labor to the 
schools of Eureka and is rated" as one of the most capable men the board of 
education has had among its members. Indeed every worthy movement is 
sure of his assistance and tactful co-operation. Any work done in behalf of 
the city of his lifelong association and the county of his permanent home is 
clearly a labor of love, affording expression for his loyal devotion to the 
local interests. 

WILLIAM JEWETT McNAMARA.— The lives of the pioneers are the 
heritage of the present generation. Without their endurance of privations, 
without their heroic patience in danger and hardship, the opportunities of 
today and the possibilities of tomorrow could not come within the angle of 
vision. Due honors are given to the life and labors of William Jewett Mc- 
Namara, a pioneer of 1858 in Humboldt county, a native of the state of Maine 
and in youth a resident of Aurora, 111., but best known through his associa- 
tion with the material upbuilding of the Pacific coast. In the early period 
of his connection with Humboldt county he worked in the butcher business 
for R. M. Williams, making his headquarters on a ranch near Eureka. AVhile 
engaging in the driving of a pack-train from Hydesville over the mountains 
to Trinity he endured not only hardships, but also the most constant and grave 
dangers. The Indians were numerous and hostile in that day and frequently 
he had narrow escapes from them. 

After a period of mercantile activity in Canyon City, Ore., where he 
made a specialty of supplying the miners with outfits for the mines, in 1868 
Mr. McNamara returned to Eureka and on Front street opened the first men's 
clothing store in the town. Later he moved to Second and E streets and 
admitted L. T. Kinsey into partnership, continuing with that gentleman for 
some years, but eventually buying out his interest and taking into the firm a 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 419 

son, W. A. McNamara, as a partner, under the title of McNamara & Son. 
When the father and son went out of business the former removed to Wash- 
ington and for three years' engaged in the hotel business at Hoquiam. On 
returning to Eureka he acted as manager of the Vance hotel for six months 
and then retired to private life; His death occurred at his Eureka home 
June 26, 1911. Surviving him are th-e three sons of his first marriage, William 
A., James A. and Fred W., also his second wife, formerly Mrs. Virginia C; 
(McDaniel) Scott, a member of an old Virginian family and a pioneer of 
California who crossed the plains in 1852. Her father, William McDaniel, a 
Virginian, started with his wife and four children to cross the plains in that 
year, but while en route one son died. Mr. McDaniel was captain of the train, 
which reached Auburn, its destination, in safety, and there he died in 1867. 
Mrs. McNamara was educated in the public schools of Auburn. She now 
lives in the old home in Eureka, at the corner of E and Fifth streets, which 
she has owned since 1867, and which in the meantime has become very valu- 
able property. 

In the early history of Eureka Mr. McNamara was particularly promi- 
nent. With. later years there was naturally a relinquishment of many of the 
movements that deeply interested him in young manhood, but he still kept 
posted in all measures for local progress, although not able to actively 
identify himself with such work in the latter part of his life. He served 
as a member of the Volunteer and Veteran Firemen's Associations and was 
an Exempt Fireman. At one time he acted as chief of the fire department. 
Realizing the imperative need of adequate fire protection, he aided every 
movement looking toward that end. Nor was he less energetic in assistance 
given to other worthy projects. Educational affairs had his genuine co- 
operation. It was his desire to maintain a high class of citizenship in Hum- 
boldt county and he was a leading member of the committee of fifteen that 
drove the Chinamen out of Eureka. 

While he had many narrow escapes from Indians in early days, perhaps 
he was never in greater peril than on one occasion when, starting out in 
a small rowboat for a trip over the Humboldt Bar and up Eel river, he was 
nearly wrecked in the rough sea. His memory was little short of remarkable 
and often in his later days he held friends in almost spellbound interest as he 
narrated tales of the pioneer period, enlivening each story with his keen 
humor and lively wit, and bringing to the listeners a vivid appreciation of 
perilous or amusing happenings of bygone days. 

ALBERT C. NOE. — The force of a progressive character has made 
prominent the name of Albert C. Noe, a leading realty operator of Humboldt 
county and likewise an attorney whose excellent professional attainments 
enable him to carry through all real estate transactions in accordance with 
the law. A member of a pioneer Iowa family and himself a native of that 
state, born December 21, 1868, he is a son of Eli and Phoebe A. Noe, the 
latter a native of Indiana. The family comprised six children and of these 
he was second in order of birth. On March 8th, 1911, he was married to 
Miss Margaret Laughlin, a member of the teaching force of the Eureka 
public schools. 

The father, a California pioneer, came to Humboldt county in 1869 and 
settled at Table Bluff on the 4th of March, after which he aided in the early 



420 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

development of this locality. Finally, however, he closed out his interests 
here and removed to Oregon, in 1882. 

At the time of the removal of the family from California to Oregon 
Albert C. Noe was a lad of thirteen years ; being only four months old at the 
time of the family arrival at Table Bluff, from Iowa, he has no memories 
earlier than those of the west, and it has been his personal choice to remain 
in Humboldt county, where live the friends of his youth as well as the asso- 
ciates of his maturer business years. After he had studied law and received 
admission to the bar in 1901, he turned his attention to the realty business, 
in which he utilizes his professional education as well as the commercial 
training received in the San Francisco Business College. As early as 1892 
he was well known in the insurance business as Eureka agent' for old-line 
companies and some of his most profitable real estate deals also date back to 
that decade. More recently he has been connected with a number of large 
enterprises and has handled many important deals. On Myrtle avenue, just 
outside of the city limits, is located the Santa Clara tract of eighty acres, 
which he put on the market to sell off in home lots, having previously platted 
thirty-five acres, and put the subdivision into excellent condition for devel- 
opment work. The large holdings of the Areata Land and Improvement 
Company, including eight hundred acres near Areata, he handled and sold. 
One of his most important affiliations was that of vice-president and a director 
of the Eureka and Freshwater Investment Company, owners of one thousand 
acres, which valuable property he promoted and developed, aiding in the incor- 
poration of the concern that adapted the land to the dairy industry and grain 
cropping. With the increase in land valuations the property was sold. Such 
enterprises as these have engaged the tireless energies of Mr. Noe, but they 
have not engrossed his time to the exclusion of outside activities, for he 
has been an ardent worker for the development of Humboldt county, and 
more especially the city of Eureka. 

MERCER-FRASER CO., INCORPORATED.— Early in the 70s the 
late H. M. Mercer established at Eureka a business that developed into the 
Mercer-Hodson Company and later, by the admission of James D. Eraser to 
the partnership became the Mercer-Fraser Company, whose present officers 
are as follows: James D. Eraser, president; C. L. Mercer, vice-president; H. 
A. Graham, secretary, and Frank W. Dinsmore, assistant secretary and man- 
ager at Eureka. The firm maintains an office at San Francisco and there, as 
well as at the Eureka headquarters, makes contracts for general construction 
work, house moving, pile driving, wharf and warehouse building, bridge and 
railroad construction, heavy hoisting, ditches and dredging, and concrete work 
of every kind. In addition the firm acts as agent for all grades of Hercules 
powder (formerly known as Dupont powder) and blasting supplies. By 
gradual growth the business has developed into enormous proportions and 
easily places the company in the lead along the line of their specialties. 

It would seem impossible to enimierate all of the contracts filled by the 
firm, but the recapitulation of a few indicates the diversified nature of their 
work and the large interests involved. On the line of the Northwestern Pa- 
cific Railroad they erected the South Fork bridge at Dyerville, the steel 
bridge across Larrabee creek, the steel bridge across Van Duzen river at 
Alton and the Cane Rock crossing on Eel river, the largest contract for ma- 




^^Tt^. •'''^^r^^fe^lj^H..^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 423 

sonry on the road. At Scotia they had the contract for the concrete con- 
struction work for the Pacific Lumber Company; erected the county bridge 
at Robinson's Ferry; the three-span steel bridge at Essex on the Areata and 
Mad River Railroad ; the cable bridge across Eel river at Fort Seward ; and 
the new brick depot for the Northwestern Pacific Railroal at Fort Seward ; 
the masonry and piers for Fort Seward creek railroad bridge and the concrete 
work for tunnel No. 30 at Alderpoint. Among their contracts at Eureka were 
those for an addition to the Eureka foundry, the Eureka garage on Fifth street 
and all of the wharf work on the bay. The First National Bank of Areata 
occupies a modern building erected by the Mercer-Fraser Company, who also 
erected several trestles near that town on the railroad' extending to the 
granite quarry. This places the company easily as the largest and most 
extensive contractors of concrete and heavy construction work of all kinds, 
being fully equipped with machinery for the handling of heavy work. Im- 
portant among their San Francisco contracts were those for the building of 
section 10 on the sea wall, and the putting in of three thousand piles and the 
building of a wharf at the Panama-Pacific Exposition grounds. 

MARTIN ERIKSEN.— As the newly appointed postmaster of Ferndale, 
under the AA'ilson administration, Martin Eriksen is destined to occupy a 
more or less prominent place in the affairs of this thriving little city for the 
next few years. He has been a resident of Ferndale since 1903 and is well 
and favorably known, having been in business during that entire time, and 
by his honesty and general application, as well as by a pleasing personality, 
he has won a host of warm friends. Needless to say, he is a stanch Democrat 
and a strong party man. He is well informed on all questions of local import 
and stands squarely for progress and municipal improvement along the best 
and most substantial lines. 

Mr. Eriksen is a native of Denmark, having been born at /Yarhuus, Jutland, 
November 5, 1867. He attended the common schools of- the kingdom, and 
later entered the Dairy College, graduating in 1890 as a butter maker. He 
was reared and confirmed in the Ltitheran church and is still identified with 
that denomination. Shortly after his graduation from the Dairy College Mr. 
Eriksen came to America, locating at first at Des Moines, Iowa, but soon 
going on to Council Blufifs, that state, where he worked for a year and a half 
as railroad laborer. It was in the fall of 1893 that he finally came to Cali- 
fornia, arriving in Humboldt county in November of that year. He at once 
took charge of the creamery at Loleta, and later that same season went to 
Areata and took charge of the Areata creamery No. 1, remaining for a year. 
He then went to Alton and for four years managed the Alton creamery, 
meeting with splendid success in this undertaking. The year following he 
was in charge of the creamery at Hydesville, and later was transferred to 
the Riverside creamery near Ferndale, where he remained for four years. 
He then came into Ferndale and purchased the cigar and candy store of 
John Bonniksen, and engaged in business for himself. Since then he has 
greatly enlarged his stock, extending the scope of his operations to include 
a line of shirts and men's furnishings, overalls, men's working clothes, Edison 
phonographs, and stationery. 

Upon securing his appointment as postmaster (his commission bears the 
date of July 17, 1914) Mr. Eriksen sold his store to his son, Viggo Eriksen, 



424 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

who is carrying- on the business along the same general lines that his father 
had established. 

The marriage of Mr. Eriksen occurred at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1892, 
uniting him with Miss Dora Bonniksen, who, like her husband, is a native 
of Denmark, coming to America at about the time that he did. Of their 
union have been born four children, all natives of Humboldt county, where 
they are growing to manhood and womanhood and receiving their education. 
They are Margaret, Viggo, Botihilda and Johanna. Since establishing him- 
self permanently in business in Ferndale Mr. Eriksen has purchased a com- 
fortable home, which he keeps up in an attractive manner. 

In addition to his business and political prominence in Ferndale, Mr. 
Eriksen is also well known in fraternal circles, where he is an influential 
member of several orders and well known and well liked. He is affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and Mrs. Eriksen 
are members of the Rebekahs and take an active part in all the affairs of that 
organization. The order that claims the warmest support from the new 
postmaster, however, is the Danish society known as Dania, a beneficial 
society which now has twenty-three lodges and more than two thousand 
members. During the thirty-five years of its existence it has been very 
popular with the Danes in America. Mr. Eriksen has done splendid work 
in its behalf and is the present grand president of the Dania Society of Cali- 
fornia, an honor. which he fully appreciates. 

Personally Mr. Eriksen is a man of many attainments, and is a linguist 
of ability, speaking and writing the Danish, German and English languages. 
He is of a bright and sociable disposition, making friends easily and readily, 
and keeping them always. His wife and family are also genial and pleasant 
in disposition, creating an air of helpfulness and good will wherever they 
are to be found. The appointment of Mr. Eriksen for the position of post- 
master is a direct indorsement of his personality, rather than of his political 
faith. 

LLOYD BRYAN, B. S., M. D.— A successful physician in Eureka and 
a member of the staff of the Sequoia hospital, Dr. Lloyd Bryan is one of the 
native sons of Humboldt county who have made good, by their own inherent 
qualities of mind and soul, developed by education and fortified by self-reli- 
ance, proving genuine worth of citizenship. AVhile it is in his chosen profes- 
sion that he is gaining his reputation for ability, a man is acquainted with 
him but a short time before he ascertains that the young physician is well 
posted upon all general topics and shows a fidelity to duty and an absolute 
integrity in all dealings that make him eminently worthy of confidence in 
every department of activity. While constantly devoted to the performance 
of his responsible duties at Sequoia Hospital and as a private practitioner, 
he never fails to give to every person an unfailing courtesy nor has he failed 
to give to every movement for the upbuilding of Eureka the thoughtful con- 
sideration to be expected from a public-spirited citizen. 

Fortuna, Humboldt county, is the native place of Dr. Bryan, and 
April 19, 1884, the date of his birth. When a boy he was a pupil in a 
school held in a log cabin at Englewood. There he completed the studies 
of the grammar grades. After graduating from the Eureka high school in 
1902 he matriculated in the University of California at Berkeley and took 
the studies of the scientific course, graduating in 1907 with the degree of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 425 

B. S., and with a high standing for proficiency in his studies. While at the 
university he was a prominent member of Sigma Chapter of the Alpha 
Kappa Kappa. Through the years of identification with the scientific depart- 
ment he had been directing his studies with the medical profession as his aim. 
During the fall of 1907 he entered the medical department of the University 
of California, from which in 1911 he received the degree of M. D. Mean- 
while he had gained valuable practice through service as interne in the 
hospital connected with the university. Returning to Eureka in August, 1911, 
he took up private practice and also for a time served as a resident physician 
at Sequoia hospital, an important post of duty for which his talents admirably 
qualified him. Through the reading of current medical journals and through 
membership in the County, State and American Medical Associations, and the 
Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons, he keeps in touch with every advance 
made in therapeutics and is thoroughly modern in thought. Outside of. pro- 
fessional and college fraternity associations he is connected with the Hum- 
boldt Club and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is assistant 
division surgeon for the Northwestern Pacific and the present county physician 
of Humboldt county. By his marriage to Miss Alice Downes, a native of San 
Francisco, he has one daughter, Jane Wade Bryan. To an unusual degree 
he possesses the qualities necessary to success in professional and private 
life, and it may be predicted of him that the future holds for him possibilities 
the foundation of which is his excellent professional education, his growing 
skill in medicine and surgery, and his determination to keep pace with every 
development in the science. The sturdy qualities of his mind, received both 
through education and native endowments, are such as to give him prestige in 
Eureka and professional popularity in Humboldt county. 

THOMAS HAYES AGNEW MORGAN.— A veteran of the Civil war 
and a member of a fine old eastern family, Thomas Hayes Agnew Morgan is 
the owner of a splendid stock ranch in Humboldt county, Cal., where he is 
known as an enterprising, liberal and freehearted man. 

Born near Mount Vernon, Lancaster county. Pa., September 17, 1844, 
he is the son of William Morgan, a farmer in Pennsylvania, of Scotch 
descent, and Margaret Rebecca (Noble) Morgan, who was. a first cousin of 
Dr. Agnew and was born in Pennsylvania, her death occurring in Kansas. 
Of the eight children of William Morgan, seven are living, Thomas Hayes 
Agnew Morgan being the third in age. He was brought up on the farm and 
educated in the public schools, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Company I 
of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, being mustered 
in for nine months. By his participation in the battle of Antietam, on Sep- 
tember 17, 1862, INIr. Morgan celebrated his eighteenth birthday, taking part 
also in the battles of Fredericksburg and the AVilderness, being mustered out 
as corporal at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He then joined his 
father in Knoxville, 111., attended school for a time, but soon re-enlisted, this 
time in Company A of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry for one year or during the war. With his regiment he served tintil 
the close of the war, being mustered out in 1865 in Columbus, Ga., and hon- 
orably discharged, having served over one year in the regiment. Six months 
later Mr. Morgan took up a homestead at Fort Scott, Kans., remaining in 
Kansas until 1872, at which time he removed to Puget Sound, Wash. 



426 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Together with his brother WiUiam, two years his junior, Mr. Morgan 
came to Eureka, Cal., in 1875, and purchased three hundred twenty acres at 
Fawn Prairie, on the road to Sawyer's Bar, and here the two brothers en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1882 they also purchased a ranch of 
one hundred sixty acres on the summit of Liscomb hill, three miles above 
Blue Lake, and there bought and added timber land to their property until 
they had in all thirteen hundred acres. The Fawn Prairie ranch being still 
in their possession, they managed the two estates, conducting the business of 
stock-raising thereon. Selling eight hundred acres of redwood timber at a 
later date, they still retain two hundred and twenty acres on Liscomb hill 
and two hundred at Fawn Prairie. The brother of Mr. Morgan moved to 
Areata with his family, and since his death his wife, together with Thomas 
Morgan are still owners of the two ranches, Avhich they lease. About the 
year 1905 Thomas Morgan returned to Eureka, buying his present property 
of twenty acres on Harrison avenue, which he has cleared and converted into 
a prosperous ranch. 

In the city of Eureka, Mr. Morgan was married on November 2, 1892, 
to Miss Rose Ella Wilson, who was born in Vinton, Iowa, but grew up in 
Humboldt county, Cal. The parents of Mrs. Morgan were Eli Wilson, a 
native of Ohio, who removed to Iowa, and thence in 1875 to Eureka, Cal. ; and 
Sarah (Dudgeo'n) Wilson, also a native of Ohio, who accompanied her hus- 
band, a bricklayer and mason by trade, to Eureka, where they later died, 
leaving five children, of whom Mrs. Morgan is the youngest. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Morgan are attendants at the Presbyterian Church, and in his political 
preferment Mr. Morgan is a supporter of the Republican party. 

GEORGE M. BRICE.— Although a native of England, where he was 
born May 18, 1854, in the county of Surrey, George M. Brice has been a 
resident of Humboldt county, Cal., since 1871, and has from that time to the 
present been engaged in business enterprises that have aided materially in 
the development of the county, adding to its resources, opening up new fields 
of endeavor, and in a multitude of ways associating himself inseparably with 
the history and life of his adopted state. 

The early life of Mr. Brice was passed among the green fields and 
flowering hedges of his native Surrey, where his family had dwelt for many 
generations, his father being a farmer, and well and favorably known. The 
home conditions were, nevertheless, meager and did not offer flattering op- 
portunities to the ambitious boy. From across the water came tales of great 
wealth that could be accumulated by thrift and industry, where vast acres of 
fertile land could be had for the taking. These tales were fireside conversa- 
tion in the Surrey home, and in the countryside where the lads of the neigh- 
borhood attended school. The result was practically inevitable, and when 
young Brice was sixteen he detenuined to leave school and seek his fortune 
in the new world. He accordingly joined with another young man of the 
village, one James Robarts, and came to California in 1871, locating in Hum- 
boldt county. His first occupation was as a farm hand on a dairy farm on 
Bear Ridge. In the fall of the same year he entered the employ of John 
Kemp in his butcher shop at Ferndale, where he remained five 5^ears. In 
Ferndale, June 18, 1876, occurred the marriage of Mr. Brice, uniting him 
with Miss Clara Francis, a native of Ferndale, the daughter of Francis and 
Grace Francis, pioneers of this town and the original owners of the present 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 427 

site of Ferndale. Of this union were born six children : Herbert F., manager 
Ivanhoe hotel ; Leslie P., and George M., both deceased ; Gwendolin, Mrs. 
R. A. Griusell, of Oakland ; Letha C, and Harry C, at home. 

The same year (1876), Mr. Brice opened a butcher shop in Ferndale, 
prospering in this business, until 1880, when he sold the shop and engaged 
in the livery business. In this new undertaking he started on a small scale, 
but the business grew, and later he operated the stage line to Singley's station, 
and for five years he prospered in this line of endeavor. 

Other fields were calling him, however, and in 1885 he sold his livery 
business to Barnes & Adams, and renting a good farm, commenced a profitable 
career as a farmer and dairyman, the property being known as the Francis 
ranch. Here he continued until 1892, when he gave up his occupation as a 
farmer and, returning to Ferndale, repurchased his former livery business, 
which was then owned by Barnes, Scott & Hicks, in partnership with Ed 
Carr, and a year later Mr. Brice bought Mr. Carr's interest and continued the 
business alone. Extending the scope of his operations, Mr. Brice now has, 
in addition to the Ferndale interests, several stage lines into the surrounding 
country, chief among these being the line between Petrolia and Ferndale, and 
from Ferndale to Fern Bridge. The first of these lines, operating between 
Ferndale and Petrolia, is the continuation of one of the pioneer stage lines 
which he had originally purchased, with the stables, having been continued 
intermittently since. Another department of the livery business which Mr. 
Brice has operated with great success is teaming and freighting, his teams 
maintaining the commercial connection with the thriving little city of Fern- 
dale and the surrounding territory, which is as yet not adequately supplied 
with railroad transportation. 

The hotel business also has proven a profitable field of endeavor for Mr. 
Brice, and he owns the Ivanhoe Hotel in Ferndale, which he has operated 
successfully since 1909. 

Mr. Brice is recognized as one of the leading citizens in his home city, 
and has always taken an active interest in the public school system, as well as 
in all movements for the upbuilding of his city and county. He is a loyal 
Republican in both local and national issues. He has for a number of years 
served as city trustee, with great satisfaction to the people in general, and has 
been given various positions of trust and influence. He is a citizen of high 
principles and sterling worth. 

JOHN B. HILL. — One of the old pioneers in Humboldt county, Cali- 
fornia, John B. Hill is well and favorably known here, having made his home 
in this district since .the year 1869, when he made the journey across the 
continent on one of the first trains to California. 

Born near Oak Bay, Charlotte county, N. B., on January 22, 1844, John B. 
Hill was the son of James, also a native of New Brunswick. The grandfather, 
Daniel Hill, was born in the state of Maine, married to Sarah Sprague, and 
became a farmer in Warwick, N. B. The great-grandfather, David Hill, 
is connected with the early history of our country, having served under Maj. 
Robert Rogers, the famous Indian ranger on Lake Champlain, during the 
French and Indian war. He was one of the first English settlers of the town 
of Machias, Me., where he went in the year 1763, in 1779 removing to Calais, 
Me. His wife was Elizabeth Holmes, of Plymouth, Mass. 

The third oldest in a family of seven children, John B. Hill was brought ~ 



428 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

up in the town of Calais, Me., from the age of five years, his parents, James 
and Cynthia (Leighton) Hill, having gone there from New Brunswick in 
1849. He received his education in the public schools, and from boyhood 
worked on the farm and in the woods, the latter being the principal occupa- 
tion for the young men of that vicinity during the winter months. In the 
spring Mr. Hill was employed in driving on the St. Croix river, becoming an 
expert swimmer, as much at home in the water or riding a log as walking 
on the river banks. The good reports of high wages paid for the same kind 
of labor in Humboldt county brought about his determination to come to 
the Pacific coast. Accordingly, in the fall of 1869 he made the long trip across 
the continent, coming immediately to Eureka. During the greater part of his 
first winter in this state, Mr. Hill worked at shingle making, being later 
employed in the woods on Ryan Slough by his cousin, Charles W. Hill, with 
whom he continued for twelve years, most of the time in the capacity of 
head chain-tender. Leaving the woods at the end of that time, he spent 
several years in Alex. Cookson's shipyards, and helped build the Halcyon, 
Lena Sweasey, Fidelity, and Challenger, the Halcyon now being the only one 
afloat. Then, with his brother William, he bought land on Harrison avenue. 
Eureka, whereon the two men built a brick plant and for two years were 
engaged in the making of brick, after which Mr. Hill continued the manu- 
facture of brick independently, as the best clay was on his ten acres of land, 
and it was only after twelve years that he gave up the business and went into 
gardening and the raising of fruit. For some years he raised strawberries 
extensively, having three acres of his property given up to this fruit exclu- 
sively, but of late years he is devoting the land more to gardening and the 
raising of potatoes, attending personally to the work, although he is now 
advanced in years. 

The marriage of Mr. Hill to Louise Whittier took place in Charlotte 
county, N. B., and they became the parents of seven children, of whom four 
are at present living : Edith, wife of Peter McRae, a grocer on Myrtle avenue. 
Eureka; Chester, a shingle weaver in Eureka; Wesley, employed in the 
Eureka post office ; Warren, with the Electric Light Company in Eureka. 
Mr. Hill is a supporter of the principles of the Republican party, his fra- 
ternal associations being with Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., at Eureka, 
and with the Odd Fellows' Veteran Association in Eureka. 

OILMAN C. KNAPP. — One who comes of a line of patriotic forebears, 
on both the father's and the mother's side, is Oilman C. Knapp, a well-known 
mechanic of Eureka,-Cal., who resides with his family at his Bucksport home, 
designed and built by himself. The grandfather of Mr. Knapp, Zelotes 
Knapp, was a pioneer of Ohio and later also of Iowa, the grandmother being 
Ann Baker, whose father served in the War of 1812. Their son, Edward Y. 
Knapp, the father of Oilman C, was born at Melmore, Seneca county, Ohio, 
July 31, 1838, and at the age of twelve years accompanied his parents to 
Iowa, in 1863 enlisting in Company L of the Third Iowa Cavalry Regiment, 
which was a part of the detail that captured Jefferson Davis. Having served 
until the close of the war, Edward Knapp followed farming in Decatur 
county, Iowa, also operating a woolen mill in Leon, in the same state. His 
marriage occurred in Decatur county, Iowa, uniting him with Miss Gertrude 
Mudgett, who was born near Defiance, Paulding county, Ohio, the daughter 
of Major Oilman C. Mudgett, who was born in New Flampshire and served 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 429 

during the Civil war in Company L of the Third Iowa Cavalry, where he 
enlisted as captain and was later promoted to major of the regiment, three 
of his sons also serving in the same company. Major Mudgett later removed 
to Humboldt county, Cal., where he was engaged in farming and was promi- 
nent in politics, serving one term as a member of the state legislature. Edward 
Y. Knapp, the son-in-law of the Major, also came to Humboldt county, locat- 
ing in 1875 at Eureka, where for a while he followed the pursuit of farming, 
later becoming a millwright and shingle manufacturer. He and his wife 
both reside in Eureka, and of their three children two are now living. Oilman 
C, and Edward Y., Jr., who resides at Areata, Cal. 

Born in the town of Leon, in Decatur county, Iowa, March 18, 1871, 
Oilman C. Knapp came to California with his parents when only about four 
years of age and was educated in the public schools of Eureka and Areata. 
In 1884 he entered the employ of the old Riverside Lumber Company, now 
known as the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, beginning his work 
under the supervision of H. W. Jackson, as a filer, later operating a shingle 
machine. After seven years spent with this company, Mr. Knapp went with 
Ole C. Hanson to Bayside, where he worked as filer and mill foreman. Later, 
renting the Baird mill on Ryan Slough, he ran it for a year, then accepting 
the position of superintendent of George Pinkerton's mill at Freshwater for 
five years, while there inventing and patenting the Knapp shake machine 
for sawing shakes. This proved a success and he later sold the patent to the 
Eureka Foundry Company. In 1903 he entered the employ of the Whitin-g 
G. Press Company, becoming a stockholder therein on the incorporation of 
the company, and has been the secretary and superintendent of the same ever 
since. During the thirty years and more of his business life, Mr. Knapp 
has given special attention to the machinist trade as pertaining to the im- 
provement of machines and saws for the manufacture of shingles and shakes. 
His revision of saw-filing for shakes and shingles is well known to every 
shingle-mill operator on the Pacific coast. In addition to his mechanical 
ability in shingle mills, Mr. Knapp has spent several years studying the 
mechanism of automobiles and is also doing considerable work in that line. 

He has several real estate holdings besides his residence which he built 
in the town of Bucksport. His marriage to Miss Rhodena McLean, a native 
of Nova Scotia, was solemnized at Eureka, and they are the parents of one 
child, Helen. Fraternally Mr. Knapp is a member of the W. O. W. 

EDMUND V. PRICE.— Since the age of five years, Edmund V. Price 
has made his home in California, having come here with his family in May, 
1876, from Oilman, in Iroquois county, 111., where he was born October 27, 
1870, the son of William Price, a native of Ohio, and Lucetta (Brown) Price, 
a native of Indiana, where the parents were married, removing thence to 
Oilman, 111. The father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil 
war, as were also two of his brothers, white his uncle, Oen. Sterling Price, 
of Missouri, was in the Southern army. William Price early brought his 
family to California, where they remained for a few months at the town of 
Woodland, locating thereafter near Philo in the Anderson valley, in Mendo- 
cino county, at which place he engaged in stock-raising. The death of his 
wife took place at Healdsburg, Cal., while he himself died in Los Angeles, 
in the same state. 

Of the eight children of AVilliam Price, Edmund V. was the _voungest, 



430 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and was educated in the public schools of Mendocino county, in the Adven- 
tist College, Healdsburg, and also in business college, after which he was 
apprenticed at the confectioner's trade in San Francisco. After learning the 
trade, Mr. Price started in that business at Angeles Camp, but soon selling 
out, he located in San Bernardino, Cal., where he engaged in the same occu- 
pation until 1903, the time of his removal to Red Blufif, Cal., where he started 
a confectionery establishment, building up a large and successful business in 
this line. In 1914, finding that the fumes in the factory were making inroads 
upon his health, Mr. Price sold out and settled in Humboldt county, where 
he purchased the old Malone ranch, known as the Englewood ranch and 
consisting of one hundred sixty acres, beautifully located on Eel river in the 
Englewood valley, three and one-half miles from Dyerville. Here Mr. Price 
engages in stock-raising in a picturesque locality supplied with mountain as 
well as mineral springs, an attractive spot which he is converting into a 
summer resort, since it is situated on the state highway within easy access 
of the several centers of population. An enterprising business man, he is 
well fitted to improve such a place and to make a success in this new ven- 
ture, and by piping water from the mountain springs and putting in all other 
improvements possible, he is making of his establishment a vacation resort 
which is certain to win a high standing among places of this nature. 

Fraternally Mr. Price is well known as an active member of the Fra- 
ternal Brotherhood, while in his political preferences he is an upholder of the 
principles of the Republican party. His marriage took place in Los Angeles, 
uniting him with Miss Anna Wilson, a native of that city, whose father, 
William Wilson, was one of the pioneer settlers of the state of California. 

WILLIAM WHITE KING.— One of the old settlers of Humboldt county, 
Cal., a man who has won the esteem and friendship of all those with whom 
he is associated, AA^illiam W. King may well be classed among the pioneers 
of the state of California. 

Born near AA'^arrensburg, Johnson county, Mo., on March 1, 1841, he 
was the son of Robert L. King, a native of Jefferson county, in eastern Ten- 
nessee, who was the son of Edward King, born in Jamestown, Va., and 
married in the same city to Susan Lewis, the couple moving, after their mar- 
riage, to Tennessee. Robert L. King was a blacksmith, and, removing to 
Johnson county. Mo., purchased a farm there ten miles west of the town of 
Warrensburg, where he built and conducted a blacksmith's shop until his 
death, which occurred there in 1854. His wife, the mother of William W., 
was formerly Margaret Haynes, and was born in Tennessee and died in 
Missouri, being the great-granddaughter of a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war by the name of Cox. Of her nine children, seven are now living, namely : 
Susan, now Mrs. Still, of Eureka ; Edmund Peter, who came to California in 
1853 and now lives with his brother William ; Unity J., now Mrs. Smith, resid- 
ing in Henry county, Mo.; William W., of whom we write; Martha E., now 
Mrs. Crumbaugh, of Missouri ; Sarah F., now Mrs. Cleland, living in Mis- 
souri ; and John Russell, a resident of Eureka ; Elizabeth and Louisa Ann, 
both having died in Missouri. William W. King grew up on his fathers 
farm in Missouri, attending the early schools in that locality. In April, 1864, 
he removed with other members of his family including his sister, INIrs. Susan 
Still and family, to Oregon, crossing the plains with ox-teams, taking six 
months for the trip, and settling for a time at Sublimity, Ore. However, the 




^^^^i-y^-i^ ^^'^ i^icLcAS-u^^-^-^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 435 

party remained only a year at that place, for in 1865 they came to Crescent 
City, Cal., shipping their goods and bringing their stock by trail down the 
coast to Eureka, William W. Avalking all the way in order to drive the 
cattle. For a year they rented a farm on the Elk river in Humboldt county, 
then one on Humboldt hill where they made their home for two years. In 
1868, purchasing the Willow Brook ranch ten miles south of Eureka, near the 
"mouth of Salmon creek, they cleared and improved the land for a stock ranch 
and dairy farm, Mr. King having purchased the ranch in partnership with 
his brother-in-law, James E'. Still, and after the death of Mr. Still, in 1887, 
Mr. King and his sister owned and operated the place together until 1901. 
At that date they rented the property for a dairy and purchased ten acres at 
No. 2701 Harrison avenue, in the suburbs of Eureka, which Mr. King cleared 
and improved, building thereon a comfortable residence, and engaging in 
the raising of vegetables. In the division of the property, Mrs. Still now owns 
the ranch, while her brother is the owner of the town home. Mr. King is a 
popular and enterprising man, interested in the welfare of the community 
where he resides and always helpful to those with whom he has any dealings. 
For eight years he was school trustee in the Salmon Creek district, and has 
for four years been trustee in the Worthington district where he now 
resides. In his political interests he is a supporter of the Democratic party. 

JAMES FELIX BLACKBURN.— Through two decades of active and 
honorable business pursuits Mr. Blackburn was identified with the develop- 
ment of Humboldt county. Although that identification dates back to an 
earlier period in local history, his name is still remembered as that of a man 
of sterling character and commercial enterprise. Of Canadian birth and 
parentage, he was born in Newport, Hants county. Nova Scotia, June 4, 1839, 
and received such meager educational advantages as the locality and period 
made possible. It may be said that his accomplishments in the world of 
affairs were due wholly to his own determined will and untiring perse- 
verance, for he had no one to aid him in securing a start, but even in boy- 
hood earned his own board and clothing. While he never attained great 
wealth he was successful in attaining that which is far more to be desired, 
the esteem of associates and the warm regard of intimate personal friends. 
Of progressive temperament, he aided many movements for the early ad- 
vancement of Humboldt count}^, where he established a home early in the 
'60s and where he continued to reside until the lamentable accident occurred 
that caused his death. 

For a brief period after coming to California in 1861 Mr. Blackburn 
engaged in mining around Grass Valley and Gibsonville, but it was yet early 
in the '60s when he settled in Humboldt county. During a visit at his old 
home in Nova Scotia in 1876 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary T. 
Burke, who was born and reared in Newport, Hants county, that peninsula, 
and who, since the death of her husband, has continued to reside at the old 
home on the water front at Bucksport in Eureka. This land had been pur- 
chased by Mr. Blackburn during the early period of his identification with 
the farming interests of the county and he had not only engaged in farming, 
but also in the poultry business, besides taking contracts for general teaming 
and for grading the country roads. While engaged as contractor for the 
railroad, in constructing the Table Bluff tunnel in August, 1883, he was 
accidentally killed by the caving of the tunnel. His sudden death was a 



436 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

source of sorrow to his family, as well as to his friends throughout the 
county, and was recognized as a distinct loss to the local citizenship. 

FRANK ALBERT HOUGH.— The Houghs became established in Cali- 
fornia some sixty years ago, and the representatives of the family in every 
generation have been noted for their energetic dispositions, initiative and 
sterling integrity, qualities which Frank A. Hough possesses in generous 
measure. He is a likable man, and moreover enjoys the friendship of his 
associates as keenly as they appreciate his congeniality. His parents and 
grandparents lived and died in Contra Costa county, Cal., and his father 
and grandfather were also well known among the business men of Lake 
county, where they built up the Hough Springs resort. 

Sylvanus Hough, grandfather of Frank A. Hough, was a native of New 
York, of English descent, following the butcher business in New York state. 
In the year 1852 he came to California, making the long voyage around the 
Horn, and settled on one thousand acres of the Mexican land grant in Contra 
Costa county, where he engaged very extensively in the dairy business. His 
ability kept pace with his opportunities and. he met with phenomenal suc- 
cess, proving entirely capable ofhandling the immense interests he acquired. 
He accumulated wealth, but the title to his land was attacked in the courts, 
and a long-drawn-out law suit ensued which was fought bitterly and not 
concluded until after his decease. ^leantime he continued his business 
activities, he and his son Orlando S. Hough developing the Hough Springs 
resort in Lake county, which they sold. Sylvanus Hough lived to the age 
of sixty-seven years. Most of his family joined him in California in 1854. 

Orlando S. Hough, father of Frank A., lived in New York state until 1860, 
when he followed his father to California. He was engaged before he left the 
east, and his bride-to-be, Miss Emma Lucinda Bassett, came out to the coast 
in 1863, when they were married at the "Russ House," in San Francisco. 
They settled in Contra Costa county, and died there. Mr. Hough carried on 
the famoiTS law suit after his father's demise, but it was ultimately decided 
against the Houghs on technical grounds, and they found themselves penni- 
less after years of successful business operations which had brought them 
affluence and promised independence. 

Thus it was that Frank A. Hough spent his youth under rather adverse 
circumstances. But he inherited ambition and ability, and he has never been 
afraid to apply himself to hard work, so if he was denied financial capital 
in his early years he had other qualities to compensate. Born June 6, 1865, 
in Contra Costa county, he grew to manhood there, but he has lived in Hum- 
boldt county for over twenty years, and during that period has made a place 
for himself among the substantial citizens of his locality. He owns three 
hundred twenty acres of ranch land in the Mattole valley, in the neighbor- 
hood of Upper Mattole, and has managed to improve it steadily since it came 
into his possession, having valuable agricultural and stock interests there. At 
present he is also engaged in getting out saw logs for Joe Bagley's sawmill 
on the Upper Mattole river, and is also cooperating with Mr. Bagley in an- 
other enterprise, the planting of English walnut trees. Mr. Bagley has 
undertaken this on a somewhat extensive scale, and Mr. Hough has given 
him valuable assistance. 

In 1891 Mr. Hough married Miss Sadie A. Roscoe, daughter of AVesley 
Horton Roscoe, an old settler in the LTpper Mattole district, vho is fully 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 437 

mentioned elsewhere. Five children have been born to this union : Roscoe, 
a graduate of the Pacific Technical College, of Oakland, now employed in 
the garage at Areata, Humboldt county ; Hazel, who is a graduate of the 
San Jose state normal school, class of 1915, now teaching in Humboldt county ; 
Esther, a graduate of Ferndale high school, is attending the Areata normal; 
Harold, who is attending the Ferndale high school and also assists his father 
upon the home ranch; and Wayland, who attends the local public school. 
Mrs. Hough is a woman of keen intellect and clever mind, and she acts as 
local correspondent for the Humboldt Standard and the Ferndale Enterprise. 
She is a member of the Baptist. Church at Eureka. 

Politically Mr. Hough has always been a straight Republican, and he is 
prominent in the local councils of the party, being a member of the county 
central committee, on which body he has done excellent work. Personally 
he is the kind of friend and neighbor much desired in any community. His 
optimism and cheerfulness have enabled him to overcome difficulties without 
making too much of them, and his readiness to undertake any duties or 
responsibilities that come his way has made it possible for him to advance his 
own interests steadily and at the same time to help out others as oppor- 
tunity ofifered or necessity seemed to call. It has well been said, "He that 
is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." Frank A. Hough has found great 
pleasure in serving his friends at all times, and their loyalty is his best reward. 

B. F. STERN. — One of the most enterprising mercantile establishments 
in Eureka is that of the Humboldt Commercial Company, whose president, 
B. F. Stern, is a merchant of forty years' experience, a native of Humboldt 
county, and one of the most energetic "boosters" for Eureka and one of the 
largest contributors to her progress. His sons, L. E. and H. A. Stern, are 
associated with him, as vice president and secretary of the company, re- 
spectively. They are wholesale dealers in staple and fancy groceries. Mr. 
Stern has given largely of his time to projects for placing Eureka in better 
communication with other points, and for public utilities and conveniences 
that attract a high class of residents and wide-awake business men. Mr. 
Stern's birthplace was Areata, then known as Uniontown, where his father, 
Henry Stern, was a pioneer merchant. 

Henry Stern was a German by birth, and leaving his native country 
when a young man landed at New York, where he remained for a short 
time. In 1850 he came to California by way of the Isthmus, and settled in 
Humboldt county, carrying on a general mercantile business at Uniontown 
(now Areata) during the remainder of his life. He lived to be only thirty-two 
years old, dying in 1862 of a hemorrhage brought on by seasickness when he 
was crossing the Humboldt bar. In 1854 he married, at Areata, this county, 
Miss Emily Armstrong, daughter of Thomas Armstrong, who first came to 
California in 1848, returning east for his family, whom he brought across the 
plains in the year 1852. The first civilized community the ox train reached on 
the Pacific coast was at Shasta, whence they proceeded down to San Fran- 
cisco on a flatboat, from there coming by sailboat to Areata, being three 
weeks on the trip. Four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stern : B. F., 
Oscar D., George D., and Henry S., of whom two survive at this writing, B. F. 
and Henry S., a dentist in San Francisco. 

B. F. Stern, the eldest child of his parents, was born June 4, 1856, and 
was reared and educated at Areata, attending the pviblic schools. When six- 



^^% 



438 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

teen years old he went to work there, beginning to earn his living as a farm 
hand in the employ of Isaac Minor. At the age of eighteen he entered the 
line he has ever since followed — during a period of forty years there have 
been only thirty days that he has not been deriving an income from the mer- 
cantile business. His first position of the kind was as clerk in the store of 
A. Brizard, at Hoopa, Humboldt county, and since 1897 he has had his own 
establishment at Eureka, which he acquired that year under the name of the 
Humboldt Commission Company. In 1906 the business was incorporated 
under the laws of the state of California as the Humboldt Commercial Com- 
pany, under which title it has since been carried on; the officers have 
been previously mentioned. Mr. Stern began doing business at the location 
which has been retained as highly convenient, at the foot of D street, the 
storehouse and wharf being his property. The wharf frontage is one hundred 
twenty feet long, and a spur of the N. W. Pacific railroad runs to the store- 
house, so that the transportation facilities, both by land and by water, are all 
that could be desired. The large three-story building is well stocked with 
sugars, spices, salt, flour, meal of various kinds, soaps, candies, canned goods, 
salt fish, cigars, and household goods, the assortment being large and com- 
plete to meet the steady demands of the trade which has been built up. Three 
salesmen are kept constantly busy covering the territory adjacent to Eureka. 
When the business was first established on the present basis William Cluff, 
of the William Clufif Company, pioneer grocers of San Francisco, joined the 
Sterns to assist in the organization, but since his death his interest has been 
taken over by A-Ir. Stern. Having begun to learn the details of the grocery 
trade in a humble capacity, Mr. Stern is thoroughly familiar with his business 
from every standpoint, and he has combined his comprehensive under- 
standing of its needs with untiring industry in the application of his ideas 
to the work of holding old customers and gaining new ones. The substan- 
tial patronage he now caters to has been acquired by years of study of the 
wants of buyers, of their appreciation of the best service, and progressive 
methods in the handling of orders. The shipping facilities of the firm are a 
great advantage, and the system employed is up-to-date in every particular, 
eliminating needless labor and providing the quickest service with less "red 
tape" than the merchant of the last generation would have thought seemly. 
The Humboldt Commercial Company does its banking- through the Bank of 
Eureka. In addition to the business property mentioned, Mr. Stern has other 
holdings of value in the city, besides his timber lands in the county. 

Encouraging the spirit of helpfulness among the business men of Eureka, 
and its citizens generally, Mr. Stern has helped many worthy enterprises, 
and if his own affairs have prospered thereby so have those of his neighbors. 
He has been working enthusiastically towards a "larger Eureka," has been a 
loyal member of all the development associations and promotion clubs, and 
was particularly active in establishing the chamber of commerce, of which 
he has been president. He was one of the original members of the Railroad 
Promotion Committee, whose object was to obtain through railway connec- 
tion with San Francisco ; is a member of the Humboldt and Eureka Develop- 
ment Associations, and of the Humboldt Promotion Committee, and has 
given valuable service in the interest of all these bodies. 

Born during the pioneer period of this region, Mr. Stern has a distinct 
recollection of the excitement during the Indian trouble of 1862, and reniem- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 439 

bers being taken to the old Coddington store at Areata for safety, the 
women and children being protected there when most of the men were 
required for defense. He has a wide acquaintance among the surviving pio- 
neer residents of Eureka, Areata and Hoopa valley. 

Mr. Stern married Miss Julia Hopkins, the ceremony being performed 
at Areata in 1878. She came to California from Missouri. Four children 
have been born to this marriage : Charles F., now a member of the State 
Highway Commission, married True Aiken, and they reside at Berkeley, 
Cal. ; L. Edgar, of Eureka, vice president of the Humboldt Commercial Com- 
pany, married Grace Cochrane; Walter E., of Eureka, engaged in the general 
insurance business, married Ida McCoy, of Red Bluff, Tehama county, Cal. ; 
Henry A., secretary of the Humboldt Commercial Company, married Mar- 
guerite Smith, of San Francisco. 

ALFRED BARNES.— The call for volunteers in the Union Army during 
the Civil war received a quick response from Alfred Barnes, who responded 
to the first call for troops, volunteering in a company from Kane county, 
111., for three months' service, but the quota of men for this call being already 
filled, they volunteered for three years and were mustered in at Dixon, 111., 
May 24, 1861, as Company H, 13th 111. V. I. They were first senf into Mis- 
souri and after aiding in the building of Ft. Wyman, named after the colonel 
of their regiment, young Barnes saw service in various skirmishes up to the 
time of the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. There he was captured by the 
rebels and confined in the prison at Vicksburg and later held as a prisoner of 
war at Jackson until paroled and sent to New Orleans, La. In April, 1863, 
he boarded the steamer Fulton bound for New York City and, on his arrival 
in the North, made his way immediately to Illinois, remaining at home recu- 
perating for a time. Nothing daunted, however, he again reported for duty, 
rejoining his regiment at the front in time to participate in the battle of 
Lookout Mountain and later Missionary Ridge and Ringold, Georgia. After 
passing the winter at AVoodville, Ala., Mr. Barnes with others was guarding 
Madison Station, Ala., when he was again taken captive by the enemy. This 
unfortunate circumstance happened May 17, 1864, just seven days prior to the 
expiration of his term of enlistment. He was again held a prisoner, this time 
at Cahaba, Ala., and was afterward transferred with three hundred others 
to Meridian, Miss., where they suffered extremely from cold through an entire 
winter in an open stockade. In the spring the prisoners were returned to 
Cahaba and in March, 1865, when the Alabama River rose so that it was 
impossible to longer keep all of the men there, arrangements were made with 
those in charge of exchange of prisoners and they were sent to Black River, 
Miss., where they were kept inside of the Union lines and properly fed. 
Although guarded by the Union soldiers they were prisoners of war until 
the cessation of hostilities. He was afterwards mustered out at Springfield, 
111., June 7, 1865. AA^ith the close of the war he exchanged the uniform of a 
soldier for the garb of a tiller of the soil and farmed in Illinois for two years 
when he moved to Gentry county. Mo., and was identified with the interests 
of that section for fifteen years, during which time he improved and operated 
a farm. In December, 1882, Mr. Barnes came to Humboldt county, locating 
at Dows Prairie, north of Areata. Appreciating the possibilities of this sec- 
tion, he turned them to the best possible advantage and was soon the 
owner of three hundred and sixty acres of land, devoted to general farming, 



440 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

stock-raising and dairying-. Here he continued to reside until 1903, when 
he rented his property and moved into Eureka, where he has since lived re- 
tired. In 1913 he disposed of his ranch. He is one of the prominent citizens of 
this well-favored locality and has many friends among those who, like him- 
self, are public-spirited and enterprising. 

Mr. Barnes was born in the town of Alexandra, Jefferson county, N. Y., 
April 28, 1838, while his father, Ira Barnes, was a native of Steuben county, 
same state. The latter followed general farm pursuits near Alexandra until 
1846 when he removed with his family to Illinois, locating near Aurora, Kane 
county. He witnessed the remarkable growth and development of that state 
and himself contributed in a large degree to the prosperity and progress of 
Kane county. He was married to Eliza Carnegie, a native of New York. She 
was the daughter of Andrew Carnegie, whose father also bore the name of 
Andrew and came from Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Ira Barnes passed their last 
days in Illinois. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Bertha 
became Mrs. Westover and died while a resident of Illinois ; Maria is Mrs. 
Randall of Aurora ; Andrew passed away while a resident of Kansas ; Crowell 
makes his home in Aurora ; Mary, Mrs. Sherwin, spent her entire life in 
Illinois ; while Ethelbert died at the old homestead in Kane county, December, 
1914. Alfred was a lad of seven years when his parents moved to Illinois 
and he received his education in the public schools, after which he assisted in 
the farm work until the outbreak of the Civil war. 

The marriage of Alfred Barnes and Miss Charlotte M. Willey was sol- 
emnized in Kane county. 111., November 4, 1867. Mrs. Barnes is a native of that 
county and a daughter of Sardis Willey, born in New York state. To them 
have been born six sons, of whom Frank is a merchant at Silver Lake, Wash. ; 
Harry resides at Turlock, Cal. ; Fred died in Missouri ; Ralph died while liv- 
ing in Los Angeles ; Earl is Deputy Game Warden at Eureka and Verne is a 
farmer near Areata. Mr. Barnes was made a Mason in Aurora, 111., and is 
now a member of Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. Ml. He is also prominent in 
Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., and in politics is a Progressive Repub- 
lican. 

SAMUEL SIMPSON SILKWOOD.— The possibilities of Eureka have 
called forth the most creditable ambitions of a few men who were destined 
to make their way in the business world, and whose strength of character and 
conservative judgment have served as the fundamental growth of the com- 
monwealth. This has been emphatically true of Mr. Silkwood, whose well 
directed energies have not only placed him among the men of means in the 
city, but have invested him with an invariable reputation for business sagacity 
and integrity. 

A native son of California, Mr. Silkwood was born in Sacramento, May 
21, 1864. His father, Obadiah S. Silkwood, was a native of Greene county, 
111., while his grandfather, Thomas, hailed from Kentucky. The latter Avas of 
English and Welch descent and, on making his home in Illinois, met with 
success in his agricultural operations. When a young man of twenty years, 
-the father left home, and without means or influential friends started out to 
fight the battle of Hfe with a sure hope of victory. Purchasing ox teams he 
drove across the plains in a prairie schooner, arriving in Sacramento in 1851 
and for several years thereafter prospected in Sacramento, Placer and Ama- 
dor counties with indifferent success. Failing to meet with the hoped for 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 441 

good fortune in the mines, Obadiah S., in 1867, came to Eureka, the little 
hamlet at that time having but one steamer a month visiting its port. On 
his arrival he purchased a tract of raw land, but was engaged in its cultivation 
for only one year, then entering the employ of a lumber company as woods- 
man. So efficient were his services that it was not long before he was made 
foreman, remaining with the company for some time, or until he again began 
mining. This was in the year 1879 and for three years he was engaged in 
hydraulic mining on the Trinity river, Humboldt county, and also on the 
Klamath river, Siskiyou county, with his son, Samuel S. At the expiration 
of that time he returned to Eureka, making his home with our subject until 
his demise, in 1904. His death was mourned as a general loss. Humboldt 
county lost a typical citizen, one who had started in life with nothing but 
his own talents and upright character, and who gained the respect and con- 
fidence of his fellow men. Fraternally he was a Mason. 

The mother of Samuel S. was Catherine (Fay) Silkwood, a native of 
Ireland. After coming to the United States she was married in New York 
City, to a Mr. Foley, by whom she had one son, Michael Foley. On the death 
of her husband she joined her three brothers in California, making the jour- 
ney to the' Golden State via the Isthmus of Panama. AVhile living in Sacra- 
mento she met and married Obadiah S. Silkwood. To them were born four 
children, namely : Thomas P., an engineer in the State Hospital at Ionia, 
Mich. ; Mrs. Margaret Smith, residing in Eureka ; Samuel S., of this sketch ; 
and Mary S., Mrs. B. O'. Hart, of Oakland. At the time his parents moved 
to Eureka, Samuel was a lad of three years. Here he completed his education 
in the public schools and began work as an apprentice at the carpenter's trade, 
soon becoming one of the recognized contractors and builders of the city, 
attaining a success greater than is reached by many men, even though they 
are persistent, industrious and persevering. This is doubtless due to the fact 
that he has the qualities just named and has besides a well-balanced mind and 
sound judgment. 

About 1894 Mr. Silkwood operated the Rock Creek mine, on Klamath 
river, Siskiyou county, in partnership with his father, but three years later 
returned to Eureka and resumed his profitable business of contracting and 
building. Aside from building numerous residences and business houses, he 
erected the Union Labor Hospital and remodeled the court house. July 6, 
1911, he was appointed harbor master of the Port of Eureka by Governor 
Johnson and since that time has devoted his entire time and attention to the 
duties of the office. The port includes all of Humboldt Bay, extending from 
Fields Landing to the Areata wharf. 

Mr. Silkwood was married in Eureka to Miss Kate Waters, a native of 
Canada. They occupy a most attractive home which Mr. Silkwood built at 
No. 1929 B street. Fraternally he is a charter member of Eureka Aerie No. 
130, F. O. E., and was elected a trustee at its organization. Three months later 
he was honored with the position of secretary, holding this ofiice for nine 
years, or until made chaplain of his lodge. Indeed in such esteem was he 
held that he was elected president and during his incumbency of this office 
had the pleasure, in 1913, of dedicating the new Eagles' Eureka home, which 
is one of the most beautiful and complete lodge buildings in the state. During 
its construction he was secretary of its board of directors. He is likewise a 
member of Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W., a member of the Druids, is 



442 - HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

past arch and was for two years grand trustee of the Grand Grove of Cali- 
fornia. Politically he is a Progressive and works for the interest of that party. 

JOSEPH EMANUEL HODGSON, B. S.— The county treasurer of 
Humboldt county was born at Camp Floyd, Utah, July 12, 1860, and was 
taken to Oregon in 1863 by his parents, Richard and Eliza (Parkinson) 
Hodgson, natives of England. The family was in humble circumstances. 
The hardships of frontier existence fell upon them with unceasing rigor. It 
was with the hope of bettering his condition that the father took wife and 
children from Utah to Oregon, making the journey with wagon and team, 
all the household effects stored in the "prairie schooner" that formed the 
family home through several months' of tedious travel. One year was spent in 
mines near Auburn, after which the father again took up the problem of seek- 
ing a new location. This time he came south through the Sacramento valley 
and from there proceeded to Santa Rosa, where he made a permanent home 
and found employment. The son, Joseph E., was sent to the common schools 
and the Pacific Methodist College, aiding by his own efforts to secure a 
thorough education. After his graduation from college with the degree of 
B. S. he took up the work of a teacher and for two years taught in Sonoma 
county, but in 1885 removed to Humboldt county and here taught school for 
twenty years. 

As might be expected from so long an identification with the schools in 
different parts of the county Mr. Hodgson made a large circle of warm per- 
sonal friends, so that when, after a service as station agent for the North- 
western Pacific Railroad at Elinor, he began his campaign for county treas- 
urer, friends rallied to his support from every district and they triumphantly 
secured his election to the office in 1910. He assumed his duties in January, 
1911, and was re-elected in 1914 without opposition, which demonstrates his 
popularity and the satisfaction with which he fills the office. In addition to his 
official duties he has found time for participation in local progressive move- 
ments and for service as a member of the board of trustees of the chamber 
of commerce, besides which he is a member of the Eureka Development 
Association. 

Fraternally Mr. Hodgson is a member of Loleta Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F., 
and Hydesville Encampment No. 59, being past grand and past chief pa- 
triarch, and is now serving as district deputy grand master. With his wife 
he is a member of Centennial Rebekah Lodge No. 100. He is also a 
member of White Clover Camp No. 398, W. O. W., at Loleta, of 
which he is past council commander, and is also a member of Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., and of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Loyal 
Order of Moose. In Santa Rosa, January 10, 1887, occurred the marriage of 
Mr. Hodgson and Miss Mary M. Stevenson, a native of Dundas, Canada, but 
who was reared and educated in Santa Rosa, Cal. They are the parents of 
five children, namely ; Alice Elizabeth, Joseph David, Amy Muriel, Ernest 
Richard and Effie Zoea. 

HON. JOSEPH RUSS. — The abiding influence of this man, whose won- 
derful powers of organization, stimulated by visions of the demands of the fu- 
ture, created some of the most productive industries of Humboldt county, 
has never been more apparent than at the present day. The keenness which 
enabled him to foresee the possibilities of the enterprises upon which he 
embarked; the breadth of imagination which governed his plans for their 




^\BjiWvX\MTxv. , 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 445 

expansion and development during a generation beyond his own time ; the 
wise provisions for the welfare of the community which he advocated during 
his legislative career; all these and more are seen better in the light of their 
present usefulness than they could be before the fruit began to ripen in the 
sunshine of success. To outline the many projects which Mr. Russ matured 
and put into practical operation will give some idea of the magnitude of his 
undertakings. The details, all of which he grasped in his comprehension of 
the whole, are past the understanding of the average individual. 

Mr. Russ belonged to sturdy New England stock, the self-reliant type 
trained by generations of industry and frugal living to make the most of 
environment, to exalt the importance of moral integrity and mental discipline, 
to be honest, thrifty and independent. He was a native of Maine, born 
December 19, 1825, in Washington, Lincoln county, and was ten years old 
when his parents removed to Belmont, Waldo county, that state, where he 
grew to manhood. The greater part of his education was acquired in the 
district schools there. When he reached his majority he went to Dartmouth, 
Mass., and commenced his independent career, remaining there two years, 
at the end of which period he ventured in business on his own account, at Fall 
River, Mass., engaging in teaming and merchandising. He was disappointed 
in the results, and tried another line at Appleton, Me., buying an interest in 
a sawmill, and giving some time to its operation, at the same time carrying 
on a grocery store. He continued thus for about three years. During this 
time tales of the gold discoveries on the Pacific coast fired his ambition, and 
he determined to seek his fortune in the mines. But he already had the 
foresight which was later to be so large a factor in his success. Instead of 
rushing out without preparation or definite plans of any kind he made ready to 
embark in business upon his arrival, buying material for a building which he 
had made in sections, which would only need joining when he reached his 
destination. He took passage on the "Midas," which went around the Horn, 
and purchased a large quantity of flour at one of the ports en route. He 
landed at San Francisco March 15, 1850, after a five months' voyage, but saw 
fit to alter his arrangements, and selling his building and flour at a small 
profit joined six other men, the party buying a boat and starting up the river 
to Sacramento. There they sold the boat, and Mr. Russ proceeded to White 
Oak Springs, where his sawmilling experience proved valuable, as he took 
charge of a sawmill at that point for two months. After that he contracted to 
build a bridge across the American river, and upon its completion took other 
work of the same kind. In the summer of 1850, with a partner, he opened a 
general store at Volcano, Amador county, but it was not a success. 

It was then Mr. Russ went into the cattle business, in which his name 
and fame will live for many years. Purchasing a herd, he drove it to the 
Yuba river and disposed of it at moderate profit. Soon afterward he made 
another investment of the same kind in that section, upon which he realized 
so handsomely that he had enough capital to go into business, opening a hay 
and feed yard in the Sacramento valley, and purchasing teams which he 
employed in the transportation of freight between Colusa and Shasta. At 
Placerville he bought a herd of cattle which he drove to Humboldt county in 
the fall of 1852 and grazed upon Bear River Ridge. He was one of the 
first to explore the Eel river valley and surrounding country, and he was so 
impressed by the resources of the region generally that he took up a claim 



446 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

near Capetown, on the strength of his conviction that here were to be found 
more natural advantages than he had observed in any other part of the state. 
In the fall of 1853 he was associated with Berry Adams in the purchase of a 
large number of beef cattle in Sacramento, and they drove them to Hum- 
boldt county and opened a meat market at Eureka, with which Mr. Russ 
was connected for two years. He then went to the forks of the Salmon 
river and established a market of his own, spending two years at that loca- 
tion, from March, 1855, to the spring of 1857. Purchasing another drove of 
beef cattle in Oregon, he took them down to the banks of the Bear river, and 
again opened a market in Eureka, where the Russ meat market is still a 
popular trading place. Before long he commenced to invest in grazing lands, 
acquiring the nucleus of an estate which now includes fifty thousand acres 
and more in Humboldt county, stocked with four thousand head of cattle, 
thirteen thousand sheep, and horses and mules in large numbers. In 1870 
Mr. Russ erected the sawmill still conducted under the name of Russ & 
Company as the Excelsior Mills at Eureka. 

Though Mr. Russ had individual interests so extensive that they required 
unremitting attention, many of the important ideas he introduced benefited 
the surrounding territory as much as his own properties. Thus he deserves 
great credit for inaugurating the dairy industry in this region, being one of 
the first to venture in that line here and going into it on a larger scale than 
any other individual operator, keeping over two thousand milch cows among 
his herds for this purpose. His work in the development of the business, and 
in demonstrating its possibilities in this section, represents the most import- 
ant progress made in that branch in his time. 

So systematically did Mr. Russ plan his undertakings, and so thoroughly 
were his plans blocked out, that many of them were practically self-operating 
for years to come, and thus the estate remains intact to the present. The 
importance of this one estate, in relation to the welfare of the community 
may be estimated from the single fact that three hundred men, on an average, 
are given employment in the conduct and management of its numerous 
activities. 

Mr. Russ used the great influence he acquired as a trust from his fellow 
citizens. He could realize that the men who commanded means could also 
command power, and he felt it his duty to see that that power was not abused. 
So along with his private responsibilities he shouldered the burdens of the 
community in which he had cast his lot, and he never betrayed the confidence 
reposed in him. He took a leading part in politics simply because he under- 
stood the needs of his county and was in a position to do effective work to 
satisfy them. It was his belief that business men should participate in public 
afi^airs, giving the benefit of their ability and experience in directing govern- 
ment into the best channels. So when he was nominated for the office of 
state senator at the Republican convention in 1875 he accepted from a sense of 
obligation. He was defeated by a small majority, but met with better success 
in 1877, going into office with a flattering vote. In 1885 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the lower house of the state legislature, and was a member of that body 
at the time of his death, October 8, 1886. He always took a deep interest in 
the success of his party, and had served in 1880 as a delegate from Cali- 
fornia to the national Republican convention, which met in Chicago that year. 

Mr. Russ's contribution to educational facilities in his adopted state de- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 447 

serves special mention. He had all the veneration of the typical New Eng- 
lander for institutions of learning, and during his service in the legislature 
worked faithfully to secure adequate appropriations for the public schools and 
other causes which he considered of similar importance. He was one of the 
principal stockholders in the Humboldt Seminary at Eureka, and always 
maintained a personal interest in its well-being, giving generously to support 
its enterprises and broaden its work. A public school building in San Diego, 
Cal., bears his name as a mark of gratitude for his liberality, he having 
donated the lumber necessary for its construction. His reputation for giving 
without stint was so generally believed in that it was said he never refused 
assistance to any worthy cause. His means were also extensively employed 
in benevolent enterprises, and invariably without ostentation or self-right- 
eousness of spirit. They were acquired so honorably that no recipient needed 
to have any qualms about tainted wealth. 

On December 17, 1854, Mr. Russ was married to Zipporah Patrick, who 
still survives, residing at the old home near Ferndale, the place being known 
as Fern Cottage. She was born in Wyoming county. Pa., daughter of Nehe- 
miah Patrick, like her husband a notable pioneer settler of Humboldt county. 
He came to California over the plains in 1852, and settled in this county the 
year following. Thirteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Russ, viz. : 
Edward died in infancy ; James B. is deceased ; Mary E. married James T. 
.Robarts and both are deceased ; M'argaret C. married Rev. Philip Coombe, 
of San Francisco ; Ira A. is a resident of Eureka; Annie J. married B. F. Har- 
ville, of San Francisco ; William N. is a resident of Eureka ; Georgia married 
Frank G. Williams, of Ferndale ; Edythe J., wife of H. D. Cormick, of San 
Francisco ; Bertha is at home ; Joseph, Jr., is a resident of Ferndale ; Winifred 
Estelle and Zipporah are deceased. 

ANDREW S. WALDNER.— The Western Hotel of Eureka, of which 
Mr. Waldner is proprietor, deservedly occupies a high place in the estima- 
tion of the traveling public and has become a favorite stopping-place for 
people of all classes. The location of the building is on the corner of First 
and D streets and furnishes every facility for the prompt accommodation of 
travelers and is one of the largest and most popular hotels in Eureka. The 
hotel maintains ninety-seven guest rooms, neatly furnished and provided 
with modern conveniences, and brings its proprietor an excellent return upon 
his investment. 

The country of Sweden has presented to the United States some of its 
ablest citizens, who have figured prominently in both political and com- 
mercial fields, as well as in all fields of labor requiring tact, keen perceptive 
ability and industry. Andrew S. Waldner is one of her sons, having been born 
at Muelby, Oestergoetland, September 13, 1861. His parents were Magnus 
and Mathilda Swanson Waldner. The father served in the Swedish army and 
his name of Swanson was changed by the government to Waldner, a name 
his family adopted. The father, who by trade was a stone-cutter and mason, 
invested in a small farm in Sweden which he cultivated with success, thus 
making it possible to give his children a good education. Andrew Waldner 
was the youngest of a family of ten children, five of whom are living. He was 
born September 13, 1861, and continued to remain with his parents in Sweden 
until eighteen years of age. On his arrival in the United States he remained 
for a short time at Greenport, N. Y. Thus forced to begin life for himself, he 



448 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

moved to Indiana and was fortunate in securing employment in the bridge 
building department of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railway Company. 
He remained for twelve years with this company, building bridges in differ- 
ent parts of Indiana and Illinois. While thus engaged he was married in 
Attica, Ind., to Miss Amanda Tolv, a native of the Hoosier state. About this 
time he quit bridge-building and took charge of the branch of the Standard 
Oil Co., at Attica, in which he continued over seven years. 

In May, 1891, Mr. Waldner arrived in Humboldt county and followed 
his trade of carpentering at Eureka until October of the same year, when 
he became proprietor of the Fields Landing Hotel. It was but a short time 
until he became conversant with all departments of the hotel business, 
enlarging the building and making improvements from time to time. In 
November, 1913, Mr. Waldner leased the Fields Landing Hotel, in the mean- 
time having purchased the furnishings of the Western Hotel in Eureka from 
the Otto Petersen estate, and of which he assumed the immediate manage- 
ment. Experience has qualified him for this business, of which he has made a 
decided success. The entire aspect of the hotel proves that the proprietor is 
the possessor of original ideas and wise business judgment, enabling him to 
give his customers and guests the best possible service. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Waldner have been born three children, two of whom 
are living : Elmer- is a graduate of Queen's University in Canada and is at 
present manager of the Top Light & Shade Company, Oakland, Cal. ; Marie, 
Mrs. Bryan, resides at Portola, Cal. In political views Mr. Waldner adheres 
to Republican principles, while fraternally he holds membership with Eureka 
Aerie No. 130, F. O. E. 

GEORGE HENRY COX.— Among the bright and active young business 
men of Bridgeville whose splendid energy and modern methods have con- 
tributed not a little to the rapid growth of the community, is George Henry 
Cox, junior member of the firm of Henry Cox & Son, general merchants. 
Since embarking in this business they have built up a good trade among the 
people of the locality who soon came to appreciate their fair business dealings 
and reliability as merchants. Like many others who have helped to develop 
this part of the state, Henry Cox was born in New Brunswick, coming to- 
California thirty-nine years ago and locating in Humboldt county. For a 
number of years he worked as a woodsman, but by frugality and well-directed 
energies, soon acquired property and a place among the well-to-do men of the 
community, among whom he has an enviable reputation, tested during the 
passing of many years. He was married to Miss Maria Jane Coffron, a native 
of Maine, who came with her uncle, Ellis Coffron, to Humboldt county in 
1877. They occupy a comfortable home at Bridgeville and richl)^ deserve 
their success and the good will of their associates. Their sons and daughters 
are: Clara B., the wife of Robert L. Thomas, a civil engineer, residing in 
San Francisco; Minnie, Mrs. Charles Griesbach, of Bridgeville; G. Henry, 
the third in order of birth; Gertie, now Mrs. Martin Crogan, farming at 
Larabee ; Clarence W., who makes his home in Bridgeville ; Anita and Harold, 
attending school in this place. 

G. H. Cox was born January 4, 1889, at Bayside, this county, and con- 
tinued to reside at home until thirteen years of age, when, thrown upon his 
own resources, he went to Eureka and obtained employment with the Gil- 
lette Tea, Coffee & Spice Co. His next position was with the Daly Bros. 




-^. <^ '^^^^^^O^^^^^L^l^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 451 

Arcade dry goods house, where his innate courtesy and desire to please made 
him invaluable to his employers, with whom he remained for two years. The 
following two years he spent with the Pacific Oak Extract Co. at Briceland. 
Having but scant educational opportunities in his youth, later application 
remedied the earlier deficiencies in schooling, and, being ambitious to fit 
himself for a business career, he entered the Eureka Business College, gradu- 
ating from its commercial department in 1908. Whatever of success he has 
attained is therefore attributable to his natural and mental qualifications and a 
determination to prosper. He was married to Miss Jessie, daughter of John 
H. Felt, a pioneer of Cuddeback, this county, in 1910, and they made their 
home at Hydesville, where Mr. Cox was employed as book-keeper in the 
general merchandise store of Frank W. Beckwith, until taking up their resi- 
dence in Bridgeville, where, in June, 1912, the present partnership of Henry 
Cox & Son was formed. 

GUSTAV ALFRED WALDNER.— Through substantial traits of 
character embracing intelligence, industry and great perseverance Mr. Wald- 
ner, a native of Ostergotland,' Sweden, and a resident of Humboldt county 
from his arrival at Eureka during 1878 until his death, February 21, 1913, 
was able to gain for himself financial prosperity and that which is yet more 
to be desired, the respect of associates and the deepest esteem of intimate 
friends. Different lines of labor engaged his attention from the time of his 
arrival in California. Like the average Scandinavian boy he had been taught 
to be useful and was expected to contribute to his own support as soon as 
physically able to perform any kind of manual work. The most important 
part of his education had been his industrial training and it laid the founda- 
tion of the ultimate prosperity to which he attained. For a number of years 
he owned and operated the Western hotel at Eureka. Another early enter- 
prise in this city was the carrying on of a fish business, while his earliest 
means of self-support here was through work in the redwoods. 

The development of land was made a matter of importance to Mr. Wald- 
ner, who, with the most unbounded faith in the rise of values in Humboldt 
county, bought and improved a tract of forty-five acres on the Eel river, built 
a house on the farm and later sold out at a fair advance. During the fall 
of 1910 the AValdner Fruit and Land Company, of which he was president, 
bought four thousand acres of raw land near Fort Seward, but on the other 
side of the river. At the time of his death he was deeply interested in the 
development of this vast tract, which he had started to plant into fruit of 
different kinds with the intention of selling out in tracts of twenty or forty 
acres to the small farmer desiring a safe investment with ideal home environ- 
ment. The land is rich and well adapted to fruit, hence his plans for its 
development will' in all probability be carried to a successful issue. The 
Humboldt County Fruit Growers' Association was organized largely through 
his efforts and he continued one of its leaders until his death. Through his 
marriage to Tillie Anderson, a native of Kalmastan, Sweden, he became the 
father of five children, Clarence E., Clara V., George A., Genevieve and Glenn 
A. Always active in civic and county affairs, he served for two terms as a 
member of the Eureka city council and used his influence to promote worthy 
movements for local development and welfare. His fraternities were the 
Foresters, Eagles, the lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows, and the 
Pioneer Odd Fellows, and with his wife was a member of the Centennial 



452 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Lodge of Rebekahs. Mrs. Waldner passed the chairs twice. It is the united 
testimony of those who knew Mr. Waldner that his course in life was such 
as to reflect credit upon the citizenship of Eureka, and when he passed away 
the simple but impressive last service, the flowers and the silent sympathy 
of old neighbors and friends indicated the affectionate regard in which he 
was held. 

HON. JOHN W. McCLELLAN.— Not alone through the interesting fact 
that he is the son of Hugh McClellan, until his decease one of the most promi- 
nent and influential men of the county, but also by reason of his own intimate 
identification with public affairs and his own successful incumbency of the 
office of state legislator, which he filled for two consecutive terms, is Mr. 
John A'V. McClellan, one of the distinguished men of the county and state. 
His political career practically dates from 1906, at which time he became the 
Republican nominee for assemblyman, being elected in 1906 and 1908, and 
serving during the sessions of 1907 to 1909, including the extra sessions. 
So thoroughly worthy has been his political life, and so ably has he discharged 
his numerous responsibilities on behalf of the people, that he has made friends 
even among the opposite party, who readily accord him the homage due a 
conscientious and painstaking servant. He was chosen by his colleagues as 
chairman of the live stock, dairy and dairy products committee, and other- 
wise rendered his constituents valuable service on the other committees of 
the assembly ; among them, the ways and means committee. 

To Hugh W. McClellan belonged the distinction of being one of the 
earliest residents of Van Dusen township, as well as one of its most extensive 
landowners. Innumerable landmarks in the community bespeak the far-sight- 
edness and enterprise of this honored pioneer, who recognized in the advan- 
tages of soil, climate and situation, splendid opportunities for the fulfilling of 
large ambitions and for the leading of peaceful, contented and successful lives. 
At the time of his decease, December 31, 1911, he was the owner of a vast 
estate, numbering twelve thousand acres, which he devoted to the raising 
of sheep. 

The record of the McClellan family in America is traced back to the 
seventeenth century when its first representative crossed the untried waters 
of the Atlantic, settling in Maine. A descendant of this immigrant later went 
to Massachusetts, where Hugh McClellan was born near Deerfield. Gold 
having been discovered in California, which was to prove the talisman to 
draw thousands of emigrants to this state, the father decided to try his for- 
tunes in the west, and came, in 1852, via the Isthmus, settling first at Crescent 
City, Del Norte county. Few people had as yet been attracted to the bound- 
less west and few also realized its matchless possibilities of production as did 
young McClellan, who was engaged for a time after coming here in operating 
a pack train to and from the mines of Del Norte county, to southern Oregon 
mines and points in Idaho. Abandoning the mines in 1867, he came to Hum- 
boldt county and in Van Dusen township took up a claim, erecting thereon a 
cabin which is still standing. Ten years later this rude structure gave wa}^ to 
a more commodious and comfortable home, built of logs, which is now one of 
the landmarks of this locality. Possessing traits that enabled him to sur- 
mount all obstacles, he added to his landed possessions from time to time 
until at his death he was the owner of a large estate, which he devoted to 
stock-raising. AVhen this property came into the possession of J. W., how- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 453 

ever, he, in 1914, disposed of the sheep which he found to be no longer profit- 
able on account of the devastation of his flock by the coyotes, and engaged in 
raising Hereford and Durham cattle for the market. He was married in 
Ferndale, in 1905, being united with Miss Lucy, the daughter of Dr. William 
H. Michel. She is a native daughter of Mendocino county. They occupy a 
handsome residence on the home place, which indeed has no superior in this 
beautiful locality. Mr. McClellan is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, 
B. P. O. E., and of Humboldt Parlor, N. S. G. W. 

FRANK ALBERT WECK was born in Milan, Italy, on the 5th day of 
September, 1843, the son of Carl Week, who died soon afterward, when Carl, 
the youngest child, was one year old. His mother with her four 
children moved to Switzerland, and four years later emigrated to America, 
locating first in Galena, 111., and later in Iowa. There the son commenced 
the study of pharmacy and the drug business in general, a line in the pursuit 
of which he won for himself considerable credit and wealth. By the Panama 
route he came to California in 1858, landing at San Francisco, and from that 
city went at once to Uniontown (now Areata) making the trip on the bark 
Ouada Bell with Captain Ross, where he completed his studies as a drug- 
gist in a drug store, then owned by Dr. F. Damour. About four years later 
he took a position as manager of a drug store in Eureka owned by Jam_es 
M. Cox, but known as the James Davis drug store, which he later purchased 
in partnership with James M. Short. The business prospered and eventually 
he bought out his partner's interest, but still later he sold an interest to S. A. 
Vance. This partnership proved entirely satisfactory, but on account 
of Mr. Vance's ill health, and wanting to take charge of his father's office, Mr. 
Week purchased the Vance interest in the business and continued to conduct 
it alone until he sold out to his son-in-law, C. R. Fitzell, who had been 
in his employ for a number of years. 

Mr. Week was for many years so closely associated with the life and 
development of Humboldt county that its history would be in no wise com- 
plete without a record of the part he played here in an early day. It is also 
a fact of which the county is justly proud that Mr. Week has never lost his 
affection for the locality that was first his home when he came a stranger to 
the coast, and where he still has a host of warm friends and admirers, men 
who remember him for his business ability and for his political sagacity in 
the days when he was helping to shape the destinies not alone of his home 
city but had his hand on the helm in affairs of the state as well. 

In addition to his continuous interest in the drug business up to this 
time, Mr. Week possessed other interests of a widely varying nature, each and 
all of which he conducted with a skill and ability far beyond the average. 
As was but natural with one whose faith in the future of Humboldt county, 
and of Eureka in particular, has been a constant flame illumining all his 
thought and conduct, Mr. Week invested in real estate, doing this with such 
wisdom and foresight that his holdings have constantly increased in value. 
He erected the Week block on F and Third streets, Eureka, and still retains 
title to this property. Week's addition to the city of Eureka of one hundred 
and ten acres was also owned by him, this property having been purchased 
when it was a wilderness of brush and trees, and later cleared, developed, 
platted, improved and sold off in town lots. Another of his ventures was the 



454 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

purchase of a three-acre tract on E and Clark streets, which he Hkewise sub- 
divided and sold in lots. 

Yet another unique occupation of this interesting man was the gathering 
of medicinal plants and herbs, from which various medicines are compounded. 
These he cured and sold to the several local markets, and for a considerable 
time exported many to foreign markets. As a phase of this work which is of 
especial interest may be mentioned the fact that he had a complete collection , 
of these native herbs mounted and framed, and presented a set of forty of 
these to the College of Pharmacy, University of California, and at the same 
time delivered lectures covering his work and discoveries along this line to the 
student body of the college. 

His long residence in Eureka and San Francisco has given Mr. Week 
a wide range of acquaintances, among whom are many celebrities, past and 
present. Of these, one for whom Mr. Week probably holds dearest memories 
is Frank Bret Harte, with whom he was on terms of closest intimacy. While 
Harte was employed on The Northern Californian, the pioneer newspaper of 
the Bay region, Mr. Week did relief work for him on urgent occasions. Their 
work threw them much together, while a multitude of common interests and 
tastes cemented the friendship. 

Political activity has ever contained a keen fascination for Mr. Week, 
both by reason of civic pride and patriotism, because he highly appreciates 
his duties as a citizen, and because his splendid mind delights in the "game" 
and its playing. He has been prominent in the affairs of his party for many 
years, and at one time was often spoken of as a candidate for various county 
and city offices. He was chairman of the Republican county central com- 
mittee of Humboldt county when Garfield was nominated for president, 
and also president of the local Republican club at Eureka at the same time. 
He served several terms as city treasurer of Eureka and as deputy county 
treasurer, always with the greatest satisfaction to his constituency and to the 
people in general. He was also a member of the first city council, and it 
was during his term that Eureka became a city. 

During his residence in Eureka Mr. AVeck became very intimately identi- 
fied with the fraternal life of the city and county, and this association has not 
been broken, although for more than thirty years he has been almost con- 
tinuously a resident of San Francisco. He is a frequent visitor in Eureka, 
where he still retains valuable real estate interests, and in this way has been 
able to keep alive his active membership in the several organizations with 
which he is connected. Hq was instrumental in getting the first Rebekah 
Lodge, L O. O. F., organized under state charter (Centennial Rebekah Lodge 
No. 100). He holds membership in Fortuna Lodge No. 221, L O. O. F., which 
he joined over forty years ago; also Mt. Zion Encampment No. 27, L O. O. F., 
and is a charter member of Lincoln Lodge No. 34, K. of P. In the Grand 
Encampment of Odd Fellows he holds the position of grand trustee, to which 
he has been elected annually for thirty years and is also a past presi- 
dent of the Veteran Odd Fellows Association of California. He is also a 
prominent member of the Elks, being identified with the Berkeley lodge. 
Another link which binds him to Eureka with ties of lasting strength is his 
membership in the Pioneer Association of Eureka, and his keen interest in the 
affairs of the organization. He is also the secretary of the Humboldt County 
Association of San Francisco. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 455 

While he was yet a resident of Eureka Mr. Week was married to Miss 
Laura M. Keleher, who came to Humboldt county in 1857 and taught for a 
number of years in the public schools, first at Hydesville and later at Ferndale 
and Eureka. Mrs. Week, who is a woman of culture and ability, is the mother 
of four children, three daughters and a son; of these the eldest, Mrs. C. R. 
Fitzell, now resides in Eureka ; Mrs. Lincoln Fitzell is a resident of Mokelurane 
Hill, Calaveras county, Cal. ; the son, Charles A. Week, a graduate of the Uni- 
versity of California, is superintendent of a large mining proposition at Mason, 
Nev. ; the youngest daughter, Mrs. H. L. Fales, makes her home in Montana. 

In San Francisco, where Mr. Week has made his home for so many years, 
he is quite as well and favorably known as he is in Humboldt county, and in 
political and fraternal circles throughout the entire Bay district he is popular 
as well as a prominent factor. His activities have been wide, and his wonder- 
ful mind has grasped at a thousand opportunities, where a less resourceful man 
would have seen nothing. He is broad minded, progressive and capable, and 
is in every respect the type of man of which any state or municipality may 
well feel proud to claim as her own. 

On taking up his residence in San Francisco Mr. A'Veck formed a co- 
partnership with Mr. C. C. Blakeslee, and under the firm title of Blakeslee & 
Week established a manufacturing pharmacy and wholesale drug business. 
Their goods found a ready market over the entire Pacific slope. Some five 
years later Mr. Week was compelled to take control and assume all the 
responsibility on account of Mr. Blakeslee's ill health and retirement. The 
business was thus continued in connection with the collecting and marketing 
of the medicinal plants of the Pacific coast, for which a demand had been 
created in the eastern and foreign markets. 

In 1891 the F. A. Week Company was incorporated with a capital stock 
of $100,000, Mr. Week becoming president of the corporation. This venture 
was not a success and after three years the company disincorporated, leaving 
Mr. Week to assume the responsibilities. However, the business was con- 
tinued by Mr. Week until April, 1906, when the earthquake and fire destroyed 
and consumed the entire plant, including all books and papers, thus making 
the loss ver)^ heavy, for he was unable to collect on outstanding accounts. 
Nevertheless all obligations were promptly paid in full and no one was injured 
by i\Ir. AA^eck's misfortune. 

On September 5, 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Week celebrated the fiftieth anni- 
versary of their marriage, this day also being the seventy-third anniversary 
of Mr. Week's birth. The occasion was one long to be remembered by the 
guests, including relatives and friends to the number of three hundred. 

HUMBOLDT COOPERAGE CO.— Established in 1903 on a small scale 
with a capacity of from twelve to fifteen thousand feet every ten hours, by 
subsequent steady growth the Humboldt Cooperage Company has increased 
to a capacity of fifty thousand feet and furnishes employment to one hundred 
and fifteen persons in the factory besides twenty-five men in the woods. Seven 
miles east of the main plant in Areata is located the stave bolt plant. After 
the logs have been brought to the landing, the drag saw cuts them into 
proper bolt lengths, and they are then loaded on cars and brought over the 
company's tracks to Essex, thence by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad to 
the Areata plant, where they are sawed into staves and heading. From the 
spruce and fir are manufactured staves that are shipped to San Francisco 



456 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and there put together into barrels intended for all purposes — containers 
for liquid and dry products such as oils, asphaltum, sugar, butter, fish and 
fruit, and into pails for candy and other articles. The field of operation is 
being enlarged through efifective salesmanship, the firm having an able repre- 
sentative in Henry Koster, through whom arrangements are being made to 
ship the products to the Orient. 

From the beginning there has been a steady improvement in the plant 
at Areata. It has been the aim of the management to keep in touch with 
every modern facility for the increasing of the output and the reducing of the 
expense of manufacture. An electric power system has been installed and 
modern machinery of original design introduced to render efficient and effect- 
ive the output of the factory. There are not wanting many who insist that, 
without a single exception, this is the best equipped plant of its kind in the 
United States. Much of the credit for the individually efficient and mechan- 
ically modern cooperage with electric drive throughout and the best facil- 
ities of the century in every department, may be given to the vice-president 
and general manager, Julius J. Krohn, a native son born in what is now 
Madera county, Cal. Before coming to Areata he was associated with the 
California Barrel Company of San Francisco and thus gained a wide and 
valuable experience in the line of cooperage. In addition to the business, 
which he manages with keen intelligence and sagacious judgment, he is 
aiding in the material upbuilding of Humboldt county through personal 
efforts neither few nor small and as a member of the Flumboldt Promotion and 
Development Committee and Chamber of Commerce of Areata, as well as 
Humboldt Chamber of Commerce of Eureka, occupying a place of recognized 
importance among the public-spirited men seeking the development of local 
resources. Associated with him in the financial guidance of the growing 
business are the following gentlemen : C. L. Koster, president ; W. B. Sweet, 
secretary ; H. A. Koster, Gen. John A. Koster, F. J. Koster and J. H. Day, 
constituting with the officers the directorate of the concern. Throughout this 
section of the state the corporation has gained a reputation for reliability in 
business transactions, breadth of commercial vision and tact in dealing with 
customers, employes and other business concerns of the state, and the solid 
reputation already established may be regarded as prophetic of future growth 
and continued development. 

FRANKLIN T. GEORGESON.— The people of Eureka recognize with 
satisfaction and not a 'little local pride that, in the decision of Mr. Georgeson 
to engage in the practice of architectural engineering at this place, they have 
regained to citizenship a native of Humboldt county, whose course of study 
in metropolitan environment afforded him exceptional advantages and whose 
initial experiences in designing and drafting have indicated the possession of 
talent developed beyond a suspicion of mediocrity. Although his prominence 
in the line of his specialty has made him best known in the cities bordering 
San Francisco bay, he is becoming known here through professional acumen 
as well as through the fact that he is the eldest son of former mayor Fred AV. 
Georgeson and a grandson of the late J. F. Thompson. From his earliest 
memories he has been familiar with Humboldt county. Here his early train- 
ing was received and it was not until after he was graduated from the Eureka 
High school with the class of 1906 that he left his native locality with the 
intention of taking up special studies. It had been his ambition from early 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 457 

boyhood to acquire a knowledge of architecture, for the designing of build- 
ings and the drawing of plans fascinated him in no small degree. 

From the fall of 1906 until the spring of 1910 Mr. Georgeson was a stu- 
dent in the department of architecture, University of California, and he was 
so thorough in his studies and so intelligent in grasping professional techni- 
calities that he was graduated with honors. At the same time the degree of 
Bachelor of Science in Architecture was conferred upon him. Upon the 
completion of the regular course of four years he remained at the university 
for six months of post-graduate work. Meanwhile he had devoted his sum- 
mer vacations to commercial work in the offices of various architects in the 
bay cities. Often during the university terms he aided in offices of promi- 
nent architects and thereby gained practical and profitable experience in his 
profession. Upon the completion of his post-graduate course he engaged in 
special work on eastern competition drawings, making Los Angeles his 
headquarters during the time. Returning to San Francisco, he entered the 
office of Walter H. Parker, famous through his schoolhouse designs, and at 
one time engaged as a designer with the great firm of Daniel H. Burnham & 
Co., of Chicago and New York. To Mr. Parker is to be given the credit for the 
architectural beauty of the San Jose State Normal School and the Belmont 
Military Academy. Many other public buildings are monuments to his taste 
and ability. During the period of his connection with the ofhce Mr. George- 
son aided in designing the Northern California Bank of Savings at Marys- 
ville, the Citizens' Bank of Winters and the Princeton Union high school. 
Two large competitions also engaged his attention, namely : the Washington 
state capitol at Olympia and the San Francisco city hall. The originality of 
his work attracted the attention of officials of the Panama-Pacific Interna- 
tional Exposition Company and they retained him to make the permanent 
drawings for the harbor view site and the Presidio reservation, besides giving 
into his charge the responsible task of checking up the work of the parties 
in the field. 

With these varied tasks, all giving promise of larger achievements in 
the future, Franklin Thompson Georgeson never allowed himself to forget 
Humboldt county or Eureka, the city where he was reared, although he was 
born in San Francisco February 24, 1889. Frequent visits kept alive his 
affection for the dear old associations and when it became possible for him 
to engage in architectural work upon an independent basis he decided to 
return to Eureka. During July of 1912 he returned to Humboldt county and 
after a brief period of association with F. W. Georgeson in the management of 
the Laurel Lumber Company at Elinor he opened an office in Eureka for 
the practice of architecture. Since then he has secured the privilege of 
designing a number of local works in process of development. The design of 
the Humboldt county exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition is an original 
creation of his own and will be developed under the supervision of the Hum- 
boldt exposition commissioners, Messrs. W. S. Clark and James F. Coonan. 
The offices of Mr. Georgeson are located in the Georgeson building at the 
corner of Fourth and E streets, and there he is prepared to submit plans and 
specifications for any kind of architectural work. It is most fortunate for 
Eureka, at this opening day of a new era of local development, that there 
should have come hither for practice an architect so capable of guiding all 
future work in a noteworthy manner, making it worthy of the aspirations of 



458 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

this western port and elevating it above the architectural mediocrity de- 
pressingly noticeable in many towns. One of the best-built cities in America 
credits its architectural supremacy to the genius of one man, and it is the 
belief that Eureka, in its formative period, may be made architecturally beau- 
tiful through the talented guidance of local architects, the impress of whose 
personality and artistic tastes will be left upon the generation in which 
they live. 

CHRISTIAN N. JENSEN.— As one of the most important ports on the 
northern California coast Eureka is a thriving trade center, the numerotis 
vessels which put in there buying supplies which add considerably to the 
income of the local merchants. One of the enterprises fostered to a large 
extent by the patronage of the vesselmen is the wholesale and retail establish- 
ment of Christian N. Jensen. Mr. Jensen's success in his present line is a 
refutation of the old saying, "Once at sea, always a salt," for in his early 
years he spent a number of years at sea. The experience was a valuable 
preparation for the business to which he now gives his attention, for he caters 
especially to the ship trade, and his thorough understanding of its require- 
ments has made him popular with a number of captains and stewards of 
boats calling at this port. He also commands a good share of the trade in 
the city and vicinity. Though he has not been a resident of Eureka for many 
years he has long been familiar with its attractions, having first visited the 
city over thirty years ago, as a sailor. 

Mr. Jensen was born in Thisted, on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark, 
June 5, 1862, and his father, Capt. Jens Petersen, was a captain, following 
the sea for thirty-six years. For twenty years he was sailing master for the 
father of the late H. D. Bendixsen, shipbuilder at Eureka, who was ship- 
owner and capitalist at the birthplace of Christian N. Jensen. He lived to 
the age of seventy-five, and his wife, Petrina Petersen, outlived him, dying 
two years later at the old home in Denmark. They had two sons and two 
daughters : Peter, a resident of Aalborg, Denmark, was a steamship captain 
until his retirement, on February 1, 1914; Marie, Mrs. Jensen, died in San 
Francisco, leaving two children ; Christian N. is mentioned below ; Nicoline is 
the wife of Capt. L. Hanson, of Alameda, Cal. 

Christian N. Jensen spent his childhood in Denmark, attended the pub- 
lic schools, and was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. All his environment 
strengthened his inherited taste for the sea. When thirteen and a half years 
old he became a hand'before the mast on a Danish sailing vessel, and during 
the sixteen years that he followed the sea he sailed under seven different 
flags. In 1881 he came around Cape Horn on the Chilean barque Pondecherry 
from Shields, England, to Valparaiso, where he spent two years in mining 
and in the navy of Chili, serving on the El Vaco, a man-of-war, in the bom- 
barding of Callao, where he was wounded. In 1883 he came to San Francisco, 
and from there he sailed in the coasting trade as well as in the trans- 
Pacific trade, becoming mate on vessels. For some time he was 'in the em- 
ploy of the Whitelaw Wrecking Company as professional diver. After these 
years of activity on the high seas he determined to become a landsman and 
sought work accordingly, with the result that for twelve years he was in 
the employ of J. Boyes & Co., butchers and produce commission men of 
San Francisco. Thirty-one 3rears ago he had made his first visit to Eureka, 
but it was not until 1904 that he came here to make his permanent home. In 




(^ji, j^jU'^P^ 



HISTORY -OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 461 

that year he established himself in business as a merchant at the corner of 
Harris and California streets, and continued at this location until he moved 
his business across the street, where he had purchased a corner lot. In 
1911 he built a large two-story frame structure 55x110 feet in dimensions, in 
which he now has commodious quarters, but none too large for his growing 
business. He deals wholesale and retail in groceries and meats, both fresh 
and salted, and has a line of general merchandise particularly adapted to 
filling ship orders, selling to many of the foreign and tramp steamers which 
put in at Eureka. So thoroughly do his customers rely upon his honesty, and 
so trustworthy have they found him in supplying their wants, that he fre- 
quently receives instructions to bring duplicate orders to boats he has pro- 
visioned, as soon as he can sight them. His place of business is conveniently 
situated, at the corner of California and Harris streets, overlooking the bay, 
and like a true sailor his telescope is always ready. Mr. Jensen's solid credit 
and ample capital enable him to keep well stocked with a most desirable line, 
and also to make favorable prices to his customers, who thus find many 
advantages in dealing with him. His store is large and nicely arranged, with 
a place for everything, and all kept in sanitary condition, invitingly clean. 
The remarkable prosperity of the business has been the logical outcome of 
his strict attention to its details and personal supervision, and in this he has 
the able assistance of his wife, who keeps the books and is competent to take 
care of almost any part of the establishment ; her assistance has been inval- 
uable, and Mr. Jensen gives her credit for a full share of his success. Though 
he has lived a strenuous life hard work does not seem to have affected his 
strength or ambition harmfully, and his upright character has been unspoiled 
by his contact with all manner and classes of people. 

In San Francisco, on August 20, 1890, Mr. Jensen was united in marriage 
with Miss Anna C. Seemann, a native of Grenaae, Jutland, Denmark, but of 
German parentage. Mr. Jensen was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 
79, F. & A. j\I. He has shown his interest in the welfare of Eureka by 
joining the chamber of commerce, in whose activities he has taken a helpful 
part. 

JAMES MAHAN. — The force of quiet, persistent industry is seen in 
the life of James Mahan, a pioneer of 1866 in Humboldt county and one of 
the very earliest settlers in the then wilderness at Blue Lake, where after 
twenty-five years of the most arduous work, and with the effective aid of his 
wife and children, he transformed one hundred sixty acres of heavily 
timbered land into an improved farm of considerable value. Four dates stand 
out prominently in any narrative pertaining to his life, viz. : that of his birth 
in Ireland in 1826 ; that of his marriage at Galena, 111., in 1856, to Miss Ellen 
McCormack : that of his removal to California by way of the isthmus in 1858; 
and that of his death at Eureka, Humboldt county, in 1898. Accompanied 
by his wife, who was born in Ireland in 1838 and whose tireless energy and 
capable efforts made her a most efficient helpmate, he made the long voyage 
to the far west during the pioneer era and after a little more than six years 
in the mining camps of Sierra county proceeded to Humboldt county, here to 
aid in the clearing of the wilderness and the starting of pioneer agricultural 
activities. Both he and his wife were plain, sensible, industrious and efficient. 
It was their belief that by application,, energy and honesty they could succeed 
in life, which they did. They taught their sons and daughters to work and 



462 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT. COUNTY 

attend strictly to their own business, and the children have endeavored to 
follow their early training very closely. The family have always been loyal 
to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and to the principles of the 
Democratic party. 

There were ten children in the family of James and Ellen ]\Iahan and 
eight of these are now living. William J., a farmer living on the old home- 
stead at Blue Lake, married Margaret Keating and has two sons. Annie E., 
Mrs. Daniel Mahoney, is the mother of five sons and one daughter, and lives 
on a farm near Blue Lake. James P., a member of the law firm of Mahan 
& Mahan at Eureka, married Laura Perrott, he graduated from the University 
of Michigan, class of 1905, with the degree of LL. B. Nellie T. resides with 
her mother at No. 1213 G street, Eureka. Lawrence E., a member of the law 
firm of Mahan & Mahan and also a graduate of the law department. University 
of Michigan, married Mayme Malone and has one child. Rebecca J., a school 
teacher in the Eureka schools, resides with her mother. Dr. David J. Mahan, 
a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School and the University of Cali- 
fornia, is now practicing medicine in San Francisco ; he married Meta Brown 
and has two children. Dr. Eugene F. Mahan, a graduate of the Eureka 
Business College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, is now a prac- 
ticing physician in San Francisco. 

JESSE WALKER.— Fifty-seven years ago Jesse AValker settled at his 
present location, the Sunset View ranch, about four and one-half miles north- 
west of Petrolia, in Humboldt county, and a glimpse of his beautiful "moun- 
tain home by the sea" is sufiicient to explain why he has remained there. 
However, the attractions of an ideal home have not been the only influences 
to hold him, for he has become one of the large land owners of his locality 
and for years has been extensively interested in stock-raising. His early days 
were filled with the typical adventures of those who braved the journey across 
the plains and life in the then primitive region along the Pacific coast, and 
his mature years have been blessed with the abundance which is the reward 
of his labors. More than that, he has the warm personal friendship of hun- 
dreds of his fellow citizens in Humboldt county and well deserves the regard 
which they show for him. 

The Walkers are probably of Scotch ancestry. John Walker, father of 
Jesse A'Valker, was born in North Carolina, whence he removed with his 
parents to Kentucky in boyhood, remaining in the latter state until after 
his marriage. By occupation he was a farmer, and he became a breeder of fine 
horses and familiar with stock-raising, gaining experience which qualified 
him for his later years in the west. From Kentucky he removed to Illinois, 
becoming an early settler in Dewitt county. In the early fifties he sold out 
his interests there and brought his family out over the plains, the little party 
having its own train, two wagons drawn by eight oxen each, one two-horse 
wagon and one four-mule wagon. It was four months to a day from the 
time they left Clinton until they halted in the upper end of the Willamette 
valley, settling in the mountainous wilderness of Umpqua, Ore. This was 
in 1853, and after about four years in that region Mr. Walker moved farther 
down, into Humboldt county, Cal., buying a farm at Hydesville. We have 
the following account of his six children: (1) James, the eldest son, died 
in Illinois, leaving one son, Isam, now a resident of Eureka and interested in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 463 

ranching in Humboldt county. As his mother died before his father, Isam 
Walker accompanied his grandparents to Oregon. (2) William Pinckney 
died at Hydesville. (3) John lived in Eureka, where he died. (4) Benjamin 
F. went to Oregon, where he became a sheep rancher, and died there. He 
married a Miss Reed, and left three children : Abraham Lincoln, who is 
proprietor of a meat market at Hydesville; Sybil, who keeps house for her 
uncle, Jesse Walker; Benjamin F., a farmer in Santa Cruz county. (5) Martha 
was married in Illinois to Moses Kenna, and died there leaving one daughter, 
Laura, now Mrs. Joseph Bowles, residing in Kansas. (6) Jesse, the youngest, 
completes the family. 

Jesse Walker was born May 22, 1838, in Dewitt county. 111., near Clinton, 
and was fourteen years old when the family set out for the Pacific coast 
region. He rode a horse and drove the cattle. His schooling was all received 
before he came west, and indeed had there been schools accessible he could 
hardly have attended, as his father needed him to help with the work. Eureka 
had a good school, but by the time the family moved to this section he was 
fairly launched in his life work, being about nineteen. In 1858 he came to 
his home on the Capetown road, four and a half miles north of Petrolia, taking 
a squatter's right on one hundred and sixty acres, which he still owns. Later 
he took up an adjoining one hundred and sixty under the homestead act, 
proved up on that property and still owns it. The remainder of his twenty- 
two hundred acres has been acquired by purchase, from time to time, as 
opportunity offered and his means permitted. Of this Mr. Walker cultivates 
about twenty-five acres, the rest being in native grass and valuable pasture 
land for his herds. On an average he has two hundred fifty head of stock, 
usually marketing one hundred steers and heifers annually ; he has two 
thoroughbred Durham bulls. For his own use Mr. Walker raises some 
horses, but his attention is given principally to his cattle. He employs one 
man, looking after much of the work himself, for though past threescore and 
ten he is active and able-bodied. Business has claimed all his time prac- 
tically and public honors have not appealed to him, his interest in such 
affairs being limited to supporting good men for ofhce. 

During the Civil war, in 1863, Mr. Walker enlisted in Company A, First 
Battalion, Mountaineers of California, being mustered into service in Eureka, 
and served two years, his chief duties being to guard the white settlers 
against the Indians in Humboldt, Trinity and Klamath counties. He was 
in several skirmishes with the Indians. By virtue of this service he is a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Colonel Whipple 
Post, G. A. R., at Eureka. Politically he has been a consistent member of 
the Republican party. 

In the year 1868 Mr. Walker was married to Miss Mille E. Babcock, 
who was born in New York state, of Connecticut parentage, and grew up in 
her native place. She came to Humboldt county where she married Mr. 
Walker.' She died here in 1907. He still continues to occupy the beautiful 
farm residence which he erected twelve years ago and which is ideally located 
in the mountains, overlooking the Pacific ocean, giving it the name "Sunset 
View Ranch," the situation being chosen for its romantic charm and whole- 
some natural surroundings. Modern comforts supplement the other attrac- 
tions, the house being provided with all the conveniences which up-to-date 



464 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

architecture employs so well, and the home and its environs suggest taste 
and appreciation of the fine art of living. Air. W'alker's niece, Miss Sybil 
Walker, has kept house for him for some time, providing the cheer of a true 
home atmosphere by her agreeable presence and thought for his comfort. 

GEORGE WALKER COOK.— The name of Cook will have a permanent 
place in the story of the development of that part of Humboldt county lying 
around Petrolia, where the late Charles S. Cook settled back in the fifties. 
He did his share in advancing progress in his day, and now his two sons 
are upholding the worth of the name, having large interests in land and 
stock and taking their place among the most valuable citizens of the locality. 
The younger, George Walker Cook, is one of the largest stock-raisers in the 
county, operating over four thousand acres of range land and keeping several 
hundred head of cattle the year round. 

Charles Sage Cook was born in New York state, but the family moving 
to Ohio and Michigan his boyhood was spent principally in the latter state. 
When a youth he began railroad work there, and was acting as engineer on 
a freight train, probably on the Michigan Southern road, when a collision 
made him decide upon a change of occupation. He went west to St. Joseph, 
Mo., whence, in 1852, he came across the plains to Oregon, riding a mule all the 
way. After working there for a time he drifted down into the Rogue river 
country, following mining at Althouse and Sailor Diggings, and finally into 
Humboldt county, Cal., in 1854-55. He operated a pack train from Centerville, 
Humboldt county, on the Pacific coast, to Petrolia in the early days," having 
from fifteen to twenty mules, and was engaged principally in that line for 
several years, eventually, however, becoming interested in land and stock. 
He acquired possession of two expensive stock ranches, the one where his 
son Levant now lives, a tract of eight hundred ninety acres, which has been 
occupied continuously since Mr. Cook took it up, and another of seven 
hundred fifteen acres owned and cultivated by his other son, George AValker 
Cook. Charles S. Cook died on his home ranch. May 5, 1898, when sixty- 
eight years old. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann (Walker) 
Cook, who died January 18, 1906, when eighty years old. She was born at 
Clinton, in Dewitt county. 111., daughter of John Walker, of Hydesville, who 
settled in Humboldt county in pioneer times. Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Cook 
were married at Hydesville, and two sons were born to them. 

George Walker Cook was born September 16, 1863, in Humboldt county, 
and began his education in the local public schools, later taking a com- 
mercial course at Heald's business college in San Francisco, which he com- 
pleted in 1884. Returning to his home county he took charge of the part of 
his father's land which he now owns, and he has also bought many acres 
more, at present having eighteen hundred acres in his own name, besides 
which he rents twenty-six hundred acres. He is engaged in breeding high- 
grade Herefords, and keeps between four hundred and five hundred head, 
turning off from one hundred to one hundred fifty steers and heifers an- 
nually. Though thoroughly attentive to his business interests Mr. Cook is 
not unmindful of public duties or indifTerent to social conditions in his 
neighborhood, and his loyal support of all things which make for the better- 
ment of the community has been an appreciable influence for good. Personally 
he has a character consistent with the name he bears and the respect of all 
his associates. At present he is serving as trustee of his school district. 




^\M-a^ -XJ-MI/ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 467 

Politically he is a Republican, and socially he is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias, belonging to the council at Petrolia, where he has passed all the 
chairs. 

In 1899 Mr. Cook was married to Mrs. Clara A. (Conklin) Johnston, 
who grew up in Pretolia. By her first marriage, to Frank Johnston, a member 
of a pioneer family of this county, she has one child, Alvin. She is a member 
of the Episcopal Church at Pretolia. Mr. and Mrs. Cook live three and a half 
miles north of Petrolia, on the Capetown road. 

Moses John Conklin, father of Mrs. George \V. Cook, was born in New 
York, and was a distant relative of the famous Roscoe Conkling. Coming to 
California in 1852, he engaged in the hotel business at Sacramento, where 
he married Miss Margaret Chambers, a native of Ireland. After several years 
of hotel keeping he removed up to Humboldt county, settling south of 
Petrolia. He brought his family, and his wife was the first white woman to 
enter the region south of Cape Mendocino in Humboldt county. They 
brought the first wagon down south of that point, and at Devil's Gate rock, 
this side of the "Ocean House," they had to draw it up by means of ropes 
and let it down the same way. Mr. Conklin engaged in farming and stock- 
raising, and was not only an active business man, but energetic in the 
administration of public affairs, serving as assessor, justice of the peace, 
notary public, etc. He lived to be over fifty years of age, his wife dying 
when forty-seven years old. Nine children were born to them, namely : 
Alonzo died when two years old; Clara A. is the wife of George W. Cook; 
Emma A. became the wife of Thomas Kennedy, now of Blaine, Wash., and 
died leaving three children, all of whom are at Blaine ; Adeline died unmar- 
ried ; Lillie, unmarried, resides at Oakland, Cal. ; Ella, twin of Lillie, died 
when twelve years old ; Maggie is the wife of AVilliam A¥icks, a stockman, of 
Petrolia; John, twin of Maggie, lives with Mr. and Mrs. Cook; ]\Iartha died 
unmarried. 

LEVANT COOK.— The sons of the late Charles Sage Cook are now 
among the most prosperous agriculturists in the region lying north of Petrolia 
along the Capetown road, Levant Cook owning his father's old homestead 
place of eight hundred ninety acres. It haS' been 'occupied continuously since 
the elder Mr. Cook took it up, fifty years or more ago, and the work of 
improvement has been carried forward steadily, though the land is devoted 
principally to stock raising, in which line Levant Cook has his principal 
interests. 

Charles S. Cook was born in New York state, but the family moving to 
Ohio and Michigan his boyhood was spent principally in the latter state. 
When a youth he began railroad work there, and was acting as engineer on 
a freight train, probably on the Michigan Southern road, when a collision 
made him decide upon a change of occupation. He went west to St. Joseph, 
Mo., and from there came across the plains to Oregon, riding a mule all the 
way. This was in 1852. After working there for a time he drifted down into 
the Rogue river country, mining at x-Vlthouse and Sailor diggings, and finally, 
in 1854-55, came to Humboldt county, Cal. He ran a pack train from Center- 
ville to Petrolia in the early days, having from fifteen to twenty mules, and 
was engaged principally. in that business for several years, eventually, how- 
ever, becoming interested in land and stock. He acquired possession of two 
extensive stock ranches, the one where his son Levant now lives and another 



468 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of seven hundred fifteen acres owned and cultivated by his other son, George 
Walker Cook. Charles S. Cook died on his home ranch May 5, 1898, when 
sixty-eight years old. His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann (Walker) Cook, died 
January 18, 1906, when eighty A^ears old. She was born at Clinton, Dewitt 
county. 111., daughter of John Walker, of Hydesville, who settled in Humboldt 
county in pioneer times. Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Cook were married at 
Hydesville, and two sons were born of their union. 

Levant Cook was born June 10, 1859, in the old town of Hydesville, and 
grew up on his father's ranch two miles north of Petrolia, attending school 
at that place, and also at Ferndale, Rohnerville and Hydesville. Later he 
attended the Pacific University at San Jose. He and his wife settled on their 
present ranch, the old Cook homestead, when they were married, and have 
lived here ever since, with the exception of eight years spent on the adjoining 
ranch of the Cook estate. He is engaged profitably in the raising of beef 
cattle, keeping on an average one hundred fifty head, and for the most part 
breeds Durhams. He has been very successful in this line and in his 
general farming operations as well, and personally he is one of the most 
respected citizens in his neighborhood, a worthy son of one of the early 
fotmders of this community. Representing the best element in both paternal 
and maternal lines, he had a good heritage of substantial qualities to begin 
life with, and he has been a credit to the good name he bears in all the associa- 
tions of life. 

January 10, 1890, ]\Ir. Cook was married, at San Francisco, to Miss Ethel 
Gertrude Pomeroy, who was born near Portland, Me., at a place called 
Yarmouth. She is the daughter of Richard and Emma (Thoits) Pomeroy, 
natives of Cumberland county. Me., where they were married. The father 
was a seafaring man, employed in the transatlantic trade. In 1880 he brought 
his family to California and engaged in dairying in Marin county, Cal., and 
in Coos county. Ore. The mother died July 9, 1895, at Bandon, Ore, where 
the father is now engaged in business. Three children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Cook : Reed Pomeroy, Carroll Levant and Barrett Elton, all 
of whom make their home under the parental roof. The Cooks have a 
pleasant home and a cheerful family life, and the sons all give promise of 
developing the reliable character and qualities of capability with which the 
name has long been associated. 

Mr. Cook is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at 
Petrolia, in which he' has passed the chairs. Politically he has been a con- 
sistent member of the Republican party, with whose policies he has been in 
sympathy since old enough to vote. 

JOHN SMITH SEELY, SR.— Another of the pioneers of Humboldt 
county, and one whom his fellow citizens hold in high esteem, is John Smith 
Seely, Sr., who has been a resident of Humboldt county since 1870, and who 
during these many years has proven himself to be a man of ability and 
splendid character. He was for many years engaged in dairying and farming, 
but within the past few years he has retired from active business pursuits, 
and is enjoying a well-earned rest in his pleasant home in Areata. 

Mr. Seely is a native of Canada, having been born near Huntington, 
province of Quebec, a place about five miles from the New York state boun- 
dary line, on A^larch 8, 1848. His father was Hiram Seely, also a native of 
the province, while the grandfather, John Seely, was born in England and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 469 

settled in the province of Quebec, where he was a farmer. The father was 
also a successful and prosperous farmer of that section. He had retired from 
business a few years previous to his death, which occurred in 1888. The 
mother was Elizabeth (Smith) Seely, also a native of the province of Quebec, 
where she died in 1867. The childhood of the present respected citizen of 
Areata was spent on the farm, working with his father, when he was not 
attending school. After completing the grammar school he entered a local 
academy, but soon gave up his course there to return to the farm, preferring 
the farm work to school life. 

It was in October, 1869, that Mr. Seely determined to come to California, 
and that same month he arrived in Sonoma county, where he had relatives 
living. He crossed the continent on one of the first transcontinental trains. 
He remained in Sonoma county for several months, and in February, 1870, 
came to Areata, Humboldt county, where he has since made his home. Flere 
he at first went to work for wages, by the month, continuing for a year. Dur- 
ing that time he had saved a little money and the next year he planted ten 
acres of potatoes on shares. When the crop was harvested Mr. Seely found 
that he was out two hundred dollars and two years' work, what he had 
saved the first year having been lost in the unsuccessful venture in potatoes. 
He was not disheartened, however, and the following year, 1872, he rented a 
ranch from his cousin and engaged in farming for himself. Here he met 
with merited success, and in 1876 he purchased his home place of forty acres, 
and has continued to farm this property since. In the beginning the raising 
of potatoes was his chief industry, and he found the crop a very profitable 
one. In 1877, with a brother-in-law, he purchased a ranch of one hundred 
acres, and for the next two years he operated both these properties with 
much success. In 1879 they divided the one hundred acre ranch and dissolved 
partnership. 

It was in 1885 that Mr. Seely started in the daiirying business, making 
his first venture on a small scale. The price of butter went very low soon 
after this, at one time reaching the small price of eleven cents per pound; 
later the price increased, but by so small a margin that there was no profit 
in the business at that time, and Mr. Seely sold his stock and engaged in 
general farming. Recently he has retired from active business, having leased 
his property, and now resides in Areata, where he owns a comfortable home. 

When Mr. Seely first came to Humboldt county the land lying between 
Areata and the river was all brush, timber and marsh land, but it has since 
been reclaimed and is now rich bottom land. Many other changes have also 
taken place in the surrounding country during the long years of his residence 
in the county. 

Aside from leasing his farm property, Mr. Seely also has an interest in 
the general merchandise store of Seely & Titlow Company in Areata. He is 
a Republican, and has always taken an active part in political affairs, and 
especially when the welfare of the city is involved. He is progressive and 
broad-minded, and an independent thinker. He is a member of several 
fraternal organizations, being a charter member of the local Knights of 
Pythias, and a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F. 

The marriage of Mr. Seely occurred in Areata, February 14, 1874, uniting 
him with Miss Laura Virginia Deuel, a native of California, born in the 



470 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

mining camp at Virginia Mills, near Oroville, Butte county. She is the 
daughter of Edmund P. and Margaret Deuel, pioneers of California, who came 
to Trinidad, Humboldt county, when she was eighteen months old. Here she 
received her education in the public schools. Mrs. Seely has borne her hus- 
band five children, four sturdy sons and one daughter. They were all born 
at Areata, and have grown to manhood and womanhood there, receiving their 
education in the public schools. They are : Henry Stanley and Frank Hazel- 
ton, merchants in Areata ; Charles Hiram, shingle manufacturer in this 
vicinity ; John Smith, Jr., clothier in Eureka ; and Virginia May, at home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Seely are well known in Areata, where they have many 
friends and acquaintances, and are highly esteemed by all who know them. 

GEORGE WALKER. — Ever since pioneer days in Humboldt county 
the name of AA'alker has been associated with agricultural interests, especially 
with the section in and around Eureka. The family is of English origin, and 
the first representative of this branch was Charles Walker, who came to the 
United States in 1852. Landing at New York City, he went from the 
metropolis to Syracuse, that state, and it was there that he was united in 
marriage with Mary Kirby, a native of Ireland. Following their marriage 
the young people set out for the new and untried west, which at that time 
was attracting the attention of the entire world on account of the discovery 
of gold. By way of the Isthmus of Panama they reached the Pacific ocean 
and embarking on a north-bound vessel they finally reached San Francisco. 
They had been in that metropolis only a few years when they decided to come 
to Humboldt county, making settlement at Eureka, where Mr. Walker found 
employment with John Vance. In the capacity of blacksmith he worked in 
the latter's lumber mills in that city, his services covering a period of twent}^ 
years. In the meantime he had purchased two hundred forty acres of un- 
improved land about six miles north of Eureka, on the Areata road, which 
came to be known as Walker's point, and the name still clings to it. 

At the end of a long and pleasant business association with Mr. Vance 
Mr. Walker settled upon his own property in 1878, clearing and improving it 
preparatory to engaging in dairying and general farming. This combined 
occupation engaged his attention throughout his remaining active years, and 
when he retired from business he turned the management of the property 
over to his son George, with whom he was living at the time of his death, 
July 13, 1912. 

It was in Eureka that George Walker was born, July 1, 1862, and he has 
known no other home than Humboldt county. Here he attended the district 
schools until he was sixteen years old, becoming well versed in the essentials 
that led to making him the broad and well informed man that he is today. 
The same thoroughness which he displayed in the pursuit of his studies was 
shown in the interest which he took in his father's dairy business, and when 
the father laid down the responsibilities of the ranch the duties were readily 
and easily assumed by the son, who strove in every way to maintain the stan- 
dard of excellence in dairy and ranch matters which had made his father 
successful. For fifteen years he continued the dairy business, the ranch in 
the meantime becoming one of the most highly developed in the vicinity. In 
December, 1914, however, he gave up its management, at the same time 
turning it over to a tenant, he himself building a commodious seven-room 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 471 

bungalow on a pleasant elevation of the ranch on the Eureka-x\rcata road, 
half way between the two places, and where, with his wife and family, he 
makes his home. 

In Eureka, on August 1, 1884, iNIr. AValker was united in marriage with 
Amanda AI. Martin, who like himself was a native of Humboldt county, her 
birth occurring in Trinidad. The seven children born of their marriage are 
as follows : Irving ; Mary Caroline, Mrs. Pidgeon, of Bayside ; Lucinda. Mrs. 
Frank Lindley, of Garberville; Easter, Mrs. Frank Mitchell of Bayside; 
Jennie M., Mrs. Harkey, of Eureka; Helen j\Iae and Martin Earl. All of the 
children have been reared to lives of usefulness and are a pride and comfort 
to their parents. Mrs. Walker's father, Christopher Martin, was a native of 
Missouri, where he was married to Caroline Cooksey. Mr. and Mrs. Martin 
Were among the pioneers who helped make history in California, having come 
here in 1849 by the only means possible at the time, the prairie schooner, 
drawn by ox-teams. After a long and difficult journey they at last reached 
their destination, settlement being made at Trinidad, Humboldt county, where 
for many years thereafter Mr. JNIartin engaged in farming. Not only was he 
a successful' farmer, but he was a man whose presence was felt as a moral 
stimulus and his death in 1872 was mourned universally by old and young. 

DONALD P. COOMBE.— The great stretches of ranch land belonging 
to the Russ estate in Humboldt county, some two hundred and fifty thousand 
acres all told, and the extensive operations in cattle dealing and raising neces- 
sary to make these vast holdings profitable, at once suggest the bigness and 
freedom of the old days in the west. But the primitive conditions and dangers 
which were the principal elements of romance then have disappeared before 
the wonderful business methods which now afiford most of the marvelous 
features of life on an immense stock ranch. To some extent, indeed, the prin- 
ciples of intensive farming are beginning to be needed in the ambitious enter- 
prises which modern cattlemen undertake, for economy of administration 
and conservation are found to be quite as important on large properties as 
they are necessary on small tracts. For systematic management and scien- 
tific methods the Russ family has long held the leading place in the county. 
Mrs. Zipporah Russ, widow of Joseph Russ, and her children are now carry- 
ing on the cattle business under the name of Z. Russ & Sons, Incorporated, 
and are acknowledged to be the largest cattle and cattle land company in 
this region. Their holdings lie in various parts of the county, and the Bear 
River branch of their business is conducted under the foremanship of 
Donald P. Coombe, a grandson of the late Joseph Russ, who lives there with 
his family on the great Mazeppa ranch, about four miles north of Capetown. 
He is a, young man, but fully alive to his responsibilities, and apparently 
inherits the family characteristics of executive ability and alertness which 
enable him to handle its large affairs competently. (The biographical sketch 
of his grandfather, Joseph Russ, appears on another page in this work.) 

The Coombe family is of English origin, and Rev. Philip Coombe, father 
of Donald P. Coombe, was born in London, England. He was highly edu- 
cated, receiving his college training at Oxford, and came to America when 
twenty-eight years old, locating at Ferndale, Humboldt county, Cal., where 
he served as pastor of the Congregational Church. At the same time he 
conducted the Ocean House ranch, which property was owned by his wife 
as one of- the heirs of Joseph Russ, and he was a very popular resident of 



472 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the vicinity, where his culture and consistent Christian character made him 
beloved by all classes. Later he took the charge of a Congregational Church 
at San Francisco. His death occurred in 1912, when he Avas sixty-one years 
old. Flis widow, Margaret C. (Russ), resides at San Francisco. They had 
a family of six children : Winifred, Mrs. Peter R. Peterson, lives in Colusa 
county ; Edith M., Mrs. Thomas B. Griffith, is a resident of Wichita, Kans. ; 
Donald P. is mentioned later; Amy, Mrs. Arthur B. Fields, lives at Portland, 
Ore. ; Ila B., a graduate of Leland Stanford University, lives with her mother; 
Mariam Z. is the wife of Archer Veal, a ranchman, and resides at Yuba City. 

Donald P. Coombe was born January 8, 1885, and up to the age of nine 
years lived at Ferndale and on the Ocean House ranch. His father then re- 
moved to San Francisco to take a pastorate there, and the boy had the best 
public school advantages, attending- in the winter time, and spending his 
summers on the Ocean House ranch. After completing the grammar and 
high school courses, and some work at night school, he entered the Davis 
Agricultural College, so that he has had scientific as well as practical training 
for his present work. However, he was employed as a carpenter in San 
Francisco for a period of three and a half years, and was so engaged at the 
time of the big fire. At his mother's suggestion he came back to Humboldt 
county and to the IMazeppa ranch immediately thereafter, and put in a year 
there as rider before he was made foreman, in 1907. He has held the position 
ever since, it is needless to say satisfactorily, for the interests are too im- 
portant to be trusted to incompetent oversight. The Mazeppa ranch is 
headquarters for the various ranches of Z. Russ & Sons included in the Bear 
River division, over which Mr. Coombe has jurisdiction. About ten thousand 
sheep, twelve hundred milch cows and sixty-five hundred beef and stock 
cattle graze on its ranges, and under Mr. Coombe's management the profits 
have shown steady increase. He gives his undivided attention to supervising 
the division, keeping all its large concerns under his personal direction, and 
the results will bear comparison with those on any other branch of the Russ 
estate. Personally Mr. Coombe is a young man of admirable qualities, un- 
assuming and trustworthy, and he is taking a place worthy of his honored 
ancestry in both paternal and maternal lines. Fraternally he is a member of 
Ferndale Parlor, N. S. G. W. 

Mr. Coombe was married to Miss Margaret Sanders, daughter of John 
and Jessie (Newland) Sanders, born in Norway and California respectively. 
The father came to California when a young man and located in Humboldt 
county, where he married and has been principally engaged in farming since 
that time. Mrs. Coombe was born at Petrolia, but received her education in 
the public schools of Capetown, where she resided until her marriage to Mr. 
Coombe, November 15, 1909. They have one child, a daughter, Carol. Mrs. 
Coombe's attractive personality and pleasant hospitality are appreciated by 
her friends everywhere and are a boon to the home life on the ranch. 

JEPTHA C. PHILLIPS.— Though a comparatively recent settler in 
Humboldt county there is no more public-spirited and enthusiastic citizen 
in Alderpoint than Jeptha C. Phillips, the present postmaster at that point. 
A carpenter by calling, he has already proved his reliability as a contractor 
in the new town, having had the honor of building the first house there, the 
Alderpoint Hotel. J-ie was appointed to the postmastership in October, 1912, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 473 

and although the work has been out of the ordinary because of the con- 
ditions prevailing during the building of the railroad he has given the utmost 
satisfaction and shown himself capable of efficient service. Mr. Phillips is a 
Southerner, born April 24, 1861, near Bluntsville, Alabama, where the first 
eight years of his life were passed. Thereafter he lived in Arkansas, with the 
exception of a short stay in Texas, until his removal to California. In his early 
life he followed farming, but abandoned that occupation twenty years ago 
for his trade, and has since been a successful carpenter and builder. When 
he decided to devote all his time to his trade he moved to Hot Springs, 
Ark., and he also made a visit to Texas, where he followed carpentry four 
months. In December, 1909, he removed with his family to Hvimboldt 
county, California, and he first set foot in Alderpoint, April 23, 1911. Here 
he soon had the contract for the construction of the Alderpoint Hotel, and 
he handled the work from the beginning, clearing the site of trees, stumps 
and brush and beginning to build on June 20th. It is a substantial two-story 
frame, thirty by sixty feet in dimensions, containing eighteen rooms, was 
completed on. contract time, and is not only a monument to Mr. Phillips' 
superior workmanship but marks the beginning of a new era for the town, 
and Mr. Phillips by his conscientious fulfilment of his obligations established 
a reputation which his subsequent work has fully justified. 

Alderpoint is about eight miles southeast of Fort Seward and located 
on the Eel river, on the line of the Northwestern Pacific railroad just 
completed, which connects Eureka with the metropolis on the bay. The 
railway survey was made in 1910, and since June, 1911, the town has been 
the active center of road building operations, grading, blasting, tunneling, 
etc., the temporary quarters of hundreds of laborers, mechanics, engineers 
and other employees, as well as officials, and has been visited by a number 
of the magnates interested in the work of construction. AVith such a mixed 
population, of many shifting elements, the duties of the postmaster have been 
anything but easy — in fact, all the local officials have found their work 
complicated by the unsettled state of affairs. Nevertheless, Mr. Phillips has 
endeavored to give the best of service to all, and he has proved himself 
admirably fitted for responsibilities, earning the respect and good will of the 
many with whom he comes in personal contact in the discharge of his duties. 
His temperate habits and intelligent grasp of his work recommend him to 
the best element in the community. The office is still in the fourth class, 
but is doing a steadily increasing business, and the town bids fair to become 
an important trading point now that the railroad has opened communication 
with nearby communities. 

Mr. Phillips is thoroughly alive to the possibilities of his adopted town, 
and willing to do all in his power to promote her best interests. Having 
driven the first nail in Alderpoint, he feels naturally a particular interest in 
her improvement and development along building lines, but is as ready to 
work for her good in any other commendable way, standing for good gov- 
ernment and progress however expressed. He has built a home for himself 
and family there, showing his faith in the stability of the advancement 
already made, and as a man of reliable character and an accommodating 
official is regarded as one of the citizens to whom the town may look for its 
continued prosperity. Courteous and unassuming, he has displayed high 



474 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

principle and fidelity in everything intrusted to him, and commands universal 
respect. His faith in the town is such that, in February, 1915, he went into 
the grocery business in partnership with J. A. Merrill, under the firm name 
of J. A. Merrill & Co., and the postoffice is in their store. 

Mr. Phillips married Miss Eugenie Moore, born near Atlanta, Georgia, 
and a daughter of J. S. and Elizabeth (Rice) Moore, also natives of Georgia. 
Mrs. Phillips went to Arkansas with her father when seventeen years of 
age, and three years later her marriage occurred. Of the eight children born 
of this union four survive : Joseph Scott, Thomas Arthur, Otis and Goldie, 
all making their home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are both 
earnest Methodists and are taking an active part in the organization of a 
church at Alderpoint. In Arkansas Mr. Phillips served as a member of the 
board of school trustees and also as justice of the peace. 

CHARLES WILLIAM WALKER.— A native of Switzerland, born at 
Giubiasco, in the canton of Ticino, April 23, 1870, Charles William Walker 
left the home of his parents and came alone to the United States when he 
was a lad of but fifteen years. He landed in New York without money or 
friends and began the struggle for a livelihood under a severe handicap. For 
a number of years he met with difficulties that would have discouraged and 
broken the spirit of a less determined and ambitious youth, but to him they 
were only a spur to his energies and in the end he has won prosperity and a 
place of honor and respect among his fellow citizens of Humboldt county, 
where he has made his home since 1891. 

Mr. Walker is the son of Baptiste and Kate Walker, both natives of 
Switzerland, his father being a farmer. His boyhood days were spent on the 
farm and for a few brief years he attended the public schools of the district. 
His father died when Charles was a year old and there were several small 
children in the family. This necessitated that each of the children should 
aid in the earning of the livelihood and when Mr. Walker was fifteen he de- 
termined to come to America, feeling that the opportunities here were greater 
than in his native land. On arriving in New York he sought employment 
wherever it was to be obtained and for a number of years endured the greatest 
hardships. He worked in restaurants and hotels and so managed to live and 
to save a little money. At the end of a year he decided to come to the Pacific 
coast and reached San-Francisco, November 1, 1888, with ten dollars in cash, 
all the money that he possessed. He went from there to San Luis Obispo 
county, finding employment on a dairy ranch where he remained for three 
years. In 1891 he came to Humboldt county and again secured employment 
on a dairy ranch, working for A. Kuhen at Ferndale. Later he took charge 
of this ranch for Mr. Kuhen, managing and superintending the dairy for four 
years. The following six years he worked on various ranches in this section 
of the county. 

The marriage of Mr. Walker, which took place in 1900, changed his mode 
of living, for he rented a ranch at Pleasant Point on a three years' lease and 
engaged in farming for himself. For the first two years he met with much 
success, but the third year the river flooded the ranch, washing away many 
acres of the land and with it practically all the profits of several years' work. 
In May of that year Mr. Walker sold his interests at Pleasant Point and moved 
to Areata, where he rented the ranch of M. P. Roberts and again engaged 
in dairy farming, remaining but a few months and then disposing of his 





,:;::^^<^^?^,:>W'''^ /^^'^^y/t- 





HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 479 

interests to Albert Kausen. In 1904 he rented a property from the Dolbeer 
& Carson Lumber Company and folloAved his former occupation here on the 
ranch which he still operates. When he first took charge of this ranch he 
commenced dairying on a small scale and has gradually increased the scope 
of his enterprise until at present he has a herd of some forty milch cows and 
one of the most profitable places in the valley. He is also extensively engaged 
in stock raising. In his farming he has given much attention to the raising 
of potatoes and has met with unusual success in this venture. The ranch 
consists of two hundred acres of improved land and is a handsome property 
and is located six miles north of Areata. 

In addition to his attention to the farm and its varied interests, Mr. 
Walker has become associated with outside interests as well. In the fall 
of 1914 he purchased a forty-three-acre ranch at Ferndale from C. de Carle, 
which he leases for a dairy ranch. He is especially interested in the United 
Creameries of Areata, in which he is a stockholder. He is also a stockholder 
in the bank of Areata and is interested in the new hospital in Areata. 

Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. AValker has met with several 
severe reverses, but he has persevered and is now one of the prosperous 
farmers in the valley. He is a self-made man in the best sense of the word 
and is an example of what thrift, industry and application will do for a man 
in Humboldt county. Aside from his business interests he has many warm 
friends and is popular with a wide circle of acquaintances. He is a prominent 
member of the Knights of Columbus, and with his family is a member of the 
Catholic Church in Areata. In politics he is a Republican and a stanch party 
man, being always found in line for the support of party principles. Mr. 
Walker attributes his success in no small degree to the help and encourage- 
ment of his wife. 

The marriage of Mr. AA^alker took place in Eureka, December 31, 1900, 
uniting' him with Cecelia Peinn, a native of Locarn, Ticino, Switzerland. 
She came to California when she was a girl, making the long journey alone, 
and coming to San Francisco where she had a brother residing at that time. 
She has borne her husband three children : William P., Elsie Ida and Katie ; 
the latter died at three years. The eldest of these is now attending the 
Areata public schools. 

PATRICK MACKEY.— For years the late Patrick Mackey and his 
brother John were associated in the cattle business as large operators on the 
Cooskey range south of Petrolia, Humboldt county, where they settled as 
early as 1860. Thus Patrick Mackey was a resident of this section for over 
fifty years, his death occurring October 8, 1910. He was spared to see his 
adopted state emerge from primitive conditions, and being possessed of an 
energetic and ambitious nature himself had a hand in the development of 
his locality, where his name will have a permanent place in history as one of 
the courageous spirits who undertook to wrest fortune from an untried land 
and found justification for their faith in its resources and in the unqualified 
success which rewarded their efforts. AVidely known and honored in his gen- 
eration, the residents of Petrolia and the rest of the Mattole district take pride 
in the fine memorial which his widow has erected at that place — the Catholic 
church building, which occupies a beautiful location overlooking the village. 
The site was donated by Mrs. Zanone, of Eureka. 

Mr. Mackey was a native of Ireland, born January 15, 1825, in Queens 



480 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

county, and was a young man when he came with his parents to the western 
world. At first he Hved in New Brunswick, where he found employment at 
chopping and other heavy work in the lumber woods, for which his large 
frame and powerful build well fitted him. Later he removed to Minnesota, 
and in 1858, in company with his brother John, came to California, coming 
by way of Panama to San Francisco, and thence the same year to Humboldt 
county. During their first two years they worked in the lumber woods, and 
in 1860 came down to the Mattole district, settling on the Cooske)'- range, 
where Patrick Mackey took up three hundred twenty acres of land. For a 
few years he had a hard row to hoe, but the prospects were sufficient to 
hearten him, and he and his brother soon found themselves profitably engaged 
in cattle growing on the range, where they continued to operate for many 
years. In time they bought out other holdings, becoming the OAvners of about 
fifty-five hundred acres of range land, of which about twenty-seven hundred 
fifty acres belonged to Patrick Mackey, they being equal partners. About 
thirty-six years ago he also purchased the McAuliffe place, the tract of one hun- 
dred sixty acres now owned and operated by his daughter, a mile and a half 
south of Petrolia, and located on the Mattole river. He married a member 
of the McAulifife family, which has also been settled here since pioneer days. 
The Mackey brothers' extensive interests as cattle growers were acquired 
entirely through their own good management and intelligent foresight, 
which prompted them to take advantage of the opportunities this section 
offered, and they were ranked deservedl}?- with the most substantial business 
men of their day, citizens whose value in the upbuilding of the region is more 
and more appreciated as time goes on. He was a Democrat in political 
opinion, but not active in party or an aspirant to public office. 

On February 18, 1867, at Eureka, Mr. Mackey married Miss Joanna Mc- 
Aulifife, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, and came to Boston, Mass., 
in childhood, and about 1865 came to Humboldt, where two uncles, John and 
Dennis McAuliffe, were pioneer ranchers on Mattole river, coming in 1858 ; of 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mackey was born one child, Georgina. Mrs. 
Mackey now makes her home at Ferndale. She and her daughter retain the 
large holdings Mr. Mackey acquired, renting the range land. As already men- 
tioned, Mrs. Mackey erected the fine Catholic Church at Petrolia as a memorial 
to her husband, in the region where during half a century of upright living 
he had formed many ties among long-time associates and cherished friends, 
and where his public-spiritedness could always be counted upon to aid all 
movements for the upbuilding of the community and betterment of its citizens. 

Miss Georgina Mackey was born on the Cooskey range, about twelve 
miles south of Petrolia, and received her education in the excellent convent 
at Eureka. She is now engaged in agricultural pursuits on her own account, 
living on the old McAuliffe place of one hundred sixty acres previously re- 
ferred to, a very productive ranch which she is bringing up to its best pos- 
sibilities by modern methods of cultivation. Her executive ability and thor- 
ough comprehension of the requirements of the work are inanifesting them- 
selves clearly in her success, which has made the venture profitable as well 
as enjoyable. Miss Mackey has evidently inherited a good measure of her 
parents' business acumen, for Patrick Mackey gave his wife a large measure 
of the credit for his success, and her enterprise is meeting with deserved 
rewards. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 481 

Being especially interested in the pioneer history of Humboldt county 
and particularly of the section in which her life has been spent, Miss Mackey 
prizes a copy of the Humboldt Times of April 8, 1876, which contains a 
description of the Mattole river (the Indian name for clear water) by the 
first white man that ever beheld it, and which we are able to present through 
her courtesy : 

"Mattole River and A^alley. — In looking over the files of the Humboldt 
Times, many items connected with the earl}'- histor}^ of the county present 
themselves to view. In the issue of September 23, 1854, an article appears 
headed, 'Alattole River and Valley,' giving a description of the discovery of 
the ]\Iattole river. It is as follows : Air. Hill in his last trip down the country 
found a large river hitherto unknown to the people of this section, called by 
the Indians Mattole, which he says is as large as the Eel (Weeott) river. The 
Indians apparentl)'- had never seen a white man here. Mr. Hill had with 
him Indians from the Bay who interpreted for him. The Mattole Indians had 
no knowledge .of anj?- settlement below them. Upon the assurance of the 
Indians he had with him, the wild ones came to him. Mr. Hill struck the 
river a few miles from the ocean. He describes the valley of the river in 
glowing terms. The lands are rich, with open prairies sufficient for a large 
settlement of farmers. The lands above the river bottom are open timbered 
table lands, easy to clear, and affording sufficient timber for fences and fire- 
wood for ages to come. Near the river cottonwood is the principal growth, 
but as you recede from the water spruce, pine and redwood predominate. The 
prairie is covered with the finest specimen of clover, which grows to an 
almost unheard height. The timbered lands are covered with wild oats and 
scA-eral varieties of grass. The great feature of the valley is the climate, which 
from the description given will compare favorably with any portion of the 
state. There it is warm ; no fogs, no cold north winds. The sun shines out 
clear and bright, as if not ashamed to show itself. Mr. Hill was surprised 
on his return to learn that the sun had not been seen during his absence." 

MRS. FLORA BROWN POINSETT.— When only a child Mrs. Flora 
Brown Poinsett came with her parents across the plains from Illinois to make 
her home in California, accompanied also by her grandparents, Samuel and 
Jane Handy, the journey w^est being made by the slow method of ox teams. 
Her father, Adam Brown, was a farmer, born in Illinois, where he was mar- 
ried in the town of Marshfield to Naomi Handy, a native of that place. Of 
the three children in the family. Flora, Louise and John A. Brown, the first 
is now ]\Irs. Poinsett, of Areata, the second died at the age of eighteen 
years, and John A. now resides at laqua, Cal. 

The greater part of the childhood of Airs. Flora Brown Poinsett was 
spent in Humboldt county, Cal., where her family settled near the mouth 
of the Mad river and engaged in farming and stock raising, the Handys 
locating on a ranch on Areata Bottoms, which is still owned by members of 
the family. Later Airs. Poinsett's father returned to Illinois, and after his 
death the mother was married to Christopher Columbus Sands, an expert 
ox teamster of Humboldt county, where she continued to make her home. 
Mrs. Poinsett well remembers the Indian uprisings in the neighborhood of 
their California home, when Henry Alinor was killed, and the people of 



482 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Uniontown (now Areata) and that vicinity gathered in the old stone store 
(at that time the only store there), of which they made a fort for safety, 
expecting attacks from the Indians any time during the day or night. The 
education of Mrs. Poinsett was received at the local public schools and under 
the instruction of Prof. James B. Brown, and at the age of eighteen she began 
teaching at Fairhaven, on the Peninsula, in Humboldt county, continuing 
that work for a year, until her marriage, which took place in Eureka, on July 
29, 1872, uniting her with Mr. Joseph B. Poinsett, who was born in New 
Jersey and came to Humboldt county as a young man. During the Civil war 
he served in the California regiment, stationed at Hoopa, and for seventeen 
years was in the employ of William Carson as sawyer and foreman, after 
which he located a farm at Alliance, buying the old Hutchinson place of 
twenty acres, where he engaged in dairying. In 1907 Mr. Poinsett sold this 
property and purchased the present estate on the Boynton Prairie road, two 
miles above Areata, which at that time consisted of four hundred forty acres 
of wild land, which he improved greatly, the land being on a high elevation, 
overlooking Humboldt bay, with a splendid view of Areata, Eureka, the Mad 
river and the Pacific ocean and beach. The estate is well kept with a com- 
modious residence and attractive gardens, and here at Hillcrest Farm, as the 
place is appropriately named, Mrs. Poinsett, with the aid of her son, con- 
tinues to operate the ranch successfully since the death of her husband, 
which occurred on May 4, 1912, he being Avell known in the vicinity as a 
stanch Republican, and in fraternal circles as a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. Thirty acres of the property are under cultivation, 
whereon hay and green feed are raised for the stock, the rest of the estate 
being used as grazing land, and Mrs. Poinsett, who has proved herself an 
excellent business woman, is meeting with much success in her dairy business 
on the ranch, as well as in the raising of stock, fine draft horses, poultry and 
turkeys. In her religious associations she is a member of the Alethodist 
Church, and is also a prominent member of the W. C. T. U. at Areata, having 
taken an active part in its philanthropies for the last twenty years. She has 
two sons, Charles Bethel and Elwood Jay ; the former resides at Pinole, and 
the younger makes his home with her, assisting her in conducting the ranch. 

JAMES P. ANDERSON.— Descended from a sturdy old Danish family, 
and himself a native of Denmark, James P. Anderson is one of the most 
highly honored and respected citizens of Humboldt county, as well as one 
of the most prosperous. He came to California some forty-odd years ago, and 
has since that time resided continuously in Humboldt county. The son of a 
farmer, he turned naturally to the soil in the new land, and has made a great 
success of farming and stock raising in this locality. As befitting one whose 
faith in the future prosperity of the county and of the state is an abiding one, 
Mr. Anderson has from the early stage of his residence here invested heavily 
in land, and today many hundreds of acres of the finest acreage in the county 
are owned by him. He is still active in the management of his afifairs and 
spends his time between his different ranches and his residence in Areata. 

Mr. Anderson was born in Bornholm, Denmark, on one of the islands 
in the Baltic Sea, May 1, 1846. His father was Anders W. Anderson, also 
a native of Denmark, born in 1801, and died in 1870. He followed the occupa- 
tion of farming for the greater part of his life and was very successful. The 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 483 

mother was Caroline Anderson, born in Denmark in 1810 and died in 1890. 
She was married to Mr. Anderson in 1840, and of this union six children were 
born. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Anderson were spent on his father's farm, 
where he assisted with the regular work. He attended school, such as was 
afforded at that time in Denmark and received such other advantages as the 
time and country afforded. He remained at home with his parents until he 
was eighteen, and during the next three years served in local militia. At 
the expiration of this period he determined to come to America and seek his 
fortune in the new land, where the tales of wonderful opportunities gave such 
splendid impulse to ambition and youth. Accordingly he made the journey, 
and arrived in New York, April 29, 1867. In Warren county, Pennsylvania, 
he secured employment on a farm, where he remained for some time, also 
working for a time in a tannery in the same county. 

Tales of the still greater opportunities offered in the rich farming districts 
of the far west continued to lure the young man, and he early determined 
to hoard his earnings, and as soon as they were sufficient to make the trip to 
California, hoping there to find the real "promised land." Accordingly, in 
1869 he left Pennsylvania, making the journey to California by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama, and arriving in San Francisco in February of that year. 
From San Francisco he went to Stockton, where he found employment with 
the Central Pacific Railroad, then under construction. In the summer of the 
same year he was employed on a steamboat operating from Stockton to 
Fresno, on the upper San Joaquin river, and while working here contracted 
malarial fever, which necessitated a change of climate. As a result Mr. 
Anderson went to Sonoma county, where he secured work on a farm. In the 
winter he came to Humboldt county and went to work for Lawrence Ford, 
making stave bolts, remaining with him but a few months. Later he con- 
tracted for the building of a canal from the slough up to the land-head of 
the tide water, where Creamery No. 1 now stands. After the com- 
pletion of this task he went to work for H. S. Daniels (who at that time 
owned the ranch where R. W. Bull lives now) and remained with him for 
two years, being engaged in general farming. Mr. Daniels also owned 
a mountain ranch known as Angels Ranch, and after a time Mr. Anderson 
bought a half interest in this property and they engaged in farming and 
stock-raising in partnership. Soon after this arrangement Mr. Daniels sold 
his interests to J. Carlson; and in 1881, two years after the first purchase of 
the ranch, iNIr. Anderson bought out the interest of Mr. Carlson and became 
the sole owner of the property. The ranch consists of farming and range 
land about three miles above Korbel. At this time it contained between 
seven hundred and eight hundred acres, and Mr. Anderson engaged in stock- 
raising and general farming. From time to time he has purchased adjoining 
acreage and today Angels Ranch comprises about twenty-five hundred acres 
and is known throughout the county as one of its best ranches. In his enter- 
prises there Mr. Anderson has been especially successful. 

When his children were of an age to attend school Mr. Anderson pur- 
chased a ranch near Blue Lake and removed there with his family as Angels 
Ranch was too far from the town for the children to receive the proper 
advantages of school, with the then conditions of travel. Later, when they 
had completed the grammar school course, he purchased a twenty-acre place 



484 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

with large residence in Areata, and removed his family there that the children 
might have the advantages of high school. Here he engaged in dairying for 
many years. 

Mr. Anderson has always been interested in the purchasing and improv- 
ing of acreage, and at the present time owns several valuable properties in 
the county. Among these the best known are Angels Ranch, which is 
operated under his own management ; an apple orchard at Blue Lake, which 
is one of the best in the county; and the home property at Areata. All of 
these have been greatly improved and developed since their purchase by their 
present owner and are today a credit to the county. Recently Mr. Anderson 
sold ten acres of his home place, sub-dividing it, and disposing of it as resi- 
dence lots, it being known as the Anderson Subdivision. There is also a 
valuable ranch in Vallejo which he has owned for several years. Angels 
Ranch is devoted to raising sheep and Angora goats and general farming, 
raising full-blooded and graded Southdown and Shropshire sheep and Mohair 
Angora goats. 

The marriage of Mr. Anderson took place in Areata, Humboldt county, 
June 14, 1879, uniting him with Miss Emma Anderson, a native of Skaane, 
Sweden, born September 29, 1859. She came to the United States alone when 
she was yet a young girl, coming directly to Humboldt county, where she 
has since resided. Her parents. Christian and Hanna Anderson, came to 
California six years later and are well known residents of Humboldt county, 
making their home in Blue Lake. Mrs. Anderson has borne her husband 
nine children, eight of whom are living. They are : Mlary Caroline, Mrs. Oliver 
Brown, of Blue Lake; Martha Elizabeth, Mrs. John Dinsmore, of Bridge- 
ville; Hazel Hellen, Mrs. Lem Yokum, of Areata; Edith Christina, Mrs. 
George Minor, of Glendale; Harry C, assisting in operation of the home 
farm; James Paul, attending University of California; George C, attending 
high school, Areata; and Wilford, attending the grammar school. 

Mr. Anderson attributes his success in no small degree to the able 
assistance and counsel of his faithful wife and helpmate, who has ever been 
ready and willing to share her part of the mutual trials and burdens. 

Aside from his prominence in a business way, Mr. Anderson is one of 
the best known and "most influential men in the community where he lives. 
He has taken time from his busy life to take an active part in all local 
questions that tend to the upbuilding and general betterment of the com- 
munity and is always to be found on the side of progress and social uplift. 
In politics he is a Progressive Republican, and he is a progressive in the 
truest sense of the word. He is also prominent in fraternal circles, being 
made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M. ; he is a member of 
Humboldt Chapter No. 79, R. A. M., Eureka, and of Eureka Commandery 
No. 35, K. T. ; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., in San Francisco, as well as the 
Knights of Pythias, and with his wife and daughters is a member of Areata 
Chapter, O. E. S. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were raised in the Lutheran church, 
to which faith they still adhere. 

Mr. Anderson is still active in business, and is enjoying the busy life 
as well as when he was not so prosperous. His success and attendant wealth 
have not been won without his having experienced many hardships and en- 
during many years of bitter toil. His present position in the community is, 
however, not accorded him because of his wealth, but because of his reputa- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 485 

tion for honesty and fair dealing with his fellowmen, and his splendid qualities 
of heart and mind. 

GEORGE C. LINDLEY.— One of the large stock and fruit ranches in 
the Upper Mattole valley of Humboldt county is that of George C. Lindley, 
who has lived there since he was a boy of about sixteen years, when he began 
to work for the late owner, George Hindley. He now rents the property frorn 
the Hindley estate, and though there is considerable responsibility involved in 
the management and unlimited hard work in the cultivation of the place, his 
long experience qualifies him for the one and his unusual physical strength 
for the other. 

Mr. Lindley is a son of Oscar Lindley, a well known old settler in the 
Mattole valley, who had a family of nine children, eight sons and one 
daughter, George being the sixth in the order of birth. He was born Decem- 
ber 9, 1882, on Green Ridge, Rainbow, and after receiving common school 
advantages began to work out by the month. His only employer was the 
late George Hindley, for whom he began work some sixteen years ago, and 
whose daughter Verna he married in 1906. Mr. Lindley was associated with 
his father-in-law in the operation of the ranch for so many years that his 
work has had a definite share in its successful development, for Mr. Hindley 
relied upon him implicitly, and never hesitated to trust anything to him. His 
broad shoulders and exceptional strength, combined with intelligence in 
directing his labors, and his executive ability, made him a most capable help- 
er, and he cooperated with Mr. Hindley and his family to their mutual advan- 
tage in the improvement of the ranch. It consists of two thousand, three 
hundred sixty acres in the Upper Mattole region, about seventeen miles 
south of Petrolia, and the stock on the place usually consists of about one 
hundred seventy-five high-grade Herefords and Durhams and one hundred 
thirty Poland-China hogs. Forty acres of the place are in fruit bearing 
orchards of apples, prunes, peaches and walnuts. Mr, Lindley runs the prop- 
erty alone for about four months of the year, having help only during the 
months when the work "bunches" so as to make it impossible for one person 
to handle all the details successfully. He is a man of commendable character, 
not only because of his industry, but also on account of his integrity and his 
progressive disposition. At present he is serving as school trustee in the 
Honey Dew district. For the last nine years he has been road overseer for 
the Upper Mattole section of the First district. Politically he is associated 
with the' Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Ferndale Lodge 
No. 220, I. O. O. F., and Ferndale Parlor No. 93, N. S. G. W. 

In 1906 Mr. Lindley married Miss Verna Hindley, and they have two 
children, Margaret and Elwyn. Mrs. Lindley was born in Upper Mattole 
and has inherited the practical common sense for which her family is so well 
known and is a woman of admirable character, a congenial helpmate much 
beloved and appreciated by her family and neighbors. She and her husband 
are members of the Episcopal Church. 

George Hindley, Mrs. Lindley's father, died March 10, 1914, after an 
active and successful career in the Upper Mattole valley. The acquirement 
and development of the highly improved estate which he left was practically 
his life work, and he was ably assisted by his wife, Margaret (Holman), and 
their large family, as well as by his son-in-law, all working together to bring 
the place to its present high state of development. Mr. Hindley was one of 



486 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the most highly regarded men in his locality, and he gave his fellow citizens 
able service as supervisor of District No. 1, of Humboldt county. Able, 
public-spirited and hospitable, he became one of the most popular men in 
his neighborhood, and the spirit of thrift and good management which 
characterized all his business undertakings seems to have settled permanently 
on the place which was his home for so many years. 

LOUIS P. ROSSIER, M. D.— Descending from sturdy old French 
Huguenot ancestry, and himself a native of Switzerland, Dr. Louis P. Ros- 
sier has brought with him to California all the sterling qualities of heart and 
mind, and all the gentle kindness of heart and consideration for the welfare 
and rights of others which his ancestry and nativity stand for. In his prac- 
tice at Garberville, Humboldt county, he is called upon to display all the 
varied graces that are demanded of the family physician, and especially of the 
family physician in the rural community, and this calls continually into play 
all that is best and truest and kindest in his nature ; and it is an acknowledged 
fact among his patients, that he has never yet failed them in their hour of 
need, whether they have been in need of physics or sympathy, a porous plaster 
or kindly advice. 

Dr. Rossier was born in Switzerland, April 11, 1852, the son of John and 
Louise (Mayor) Rossier, both natives of Switzerland. His mother died in 
Canada at the early age of thirty-four years, and his father died in Boston, 
Mass., at the age of sixty-three. His parents left Switzerland when Louis P. 
was a child of two and a half years, coming to Canada, and locating about 
fifteen miles from Montreal, where the father, who was a teacher, was en- 
gaged to teach the French language in a young ladies" seminary. Later he 
taught in a boys' academy or high school, and in a mission boarding school 
about thirty miles southwest of Montreal, on the Richelieu river. Some- 
time after the death of his first wife the elder Rossier went down to Boston 
and became a preacher in the Free Will Baptist church. There were five 
children by the first wife, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. 
They are : Henry Daniel, residing at Canandaigua, N. Y. ; Louis P., re- 
spected citizen of Garberville ; Clara, Mrs. Evans, residing at Fitchburg, 
Mass. ; Samuel, residing at Newport, Vt. ; and Emil, residing at Coventry, 
Vt. The father was rriarried a second time, and of this second union were born 
eight children. 

When Dr. Rossier was fifteen years of age he went to Vermont from his 
home in Canada and secured employment on a farm. He did not at that time 
speak a word of English and his employer did not speak a word of French, 
but the boy was quick and willing and the association proved satisfactory, 
and he remained here until he was twenty years of age. Then he fell ill with 
an affliction of the heart and returned to his home in Canada and again 
entered the school where his father taught, becoming both a student and a 
tutor in French. He pursued his studies along the line of the sciences and 
English, becoming proficient in both. 

It was not until he was twenty-five years of age that Dr. Rossier deter- 
mined to take up the study of medicine. From the age of twenty-two until 
he was twenty-five he had worked as a carpenter and millwright at Mont- 
gomery, Vt., and it chanced that his employer was a physician, one Dr. Wil- 
bur. The young man became interested and commenced to read and study 
with the older man as his preceptor and teacher and later he entered the 




^~^^(!P7^t>Ci/ y^z^f-'n-^fux^ CyO^/O, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 489 

University of Vermont, at Burlington, gradnating June 28, 1878, with the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine. He began his practice at once at Irasburg, 
Vt., later moving to Morgan's Corners, in the same state, and still later to 
Island Pond, where he was located from 1881 to 1889. 

It was in 1889 that Dr. Rossier came to California. In 1894 he located 
in Garberville, and ever since that time has been a resident of this locality, 
save for a period of nine months, during 1909, when he was in Stanislaus 
county. 

The field in which Dr. Rossier has found his work for the past twenty 
years is a large one, and the scope over which he keeps watch and ward is 
extensive. He has been seriously hampered in that he has no hospital ac- 
commodations near at hand, and all serious surgical cases have to be sent to 
Eureka, where there are splendid hospitals, and where he works in co-opera- 
tion with the finest physicians and surgeons in the city. The doctor inspires 
confidence in all his patients, men, women and children. In keeping with his 
Huguenot ancestry he is kind hearted and considerate with all mankind, 
but somewhat radical when it comes to matters of principle involving ques- 
tions of right and wrong, standing firmly for what he considers right and 
holding himself unflinchingly to the standards which he advocates. 

Men in the medical profession who spend their lives on the frontier and 
very sparsely settled mountain districts never receive the appreciation that 
is due them for the self-sacrifice they show to the sick and needy, often spend- 
ing days and nights in a buggy or saddle, climbing the mountain roads and 
trails to reach a patient in time to alleviate pain and sufl^ering, by bringing 
into use his years of study and experience, when he might use that same 
knowledge in the larger cities without entailing the discomforts and hard- 
ships of frontier life. Too much credit cannot be given Dr. Rossier for his 
unselfish devotion to his duty and his profession. 

PETER PARTON.— Many of the early settlers. in Humboldt county 
came west to work in the lumbering industry, attracted not so much by the 
prospect of high wages as by the climatic conditions prevailing in Cali- 
fornia. The work in the woods in the Lake states and in Eastern Canada is 
made doubly hard and perilous by reason of the rigorous winters ; and the 
idea of being able to escape these unpleasant and terrible conditions was 
a pleasing one, even to young and vigorous lumbermen. Among this class 
of pioneer settlers may be named Peter Parton, for, although at this time 
he is a farmer, when he first came to California, many years ago, he was 
a lumberman, and up to that time practically his entire life had been spent 
in the woods. He had been employed in Canada and around the Great Lakes, 
and had endured all the hardships of the long cold winters in the lumber 
camps, and felt that it would be indeed worth while to make an effort to 
locate where this might be avoided. 

Mr. Parton is a native of Canada, having been born at Toronto in 1868. 
His early life was spent in that city, where he attended the public schools 
until he was thirteen years of age. Conditions in the home were such that 
at that time he was obliged to start out for himself, and his first employment 
was in the woods, where he worked for H. B. Rathburn, about one hundred 
miles east of Toronto. He remained there but a short time, and then came 
to Saginaw, Mich., where he was again employed in the lumber camps. 

It was in 1889 that Mr. Parton left the east for California, coming directly 

15 



490 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to Humboldt county, where he had two brothers living; it being through 
their letters that he was induced to come west. He soon secured a position 
with Flannigan & Brosnam Lumber Company, working in the woods and 
remaining with them for almost a year. Later he was with Bill Crowley 
on the Freshwater river, and still later with Frank Graham at Riverside, 
both of these men being pioneer lumbermen and well known throughout the 
county. He was variously employed in the work of the lumber camps until 
his marriage. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Parton determined to give up the life of 
the woods, and naturally turned to farming. He purchased what is now his 
home place of forty acres from the Mary Mahoney estate. At the time of 
purchase but twenty acres of the farm were improved and under cultivation, 
and since that time Mr. Parton has cleared and improved the remaining 
twenty acres. The first year he was on the place he made a specialty of rais- 
ing peas, but the following year he took up dairying on a small scale, and 
has since then been constantly interested in that line of farming. He now 
owns a herd of thirty milch cows, mostly Jerseys and Holsteins, all graded 
stock. He is interested in the United Creamery at Areata and has held the 
position of director for the past nine years. 

Aside from his position as a prosperous farmer and business man, Mr. 
Parton has become widely known through his political activities in his 
district. He is a Democrat and has been closely associated with the affairs 
of his party for many years past. He is also a prominent member of the 
Knights of Columbus and with his family is a member of the Catholic church 
in Areata. 

The marriage of Mr. Parton and Miss Nellie Mahoney took place at 
Areata, July 3, 1892. She was born on the ranch where they now live and is 
the daughter of Michael and Mary (Judge) Mahoney, who were pioneer 
settlers of California, and were married in San Jose. Her father was an 
educator, but did not follow it for any length of time, but turned his attention 
to farming. In about 1868 they located in Humboldt county and pur- 
chased the ranch about a mile northwest of Alliance, where they 
reared their children and spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. 
and Mrs. Parton have ten children : Joseph Albert, attending Eureka busi- 
ness college ; Eugene, attending the Humboldt State Normal ; George. Her- 
man, Emile, Clara Cecelia, James, Valentine, Donald and Mary Grace. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Parton are public spirited and enterprising and are ever ready 
to help those who have been less fortunate. 

HUGH L. CAVE. — Retrospection plays a great part in our later 3^ears 
in proportion as the conditions in the present are different from those of the 
past, and one needs to use very little imagination to picture Mr. Cave sitting 
before the fire in the cool evenings, again visioning the events of his earlier 
life and, unconscious of the passing of time, once more traveling the path 
of the pioneers, seeing only in the embers the days gone by. He sees the 
prairie schooner hauled by oxen, and again lives through the awful encoun- 
ters with the Indians that attended every overland journey to California in 
the fifties. He was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, November 8, 1837, and 
is the son of Richard and Colnia B. (Williams) Cave, who were early 
pioneers of that county. Richard Cave was born in Kentucky, July 30, 1799, 
and was married in Boone county, Alissouri, to Colma Williams, September 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 491 

28, 1820. Here he learned the trade of millwright, which he followed the 
greater part of his Ufe. In 1836 he moved to Iowa and there built the first 
steamboat ever navigated on the Des Moines river, the section of land on 
which he lived having been purchased a short time before from Black Hawk, 
the chief of the tribe of that name. In 1840 the steamboat was built in part- 
nership with another man and together they owned and operated the boat 
between their place and St. Louis. The partner then decided the boat needed 
a coat of paint so he started down the river but never returned, having sold 
the boat and decamped with the money. This was a great blow to Mr. Cave, 
and he again engaged as a millwright and followed this trade until 1850, when 
he started for California, crossing the plains in a prairie schooner and bravely 
facing the dangers he knew were sure to follow. He safely reached the land 
of promise and located on the Yuba river, where he engaged in mining for 
two years, but gave it up to return to Iowa in the spring of 1852. He engaged 
passage on a steamer by way of the Isthmus to New Orleans, and up the 
Mississippi to the old home in Iowa. The lure of California was too strong 
for him and in the fall of the same year he again returned, this time locating 
at Sacramento, where he engaged in house-moving. At this time the high 
floods of the Sacramento river were raging and he found plenty of employ- 
ment to keep him busy for a year or more. In the summer of 1853 he moved 
to Salmon River, Siskiyou county, where he established the first swinging 
derrick ever used on the river. A water wheel was first built in the stream 
and this was the power used to swing the derrick. He remained here only 
a short time, next building a sawmill on the north side of the Klamath river, 
then organizing a dredging company, and building the first irrigation system 
used in the county. He also engaged in mining but did not follow this long. 
In May, 1859, he sold his many interests in the Klamath valley and moved to 
Shasta county. Here he purchased a drove of cattle and, leaving them here, 
was returning to his mine when he was suddenly killed by a highwayman on 
the summit of Salmon Mountain. His family expected him to return in a 
short time, so hearing nothing from him for two weeks, searching parties 
were formed, and to the son, Hugh, fell the shock of finding his father's body, 
on the trail over the mountain, July 30, 1859. Deeply grieved over the 
tragedy, he returned home to break the news as gently as possible to those 
waiting for them both. His brother, Josiah, then went to Iowa and, in 1860, 
returned to California, bringing with him his mother and sisters. They 
arrived in Areata, July 1, and there it was that the new home was established. 
In 1858 Hugh Cave left his home in Iowa, starting with a party by the 
southern route over the plains for California, journeying through Kansas and 
New Mexico via Las Vegas and Albuquerque. Continuing on their way to 
the new El Dorado, they arrived at Needles in September, 1858, and here 
encountered a large band of hostile Indians who gave battle. A large num- 
ber of the party were killed, the surviving few returning to Albuquerque, 
where the party disbanded. Mr. Cave was fortunate enough to escape death 
at the hands of the Indians, however, and he formed a new company, this 
time going by way of Tucson, Arizona, and from there to Yuma, arriving in 
Los Angeles in 1859. They still continued their journey up the cOast and 
reached Sacramento, May 18, 1859, having been on the way one year, lacking 
ten days. In Sacramento he purchased a pack-mule and started for the mines 



492 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to find his father, who was then employed in the mines, far from all civiliza- 
tion. After his father's death he drove the large herd of cattle left in Shasta 
valley by his father to the Three Cabin ranch in Humboldt county, arriving 
there December 1, 1859. Here he remained and engaged in stock-raising 
until 1861, but, the Indians becoming very hostile, he was forced to abandon 
the ranch and all the cattle and flee for safety to Areata, where he remained 
during 1862-3, the period of the Indian wars. He then returned to Three 
Cabin ranch and there, of his fine herd of two hundred cattle, only sixty-six 
were left. During the time he was forced to leave his ranch to the mercy 
of the Indians he had engaged in logging and had also driven a team for Isaac 
Minor, hauling logs from the camps in the woods to the mills. He was so 
disheartened over the loss of his cattle that he determined to sell the remain- 
ing few and forever forsake stock-raising. In 1864 he started with a pack 
train for Idaho to engage in mining but, not finding conditions satisfactory, 
he once more returned to Humboldt county by way of San Francisco. In 
1865 he rented a tract of land and engaged in farming for ten years but 
in 1875 he gave this up to enter the livery business. This venture was any- 
thing but a success as he lost the sum of $2,500, so he again returned to 
farming, following this until 1880, when he married and went to Walla Walla, 
Wash. Here he engaged in the raising of grain in the valley until 1895. This, 
too, proved to be a failure, so on they moved to Rio Grande, Colo., but they 
decided that conditions were only to their liking in California, so Areata saw 
them once more in January, 1897. Here he again engaged in dairying, but 
selling his interests in 1901, he entered the teaming and hauling business in 
and around Areata, retiring to a justly earned rest in 1910. In 1913 he re- 
visited the old home he had left fifty-five years before, but indeed the 
surroundings had changed. The old home did not look natural, but while 
there he found an old mill-stone that had been left by his father seventy-five 
years ago. He published a challenge in the local newspapers as being the 
oldest living white man born in the vicinity, and found only one man, who 
was two years older than himself. After this visit to the old home he returned 
to Areata. He was united in marriage November 16, 1867, with Anna Jane 
Morton, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., the daughter of A¥illiam Morton, who, 
when she was three years old, started on the journey to California, locating 
in Trinidad and later removing to Elk Camp on Bald Hill. Here Mr. Morton 
owned a stock ranch and also became the proprietor of a hotel for travelers 
in the vicinity, but in 1862 was forced to seek shelter with many others in 
Areata from the marauding bands of hostile Indians. Here in Areata Mrs. 
Morton died, and after her death he took up a claim at Scottsville on Mad 
river, on which he lived until the year 1875, when he sold his interests there 
and returned to Illinois, where he passed away. Of the marriage of Hugh 
L. and Anna Jane (Morton) Cave there are six children : Colma Brent, mar- 
ried to Frank E. Sapp, of Areata ; Alfred Henry, marine engineer in the em- 
ploy of the North Pacific Steamship Company ; Rose Melvina, married to 
Henry D. Abrams, who is engaged in farming in New Mexico; Hugh William, 
a conductor for the past ten years in the employ of the N. W. P. Ry. ; Richard 
Walter, also a conductor for seven years on the N. W. P. Ry., and Victor 
Morton Cave, engineer on the coast division of the Southern Pacific Railway 
out of San Francisco. 

Mr. Cave is the only living member of his father's family and his mem- 




S. CI, (JZo4-M^. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 495 

ories may well be envied by the people who have only lived in the present 
prosaic generation. He now devotes his time to the writing of special articles 
for the newspapers and is a man who has a large circle of friends and is a 
most entertaining and thrilling relater of the adventures in the exciting days 
of early California. He has long since retired from any active labor, but has 
always enjoyed the best of health even though his early years were full of 
grim hardships. He has witnessed the many changes that have taken place 
in the county and has watched its growth from an undeveloped section over- 
run with Indians to its present busy, commercial activities. He is indeed a 
true pioneer and Humboldt county is justly proud to number him among 
her citizens. 

CHARLES A. ROBERTS.— The first shipment of stock made by boat 
from a Humboldt county port to San Francisco was sent down in 1894, dur- 
ing the great midwinter fair, and the shippers were Charles A. Roberts and 
Robert W. Robarts, the former the late proprietor of the butcher shop at 
Petrolia, farmer, stock-raiser and cattle-shipper — one of the most enterprising 
business men of the region about Petrolia.' Not only was he one of the best 
known stockmen of Humboldt county, but was also well known in stock- 
yard circles at San Francisco, his large transactions and honorable dealings 
having brought him into familiar acquaintance and excellent repute with some 
of the leading figures in the business on the Pacific coast. Mr. Roberts was 
of pioneer parentage, being a son of the late William Roberts, who undoubt- 
edly inherited his taste for frontier life, his parents having been early settlers 
in Iowa. William Roberts was only a boy when his father died in that state, 
but his mother lived to be over ninety-one years of age, and paid him a visit 
after he had settled in the Mattole valley. 

William Roberts was born in Iowa, and first came out to California 
shortly after the gold discoveries. He crossed the plains the second time in 
1851, in the train of T. M. Brown (afterward sheriff of Humboldt county), 
and during the rest of his life made his home in Humboldt county. Soon after 
his marriage he moved out onto the Coosky range, which was then occupied 
by the Indians, and engaged in the stock business, being one of the earliest 
in that line in the county. He and Theo Aldrich ran cattle on that range for 
several years, and the tract of fourteen hundred acres nine miles south of 
Petrolia, which is still owned by the Roberts family, was always referred to 
as the Aldrich & Roberts ranch. AVilliam Roberts prospered, and was active 
to the close of his life, dying at the age of seventy-six years. The old home- 
stead, a tract of one hundred fifty-five acres, had been sold, but was repur- 
chased by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Roberts. 

At Eureka, Humboldt county, William Roberts married Miss Elizabeth 
Lambert, then only a young girl of about sixteen, who had crossed the plains 
in the same train as himself in 185L She survives him, and is now the wife 
of T. J. Frost, of Eureka. To her marriage with I\Ir. Roberts were born 
seven children, two of whom died in youth, and Stella passed away at the 
age of twenty-eight years ; she was the wife of James Kingston, well knov/n in 
shipping circles in Eureka, and left one daughter, Ruth. Charles A. met his 
death in the sinking of the Hanalei. The three survivors are; Belle, now the 
wife of George Foster, of Petrolia; Sarah, wife of Otis Ellingwood, living in 
Washington; and Robert, of Ferndale, where he is engaged in the furniture 
and upholstering business. 



496 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Charles A. Roberts was born August 2, 1863, in the Mattole valley, where 
he grew to manhood, obtaining his education in the local public schools. 
All his mature life he was a devoted business man, and also a large stock 
grower and dealer, having the old Roberts homestead where he lived, two 
miles south of Petrolia, also leasing the Coosky ranch (the Aldrich & Rob- 
erts ranch) in the Coosky range south of Petrolia, where he raised large 
numbers of cattle, being associated in the latter ranch Avith his brother 
Robert. Besides supplying his own shop at Petrolia with wholesome and 
choice fresh meat he had stock for valuable shipments, sending stock by 
steamship to San Francisco from Port Kenyon and Eureka. As previously 
noted, he made his first shipment in 1894 in company with Robert W. Robarts, 
a boatload of cows sent down for their patrons on commission. The venture 
proved profitable, and Charles A. Roberts afterward continued in this line, 
in which he was considered one of the most reliable authorities in the busi- 
ness in Humboldt county, as well as an excellent judge of beef cattle. He 
shipped 'stock on all the following boats: "Hattie Gage," from Port Kenyon; 
"Argo," Eureka; ''Norfolk," Eureka; "Alice Blanchard," Fields Landing; 
"Newport," Port Kenyon; "Bonita," Eureka; "Weeot," Port Kenyon; "Po- 
mona," Eureka; "Willamette A^alley," Eureka; "Chilcat," Port Kenyon; 
"Eureka," Eureka ; "New Humboldt," Eureka. The shipments ranged in 
size from eighty to one hundred eighty-five head. From a boy he helped his 
father and learned to ride the range and when a lad assisted in driving cattle 
down the coast. 

It was in 1892 that Mr. Roberts first opened a meat market at Petrolia, 
and though he did not continue the business steadily, since he was in it 
several times, for the last six years of his life he followed it without interrup- 
tion. His common sense and good judgment were so well known as to need 
no comment. Though his father's large interests and possessions gave him 
great opportunities for acquiring experience in his early life he showed him- 
self worthy of the excellent start that training proved to be, and his capabil- 
ity in the management of his various, undertakings formed the basis of his 
continued success. 

In Eureka June 15, 1896, Mr. Roberts married Miss Harriet S. Aldrich, 
daughter of William and Mary Belle (Whitson) Aldrich, the former a native 
of Delaware county, Ohio, the latter of Pennsylvania; they were married at 
Tipton, Iowa. Mr. Aldrich first came to California across the plains in 1849 
when a young man. He was successful in his undertakings and after accu- 
mulating considerable means he returned to Iowa, where he married. He 
and his wife were proprietors of the Aldrich House in Tipton, and later he 
purchased a farm near there and engaged in farming and as a breeder of fine 
cattle and standard horses, afterwards also engaging in the banking business. 
He finally retired from business and spent his winters in California. On his 
last return trip he was stricken with apoplexy and died at Barstow, Cal., 
March 23, 1904, aged seventy-seven years. His wife died in Iowa, January 
23, 1906. Of the thirteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich two died in 
infancy, the other eleven reaching maturity and nine still survive. Mrs. Rob- 
erts, the seventh in the family, was born at Tipton, Iowa, and was a graduate 
of Tipton high school ; after teaching a short time she took up bookkeeping 
and held that position in a bank in Tipton; in 1894 she came to visit her 
uncle, Theodore Aldrich, in Mattole; she liked the country and decided to 



HISTORY OF HUA/LBOLDT COUNTY 497 

remain and in 1896 was married. She became the mother of three children, 
Donald Aldrich, Harry Lambert (deceased) and Lloyd William. 

There never was a bereavement that caused such general sorrow and 
deep sympathy in the community as the death of Charles A. Roberts and his 
son Harry and there was general sorrowing in all the homes where he was 
known. Mr. Roberts was liberal to a fault and often neglected his own 
business affairs to help others and do a good deed to those who were needy. 
He was a good husband and father and also a kind neighbor. His benignant 
and generous character endeared him to a wide circle who appreciated the 
good he accomplished in his own unselfish life and for his upright and 
honest methods of doing business. He is held in loving' memor}^ all over the 
county where his entire life was spent. Mr. Roberts and his son Harry L. 
took passage on the ill-fated Hanalei Sunday morning, November 22, 1914, 
which struck the rocks at Ducksbury Reef off the Marin shore on November 
23 and went to pieces on the 24th at 3 A. M'. The drowned bodies of the 
father and son were recovered and brought to Petrolia, where they were 
buried on Sunday, November 29th. Mr. Roberts was clerk of the school 
board of Petrolia district at the time of his death. Since his death his widow 
has continued the affairs of her husband, i. e., farming and cattle raising. 

ANDREAS E. PETERSEN.— Descended from an ancient Danish family 
whose genealogy is traceable back through many generations of splendid 
men and women who exhibited the tendencies and characteristics representa- 
tive of those fair minded, firm and indomitable people who laid the foundation 
for the Anglo-Saxon civilization, Andreas E. Petersen is himself a man of 
splendid character and attainments. He and his father were well-to-do 
farmers in Schleswig, but smarting under stringent German domination, he 
sold his holdings and came to America with his wife and family, almost 
immediately locating in Humboldt county, where together they have formed 
a very valuable and desirable addition to the community. Mr. Petersen is 
decidedly independent and liberal in politics and religion, with most pro- 
nounced humanitarian views and sentiments. His wife is a delightful hostess, 
kindly and hospitable, whom it is a delight to know. Their home is two miles 
east of Ferndale, where they have a fine dairy farm which has been their 
home for many years. They are well-to-do and generous, believing in prog- 
ress, education and right living along broad lines. 

Mr. Petersen was born at Kreis Aabenraa, in Schleswig, Denmark (now 
a part of Germany), February 21, 1847. He received his education in the 
Danish language, and was reared and confirmed in the Lutheran church. His 
father, Peter Petersen, was a dairy farmer, owning a large farm which he 
conducted with great profit ; the mother was Johanna Cathrina Petersen ; 
both parents living and dying in Denmark. There were in their family six 
children, of which the present honored citizen of Ferndale was the eldest 
born. The others were: Botilla, single, and residing at Schleswig; Peter 
Jesperson, residing in Ferndale, and now retired from active business ; 
Lawrence P., a dairy farmer near Areata ; Theodore, a dairy farmer near 
Santa Barbara, Cal. ; and Anna Cathrina, deceased, who was married and 
lived in Schleswig, where she died, leaving her husband, Andrias Bronson, 
with seven children. 

The marriage of Mr. Petersen took place in Schleswig, March 29, 1873, 
uniting him with Miss Maria Cecelia Eskildsen, of that place. Of this union 



498 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

have been born six children, all natives of Schleswig. They are : Peter, 
married to Miss Sophia Quist, and engaged in dairy farming at Centerville ; 
Hans E., dairy farmer at Suisun, Cal., and married to Miss Marie Everson ; 
P. Nicolai, a dairy farmer at Grizzly Blufif, and married to Miss Johanna 
Linnemann ; Johannes E., who is conducting his father's farm ; Hanna C, 
the wife of Niss C. Eskildsen, residing at Centerville ; and Caroline C, the 
wife of Prof. Hans C. Christensen, of the Areata High School. 

It was in 1894 that Mr. Petersen came to California and located in Hum- 
boldt county, purchasing a tract of only partially improved land about two 
miles east of Ferndale and one mile from Waddington, consisting of seventy 
acres. This he has cleared and improved, and today has one of the attractive 
dairy farms of the district. Originally it was largely swamp land, but this 
has been drained and brought under a high state of cultivation and pasturage. 
In the old country Mr. Petersen was the owner of a fine, large dairy farm, 
but felt that it would be preferable to start anew in a new land rather than 
longer endure the despised foreign rule, and so disposed of his interests and 
made the long journey to California, which he has never regretted. Since 
coming to Humboldt county he has taken an active interest in all the 
public affairs of the community, and is generally appreciated as a citizen of 
the highest type. He has always been especially interested in dairying and 
has done much for the development and prosperity of this great industry. 
He promoted the Capital creamery and was one of the stockholders in that 
enterprise. He has also taken a great interest in fraternal circles and is one 
of the important factors of the Danish Brotherhood, being secretary of that 
order, and being one of the organizers of the Danish Sisterhood in Ferndale. 
He is also a member of the Ferndale Lodge, Fraternal Brotherhood. In his 
political views Mr. Petersen is a Republican, although he is at all times above 
any party, giving his support and cooperation rather to the principles and 
the men who represent those things which make for the common welfare. 

EMORY A. BRIGHTMAN.— A native of the Golden West and 
descended, on both his father's and his mother's side, from early California 
pioneers, while his father's ancestry is directly traceable to those pioneers 
of an earlier day, the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, Emory A. Brightman is a 
true son of his forebears, and has inherited the sterling worth of the men 
who carved their future in untried ways. He himself began the fight of life 
when he was but fourteen years of age, at that time going to work on the 
neighboring farms, and at eighteen he was aiding in the support of his father 
and family, his mother having died at that time and his father being in ill 
health. Since that time he has forged steadily ahead, always dependent upon 
his own efiforts, meeting the difficulties in his path squarely and fearlessly, 
and in the end vanquishing them. He is now the junior member of the firm 
of Goff & Brightman, proprietors of the Ferndale Meatmarket, with their 
place of business on Main street, Ferndale. Mr. Brightman has been in this 
business for some five or six years, and has met with the greatest success. 
Previous to his taking over the enterprise with Mr. Gofif he was in the employ 
of the former owner, and so was familiar Avith the details of the business 
and also with the local conditions of the trade. He is the outside man of 
the firm and is an exceptionally hard worker, being always in evidence when 
there is aught that concerns his business interests to claim attention. 

Mr. Brightman was born in the Yosemite valley, Mariposa county, Cal., 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 499 

August 29, 1883, his parents being now both deceased. His father, Frederick 
Augustus Brightman, was a native of Massachusetts, born at Fall River. His 
ancestors came over with the Mayflower and settled at Plymouth, and many 
of the descendants are still to be found in the vicinity. His mother was Mary 
Duff, born at Washington, D. C, who came to California with her parents 
when she was a child, and met and married Mr. Brightman in Mariposa 
county, where the latter was engaged in driving a stage and teaming. He 
also drove a stage into the Yosemite valley in the early days. In 1879 Mr. 
and Mrs. Brightman (Sr.) came to Humboldt county, and engaged in farming 
and dairying. They were the parents of four children, of whom the present 
respected citizen of Ferndale is the eldest. Other members were : Frederick 
Wade, now a teamster in Ferndale ; Adelle, the wife of Frank Kelley, and 
Esther, both residing at Independence, Ore. 

Reared on a farm, young Emory Brightman learned at an early age to 
assume his share of the farm duties, and began milking cows at the tender 
age of six years. He attended school for a time, but from fourteen years of 
age he worked whenever he could secure employment on the neighboring 
farms, and at the age of eighteen he began to assist with the support of the 
family. His marriage occurred in Eureka, October 13, 1906, when he was 
twenty-three, uniting him with Miss Bessie E. McHenry, a native of Iowa, 
born at Woodbine, that state. She came to Humboldt county with her parents 
when she was but five years of age and has since that time made her home 
here. Her father, Henry McHenry, died before the family came to California, 
and her mother, who was in maidenhood Clara Moss, married again to Louis 
Hansen, and now resides at Pepperwood, where Mrs. Brightman spent her 
girlhood and received her education. She has one full brother, Arthur Mc- 
Henry, residing in Eureka, and nine half brothers and sisters. After their 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brightman were engaged on a stock ranch at Grizzly 
Bluff for several years, and then came to Ferndale,' where Mr. Brightman 
entered the employment of Joe Russ in the Ferndale Meat Market. Also in 
the employ of Mr. Russ at the same time was Joseph Goff, and in 1909 these 
enterprising young men bought out the then owner and have since conducted 
the business under the firm name of Goff & Brightman. They have a first- 
class establishment in every way, modern and sanitary, after the latest ap- 
proved ideas, and are doing a splendid business. They have their own 
slaughter house and take especial care in selecting their animals for slaughter, 
thus securing only the highest grade of meats. They carry a complete line 
of fresh, dried and pickled meats, bacon, eggs, butter, vegetables, etc., and 
their facilities for the care and handling of these products are of the very 
best. They also give the most courteous treatment to all customers, and 
in consequence their business is not only prospering, but is rapidly growing 
in scope and value. 

Quite apart from his popularity as a business man, Mr. Brightman 
occupies a very influential place in the general affairs of the city, being well 
and favorably known in social and fraternal circles. He is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Odd Fellows, being affiliated with the Ferndale Lodge No. 220, 
I. O. O. F., and is past grand. Mrs. Brightman is also active in the aft'airs 
of the Rebekahs, and is serving as noble grand, taking an interest in all 
their activities, and her influence has done much toward the upbuilding of 
the order. She is a member of the Methodist church, and takes a great in- 



500 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

terest in the activities of this denomination, of which she is a regular at- 
tendant. In their home life Mr. and Mrs. Brightman are especially happy. 
They are the parents of four children : Vernon, Lloyd, Mary and Leland. 

HANS C. CHRISTENSEN.— The descendant of an excellent old Danish 
family, Hans C. Christensen bears all the marks of his distinguished ancestry 
in his face and figure, being a splendid type of the ancient Norseman of 
fable and song. His splendid physique led to his selection for service in 
the Danish Cavalry, where men of the greatest muscular development and 
activity are in great demand, and where he won much distinction. He is 
today one of Ferndale's most active, popular and successful business men, 
and possesses a host of friends. His customers always receive a square deal, 
and also the most courteous of treatment. He started as a penniless boy in 
Humboldt county almost thirty-five years ago, and by the excellent efforts 
that he put forth has climbed slowly and surely upward to the top of 
the ladder. He is now vice-president and manager of the Kausen-Williams 
Hardware Company, in Ferndale, and one of the heaviest stockholders of 
this prosperous concern. 

Mr. Christensen is a native of Denmark, having been born on the Island 
of Fyen, June 16, 1864. His father. Christian Christensen, was a hotel-keeper 
at Odense, the capital of the island, and there the son passed his childhood. 
His mother, Mary Christensen, died when Hans was a mere babe, he being 
the only child of this marriage. The father married again shortly and ten 
children were the issue of this second marriage. The father and step-mother 
are both living in Denmark at present, having retired from active life. The 
young Hans was reared by his step-mother, and received a grammar-school 
education, pursuing his studies until he was fourteen years of age, when he 
went to work among his mother's people, being employed by his mother's 
sister. The opportunities of the Western World appealed to him, however, 
and in 1882, when he was but eighteen, he came to America. He came at 
once to San Francisco, and from there went to Eureka, and later to Ferndale, 
which has been the center of his operations ever since. On his arrival in 
Ferndale he found himself quite without money and was forced to accept 
any employment that offered. Consequently he went to work on a farm 
for $15 per month, and from that small start worked himself up until he was 
receiving the highest wages paid for farm and dairy work. In 1885 Mr. 
Christensen returned to Denmark for a visit, and while there enlisted in the 
Danish ^my as a cavalryman, serving for two years. He then returned to 
Ferndale in 1887, and resumed work on the various dairy farms. In the 
spring of 1892 he was married to Miss Johanna Christensen, the daughter of 
Christian Rasmussen, of Denmark, now deceased. In the fall of that same 
year Mr. Christensen rented the Waddington Dairy farm and for four years 
conducted this place with marked success. He then moved to the Keohan 
ranch of two hundred twenty acres, near Waddington, where he engaged 
in the dairy business for ten years. At the end of that time he was stricken 
with appendicitis and was obliged to undergo a serious surgical operation, 
in August, 1906. He was then forbidden by his physicians to do any more 
farm work, and so disposed of his farm and dairy interests and moved into 
Ferndale. Later in the year he purchased an interest in the Kausen-Williams 
Hardware Company, of which he is now vice-president and manager. He 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 501 

owns one hundred twenty shares out of the three hundred that are issued, 
and is making a decided success of his conduct of the business, The store is 
large and modern and the stock is excellent, while the trade is all that could 
be desired, and is rapidly increasing. The firm is incorporated for $30,000 
with $19,000 paid in, there being 300 shares at $100 valuation each. The 
officers of the company are: J. C. Erickson, of Ferndale, president; Hans C. 
Christensen, vice-president and manager; and S. B. Morrison, secretary-treas- 
urer. 

Quite apart from his business associations and his consequent popularity 
as a merchant, Mr. Christensen has created a place for himself in the general 
activities of the town that is well worth the emulation of older residents than 
he. He is a prominent member of the Danish Lutheran church, of Ferndale, 
and was a member of the building committee which erected the new church 
edifice. He is also well known in fraternal circles, being an influential Mason 
of Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., and of Ferndale Chapter No. 78, 
R. A. M., of which he is high priest. He is intensely interested in all that per- 
tains to the general welfare of the town and community, but has steadily de- 
clined to accept any public office, preferring rather to render his service as a 
private citizen. His support is always forthcoming for all movements for 
progress and municipal improvements and upbuilding along permanent lines. 

In his home life Mr. Christensen is very happy. His fine family of 
six children have all grown to manhood and womanhood and are either 
located in Ferndale or within easy reach thereof. They are all men and 
women of sterling qualities and enjo};^ the honor and respect of their friends 
and acquaintances. They are : Mary, who is a stenographer for Puter & 
Quinn, attorneys at law, in Eureka; Christ, who is a tinner for the firm of 
Kausen- Williams Hardware Company ; Robert, a dairyman in the vicinity 
of the home town ; Sophius, a clerk in the hardware store ; Alfred and Elmer. 

JOSEPH B. GOFF. — Although still a young man, not yet having turned 
the thirtieth mile-stone on his road of life, Joseph B. Goff has "made good" 
in his business career. For the past five or six years he has been in business 
for himself in the butcher and meat market business in Ferndale, where he 
makes his home, and is meeting with more than ordinary success. The 
business is conducted on a strictly business basis, the latest sanitary devices 
being employed for the handling of all meats, and for their care and preser- 
vation. Great care is also taken in the selection of beeves and other animals 
for the slaughterhouse — they maintaining their own — so that only the 
highest grade of meats are to be found in stock. The most conscientious con- 
sideration is always given to every customer, this being another of their 
''specialties." 

Mr. Gofi: is a native of California, having been born at Petrolia, Hum- 
boldt county, December 12, 1884. His father, James H. Goff, now deceased, 
was one of the Petrolia pioneers of an early day, and is remembered with 
the greatest respect. His mother, who was Miss Mary J. Patrick in the 
days of. her maidenhood, was also a pioneer of Humboldt county. She is 
still living, and makes her home at Waddington. She bore her husband six 
sons, of whom the present respected citizen of Ferndale is the fifth. He 
passed his boyhood at Petrolia and Ferndale, attending the public schools, 
and later taking a business course at the Sisters' College, in the latter place. 
He then entered the employment of the firm of Russ & Patrick in their 



502 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

meat market, remaining with them for five years. Later Joe Russ bought 
out the interests of his partner, and conducted the business alone for a year. 
At the end of that time, in 1909, Mr. Goff and his present partner, Emory 
A. Brightman, purchased the business and have continued to conduct it under 
the firm name of Goff & Brightman. Their place of business is well located on 
Main street, and they carry a splendid line of fresh, pickled and dried meats, 
vegetables, lard, bacon, eggs, etc., and are doing a thriving business. 

In addition to his popularity as a business man, Mr. Goff also stands 
exceptionally high in social, fraternal and political circles. He was elected as 
a member of the board of trustees for Ferndale in 1914, and is making a 
record that is very gratifying to his friends and supporters. It is a known 
fact that this small city is especially well governed and that her streets, 
schools, and other public institutions are well above the average city of her 
class. This is, of course, due to the splendid public spirit which prevails, and 
which has been fostered and developed by such men as Mr. Gofif. He is 
always well to the front when matters of local importance are in the balance, 
and there is nothing that he considers too good for his home town. He is a 
member of the Ferndale lodge. Woodmen of the World, of the Eureka Elks, 
and also of the Ferndale Parlor, No. 93, N. S. G. W., in all of which he is an 
influential and a popular member. 

The marriage of Mr. Goff and Miss Beatrice Stone, of Ferndale, was 
celebrated March 4, 1913. Mrs. Goff is, like her husband, very popular 
with a wide circle of friends, and is well known in social circles. 

JOHN N. CHAIN, M. D. — The somewhat accidental circumstance of 
association with a gentleman skilled in the science of materia medica turned 
the thoughts of Dr. Chain to that profession in the formative period of youth 
and led to a course of classical and professional preparation that now places 
him in the list of brilliant practitioners in Humboldt county, where he is 
associated with the Northern California Hospital at Eureka and maintains 
a general practice in that city that brings him into friendly touch with all 
classes of people. Much of his early life was passed on the frontier and in 
the saddle, for although a native of Illinois he was scarcely a year old when 
the family removed to Nebraska, then almost beyond the boundaries of 
civilization. The privations of the isolated country home, the poverty of the 
environment, the long day's toil for the necessities of existence and the 
struggle to- secure a common school education in a region none too blessed 
with schools, all this lingers in his memory of youth, but against it he places 
his love of animals, his delight in horseback riding and the rugged health 
that came from the outdoor life of the prairies. His father, Jacob M. Chain, 
was a native of Ohio and his mother, Amelia (Simms) Chain, of Illinois, while 
his birth occurred at Lewistown, Fulton county, in the latter state, August 
14, 1876. After having lived on the homestead near Lincoln, Neb., from 1877 
to 1895 (in the meantime, from 1893 to 1895, having studied medicine in that 
state), in the year last mentioned he came to California with his preceptor, 
Dr. Fred R. Breed, and studied under him in San Diego, where he laid the 
foundation of his broad professional knowledge. 

Through his own efforts John N. Chain acquired the highest educational 
advantages. After he was graduated from the high school he matriculated 
in the University of California, from which, after seven years' study, he re- 
ceived the degrees of B. S. and M. D. in 1904. A period of practical experience 





>^^?i.:r^S. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 505 

in hospitals of Sacramento and San Francisco was followed by his location in 
Eureka in 1905 and after three years in the office of Dr. Rea Felt in February, 
1908, he opened an office of his own in the Ellery building, where he has 
been located ever since. While skilled in every department of the science, 
perhaps his greatest reputation has been obtained in obstetrics and gynecology, 
but he makes somewhat of a hobby of healthful and sanitary conditions. As 
a physician he advocates prevention of disease. He thoroughly beheves in 
the old adage that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Fre- 
quently he has lectured on sanitation and health, the proper observance of 
the laws of which he believes would greatly lessen community illness or con- 
tagious diseases. A service on the Eureka Board of Health covered four 
years and gave him an opportunity to publicly advocate the most stringent 
municipal rules in regard to sanitation. Professional societies of which he is 
a member are the Humboldt County, California State and American Medical 
Associations, while his fraternal affiliations are with Humboldt Lodge No. 
79, F. & A. M., and Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In 1902 he was united 
in marriage with Miss Fannie M. Squires, a native of Seward, Neb., and they 
have two sons, John and Jere. 

FRANK J. BERNARDI.— One of the leading men of Eureka, and sole 
proprietor of the leading blacksmith shop in the city, is Frank J. Bernardi, 
a native of Switzerland, but for many years a loyal citizen of the United 
States. In 1884, when he was a lad of sixteen years, he came to Eureka, and 
ever since has made his home in Humboldt county, being well known in 
Eureka and also in AlUance, where he made his home for two years. 

Mr. Bernardi was born in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, March 19, 
1868, the son of John and Mary Bernardi, both natives of that country, the 
former a cabinet-maker by trade. Of his mother Mr. Bernardi remembers 
nothing, as she died when he was a child of but five years. He was given 
such advantages as the local schools afforded and when he was a lad of 
fourteen years came to the United States in company with a younger brother, 
Titus. They left Switzerland in September, 1882, and in December of that 
year Frank J. came to Humboldt county. During his youth he learned the 
cabinet-maker's trade in his father's shop, but on arriving in California he 
went to work on a dairy farm near Mattole, this county, where he remained 
for two years, in the meantime learning the language and manners and cus- 
toms of the country. After returning to Eureka in 1884 he worked in saw- 
mills in and near that city for a time. For several years it had been his desire 
to learn the blacksmith's trade, and the opportunity offering, he began an 
apprenticeship under J. P. Holt, under whom for one year he acquired the 
rudiments of the trade. Going to Marshall, Marin county, he worked at 
the trade for a year, then returned to Humboldt county and worked in the 
mills in Eureka for a time. Subsequently he was engaged in the blacksmith- 
ing business in Alliance for two years, at the end of that time returning to 
Eureka, where he has since made his home. May 1, 1896, he opened a black- 
smith shop in Eureka and in July of the same year entered into partnership 
with A. S. Kerr under the firm name of Kerr & Bernardi. Under this name 
business was conducted for seventeen years, their establishment in the mean- 
time becoming Eureka's leading blacksmith and wagon shop. 

On January 1, 1913, Mr. Bernardi purchased the interest of his partner 
and has since that time been sole owner of this flourishing establishment. 



506 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The shop is located at No. 217 Third street, and occupies a tAvo-story build- 
ing. 30x110 feet, and all the latest machinery required in such an estabUsh- 
ment has been installed. This includes a power drill for iron and steel, emery 
wheels, electrical portable drills for wood, iron and steel, trip hammer, tire 
crimping machine or setter, two forges, clipping machine, rimmers, band 
saws, wood boring machine, planing machine, as well as other machinery 
necessary for their wagon-making shop and for their automobile repair work, 
with electricity for the motive power. In connection there is a fully equipped 
and first-class paint shop. Mr. Bernardi makes a specialty of the manufac- 
ture of three types of wagons — delivery wagons, logging wagons and heavy 
trucks — the kinds turned out by his shop being well known and of acknowl- 
edged value in the locality. He also employs an expert horse-shoer and his 
work in this line is also of superior grade. He is himself in constant charge 
of the work, whether it be the repairing of a wrecked automobile, a broken 
wagon, or the manufacture of a new one, and nothing leaves the shop that is 
not up to standard. 

The marriage of Mr. Bernardi took place in Eureka in 1896, uniting 
him with Miss Delma Ada Thomas, the daughter of William and Mary 
Thomas, pioneers of Humboldt county, where Mr. Thomas has been engaged 
in logging for many years. Both Ad^r. and Mrs. Bernardi have many friends 
in their home city. Mrs. Bernardi is a member of the Christian church, and a 
regular attendant at its services. In fraternal circles Mr. Bernardi is especially 
popular. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and past chancellor of 
the local lodge. In politics he is a Republican, and is keenly alive to all that 
is for the best interests of the community, although he has never been actively 
interested in party affairs. He is one of the best boosters that Eureka has, 
and as is befitting with one who believes fully in the splendid future of the 
city and county, he has invested in real estate and now owns valuable prop- 
erty in and near Eureka. 

JOSEPH MORANDA. — The population of California is indeed very 
cosmopolitan in its nature, many nations being represented by its citizens 
and among them is Mr. Moranda, a native of Switzerland, having been born 
near Locarno, Canton Ticino, March 19, 1864, where he received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of the vicinity and where he spent the earlier part 
of his life engaged in farming on the home place. At the age of nineteen he 
decided to come to America to try to better his condition, having heard good 
reports from his father and other returning countrymen. His father, Bartolo- 
meo Moranda, had come to California about 1869 and Avas engaged in gar- 
dening near Stockton for fourteen years when he returned and resumed 
farming in Ticino. Hence, Joseph naturally early conceived a strong desire to 
see the land of gold and sunshine. On leaving Switzerland he came directly 
to Marin county, but he did not feel satisfied with conditions there. So in 
January, 1884, he moved to Humboldt county and began work on a dairy 
farm located on Bear river ridge and known as the Russ ranch. Remaining 
there only a short time, he was then employed by the Clark brothers on their 
dairy ranch at Grizzly Bluff. Later deciding to enter the business for himself, 
he leased a tract of land comprising one hundred and sixty acres on Eel 
river, known as the Dungan ranch. He purchased his stock and entered 
earnestly into the dairying business, which he followed for twenty years 



HISTORY OF HU^IBOLDT COUNTY 507 

on the one ranch. He milked as high as one hundred head of cows, and his 
land being in the extremely fertile section caused by the overflow of Eel 
river, it was unusually fine for farming. In 1906 he gave up his lease and 
purchased the ranch which is now the home place in Areata. In this ranch 
there are one hundred and five acres, all highly improved and well adapted 
to farming and dairying. Here ^Ir. ^loranda is at present engaged in gen- 
eral farming and dairying and owns a fine herd of forty cows. All the im- 
provements and equipment on the ranch are of the finest and most modern, 
and he has attempted to make his ranch the best in the district. He has 
built a large residence on this place. In all political matters he has entered 
with a will, always following the ideas of the Republican party, and is a 
member of the F. O. E. He was married in Eureka, October 6, 1892, to 
Henrietta Hammitt, a native daughter of Humboldt county, having been 
born at the foot of Table Bluff near what is now Loleta. Mr. and Mrs. 
IMoranda have been blessed with three children, two of whom are now living : 
Joseph Edward, who died October 5, 1910; Hazel Lucille, and Charles 
Walter. 

i\Irs. Moranda's father was Elwood Hammitt, born in Ohio, 1832, and 
one of California's pioneers, crossing the plains in 1851, in search of the 
new El Dorado, his method of transportation being the then favorite ox 
team. He did not succeed in finding the gold he hoped for and hearing of 
the fields of Alaska he started ont on another hunt for treasure, taking 
passage on a sailing vessel with seventy-five companions, for one of the 
small islands off the coast of Alaska. Returning to California he entered the 
mines of Yreka, but in 1854 he went to Oregon, remaining there for a few 
years. Next he heard of the opportunities of Humboldt county and in 1866 
he came here, and engaged in farming until the time of his death, which 
occurred March 5, 1908. Her mother is Charlotte (Gordon) Hammitt, 
a native of Missouri, but crossed the plains when nine years of age, with her 
parents ; and is at present living in Loleta. Mr. Moranda is an industrious, 
progressive farmer and has been very successful. However, he attributes his 
success, in no small degree, to the assistance of his wife, who has stood nobly 
by him, encouraging and aiding him in every way by her help and counsel. 
When he first came to the county he did not have money enough to start in 
business, so was employed for a few years by others, thus saving enough of 
his earnings to start for himself. His present financial standing is a silent 
tribute to his ability both as a business man and successful farmer. 

CHARLES I. HARPST.— One of the well known lumbermen of Hum- 
boldt county, and one who has been very actively associated with the devel- 
opment of the lumber industry in this section of the state, is Charles I. 
Harpst, who at present is engaged in farming, and owns a handsome place 
adjoining Areata on the west, where he makes his home. He has been asso- 
ciated with the lumbering business since coming to California in 1882, until 
within the past few years, when he retired from active participation in com- 
mercial lines, and took up farming. He has been interested in various well 
known lumber companies in the county. In his business undertakings he 
has always been very successful, and throughout the county he is known as a 
man of reliability and integrity of character. 

Mr. Harpst is a native of Ohio, having been born in Hancock county. 



508 . HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

twelve miles from the town of Findlay, on his father's farm, May 29, 1861. 
His father was Edward Harpst, a native of Pennsylvania, born in York 
county, March 28, 1822, and died October 19, 1908. He lived with his 
parents in York county until he was eight years of age, when they removed 
to Franklin county, Ohio. Here he attended school for a short time, but 
spent the greater part of his time working on the farm. For a few years 
he followed the carpenter's trade, and later as a farmer he was very success- 
ful. In 1894 he made a trip to California to visit his son and other relatives 
here, remaining for a year. Fie returned to Ohio and resided there until the 
time of his death. The mother of the present worthy citizen of Areata was 
Sarah N. (Brown) Harpst, a native of Pennsylvania, born April 5, 1822. She 
was the eldest child in the family, and was married in Franklin county, Ohio, 
early in 1850. She became the mother of six children, four of whom are liv- 
ing at the present time, two residing in California and two in Ohio. The 
mother is still living. 

The early life of Charles I. Harpst was spent on his father's farm in 
Hancock county, Ohio. He attended school in his district until he was nine- 
teen, assisting in the meantime with the farm work, and remaining at home 
until he came to California in October, 1882. He came direct to Humboldt 
county, where he had relatives living, and soon after his arrival he went to 
work for a relative in the Harpst & Spring shingle mill. Within a short time 
he was advanced to the position of foreman of the mill, which position he 
held until 1886. At that time he took charge of a dairy ranch for this same 
company, occupying this position for some four years. In 1900 he gave up 
the care of the dairy farm to engage in business with the new company 
known as the Union Shingle Manufacturing Company. Mr. Harpst was 
manager of this company continuously until it closed down in 1911. having 
worked up all the available timber. During this time he was also interested 
in the Bayside Lumber Company, being one of the original board of direc- 
tors, and continuing in this capacity as long as he retained his interests in 
the company. He sold his interests in the Bayside Lumber Company four 
years ago. Another of the industries in which he has been interested and to 
which he has given material support is the Devlin Tannery Company of 
Areata, of which he is a stockholder and a director. 

In all his business undertakings Mr. Harpst has been unusually success- 
ful, and he has displayed quite marked ability as a business manager. 
Since he retired from active business pursuits, Mr. Harpst has taken up 
general farming. In November, 1909, he removed with his family to the 
home place of thirty-eight acres, all improved land, adjoining Areata, and 
here he has resided since. He is especially well informed on all the details of 
farming, this having been the training of his boyhood, and his earliest busi- 
ness ventures having been in this field, so has met with his customary suc- 
cess in this last undertaking. 

The marriage of Mr. Harpst took place in Areata, July 16, 1895, uniting 
him with Miss Nora Seaver, a native of Shelter Cove, Flumboldt county, Cal. 
She is the daughter of Daniel A. and Anna (Briggs) Seaver, pioneers of Cali- 
fornia. Her father came to the coast by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 
the early mining excitement, and located in Humboldt county, where he 
resided for many years. Mrs. Harpst is the mother of one child, a son, 
Charles W. Harpst. 





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^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 511 

Both ]\Ir. and iNIrs. Harpst are well known socially in Areata, where 
they have a wide circle of friends. J\Ir. Harpst is prominent in fraternal cir- 
cles, having been made a ]\Iason in Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., of 
which he is a past master ; he is also a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, 
R. A. M., and of Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T. ; also of Oakland Con- 
sistory and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. J\I. S. He is also a member of Anni- 
versary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., xA.rcata, of which he is past grand. Politically 
he is a Progressive Republican, but locally he is an independent voter, pre- 
ferring to support the men whom he deems best fitted for the various offices. 

JAMES McCREADY. — Although a native of New Brunswick, James 
McCready has been for almost fifty years a resident of Humboldt county, and 
is one of the honored pioneers of the state and well known throughout his 
section thereof as a man of sterling worth and unwavering integrity. He has 
been engaged in various pursuits, but for the greater part has been engaged 
in farming or been connected with the lumbering industry. He is at present 
retired from active business life and lives quietly on his ranch near Blue 
Lake, where several of his children also reside, the ranch itself being run 
under the management of his sons. 

j\lr. jMcCread)^ was born at Wawweig, St. Andrews Parish, Charlotte 
county, New Brunswick, February 26, 1843. Here he spent the early years 
of his life on the farm of his father, attending school in the winter and work- 
ing on the farm during the summer months. When he was fifteen he gave 
up his school attendance and went to work regularly. At first he worked in 
the woods driving logs and received for this $16 a month. Later this was 
increased to $1.25 a day, which to the lad seemed a very large sum. He made 
his home with his parents on the farm up to the time he came to California, 
working with his father when the work in the woods was closed down. At 
the age of twenty-three, on March 27, 1866, he was married to jNIargaret 
Simpson,- a native of New Brunswick, born January 3, 1849. 

It was in 1868 that Mr. ]\IcCready determined to come to California. 
This determination was arrived at through the receipt of letters from a 
brother, John McCready, who was then living in Humboldt county, stating 
that the wages paid on the coast were much higher than received in New 
Brunswick, and the climatic conditions also far superior. Accordingly j\Ir. 
IMcCready made the long journey with his family via the Isthmus of Panama, 
landing from the old Aspinwall in San Francisco, and came on to Eureka on 
the Hesperian, arriving with only $16 in May, 1868, having been nine days 
en route from San Francisco. He immediately went to work at Freshwater 
for his brother, John McCready, who had come to California in 1859 and 
was well established and acquainted with conditions and people in Humboldt 
county. Through him James McCready later secured employment with John 
Connick and George Carson, remaining in their employ for several months, 
and though he had hired to them for $50 a month they were so pleased that 
they paid him $60. Later John McCready and Dan Morrison secured his 
services to w^ork in their logging camps and for seven years he was thus 
employed. In 1876 he went to Salmon creek and found work with Dave 
Evans and Harvey Marks in the woods, remaining with that company until 
the firm dissolved in 1878. In 1871 he had homesteaded one hundred sixty 
acres of land where Wrangletown now stands, and had also purchased thirty- 
five acres of rich bottom land. 



512 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

In 1872 trouble came upon Mr. McCready in the illness and death of his 
Avife, who left two small children to be cared for. The expense of sickness 
and death had been very great and Mr. McCready was obliged to sell his 
property to clear off his debts ; then placing the children, William John and 
Margaret Ella (now Mrs. Montgomery), in the care of a family in town he 
continued in the employ of his brother. In 1876, as above stated, he Avorked 
on Salmon creek until the firm failed, then he went to Areata and worked for 
James Gannon for four years, after which he purchased forty acres of land 
at West End, where he built his home, meantime being employed by Isaac 
Minor in the woods on Warren creek. He prospered in his undertakings, and 
soon was able to again purchase land, this time choosing a forty-acre tract 
along Mad river. The land was all unimproved and thickly covered with a 
heavy undergrowth which made travel across it impossible save in the beaten 
trails. There was no road up that side of the river and the only way to reach 
the homes located there was by fording the river or by boat. Mr. McCready 
moved onto this place March 24, 1883, and that same night heav}'- rains fell, 
rendering the river impassable until the first of June. It was several years 
before there was any other way of reaching Areata, and as the Mad river 
was apt to be impassable much of the time during the winter the settlers in 
that section were often cut off from supplies for many months at a time, and 
so were obliged to lay in their winter supplies early. 

For a few years after taking up his residence on this place Mr. McCready 
worked for Isaac Minor in the woods during the winter, and in the summer 
months cleared his land and brought it under cultivation. He purchased 
additional land from time to time and now owns two hundred forty-four acres, 
eighty of which is bottom land. The first summer he bought a few cows and 
engaged in dairying on a small scale, farming what land was then cleared. 
In 1886 he made a handsome profit on the farm and in the fall of 1887 he 
gave up working in the woods and thereafter devoted himself to the care 
and development of his own property. At present he has a herd of forty 
milch cows and makes a specialty of the dairy business. A number of years 
ago he built a new home about a quarter of a mile from the old place, and 
located on a bluff overlooking the river. Of late years he has retired from 
active life, and his sons are operating the farm. He owns a residence in 
Areata, but has never made it his home. 

The second marriage of Mr. McCready took place in Humboldt county 
November 8, 1879, uniting him with Phinattie Eliza Connick, a native of New 
Brunswick, born in Bailey, Charlotte county. May 24, 1857. She came to 
California with her parents in April, 1876, and has since resided in Humboldt 
county. She has borne her husband nine children, three daughters and six 
sons. They are : James Melvin, David Clifton, Fred Herbert, Jennie May 
(Mrs. Baumgartner), George Connick, Ray Grant, Laura Gertrude, Leslie 
Paul and Lola Pauline, the last two being twins. All the children are living 
at this time and all are well and favorably known in Humboldt county, where 
they were born, and where they have received their education and grown to 
manhood and womanhood. 

Mr. McCready is proud of the record that he has made in his many years 
of active service. He has never been discharged from any position, and could 
always return to a former employer and receive employment at any time. 
He is industrious and earnest in all matters that he undertakes and is a good 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 513 

neighbor and a true friend. He has never been active in public matters, having 
always been exceedingly busy with his personal affairs, but he is well informed 
and progressive in his ideas, and wide awake to anything that tends for the 
betterment of local conditions. He is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 
77 , I. O. O. F., at Eureka, and has been a member of the order for more than 
forty years. He is also a Veteran Odd Fellow and a member of the Rebekahs. 
He declares that this is the only place in which he cares to live, and is certain 
there is no other place that can compare with it. 

JAMES BAIRD HILL. — Among Humboldt county's native-born sons 
is James Baird Hill, who has been a successful dairyman and farmer most of 
his life. Born in Bald Hill, Humboldt county, March 8, 1862, he attended the 
public schools of the district until fifteen years of age, when he first engaged 
in farming with his father. Neal Hill was born in County Antrim, Ireland ; 
attended the schools of the county and then decided to come to America. 
After spending some time in New York City and Philadelphia he came to 
California via the Isthmus of Panama, about the year 1851, coming direct to 
Humboldt county and there he engaged in mining for a number of years 
on the Salmon river ; later he took up a range and engaged in stock-raising 
at Bald Hill, supplying the miners with beef. About this time the Indians 
became troublesome, so he took his family to Areata, he going to Idaho to mine 
for himself and later to Montana. He returned to Humboldt county in 1865 
and again went to the mines in Montana, remaining eight years ; on his return 
he purchased the home place where he engaged in farming, and serving as a 
supervisor of the county. He later engaged in the dairy business till he 
retired, living in Alliance until he died. His wife, Nancy Baird, was born in 
County Antrim, and now makes her home in Areata. The son, James Baird, 
was raised in Areata and educated in the public schools. When he was fif- 
teen they moved onto the farm, James working for his father, and later they 
farmed in partnership for about three years, after which he started for 
himself, renting the Nixon ranch and engaging in farming, which occupation 
he successfully followed for seven years. He then purchased forty acres of 
unimproved land and started to clear the land, this taking him four years, 
but notwithstanding the nature of the land he started dairying on a small 
scale, having only five cows at the time. It was not long before he had 
increased his herd to thirty head of finel}^ graded stock. Then he entered 
into the creamery business and two years after he purchased the home place. 
Creamery No. 1, of the United Creameries Company, was built, and he was 
given the contract for hauling all the butter from this branch for six years. 
He is now engaged in the dairy business and farming, and has been very 
successful, sparing no expense in making his farm the finest in the vicinity. 
He also leases twenty-five to forty acres of land on which he raises grain, 
hay and feed. He is a stockholder in the United Creameries Company, and 
is also a stockholder in the Savings Bank of Areata. He is a charter member 
of the Areata Parlor No. 20, N. S, G. W., and a stanch Progressive poHtically, 
fostering all movements for the good of the community, but has never sought 
any office. He is a Presbyterian in religion. Mr. Hill is a man who has 
labored untiringly and unceasingly, and his ranch today is a monument to 
his industry and perseverance, his success only coming after years of hard 
work and diligence. 



514 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ISAAC ABNER BEERS.— An eventful life has been the portion of Mr. 
Beers, who was born in Tompkins County, New York, February 23, 1839, 
and here he attended the public schools of the district and graduated from 
them. Taking the teachers' examinations and successfully passing them, he 
began teaching when only nineteen years old. He was desirous of entering 
college and, to obtain the necessary funds, he taught in the district schools, 
his first one being in Bradford county, Pennsylvania. He retired after his 
first term there, and returning to Tompkins county, taught the next two 
terms in his home district. Having saved enough money to enter the academy 
at Ithaca, the county seat, he enrolled, but war being declared in 1861 he 
returned home and prepared to offer his services in the cause. In 1862 he 
enlisted in Company K of the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh New York 
Infantry, and served until the close of the war. The battles in which he 
participated saw him well to the front where the bullets were flying thick 
and fast, and some of the battles in which he took an active part were Chancel- 
lorsville, under Hooker ; the Battle of Gettysburg, under General Meade ; the 
Battle of Lookout Mountain, and the battles on the march through Georgia 
to Atlanta, having been promoted to commissary of the regiment, and served 
as such during the historic Sherman's INIarch to the Sea ; he continued in 
service till the close of the war, taking part in the Grand Review in Wash- 
ington, and being mustered out at Bladensburg, Md., in June, 1865. He is 
the only man living in Humboldt county today who has a medal for serving 
in the Battle of Gettysburg, and this is one of his cherished possessions. 

After being mustered out he returned to New York, where he engaged 
in lumbering for one year and then moved to Galesburg, Illinois, where he 
resumed his teaching and later engaged in the lumber business. While in 
Galesburg he married Anna L. Woodward and in the spring of 1869 they 
moved to Carroll county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. While residing 
in Carroll county he was elected county superintendent of schools, which 
office he held for two years. In 1877 he came to California and located in 
Areata, Humboldt county, where he engaged in the carpenter's trade. He 
contracted for the building of houses in Areata for a number of years and in 
1882 he took charge of a general merchandise store on the Klamath river at 
Orleans Bar, which business he successfully managed for two years. He 
returned to Areata in 1884 and again entered the contracting business, and 
this he followed for the next six years. In 1890 he was appointed United 
States Indian agent at Hoopa b)^ President Harrison, and here he remained 
for three years, creditably performing the manifold duties of his position. 
In the fall of 1888 he was elected Justice of the Peace of ^Areata, but resigned 
the office to accept the position of United States Indian agent. After his 
return from the agency he was again elected Justice of the Peace in 1894, and 
has been re-elected every four years since that time. For sixteen years he 
has been notary public and is the present City Recorder of Areata, having 
served since 1894, so that for the past few years he has devoted his entire 
time and energies to his various public offices. 

Mr. Beers is a member of Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., and is 
an ardent Republican, having cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. His 
marriage occurred September 15, 1868, in Galesburg, 111., to Anna L. Wood- 
ward, a native of Medina county, Ohio. Mr. Beers was bereaved of his wife, 
October 7, 1914; she was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church, in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 515 

the fellowship of which her husband still continues. Mr. Beers has been 
distinguished for his enterprise, and since coming to Humboldt county has 
entered actively into all public movements that have tended to upbuild the 
community. 

ELLIS HUNTER. — One of the notably successful young business men 
of Petrolia is Ellis Hunter, a member of a family well known in this region, 
and of unusual mental and bodily vigor. He is a son of Elias Hunter and 
grandson of Walker Sanders Hunter, the latter one of the earliest settlers 
around Petrolia and in his prime a prominent merchant and large landowner. 
The earlier generations of the family are fully mentioned elsewhere. 

The eldest of a family of twelve children, Ellis Hunter was born June 
19, 1876, at Petrolia, where he grew to manhood. He had the ordinary public 
school education and started work at the age of fourteen, being employed by 
the month on a ranch. For the six years preceding his marriage — from the 
time he was eighteen until he was twenty-four — he worked on the dairy 
ranch of one man, James Giacomini. During the several years following he 
was variously employed, for two years as a buttermaker with the Kinstra 
Company, of Seattle, wholesale dealers in butter, eggs and cheese. Returning 
to Petrolia he engaged in the hotel business, renting the Walsh ranch with 
hotel on it, and besides running the hotel he began agricultural operations on 
his own account, in time buying that place and then a little later the Gouthier 
ranch, a tract of four hundred forty acres. The Walsh property contains one 
hundred thirty acres in Petrolia and he owns and conducts the Petrolia Hotel 
located thereon, which he has enlarged and modernized. The house was 
originally one and a half stories high, and he has raised it and made a full 
two-story building, having an eighteen-room hotel, which under the able 
management of himself and wife has become one of the most popular hostel- 
ries in Humboldt count3^ Its table has the reputation of being unrivaled in 
this section — a well deserved tribute to Mrs. Hunter's superb cooking and 
due also to the advantage of having the best supplies always at hand. Fruits 
and vegetables of the finest quality are raised on the ranch, where Mr. Hunter 
keeps six cows to furnish milk, cream and butter for the hotel especially, and 
the large patronage from the tourist and automobile trade shows how far 
the fame of the good things so plentifully provided here has been carried. 
The hotel is equally noted for its cleanliness and good cheer, and its popularity 
is due in great measure to Mrs. Hunter, who deserves great credit for the 
assistance she has given her husband. Some eight years ago Mr. Hunter 
bought the livery barn at Petrolia, w^hich he has since conducted, his father 
looking after affairs there. His larger ranch is located four miles northeast 
of Petrolia on Conklin creek, a branch of which stream flows into the Mattole 
river above Petrolia. There he raises beef cattle. He owns all his property 
clear, and no business man in the town commands more respect or good will 
among his fellows than Ellis Hunter. He is a Republican in his political 
views, but not an aspirant to office, though he has served as a member of 
the Board of School Trustees. 

In Seattle, Wash., A-Ir. Hunter married Miss Martha Wright, a daughter 
of Marshall and Martha (Rudolph) Wright, pioneer farmers of Mattole. 
Mrs. Hunter was born in Petrolia. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have two children : 
Warren Ellis and Mayme Myrtle. Mrs. Hunter is a member of the Seventh 
Day Adventist church. 



516 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

IRVIN H. DREWRY. — A stopping place in high favor with automo- 
bilists who frequent the road between Willits, M'endocino county, and Eureka, 
in Humboldt county, is the East View hotel. It is located on the Drewry 
ranch in southern Humboldt county, about one and one-half miles south of 
Harris, on the main line of travel in that region. The hotel and ranch are 
owned and operated by Irvin H. Drewry and his sister. Miss Sarah E. 
Drewry, and though they took possession at a recent date the popularity of 
the resort is already widespread. These young people have undertaken con- 
siderable in their present venture, but they have made a beginning which 
promises well. Mr. Drewry has the principal care of the ranch, and he has 
already made a reputation as a stockman, cattle buyer and drover. With the 
Drewrys resides their maternal grandmother, Mrs. Sarah F. Williams, by 
whom they were reared, and who has been in California since 1852, having 
been brought to the state when three years old. 

John P. Drewry, father of Irvin H. and Sarah E. Drewry, is a large 
landowner in the same vicinity, having a ranch of fifteen hundred acres lying 
in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, which he rents at present, however, to 
Ed. Smith, of Ukiah. He is now engaged as a captain of the guard at the 
Folsom City (Cal.) penitentiary. His first wife, whose maiden name was 
Mary E. Williams, died when her two children were very 3foung, Sarah but 
eighteen months old, Irvin eleven days. Mr. Drewry remarried, and by his 
second union; to Mrs. Sarah Jane (Yeates) Hepburn, has one child, Carl 
Perry, now (1914) thirteen years old. 

Irvin H. and Sarah E. Drewry were born in Mendocino county, and as 
their mother died so young they were reared by their maternal grandparents, 
Mr. and Mrs. James H. AVilliams, on their Leggett valley ranch, situated on 
the south fork of the Eel river, about twenty miles due east of Rockport. 
They have had public school training, and have continued to hold their inter- 
ests in common, working together most satisfactorily. They made their first 
business venture in 1910, when they began by keeping a lodging house and 
store in Ukiah. As it proved a success they undertook more, renting a hali 
interest in the McKinney ranch (a tract of nine hundred and sixty acres), 
which they operated for two years. There they became quite extensively 
interested in cattle, keeping about one hundred head, as well as a hundred 
hogs. It was there also that they had their first experience in the conduct of 
a summer resort, the Hunter's Home on that property doing well under their 
management. In December, 1913, they purchased the East View ranch and 
summer resort from Olive E. Snooks — five hundred and twenty acres of land 
and the hotel located on the highway as above related. After investing all 
their capital in this property these courageous young people still have 
an immediate future full of busy promise. But they are cheerful, capable 
workers, and have every prospect of carrying their enterprise along success- 
fully. The hotel is a comfortable and restful resort, and its guests partake of 
the best ranch products, fruits, vegetables, milk, cream and eggs noted for their 
high quality and freshness, and cooked and served under the efficient super- 
vision of Miss Drewry, whose culinary skill has already become known to the 
patrons. Her competent oversight of all the details necessary to the com- 
fort of guests contributes much to their health as well as pleasure, and the 
wholesome restfulness of the place is one of its greatest attractions. The 
patrons afe principally automobilists. 




<#-^/>v^ ^^^^oU^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 519 

As a ranchman Irvin H. Drewry is progressing notably. He has profited 
wel] b}^ his varied experience in the stock business, and is regarded as an 
exceptionally good judge of cattle and hogs, his own success being substantial 
evidence of his all-around knowledge in this particular line. He is a very 
tall man — six feet, six inches in height. His industry and good ideas on ranch 
management have even in the brief time he has had his present property 
become apparent, and his ambitions for its development along the most ap- 
proved lines have already commenced to be realized. There is a good home 
orchard and vegetable garden nn the property, providing abundant supplies 
for the table. ]\Irs. AVilliams retains all her interest in the welfare of her 
grandchildren, willingly advising and assisting in the conduct of their affairs, 
and they thoroughly appreciate the substantial aid she has extended to help 
them take advantage of their opportunities in their present enterprise. AVith 
the family an old friend, Mr. ]\Iitchell, has made his home for many years, 
and he has been most solicitous in encouraging Mr. Drewry and his sister 
in their attempts to make a success of their work. ]Mr. Drewry is a Pro- 
gressive in his political sympathies. 

FRANK DEUEL. — That the romance of early California was not con- 
fined to either the days of Spanish and [Mexican dominion, or to the life of 
the gold seekers, is amply shown in the experiences of such early pioneer 
families as that of Frank Deuel and his forebears. Mr. Deuel himself was 
born in Forest Hill, Placer county, December 6, 1855. From there his 
parents came to Humboldt county in 1859 and located at Trinidad. Later 
they located on the peninsula above what is now Samoa, but the Indians 
became troublesome and they moved into Eureka. Here the lad attended 
school for several years, until the family removed to Areata, where he finished 
his education in the public schools. Conditions were of course exceedingly 
primitive, and by the time he was eighteen years of age he had gone as far 
as the local schools could take him, and he then went to work on the ranch 
with his father. 

^Ir. Deuel's first independent business venture of magnitude occurred in 
1877, when in partnership with John Seely he purchased one hundred twenty 
acres of land in Areata bottom. The following year they divided the ranch, 
each taking sixty acres. Here Mr. Deuel engaged in farming and dairying 
for a number of years, greatly improving the place in the meantime. In 1906 
he retired from active business, leased the home place, and moved into Eureka 
to live. Life in the cit}^ however, did not satisfy the man who had all his 
life lived in the great open places next to nature and loved them, and after 
a few years he returned to make his home on his farm, where he is residing 
at present. 

During his lifetime ]Mr. Deuel has seen Humboldt county trans- 
formed from a wilderness into a land of beautiful farms and handsome homes, 
with all the attendant struggle and heartache, triumph, failure and success 
that ever attend periods of transformation. He has himself been a more 
than ordinarily successful farmer, and his sterling qualities of heart and mind 
have won for him a wide circle of sincere friends. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican and has served his party in various capacities, several times being a 
delegate to conventions. He has always taken an active interest in all matters 



520 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of local public welfare, and for twenty-five years has served as school trustee 
in his home district. He is also keenly interested in fraternal organizations 
and is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Native Sons. 

The marriage of Mr. Deuel to Caroline Goble occurred April 14, 1883, 
near Bayside, Humboldt county. Mrs. Deuel is a native of Springfield, 111., 
born February 9, 1856, the daughter of Abraham and Mary (Griffith) Goble, 
natives of Kentucky and Indiana respectively. The marriage of the parents 
occurred in Illinois, where Mr. Goble carried on farming until he came to 
California. Mrs. Deuel crossed the plains with her parents in 1862 with horse 
teams, settlement being made in Humboldt county. Later the parents 
crossed the plains twice, on both occasions M'r. Goble acting as captain of 
the train, and each time returning to make his home in Humboldt county. 
On both of these trips their daughter accompanied them. Mr. and Mrs. Deuel 
are the parents of three sons, as follows : Frank, Jr., a machinist residing in 
Areata ; John Seely, making his home with his parents ; and Guy Richard, 
employed with the North-Western Pacific Railroad and residing in Eureka. 

While the setting for the life story of Mr. Deuel is full of romance, it is 
but the closing chapter to the story which his father, Edmund Perry Deuel, 
commenced many years before. The father was born in Tompkins county, 
N. Y., October 30, 1823, and at an early age moved with his parents to Jackson 
county, Mich., where his father engaged in farming. Later the family moved 
to a farm in Saginaw county. Edmund lived at home, helping with the farm 
work until he was quite a lad, when he went to work as a woodsman, at 
which occupation he continued until he came to California. The first start 
was made with a six-horse team across the plains ; but in attempting to 
overtake an outfit ahead, Mr. Deuel drove his horses so hard that they became 
exhausted and sick and he was forced to sell his outfit and return to New 
York. The next time he started it was by water via the Panama route, and 
during the winter of 1851-52 he reached San Francisco, then the land of 
promise. Failing to find the desired conditions in San Francisco, he went on 
to Sacramento, where he contracted for teaming and freighting from that 
city to Forest Hill. This was a profitable line of work and he followed it 
until he came to Humboldt county in 1859. The trip up the coast to Trinidad 
was made on the steamer Columbia. At Trinidad he again engaged ifi team- 
ing and freighting, using an ox-team for much of his work in the woods. Soon 
afterwards he engaged in the wood business on Humboldt bay. In 1869 he 
purchased the old Cochran place of one hundred sixty acres, all unimproved 
land located in Areata bottom. It required several years of hard work to 
clear the land of brush and timber before he was able to engage in farming. 
In 1877 he sold the home place and moved to Washington territory, locating 
on a farm in Whatcom county. Edmund Deuel lived only a year after going 
to the new home, dying in October, 1878. His wife, the mother of Frank 
Deuel, was Marguerite Sherman. She was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., 
April 29, 1825, and their marriage took place when the bride was but seven- 
teen, in Jackson county, Mich., December 23, 1842. Three children were 
born to them. Mrs. Edmund Deuel spent her last days with her children 
and died near Areata when seventy-eight years of age. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 521 

JAMES H. WILLIAMS was a native of Kentucky, a "forty-niner," and 
a pioneer settler in northern Mendocino county, where he lived for almost 
forty-five years. His first removal westward from the state of his birth was 
to Missouri, whence he came "out to California in 1849, making the journey 
across the plains with ox-teams. He mined at Placerville, and in Butte and 
Plumas counties. After his marriage he continued to live in Plumas county 
for a few years, carrying on a dairy, and in 1869 moved over to Mendocino 
county, where he bought the Leggett valley ranch, purchasing the rights of 
three dififerent squatters to obtain the land he desired. His active disposition 
and nobility of character made him a most desirable citizen from every stand- 
point. He had the energy and ambition to improve his property and assist 
in the opening up of his section to civilization, and his many fine traits en- 
couraged the proper kind of citizenship, the example he set influencing many 
to public-spirited efforts in behalf of the community as well as to enterprise 
in the management of their own affairs. His death occurred January 20, 
1914, at Garberville, Humboldt county, when he was eighty-six years of age. 
To his union with Miss Sarah F. Rucker eight children were born who 
attained maturity. Cedelia is the wife of S. F. Webber; Jehiel is a guard 
at the San Quentin prison ; Mary E. was the wife of John P. Drewry ; William 
was drowned when fifteen years old; John is a resident of Salida, Cal. ; Annie 
is the wife of R. E. Roach, of Cummings, Mendocino county; James lives 
with his mother; Lawrence was accidentally killed, on the railroad, at Fort 
Bragg, when twenty-one years old. 

Mrs. Sarah F. Williams, widow of James H. AVilliams, is a woman of 
forceful character and interesting personality. Her experiences in California 
in pioneer days were many and varied, developing a fearless, capable disposi- 
tion which made her a most valuable helpmate to her husband. Her sympa- 
thetic consideration for others, fortitude and reliability have won her the 
affectionate esteem of her neighbors and friends everywhere, and her devotion 
to her family has never abated. Mrs. Williams was born in Illinois, in 
Hancock county, daughter of Ben and Sarah (George) Rucker, the former a 
native of Indiana, where they were married. Of the thirteen children born to 
them six died before the family removed to California, the parents and seven 
children crossing the plains in 1852, with ox-teams. The journey from Illinois 
took six months. They settled at Bidwell's Bar, in Butte county, where Mr. 
Rucker engaged in mining for a number of years. The mother subsequently 
removed to Plumas county. Mrs. Williams was but three years old when 
the family made the journey to California, and when sixteen she became the 
wife of James H. Williams. 

CHAKLES ALFRED LARSON.— From the age of twenty years Mr. 
Larson has made his home in the United States, and throughout all of this 
period he has been identified with Northern California, his original destina- 
tion in 1887 having been San Francisco and his first employment that of 
a laborer in a manufacturing plant at Oakland. Born in Westergothland, 
Sweden, July 16, 1867, he was reared on a farm and had no educational advan- 
tages except such as a neighboring school afforded. During 1888 he came 
to Eureka, a stalwart young man of twenty-one, industrious and capable, and 
ready to engage in any business that offered an honest livelihood. For two 
years he worked in the John Vance mill on G street, after which he engaged 
as a stevedore along the water front for a number of years. Meanwhile he 



522 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

was eagerly awaiting any opportunity for more important activities and 
thus it came about that finally in 1902 he was in a position to embark in 
general merchandising. The opening of the Eureka Co-operative Mercantile 
Company's store, at No. 1900 California street, marked an important epoch 
in his life, for since then, as president and manager of the company, he has 
risen to rank among the leading merchants of the city and county. 

Solely through his own capable efforts and through his evident adapta- 
bility to the happy solution of mercantile problems, Mr. Larson has met with 
recognized success and has seen his business develop with such rapidity as 
to justify the establishment of a second store, where he has his headquarters. 
The new store at No. 2100 California street is large and well stocked, carrying 
a general line of merchandise, hardware, dry goods, shoes and similar acces- 
sories, in addition to having a department for the sale of hay and grain. In 
connection he built and is operating a large bakery, which supplies bakery 
goods for his own stores, as well as enabling him to fill orders for other stores 
in Eureka. The successful business man of today is the ripened product of 
the Swedish emigrant of 1887, ambitious to find a home in the new world, 
energetic and industrious, and never content to do less than his best in even 
the humblest task. He is a member of the Retail Grocers' Association of 
California and takes an active part in the Eureka local of the same, and served 
as delegate to the state convention at Del Monte in October, 1914. With all 
of his engrossing business claims he has found time for participation in the 
Scandinavian Brotherhood, Fortuna Lodge No. 212, I. O. O. F. ; North Star 
Lodge No. 39, K. P., at Areata, and Hoopa Tribe, I. O. R. M. He was made 
a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M'., and is a member of Eureka 
Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., and Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T. With his 
wife and family he is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church, of which 
he is president of the board of trustees. By his marriage to Emma Anderson, 
a native of Sweden, he has six children, all of whom were born in Humboldt 
county, namely : Verona, Esther, Oscar, Alfred, Selma and Edwin. 

JACOB RASMUSSEN. — Closely associated with the farming community 
of Humboldt county there will be found a generous sprinkling of Danes 
and others from the northern district of Europe. Mr. Rasmussen is a native 
of Denmark, having been born near the village of Rudkiobing, on the island 
of Langeland, December 6, 1845. He is the son of Rasmus Christensen, also 
a native of Denmark and a man who devoted practically his whole life to 
farming, owning a small farm in Denmark and on the homeplace he died 
in 1854. Jacob Rasmussen received his earlier education in the schools of the 
old country, but wishing to better his condition he decided to come to Amer- 
ica and landed in New York in 1868, being absolutely without a friend or 
relative in the new country. He did not remain long in New York, however, 
but moved to Iowa, where, in Woodbury county, he found employment in a 
pottery, remaining there for twenty months. 

Coming to California in 1870, Mr. Rasmussen located in Marin county, 
where he obtained employment on dairy farms. Hearing of the great oppor- 
tunities for a young energetic man in Humboldt county he took a trip to 
look over the field, but in the fall of 1873 he returned to Marin county, where 
on October 7 of that year he was married to Christine Nissen, a native of 
Tondern, Slesvig, Germany. She had come to California in 1871. After his 
marriage Mr. Rasmussen once more came to Humboldt county locating on 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 525 

Bear river ridge, and here he formed a partnership with his brothers-in-law, 
N. C. and E. P. Nissen, for the purpose of renting the Mountain Glenn ranch 
of six hundred acres of improved land. Here they engaged in dairying with 
one hundred fifty cows, making their own butter, which they shipped direct 
to the San Francisco markets, hauling it about sixteen miles to Hookton on 
South bay and shipping by water from there. The lease of the ranch expiring 
in two years, Mr. Rasmussen purchased what is now his home place of one 
hundred thirty-seven acres three miles west of Ferndale, later purchasing 
eighty acres additional adjoining the original property. At the time of 
purchase only fifteen acres of the ranch were improved, the rest being cov- 
ered with a thick growth of brush and timber. At first he engaged in dairying 
on a small scale, but as he cleared and improved the land, he enlarged his 
business. He was the first man to engage in dairying in the Eel river valley, 
successfully following the business for a number of years, but during the 
last few years he has lived retired from all active affairs to enjoy the rest 
he has so justly earned. He was interested for a time in the Chapin, Peterson 
& Rasmussen Company, engaged in general merchandising in the Odd Fel- 
lows building in Ferndale, but because of carrying too many accounts which 
proved to be worthless it was not a success and he sold out and dissolved 
partnership. He was also a stockholder in the Ferndale electric light plant, 
but he later sold his interest to Mr. Barnes. At the present time he is a 
stockholder in the Bank of Ferndale and has been a director in the bank 
since its organization. His son, Frank N., is cashier of this bank. Mr. 
Rasmussen was one of the organizers of the Humboldt County Fire Insurance 
Association, of which he has been treasurer from its inception. The company 
was started about twenty years ago and has grown steadily, and now has 
over one million dollars of insured buildings among the farmers of Hum- 
boldt county at a very nominal rate of insurance, thus creating a great saving 
for the people of the county. Mr. Rasmussen was made a Mason in Fern- 
dale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., in 1875, is a member of Ferndale Chapter No. 
78, R. A. M., of Ferndale Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., and with his wife is a 
member of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs. Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen 
have four children: Frank M. ; Jennie, Mrs. L. C. Erickson, of Centerville; 
Roland T., a draughtsman in Oakland ; and Dora J., who resides at home. 
Mr. Rasmussen is one of the most prominent men in the section and is a 
thrifty, industrious farmer, one who is surrounded by a large circle of admir- 
ing friends. He has always taken an active part in all matters pertaining 
to the upbuilding and uplifting of the community. 

JOSEPH J. WEISS.— The Hurlbutt Market, on Fifth street, Eureka, 
conducted by the firm of Weiss & Baumgartner, is one of the most up-to-date 
provision houses in the city, and the sanitary, neatly kept establishment has 
set a high standard for merchants to follow in its modern equipment, con- 
venience of arrangement and facilities for prompt service. Mr. Weiss has 
been a resident of Eureka for more than a quarter of a century, and from 
the time of his arrival here until he bought out the business was in the employ 
of L. S. Hurlbutt, the former proprietor. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and of German extraction, his father, Joseph Weiss, having been born in 
Germany, whence he came to this country when twelve years old, living 
in Ohio from that time until he came to California. He learned the butcher's 
trade in Cincinnati and afterward conducted a meat market there for a 



526 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

number of years. Now he is a resident of Eureka, and, though seventy-five 
years of age, is actively assisting his son at the Hurlbutt Market. 

Joseph J. Weiss was born September 18, 1864, and was reared and 
educated at Cincinnati, living there until he attained his majority. Then he 
came to California, in the year 1885, first locating at San Diego, where he 
found employment in a butchering establishment. After a year in that city 
he came to San Francisco, where he worked in a meat market for about two 
years, in 1888 arriving at Eureka, which has since been his home. Entering 
the employ of L. S. Hurlbutt, he remained with him until he took over the 
business on his own account in 1900, buying out the Hurlbutt Market, which 
name he has since retained. He has a partner in the ownership and conduct 
of the establishment, Fred Baumgartner ; they do business under the firm 
name of Weiss & Baumgartner, and their enterprise has attracted a large 
trade, which systematic methods and accommodating service have not failed 
to hold. They have a large trade in fresh and pickled meats, sausages, butter 
and eggs, and put up large quantities of bacon and lard, doing their own 
slaughtering; the slaughter house is located on Elk river, about five miles 
south of the city. In 1914 they erected, at Nos. 312 and 314 Fifth street, the 
substantial and finely appointed business building which they now occupy, 
commodious and specially arranged for the needs of the business. It is a 
one-story structure, 30x70 feet in dimensions, of concrete, and strictly sanitary 
in every respect, easily kept clean and carefully looked after. A large share 
of the success which the firm has enjoyed may justly be attributed to Mr. 
Weiss, whose long experience and thorough familiarity with the ins and outs 
of the local trade have been most valuable. Progressive and energetic, he has 
not only demonstrated the proper spirit in the conduct of his business, but 
has proved himself equally wide-awake in matters affecting the welfare of his 
adopted city, where he is held in high esteem by a wide acquaintance. 

Mr. Weiss was married at San Francisco, in 1890, to Miss Laura Brandt, 
of that city, and they are the parents of two children : Joseph C, Avho is 
employed at the Hurlbutt M'arket ; and Olive, who is now engaged in teaching 
in the Eureka Business College. AA^ith his family Mr. Weiss resides at his 
well-kept home. No. 918 J street, where he and his wife entertain their many 
friends, and their hospitality and good will are appreciated by all. Mr. Weiss 
was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of which he is 
past master. He is a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M. ; is 
past eminent commander of Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and also a 
member of Islam Temple, A. A. O'. N. M. S., San Francisco, and a charter 
member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. He is progressive and enter- 
prising and very optimistic for Eureka's greatness and is ever ready to give 
of his influence, time and means toward its upbuilding commercially, socially 
and morally. 

CHARLES CLIFFORD FALK, M. D., F. A. C. S.— Born, in Hancock 
county, Ohio, November 17, 1872, Dr. Falk was brought to Humboldt county, 
Cal., by his parents at six years of age. He inherited his mechanical ability 
from his people, who were skilled machinists, blacksmiths, millwrights and 
carpenters ; and during vacations he worked at these various trades, in which 
he was proficient at an early age. Completing his education in the public 
schools of Eureka, the higher branches were taken up at Phelps Academy, 
and at the age of twenty-one he entered the Cooper Medical College in San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 527 

Francisco, receiving the degree of M. D. in 1897. For four years he served 
as county physician ; one year as county health officer, and two years as a 
member of the city board of health. In this capacity he was instrumental in 
securing the passage of ordinances requiring inspection of meats, slaughter 
houses, meat and fruit markets, restaurants, hotels, etc. 

Recognizing the advantage of air, light, heat and sanitation as important 
aids to nature in the cure of disease and injury. Dr. Falk spent several months 
in careful study of the construction of various institutions in the larger Eastern 
cities, and in 1910 he perfected plans for one of the most modern hospitals 
in the West. In the Northern California Hospital means for ventilation, 
sanitation, light and heat are incorporated to the highest degree known. By 
the natural ventilating system the required three thousand cubic feet of fresh 
air are changed three times in one hour; this being accomplished with an 
air current of less than three linear feet per second, without what is known 
and recognized as a draught. In addition, the lower strata of air containing 
the contaminating organisms are removed by means of an outlet in the form 
of a steel flue located near the floor. This method of ventilation originated, 
so far as is known, with Dr. Falk and his father, E. H. Falk. The result is 
so perfect that it has attracted wide attention, and is believed will play an 
important part in improved systems of ventilation in future. 

Along the line of his profession Dr. Falk is a Fellow of the American 
College of Surgeons ; is associated with the Humboldt County, California 
State and American Medical Associations, while fraternally he is a charter 
member of the Eureka Lodge, B. P. O. E. 

THOMAS W. SWEASEY.— One of the oldest, if not the oldest living 
pioneer in Humboldt county, is Thomas AV. Sweasey, prominent business 
man of Eureka, where he has made his home for many years. Although now 
well past eighty-two years of age he is hearty and robust of health, and his 
intellect is as bright as in the days of his prime, when he was proving such 
a factor in the development of his county and state. He is a man of great 
force of character and has accomplished many things of importance and has 
accumulated a large fortune by his endeavors. He has suffered severe re- 
verses at times, through the loss of valuable timber lands and also in mining 
ventures in Alaska, but has always recouped himself and continued, Avith 
splendid success in the end. He has had many exceptional pioneer ex- 
periences and his tales of the early days read like a romance. He and his 
father and family blazed the trail, cut the brush and trees, and brought the 
first wagon to Eureka that ever came overland, all those before having been 
shipped in by steamships. He also established and ran the celebrated over- 
land stage from Eureka to Ukiah, carrying the mail for more than twenty 
years, and was also one of the pioneer hotel keepers of Hydesville. He is 
noted throughout the county for his integrity of character, as well as for 
the active part that he has taken in all the affairs of the city and county for 
so many years. He is now the manager of the Fashion livery barn, owned 
by Richard Sweasey & Co. (Richard Sweasey being his brother), and is part 
owner of the Fashion stable, corner of Fourth and G streets, besides owning 
other valuable property in and near Eureka. 

Mr. Sweasey was born in London, England, July 6, 1832, the son of 
William J. and Anna (Crouchey) Sweasey, both natives of England. When 
he was but four years of age his parents came to America, settling at Har- 



528 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

mony, Posey county, Ind., where the father engaged in farming. The family 
at this time consisted of three children, three others having been born in 
America. They were: Margaret, later Mrs. James Henderson, of Sacra- 
mento, who died about a year ago ; Esther, now the widow of Henry Axton, 
residing in Eureka; Thomas W., the subject of this sketch; Louisa, Mrs. 
Powers, of Fresno, now deceased; Anna, Mrs. Gillette, of Stockton, now 
deceased; and Richard, one of the most prominent men of the county and 
also one of the wealthiest, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this edition. 

It was in the fall of 1849 that the family left their home in Indiana for 
the long journey across the plains to California. They came as far as the 
Missouri river, wintering near St. Joe, Mo., and early the next spring con- 
tinued on their way. There was a train of ten wagons, with three yokes of 
oxen to each, and much loose stock, including cows and horses. The father 
was the captain of the train, and practically its owner. They wintered that 
year on the Calaveras river, and the following spring moved near San Fran- 
cisco, where the father took up government land and engaged in farming. In 
1854 he came to Eureka and engaged in the general merchandise business, 
and also for a time farmed on the O'Neil river. He built the steamboat Hum- 
boldt in partnership with his son Richard, who still owns the vessel, which is 
running from Seattle to Skaguay. The opening of an overland trail for 
wagons from the "outside" into Eureka marked an important step in the 
history of the county, giving a new means of travel. Over this trail the 
Sweaseys, father and sons, brought six of the wagons that they had brought 
from Indiana, about three hundred head of cattle and fifty horses. They 
crossed the Sacramento river at Benicia, where were then the only white 
settlers on the trail into the Eel river valley. This road is still traveled. 

The farm on which the elder Sweasey located his family was on the Eel 
river, near the present site of Hydesville, and here they resided for a number 
of years. When the father and the son Richard went to Eureka and engaged 
in the merchandising business, Thomas W. remained in charge of the ranch, 
conducting it with much success for a long time. He established, in addition, 
a stage line from Eureka to Hydesville, later extended it to Blocksburg, and 
at a yet later date extended it through to Ukiah, this being the famous over- 
land stage, which for twenty years carried the mail between Eureka and 
Ukiah under his management. 

The marriage of Thomas W. took place in 1853, uniting him to Miss 
Sarah Davis, of Redwood City, San Mateo county, Cal., the daughter of a 
well-known pioneer family of the state. Mrs. Sweasey bore her husband four 
children, all natives of Eureka, and well and favorably known throughout the 
county. They are : Elizabeth, now Mrs. S. F. Bullard, of San Jose ; William, 
married to Catherine Forse, and living at Rohnerville ; Ellen, now Mrs. Foss, 
residing at Samoa ; and Daisy, now Mrs. Nelson, residing at Hydesville. 

From 1897 to 1900 Mr. Sweasey was engaged in gold mining in Alaska, 
being located at Dawson. He made his way over the Chilcoot Pass, packing 
his grub over the mountains; he built a scow from lumber he had whipsawed 
and went down the Yukon to Dawson. He was fairly sticcessful in his ven- 
tures, but failed to find the wealth that he had so ardently hoped to locate 
there. For the past eleven years he has been in the livery business in Eureka, 
and in this line has been especially successful. In addition to his business 
ability Mr. Sweasey is popular with many friends throughout the county. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 529 

He is a stanch Democrat, and although he has never been actively engaged 
in the politics of his party he is well informed and takes an influential part 
in all questions of public interest, especially when they are local issues that 
affect the welfare of the community. He is also well known in fraternal 
circles, and is a prominent member of the Masons, having united with that 
order when he was a young man. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Sweasey did not afford him much in the way 
of educational advantages. He was nineteen when the family came to Cali- 
fornia, but Indiana was also a frontier country at that time, and the schools 
were few and inferior. He received most of his training from his mother, 
and attended school but four months in his entire lifetime. The mother died 
in Indiana, and after coming to California there was no further opportunity 
for educational pursuits. In spite of this handicap, however, Mr. Sweasey has 
done his full share in the development of his section of the state, and is well 
informed on all questions of the day. The standing of the family has always 
been high, and he has done much to keep it so. The county bears many marks 
of his industry and application, and he is esteemed as one of the leading 
citizens of Eureka and Humboldt county. 

GEORGE W. WATSON.— It would be difficult to mention any im- 
portant progressive movement of permanent value to the industrial, com- 
mercial or educational advancement of Eureka that has not received, at some 
period in its development, the practical co-operation of George W. Watson, 
who as president of the Eureka Foundry Company, part owner of the Ameri- 
can Shoe Company and a leading member of the local group of realty men, 
has contributed variously but eft'ectively and efficiently to civic growth. 
Nature adapted him for commercial pursuits, thorough apprenticeship pre- 
pared him for industrialism, habits of close observation fitted him for skilled 
work, while the possession of keen mental faculties enabled him to develop 
his varied talents not only to his personal advantage, but also in the interests 
of the community. Through long residence in Eureka and close, continuous 
study of property conditions, he is an expert judge of values and exception- 
ally well qualified to handle real estate deals with intelligence and discretion. 

Although a native of Scrariton, Pa., Mr. Watson passed his early life 
mostly on a farm near Flemington, N. J. At the age of eighteen he went 
to Boone, Iowa, where he became an apprentice as a machinist and remained 
until he had mastered the trade. Upon returning east he secured employ- 
ment in his native city of Scranton, where he worked as a machinist in the 
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and Lehigh Valley Railroad shops, also 
in the shops of the Dixon Manufacturing Company, large locomotive works. 
The year 1889 found him in California, where he settled at once in Eureka. 
Working as a machinist successively for the Humboldt Iron Works, the 
Vance mill and the old Excelsior mill, he finally bought the Humboldt Iron 
Works, which he operated for ten years and then sold it to the Eureka 
Foundry Company. After a service of four years as chief engineer for the 
Eureka Lighting Company he bought an interest in the California Iron Works 
of Eureka and served as president of the company operating the plant. Upon 
the consolidation of the concern with the Eureka Foundry Company he be- 
came president, Avhich position he still holds. Under his oversight a large 
business has been developed that gives steady employment to a number of 
skilled men. In addition to the presidency of the foundry company, he with 



530 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a brother, John G. AVatson, conducts the American shoe store at No. 313 
F street, Eureka, and he also maintains a real estate and insurance office in 
the store. 

The marriage of Mr. AVatson in Eureka in 1890 united him with ]\Iiss 
Millie Lang-ford, a native of Scranton, Pa. They are the parents of three 
children, all born in Humboldt county, namely : Eunice J., who has received 
an excellent education and at present is engaged in teaching school ; Charles, 
a graduate of the California State Agricultural College at Davis ; and Allan, 
attending the University of California. The family hold membership with 
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Eureka, in the maintenance and support 
of which Mr. AVatson is a leader, as he is also in the local temperance move- 
ment and other measures that he believes to be for the permanent religious, 
moral or general welfare of city and county. The Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows is the only fraternal organization with which he holds membership, 
being a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 17 , I. O. O. F. Active in the 
associations for exploiting the natural advantages of Humboldt county, he 
is a member of the Eureka Development Association and the Eureka Cham- 
ber of Commerce. Direct in his dealings with his fellowmen, optimistic 
concerning the future of this section of the state and glad to be a part of the 
forward work of development, his long life in Humboldt county furnishes 
an example of stanch fidelity to the duties of citizenship and a growing com- 
munity spirit of mutual helpfulness. 

GEORGE WILLIAM SWEET.— Among the prosperous men in the Eel 
river section of Humboldt county is G. AA/^. Sweet, who was born in Hants 
county, Nova Scotia, November 8, 1840, the son of John Sweet, also a native 
of Nova Scotia and a very successful farmer all his life. Mr. Sweet received 
his education in the public schools of his native county until thirteen years 
of age, when he left school to enter the ship yards of the vicinity, taking up 
the trade of ship carpenter. He did not serve an apprenticeship, but entered 
at once into the activity of carpenter and at this trade he worked for eleven 
years. He was steadily employed by one company for seven years, by the 
Church-Hill Company for two years and the remaining two years for other 
companies in the district. At one time he was carpenter on the barque Gazelle, 
but gave this position up to come to California. 

In 1869 Mr. Sweet came to Humboldt county and followed his profession 
in the ship yards, but in a few years he went to Bunker Hill, where for a time 
he engaged in building. While there he became desirous of engaging in 
farming and dairying for himself, and accordingly he rented the Lone Star 
ranch on Bear river from Joseph Russ. In the fall of 1869 he leased a ranch 
of one thousand acres, and entered actively into farming and dairying. All 
of the cattle on the ranch were unbroken to domesticity and had to be broken 
to milk, an undertaking that took considerable time, but he persevered and 
succeeded in breaking them all, from which he selected a good herd of one 
hundred cows. After running the place for eleven years he gave it up. having 
purchased a ranch in 1882 of one hundred thirt}^ acres of land on Pleasant 
Point. Of this only a few acres were improved, the remainder being covered 
with a dense growth of brush and timber, but this tract he ultimately cleared 
and improved. He was one of the first men in the vicinity of Grizzly Bluf¥ 
to engage in dairying, and today his dairy is the model for all the valley to 
copy. In 1900 he purchased ten acres of land on the main road to Grizzly 




-^. yr,-^M--^^e^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 533 

Blufif, upon which he built a fine home, which today is one of the best in the 
county. Later he purchased fifty acres adjoining the original purchase and 
to this small ranch he has retired from all active labors, having rented the 
old home place, for he prefers to live on the smaller ranch in the neighbor- 
hood of Grizzly Bluff. Lie is one of the founders of the Grizzly Bluff creamery, 
and has been one of the directors ever since its organization. When they 
first operated the creamery they made their own butter and dviring this time 
Mr. Sweet was manager of all the affairs pertaining to the creamery. Lie was 
made a Mason in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., in 1875, and was 
exalted in Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., in 1897. He has always been 
interested in Republican politics and takes an active part in all matters for 
the good of the community. In Nova Scotia, November 28, 1867, he married 
Mary Jane F'ox, also a native of Nova Scotia and the daughter of Oliver Fox, 
a successful wheelwright of the province. They were blessed with seven 
children, namely : Harry G., a rancher near Ferndale ; Maggie May, deceased ; 
Sarah Inez, Mrs. Edeline, of Grizzly Bluff ; Irene Amelia, at home ; George 
A., deceased ; Ralph Elmer, on the home place ; and Mary Blanche, Mrs. 
Anderson. Mr. Sweet has been very successful since coming to Humboldt 
county and is one of the leading men of his community. 

GEORGE MANSON MOORE.— The representative of the fifth ward 
of Eureka in the city council is a native of Oak Bay, Charlotte county, New 
Brunswick (born September 16, 1863), but has lived in Humboldt county 
from the age of fourteen years and is thoroughly familiar with the resources 
of this section of the state. During the year 1874 his father, Benjamin Moore, 
a ship-carpenter by trade, came to the Pacific coast and found employment at 
Eureka, from which point he sent back such favorable reports to his family 
in the Canadian province that in 1877 they joined him here. To the lad of 
fourteen years the journey from the shores of the Atlantic to the land beside 
the sunset sea was filled with unending interest, and even now his mind often 
recurs with enthusiasm to the events of that long trip westward. Later years 
gave him further experience in travel and enabled him to see much of the 
vast region embraced by British Columbia, as well as the mining country of 
California and Alaska. In 1897 he made his way to Dawson over the Chil- 
coot Pass, and returned by way of St. Michaels. However, he has seen no 
place which has appealed to him with sufficient force to cause him to leave 
Humboldt county. The home of his boyhood is his preferred home in 
mature years. 

Many varying occupative activities have engrossed the attention of Mr. 
Moore, who gained some experience in farming in Humboldt county, for six 
years engaged in buying and selling cattle, and for two years carried on 
farming and dairying with fair results. For nine years he worked in the 
lumber woods and is himself the owner of timber lands in this county. For 
a considerable period his chief work has been that of contractor. With his 
father he was engaged in taking contracts for bridge building and since his 
father's death has continued the business, enlarging it and also adding con- 
tracting for street grading and sewer work, as well as private residences and 
store buildings. In this he is assisted by his son. The Alderpoint bridge, 
the largest single span bridge in the United States, forms a permanent 
memorial to the efficiency of George M. Moore, who also built bridges over 
tributaries to Eel river, Mad river and the Van Dusen. Mrs. Moore was in 



534 HISTORY OF HUiAlBOLDT COUNTY 

maidenhood Miss Jennie Hartford, a native of Canada and a daugliter of 
Robert Hartford, a pioneer ship joiner of Humboldt county. Air. and Mrs. 
Moore have a son, Joseph H., who assists his father in his large business 
undertakings. 

The political viev^^s of Mr. Moore have brought him into the Progressive 
party and he has been an active local vv^orker. Interest in the progress of his 
home city has led him to fill local offices and aid civic projects in every way 
practicable. For a time he served on the Eureka Board of Education. Under 
Assessor Connick he served as deputy county assessor, and in June, 1913, he 
was elected councilman from the fifth ward of Eureka, since which election 
he has devoted much of his time to movements connected with the progress 
of the city and the permanent welfare of the people. His fraternities are the 
Improved Order of Red Men and Foresters. A man of principle and public 
spirit, he has taken part in the actual material development of the county and 
on frequent occasions has figured in important movements for the commercial 
advancement of his home city. 

JOEL SEVIER BURNELL.— With the coming of the vast army of 
immigrants into California during the gold-mining era there arrived at the 
mines a young New Yorker, Joel Burnell by name, who had been allured to 
the west at the very beginning of American occupancy and had crossed the 
plains in 1849 with a large expedition through New Mexico and Arizona, 
entering California from Yuma. After having mined with little success for 
a few years, in 1852 he drifted into Humboldt county and bought a squatter's 
claim of one hundred and sixty acres (later government land), which he 
proved up on and proceeded to develop. In those days it was difficult to find 
a market for crops. Humboldt county was so sparsely settled that a home 
market was lacking. It became a regular custom for this pioneer to cross 
the mountains to Weaverville, Trinity county, and there sell to the miners 
the rolls of butter, the product of the skill of his wife as a butter-maker. These 
trips would take two or three weeks, during which time the faithful wife 
was left at home alone in what was then a wilderness inhabited by Indians 
and wild animals. Being a man of deep religious temperament and excellent 
knowledge of the Bible, he often utilized these trips as an opportunity to 
preach the Gospel to miners. For one year he held services at Ferndale and 
in the '60s he preached in different parts of the Sacramento vallej^ The 
early establishment of the Methodist Episcopal denomination along this part 
of the coast was due in no small part to his self-denying efforts in the cause 
and to the work done by him without expectation or desire for pay, but 
wholly for the good of the church. Around the farm in the southern part 
of the county where he settled in 1852 there grew up a small settlement of 
farmers and in his honor the railroad station was known as Burnell. This 
was the terminus of the railroad for many years. 

The marriage of Joel Burnell united him with Nancy Jane Stringfield, a 
native of Illinois, and a daughter of Sevier Stringfield, a Kentuckian for some 
years resident in Illinois, but after 1853 a farmer near Hydesville, Humboldt 
county. The family of Joel Burnell comprised the following children : Alan- 
fred C, now of Chico ; Louis M., ex-district attorney of Humboldt county 
and a resident of Eureka ; Mrs. Electa J. Houck, of Oregon ; Walter S., who 
resides in Escondido ; William A., deceased; Elizabeth, a teacher in this 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 535 

county, who became the wife of David Jenkins and died in Kansas City, Mo. ; 
Fred C, who died when nineteen years old ; Joel Sevier, who was born near 
Hydesville, Humboldt county, March 15, 1868, and is now a practicing attor- 
ney of Eureka; and Ida Burnell, a successful teacher in the Eureka schools. 

After completing the studies of the old Eureka Academy the study of 
law was undertaken by Joel Sevier Burnell, who remained in the office of his 
older brother, Louis M., until he was admitted to the bar in August, 1897, 
and since then he has continued in practice at Eureka. In addition to the 
details of professional work he devotes considerable time to the supervision 
of an apple orchard which he is developing at Camp Grant. Fraternally he 
is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., and is secretary of the 
Association of Veteran Odd Fellows and also has membership with Centen- 
nial Rebekah Lodge. His family consists of two children, Cummings J. and 
Elvie, and his wife, formerly Miss Elvie S. Cummings, who is a native and 
lifelong resident of Humboldt county, her father, L. J. Cummings, having 
crossed the plains in 1851 via the northern route thro'ugh Oregon and as early 
as 1868 established himself permanently as a resident of Humboldt county. 

CAPT. JOHN EDWARD JOHNSON.— One of the best known of the 
younger generation of seafaring men who make Eureka their home is Capt. 
John Edward Johnson, master and part owner of the little gasoline schooner 
Magnolia, which plies between this port and Brookings, Ore., making the 
round trip twice each week. Captain Johnson is a native of California and 
came to Eureka in his mother's arms, when a babe of but three weeks. Since 
that time he has become well known here, although he has not made his . 
home in this city continuously. He has sailed the high seas for many years 
and during that time has twice circumnavigated the globe, visiting most of 
the world-famous seaports. 

Captain. Johnson was born in San Francisco, February 13, 1875, the son 
of Peter Johnson, a native of Kalmar, Sweden, and a ship carpenter by trade. 
During young manhood the father came to Humboldt county and followed his 
trade here, also working in sawmills as a millwright. In early life he 
also followed the sea for a time. His wife, and the mother of our subject, 
was Katherine (Redmond) Johnson, a native of New York city. The parents 
came to San Francisco in 1874, shortly after their marriage, making the 
trip around the Horn in a sailing vessel in which Mr. Johnson shipped as the 
ship carpenter. Arriving in California he determined to quit the sea, and 
located the following year in Humboldt county, where he remained until 
1899. From that year until 1906 he made his home in San Francisco, then 
removing to Lomita Park, San Mateo county, where both parents are now 
living. There were nine children in this family, all native Californians, and 
all born in Eureka save the eldest, Capt. J. E. Johnson. The other children 
are : William August, now residing in San Francisco ; Marie A., the wife 
of F. E. Gist, residing at Long Beach ; Elizabeth R. ; Arthur, a ship carpenter; 
Charles, an engineer ; Eleanor, Katharine and Edith C, all residing in San 
Francisco. 

The boyhood days of Captain Johnson were spent in Eureka, where he 
received his education in the public schools. When he was about fourteen 
years old he began to work at the carpenter's trade under his father, and at 
the age of seventeen he went to sea. His first sailing was with Capt. James 
F. Higgins, now deceased, on the steamer Farallon, which went ashore in 



536 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Alaskan waters several years ago. After continuing with Captain Higgins 
for a few months he shifted to other vessels. He has followed the sea con- 
tinuously for twenty-two years, with the exception of three years when he 
was associated with the D. K. B. Sellers Commission Company, of Eureka, 
being employed in the warehouse at the foot of D street. In March, 1894, 
he shipped in the Maggie C. Russ, built at Eureka, later sailed with the 
barkentine Amelia to Honolulu, and returned with her to Puget Sound. At 
the time of the Spanish-American war he enlisted at Mare Island in the 
United States navy, being assigned to the cruiser Philadelphia, on which 
he saw much service. They raised the flag over the Hawaiian Islands August 
12, 1898, and in the spring of 1899 went to the Samoan Islands. In June, 1899, 
Captain Johnson was honorably discharged, after which he returned to 
Eureka, and during the following winter was with the schooner J. G. Wall. 
Later he was on the Lizzie Vance in the lumber trade, and afterward was 
on various sailing vessels until 1902, when he joined the barkentine Hawaii 
in Newcastle, Australia, remaining with her for two years and eight months. 
On one voyage, in 1904, he made the run to Puget Sound as master. In 
1905 he left the Hawaii and joined the schooner Vine, on which he made a 
trip to Point Barrow, Alaska. This was his last trip on sailing craft, there- 
after signing only on steam vessels. In the employ of the North Pacific 
Steamship Company he commanded the Newport for Charles P. Doe, of San 
Francisco, sailing between Eureka and San Francisco for a year. Later he 
commanded various other small steamers until in 1909 he took charge of the 
J. J. Loggie, continuing with it until February, 1912 (this boat was wrecked 
in October of that year), when he took charge of the steamboat Antelope for 
Captain Coggeshall, remaining with her until June, 1913, at which time he 
started in business for himself as a partner of Captain Crone, leasing the 
gas steamer Coaster for the season. He then determined to build a craft of 
his own, and for this purpose entered into a partnership with Capt. Walter 
Coggeshall, and the splendid gasoline schooner Magnolia was built for them 
at the Fairhaven shipyards, in the spring of 1914, being ready for service in 
May. Of the latest design and first class in every detail, it is sixty-five feet 
long, seventeen feet in the beam, and was constructed at a cost of $12,500. 
It has a capacity for eighty-five tons of freight, and is propelled by two forty- 
horsepower standard gasoline engines. The offices of the Magnolia Trans- 
portation Company are located in Eureka, at the foot of F street. Their 
schedule calls for sailings twice weekly, their destination being Brookings, 
Ore., making stops at Crescent City and Requa, Cal, the latter on the 
Klamath river, with Captain Johnson always in charge. 

The marriage of Captain Johnson took place in Eureka December 14, 
1907, uniting him with Miss Cecelia Johnson, the daughter of George T. 
Johnson, who located in Eureka in 1875 and died here February 24, 1912. Of 
their union have been born two children, Sophie Kathrine, aged six, and 
Edward Cecil, aged four years. Shortly after his marriage Captain Johnson 
built a bungalow on Fourteenth street, where with his family he has since 
made his home. 

Aside from his business interests Captain Johnson is popular in many 
lines of activity, and is associated with the afifairs of his home city. He is 
wide awake and progressive and is always in favor of progress and improve- 




J^lyyn^c^ rL^<t^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT ' COUNTY 539 

ment and stands for social, civil and municipal uplift and betterment. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, L O. O. F., and of Hum- 
boldt Parlor, N. S. G. AA^., of Eureka. He is also a member of Major Frank 
Rice Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, and is a member of California 
Harbor, Masters, Mates and Pilots of the Pacific, with headquarters at No. 
36 Stewart street, San Francisco. Socially both Captain and Mrs. Johnson 
have many warm friends and are popular members of their social circle. Mrs. 
Johnson and the children are members of the Episcopal church of Eureka, 
and she is prominent in the various lines of church activities. 

JAMES ROSS. — For almost forty j^ears the fortunes of James Ross have 
been identical with those of Humboldt county, and he is one of the men 
whose industry and unwearying efifort have changed the county from a virgin 
forest into a land of homes, where plenty smiles and prosperity reigns. When 
he first came to this locality in 1876 the beautiful little city of Areata, where 
he now resides, was an undreamed-of possibility, and only towering trees 
marked the present site of the habitation of man — Eureka itself was but a 
straggling village and there were but few settlers throughout the valley. 

Mr. Ross is a native of Ireland, born in the town of Broughgammon, 
County Antrim, June 5, 1853, and descended from a long line of sturdy 
Scotch and Irish ancestry. His father was William Ross, a native of Scot- 
land, born in Inverness. He was a millwright by trade, but much of his life 
had been devoted to farming, which occupation he was following at the time 
of his death, which occurred about 1857. The mother was Ann McCurdy, 
born in County Antrim, Ireland, where she was married to William Ross 
and where she lived until her death. She bore her husband four children, 
three sons and one daughter. 

The boyhood days of James Ross were passed on his father's farm in 
Ireland, where he remained until he was about twenty-two. His father died 
when he was a lad and he continued to make his home with his widowed 
mother, attending the village schools until he was sixteen years of age, and 
later he cared for the farm. On his determining to seek his fortune in 
America Mr. Ross lost no time in setting sail. Arriving at New York, he set 
out to cross the plains to San Francisco, from which point he went at once to 
Humboldt county, arriving here April 14, 1876. His first employment was on 
Vance slough, where he worked at loading lighters going down to meet the 
vessels on the bay, but he remained here only a short time. Later he went to 
Salmon Creek and was employed in the sawmill owned by the Evans, McKay 
& Marks Company, remaining here until the closing of the mill in 1878. Fol- 
lowing this he secured a position with Flanigan & Co. in their Bayside mill, 
soon afterward, however, securing a position in the D. R. Jones mill on 
Gunthers Island. 

The possibilities of farming in this new country were ever fascinating 
to Mr. Ross and he had from the first been on the alert for an opportunity to 
secure a tract of farming land and return to his occupation of tilling the 
soil. In 1879 he rented a tract of one hundred twenty acres of bottom land, 
all but a small portion of which was unimproved, the tillable soil being only 
about forty acres. The remainder was a wilderness of trees and brush, and 
this he set to work to clear and bring into a state of cultivation. Bit bv bit 
this was accomplished, and today he has one of the finest properties in the 



540 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

valley, cleared and highly improved. It was not until 1901, however, that 
he finally purchased this tract, although for many years he has been engaged 
in farming and dairying here. This latter line of industry had appealed 
strongly to Mr. Ross and he was one of the organizers and supporters of the 
first creamery in the valley, which was at first known as the Areata Creamery 
No. 1, but which is now owned by the United Creameries Company. Mr. Ross 
laid his plans for dairying as soon as the creamery was an assured fact and his 
first milk was delivered some three or four days after its opening. He is at 
present one of the stockholders of the enterprise and a stanch supporter of the 
industry. His first herd of cows numbered but six head, but now he has one 
of the best herds in the valley, and one of the best dairies as well. 

When Mr. Ross commenced dairying his land was not in a condition for 
farming, but at this time he has one of the most profitable ranches in the 
valley and is noted for his success in diversified farming. He raises a variety 
of crops and there is no waste to his acreage as he utilizes every part of the 
farm. In 1912 he planted four acres. to potatoes and from this tract he dug 
four hundred fifty sacks of fine potatoes. He has met with great success in 
every department of his work and is classed as one of the most prosperous 
farmers of that locality. His property is rapidly increasing in value and will 
continue to do so, as it is rich in soil and well located. 

The marriage of Mr. Ross occurred in Areata, July 30, 1879, the Rev. 
J. S. Todd officiating. Mrs. Ross was Miss Ann Jane Christy, and like her 
husband a native of Ireland, born in County Antrim, January 6, 1852. They 
attended the same school during childhood, and often played together in the 
fields and meadows, their respective homes being perhaps a quarter of a 
mile apart. When Mr. Ross came to America he carried with him the promise 
of the future Mrs. Ross to join him when he should have ready a home for 
her, and when the call came she made the long journey alone, coming by 
way of New York arid San Francisco, to Areata, being married immediately 
on her arrival. She has borne her husband five children, three sons and two 
daughters, all well known and deservedly popular in Areata, where they have 
been born and reared. They are: Samuel John, residing in Areata; James, 
deceased; Anna Jane, who married D. A. Ross and resides in San Francisco; 
Katie May and William C, both at home. 

Mr. Ross is a self-made man in every sense of the word. He arrived 
in Humboldt county with nothing but his faith and courage and industry, and 
his desire and determination to have a home. He has labored with unfalter- 
ing application and has been justly rewarded. His family is one of the most 
highly esteemed in the community and Mr. Ross is accredited as one of the 
most reliable citizens of the county. He is popular with a wide circle of 
friends, where his splendid qualities of heart and mind have made for him a 
permanent place. He was made a Mason in Broughgammon Lodge No. 72, 
F. & A. M., and is now a member of Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M. ; was 
raised to the Royal Arch Chapter in Bush Mills Chapter No. 114, in Ireland, 
and is now a member of Eureka Chapter No. 52, R. A. M'. He is also a promi- 
nent member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., in Areata. In politics 
he is a Republican, although he has never been actively associated with the 
political afifairs of his community. Together with his family Mr. Ross is a 
member of the St. Johns Episcopal church in Areata. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 541 

WILFORD E. PEACOCK.— For the last four years the Pacific Coast 
Steamship Company has been represented at Eureka by Wilford E. Peacock, 
who has been in the employ of that concern during the great part of his 
residence in California. He came to the state in 1902, and after a stay of 
seven months at Los Angeles moved up to San Francisco, not long afterward 
securing a position with his present employers. When he had served a year 
in the San Francisco office he was stationed at Eureka as cashier under C. W. 
Hayden, his predecessor as agent, whom he succeeded in July, 1910. By his 
uniform courtesy and efficiency in the discharge of his duties, his attention 
to business and willingness to oblige the patrons of the company, he has 
become a respected and popularly known resident of Eureka, where he has 
proved a most desirable citizen. In turn, he has become an enthusiastic 
admirer of the beautiful little city where he has had his home for several 
years, and is ready to aid in movements for her welfare whenever possible. 

Mr. Peacock was born March 1, 1875, at Melrose, Monroe county, Iowa, 
son of Samuel D. Peacock, a farmer and stockman, now conducting a large 
stock ranch at Salina, Kans. The father married Mary Jane Eads, a distant 
relative of the- great civil engineer of that name, who built the Eads bridge 
at St. Louis and other great works. The immediate ancestors of W. E. 
Peacock are from Bullitt county, Ky., but the family was settled in Virginia 
in the early days of this country's history, and came originally from England. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Peacock were born six children, of whom W. E. 
is the second eldest child and second son. He is the only member of the family 
in this state. The father was a member of Company C, Eighteenth Iowa 
Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war. 

W. E. Peacock grew up at Melrose, being about thirteen years old when 
the family moved from Iowa to Salina, Kans., where after completing the 
grammar schools he attended Roache's Business College. Following this he 
attended a school of telegraphy in the same city, and. when eighteen years 
old went to work as assistant at Oakley, Kans., on the Union Pacific road. 
He remained there for about six months in that rank, and was then assigned 
to a station and became station agent at Grinnell, Kans., whence he was sent 
back to Oakley, doing relief work and night work. In 1900 he went to Salt 
Lake City to take a position with the Bell Telephone Company, which then 
contemplated putting in telegraph instruments, using the same wires installed 
for the telephone service. Mr. Peacock was engaged to install the system 
on the lines of the Bell Telephone Company at that point, and remained at 
Salt Lake for fourteen months. Then, as already related, he came to Cali- 
fornia. His experience at Eureka has been pleasant, his work congenial, and 
his excellent personal characteristics and capability have won him many 
friends, in both business and social circles. He is a typical employe of the 
Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which has a reputation for unimpeach- 
able service to its patrons and demands the highest qualities in those in its 
employ. Its steamer City of Topeka is the fastest and finest boat plying 
between San Francisco and Eureka. The company's office is at No. 213 E 
street, the warehouse and docks at the foot of C street. 

In May, 1912, Mr. Peacock was married, at Eureka, to Miss Mabel 
Klepper, of that place, and they have one child, Virginia. Socially Mr. Pea- 
cock belongs to Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. ; the Humboldt Club, and 
the Eureka Development Association. 



542 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

FLETCHER A. CUTLER.— Until his removal a few years ago to San 
Francisco, Judge Cutler made his home at Eureka, and he still retains im- 
portant interests in Humboldt county, the scene of his early life and of the 
successes which marked the beginning of his brilliant career at the bar. He 
is now practicing with ex-Governor Gillett, as the junior member of a partner- 
ship established over ten years ago. His experience on the bench was 
obtained as judge of the Superior court of Del Norte county. Paternally and 
maternally Judge Cutler may be proud of the part his immediate ancestors 
have had in the history of Eureka. His father was a business man of the 
town for many years after his settlement here, in 1869. His mother was the 
first public school teacher here. 

The Cutler family is one of long standing in this country, the emigrant 
ancestor, Puritious Cutler, having come from England and settled in Massa- 
chusetts during the early Colonial period. It was represented on the Colonial 
side during the Revolutionary war, and a number of the name have been 
known for distinguished military service, political prominence and professional 
attainments. Thomas Cutler, the Judge's father, was born March 29, 1829, 
on a farm in the town of Killingly, Conn., and grew up there. He came to 
California with the first rush of settlers after the discovery of gold, making 
the voyage around the Horn on the George Washington, which landed him 
at San Francisco in August, 1849. So far as known, only one of his fellow 
passengers on the voyage outlived him. Proceeding immediately to Ivloke- 
lumne Hill, in Calaveras county, he began mining, and had more than 
average success there and at his later locations, Chinese Camp and Copper- 
opolis, also engaging in merchandising. In 1869 he removed to Eureka, in 
Humboldt county, where he was in business as a merchant for over a quarter 
of a century following, until his retirement in the year 1896. For several 
years he served as collector of the port of Eureka, and he was honored with 
various other positions of trust in his adopted city, where his high character 
and ability received deserved recognition. From the time he took up his 
residence here he was active in its business and public life, taking a promi- 
nent part in the administration of the local government, and by his con- 
spicuous efficiency and public-spirited conservation of the welfare of his 
fellow citizens won so high a place in their esteem that his name will be 
permanently enrolled among those who established its institutions upon a 
sound basis. Though he began life without capital other than his abilities 
he accumulated a comfortable competence and did well by his family, in all 
of the relations of life so conducting himself that he was considered one of 
the worthiest citizens of his generation, to which he was widely known. In 
1901 he moved to Oakland, Cal., hoping that his failing health would benefit 
by the change, but though he had been a strong man in his prime he did 
not rally, and he died June 30, 1902. He was buried in Mountain View 
cemetery, Oakland, with Masonic rites, the services being conducted by Live 
Oak Lodge, F. & A. M., and a committee representing the Society of Cali- 
fornia Pioneers, of which he was a member. He had been a charter member 
of George AVashington Lodge, F. & A. M., of Chinese Camp, Cal. Mr. Cutler 
' married Sarah L. Buck, a native of Watertown, Maine, who came alone to 
California when a young woman and soon afterward located at Eureka, where 
she was the first public school teacher. She afterwards joined her brother 
at Chinese Camp, and taught there for a few terms, until her marriage. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 543 

Some years later she returned to Eureka with her husband and family, and 
for a time had a class of private pupils, whom she instructed with her sons 
in her own home. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cutler, Thomas 
B. became connected with the Del Norte County Bank at Crescent City, Cal. ; 
Fletcher A. is mentioned below ; Maude became the wife of H. T. Compton, 
of Stockton, Cal. ; Mary completed the family. Mrs. Cutler continued to re- 
side at Oakland after her husband's death, retaining in her old age the charm 
of manner and attractive personality for which she is remembered by many 
old friends at Eureka. 

Fletcher A. Cutler was born May 4, 1863, at Chinese Camp, Tuolumne 
county, Cal., and being but six years old when the family settled at Eureka 
has little recollection of his earliest home. He acquired his preparatory edu- 
cation under the direct tuition of his accomplished mother, subsequently 
studied for a time in the preparatory department of the State University at 
Berkeley, and completed the course at the boys' high school in San Francisco, 
from which he was graduated. Returning to Eureka, he soon afterwards 
received appointment as under sheriff of Humboldt county during the admin- 
istration of Sheriff T. M. Brown, and during the five years of his service in 
that position devoted his spare time to reading law. At the end of that 
period he entered the law office of his uncle, S. M. Buck, at Eureka, to carry 
on his preparation for the legal profession systematically, and he was admitted 
to the bar in the year 1887. He was at once admitted to partnership with the 
uncle mentioned, with whom he was associated until his appointment by 
Governor Budd, some ten years later, to fill a vacancy on the bench of the 
Superior court in Del Norte county. After four years' service on the bench 
Judge Cutler returned to Humboldt county in January, 1903, and resumed 
the practice of law at Eureka in partnership with Hon. J. N. Gillett, who was 
then representing the district in Congress and has since been honored with 
the governorship. Gillett and Cutler, by the individual and collective value 
of their services, have attained position among the foremost attorneys in 
the state. T\Ir. Cutler moved to San Francisco when he felt that he could 
handle his legal work better with his headquarters in the metropolis, and 
has an office at Room 617, No. 525 Market street. The firm has included 
among its clients the Bank of Eureka, the Santa Fe Railway Company, the 
Northern California, San Francisco & Northwestern and Freshwater Railwa}^ 
Companies, and other concerns of notable importance, and the list of all those 
who have felt their legal affairs safe in the care of Gillett & Cutler contains 
the names of some heavily capitalized organizations who could not afford 
to risk engaging anything but the best talent. 

Judge Cutler had hardly reached his prime when he found himself 
occupying a leading position at the bar of his state. Yet his reputation has 
been founded on so solid a foundation that time has strengthened it and tests 
have left it unshaken. The thorough training he received at home set a high 
standard for his later studies, and he has maintained it through all his years 
of practice, giving his best to every case, as if all his personal interests de- 
pended thereon. His honorable nature and high principles would make it 
impossible for him to slight the details of anything he undertakes, and though 
he is noted for his familiarity with the law, and the judicial sense which 
enables him to see the applicability of the statutes to whatever work he may 
have in hand, he never neglects to give special attention to each case, with 



544 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

results which justify his methods. His success in presenting cases in court 
is so indisputably attained by careful and exhaustive preparation and logical 
arrangement, that his power as a pleader and cleverness in making the most 
of his arguments seem spontaneous. Judge Cutler has always been admired 
for his strict observation of the best ethics of the profession, his considera- 
tion for his fellow practitioners, and the avoidance of tactics unworthy a 
man of his undoubted skill. 

Judge Cutler was always considered one of the public-spirited citizens 
of Eureka, ready to do his share in promoting her advancement along every 
line, and his interest has not ceased since his removal, though his opportuni- 
ties for practical assistance are not so great. He still has important property 
holdings in the city and county, where he has made a number of profitable 
investments. At one time he owned a sixth interest in the eighty-acre tract 
upon which the depot and yards of the Eel River Railroad were established 
(some years ago that company was merged with the Atchison, Topeka & 
Santa Fe), and he has also acquired valuable redwood timber lands. 

Outside of his judicial duties before mentioned, the only public position 
Judge Cutler has held was that of postmaster at Eureka, to which he was 
appointed by President Cleveland. He served from 1893 to 1897. His 
political support has always been given to the Democratic party. Socially 
he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Masons, belonging to Lincoln 
Lodge No. 34, K. P. ; Crescent Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., of Crescent City, 
Cal. ; Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M. ; and Eureka Commandery No. 35, 
K. T. He was a member of the Humboldt Club, and prominent in Humboldt 
Parlor No. 14, Native Sons of the Golden West, at Eureka, also serving as 
grand trustee of the grand parlor. 

On February 2, 1887, Mr. Cutler was married to Miss Eicula M. Warner, 
who was born in Nevada, daughter of Capt. Charles C. and Lucie (Kent) 
Warner. One daughter has been born to them, Lucie. 

COTTRELL & SHIELDS.— The senior member of the firm of Cottrell 
& Shields, proprietors of the moulding mill on Broadway and Cedar streets. 
Eureka, is John Austin Cottrell, who was born in Charlotte county. New 
Brunswick, on the 4th of July, 1841, and began to earn a livelihood in the 
lumber woods at an age when most boys are in school. Throughout all of 
his life he has been identified with some form of the lumber industry. As 
early as 1864 he came via Panama to California, but instead of settling in 
the state at that time, he proceeded to British Columbia and became one 
of the very first men to settle at Vancouver. AVith him to that frontier com- 
munity went his wife, Rebecca (Wyman) Cottrell, and their second son, 
Howard A., was the first white child born in Vancouver. The first child of 
that marriage, James A., is a native of Victoria. 

After having engaged in lumbering in or near Vancouver for twenty 
years, in 1884 Mr. Cottrell came to California to establish a home. The 
lumber interests of Humboldt county attracted him to this portion of the 
state and here he has since engaged in business. For four years he engaged 
as an employe in the old Lincoln mill at Eureka, after which in partnership 
with William F. Gibbard he rented the Richardson mill on Third and B streets. 
The firm of Gibbard & Cottrell carried on the mill for some five years. At 
the expiration of that time the senior member sold his interests to Mr. Cot- 
trell, who continued alone up to 1901, and then erected the present modern 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 545 

and well-equipped mill on the corner of Broadway and Cedar streets, Eureka. 
Since 1911 John E. Shields has been a part owner of the business and by his 
active, intelligent co-operation is proving of the utmost assistance to the 
original proprietor. After the death of his first wife Mr. Cottrell married 
Mrs. Margaret Ogilvie, a widow with one son, Kenneth Ogilvie. Of their 
union a daughter, Lois A., was born. In fraternal relations Mr. Cottrell is 
. a Mason of the blue lodge affiliations and has maintained a warm interest in 
the work of the order. 

The junior member of the firm, John Edgar Shields, was born at Yar- 
mouth, Nova Scotia, January 10, 1865, and during his teens learned the 
trade of carpenter, in which he became skilled to an unusual degree. After 
coming to California in 1888 he followed his trade in Eureka, where he 
erected the residences of A. S. Connick and Robert Porter, a substantial block 
on Fifth street, and numerous other buildings public and private. Since 
forming a partnership with Mr. Cottrell he has devoted his entire attention 
to the work at the moulding mill and has co-operated in every project for 
the benefit of the business. By his marriage to Alida M. Alexander, a native 
of New Brunswick, he is the father of five children, namely : Bertha, wife 
of C. E. Baldwin ; Gertrude, who married Alexander Simpson and has one 
son; Edith. Mrs. John H. Bears; Ralph I. and John. Business in the hands 
of men like Mr. Cottrell and Mr. Shields means a straightforward enterprise 
requiring honesty of character, earnestness of purpose and energy of action, 
qualities which the partners possess in large degree and with which they 
have forged to the front as representatives of a department of the lumber 
industry in Humboldt county. 

CAPT. HENRY SMITH.— Familiarity with the life of a sailor extend- 
ing back to early life in England, where he was born in Suffolk county October 
22, 1842, and including experiences on the high seas in every part of the 
world, admirably qualifies Captain Smith for the very responsible position 
which he has filled since 1897, viz. : that of superintending the beacon lights 
in Humboldt bay as an employe of the United States government. Native 
ability and long experience combine to equip him for his important duties. 
He can scarcely recall a time when he was not interested in the sea and more 
or less acquainted with ocean-going craft. When only a boy he made his 
first voyage from London to Australia on the ship Francis Henty, and alto- 
gether he made four round trips between London and Australia. During 
one of these voyages to the island continent he stopped off at New Zealand 
and engaged in mining, but met with so little success that he turned his 
thoughts toward immigration to America. The bark Gertrude, built in Bath, 
Maine, was the ship on which he sailed from Sidney, Australia, to San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., and thence he sailed north on the bark Metropolis, Capt. George 
F. Smith, commander, arriving at Eureka on New Year's day of 1863. The 
new year meant for him a beginning in a new locality in the midst of an 
environment and conditions different from those of his boyhood, but he 
spefedily proved himself the master of a sailor's duties on a western vessel 
and during 1863 proved a most efficient assistant on the bark Rival, that 
sailed to Victoria, British Columbia, under Captain Blair as commander. 

After having engaged during February, 1864, with Capt. H. H. Buhne, 
commander, on the tugboat Mary Ann, Captain Smith embarked in freight 
boating on the Dirigo to all the ports on Humboldt bay. During the period 



546 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of employment in freighting he made a voyage to England and there married 
Eliza Simmonds, who was born in London and died in Humboldt county in 
1902. The six children of the marriage are named as follows : Mrs. J. P. 
Borg, William J. Smith, Mrs. Ida M. Alexander, Charles H., Mrs. Maude B. 
Luberg and Fred Smith. During 1869 Captain Smith began to operate the 
steamboat Gussie McAlpine, from Eureka to the Areata wharf, and later 
he ran the Sylvia between Eureka and Hookton. Beginning in 1875, he 
remained for eighteen years in the employ of John Vance and ran a steam- 
boat to the Mad river slough. While with Mr. Vance he towed all of the rock 
used in the building of the West Seal Rock lighthouse. After leaving the 
employ of Mr. Vance he ran the steamer Phoenix for the Excelsior Redwood 
Company until 1897, when he entered the employ of the government, in con- 
nection with the lighthouse service in Humboldt bay. Deeply interested in 
everything pertaining to the ocean steamship service or bay transportation, 
he nevertheless has not neglected the ordinary duties of citizenship and may 
be found at all times favoring movements of undoubted merit and genuine 
public utility. When a boy in England he was confirmed in the Church of 
England and after coming to America identified himself with the Episcopal 
faith. Religious enterprises, as well as those of a strictly civic nature, receive 
his earnest support, nor has he been lacking in his support of all educational 
institutions, particularly the public schools of Humboldt county. 

HARRY ELLSWORTH HURLBUTT.— Prominent among the exten- 
sive dairy farmers of Humboldt county is Harry Ellsworth Hurlbutt. of 
Alton, who has been a resident of this county since 1873, when he was a lad 
of six years. The record for business efficiency that has been made by ^Ir. 
Hurlbutt is one of which he may be justly proud, and which makes him a 
citizen in whom any community may feel justified in reposing the greatest 
confidence. That many of his fellows through Humboldt county are well 
aware of this is amply shown by the fact that he is now being placed by 
his friends and political supporters before the people as a candidate for the 
office of county assessor. 

Mr. Hurlbutt is a native of California, having been born in San Fran- 
cisco, May 12, 1867. His father was AVillard Hurlbutt, and his mother An- 
gelina Lovejoy, both California pioneers of a splendid type, and well known 
throughout Marin and Humboldt counties, where they resided for many 
years, and where their family was reared. Harry Ellsworth was the eldest 
of the children, and was six years of age when, in 1873, the family removed 
from Marin county to Humboldt county and located on a ranch. The follow- 
ing year they moved to Mattole and engaged in the sheep business, remain- 
ing for six years, when, in 1880, they located at Ferndale. Four years later, 
in 1884. they again returned to Mattole and engaged in the sheep and cattle 
business there, meeting with much success. 

The marriage of Harry E. Hurlbutt took place in Mattole, June 24, 1894, 
uniting him with Miss Bertha Miner, a native of that place, and the daughter 
of H. A. and Margaret (Hulse) Miner. Of this union have been born six chil- 
dren : Earl, who is an accountant and cashier for the Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany's store at Scotia; Allen, Beatrice, Ray, Eilene and Helen. 

In 1897 Mr. Hurlbutt came to Garberville and leased the Woods ranch, a 
property of twelve thousand acres on south fork of Eel river a mile and a 
quarter south of Garberville, and at present owned by Tooby Brothers. He 




C^y^^4A.^iXft4j^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 549 

operated this property for fifteen years, and for thirteen years of this time 
he resided there. His operations were very extensive and equally successful. 
He ran about seven thousand head of sheep and some four hundred head of 
cattle, also farmed extensively. At the expiration of this time he secured 
his present property at Alton, known formerly as the Jerry Dahle place, 
where he has since resided. This ranch consists of three hundred twenty 
acres, and is a very valuable property. Mr. Hurlbutt has it leased for a term 
of five years with an option to purchase at the expiration of that time. Here 
he is engaged in extensive dairying, and is meeting with the greatest of 
success. 

Aside from his business interests ^Ir. Hurlbutt is very popular with his 
friends and acquaintances, who are legion. He was made a Mason in Fern- 
dale Lodge No. 197, F. & A. M. ; is also a member of Ferndale Chapter No. 
78, R. A. M., Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Oakland Consistory, 
Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco, and with his wife is a 
member of the Order of the Eastern Star. 

Mr. Hurlbutt is a Republican in his political affiliations and is actively 
interested in t"he affairs of his party, both locally and throughout the state. 
He is keenly awake to all that is for the best interests of his community and is 
always to be found in the thick of the fight when there is a local issue 
involving the general welfare of city or county, and is always to be found on 
the side of social betterment and progress. That he has won for himself a 
place in the confidence of the people has already been shown by the political 
preferment given him, and it is not at all likely that this is the end in this 
line of advancement. 

The father of Harry Ellsworth Hurlbutt was A'Villard Hurlbutt, now 
deceased, but for many years one of the foremost pioneers of the county. 
He was a -native of Dalton, N. H., born March 29, 1837. He came first to 
California in 1859, making the journey via the Isthmus of Panama, and locat- 
ing in San Mateo county, later removing to Marin county. During the year 
1866 he returned to New Hampshire and at Littleton he was married to Miss 
Angelina Lovejoy, a descendant of an old and distinguished family. It is 
claimed that all the Lovejoys in America are related, all being lineal descend- 
ants of three Scotch brothers who came to America during the early Colonial 
days. The immediate ancestors of Mrs. Hurlbutt v\rere all Whigs and Re- 
publicans and it is thought that this branch of the family were of the same 
blood as Owen P. Lovejoy, the anti-slavery champion who died a martyr at 
Alton, 111., on account of his anti-slavery tendencies. 

Immediately after their marriage Mr. and IMrs. Flurlbutt returned to 
California, locating in San Mateo county, where they remained for a year, 
later removing to Marin county, where they resided until 1873, when they 
went to Humboldt county. The following year, 1874, they went to Mattole, 
where they engaged in the sheep business, remaining until 1880, when they 
removed to Ferndale. Here they remained until 1884, when they returned to 
Mattole, and again engaged in sheep raising and cattle raising. In this Mr. 
Hurlbutt was very successful, and continued to reside there until the time of 
his death, in 1891. 

Since the death of her husband Mrs. Willard Hurlbutt has disposed of 
her farm and sheep interests and makes her home in Garberville, where she 
is well known and possesses many friends. She is prominent in fraternal 



550 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

circles, being especially interested in the Pythian Sisters, of which order she 
is an influential member. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Willard Hvirlbutt were born four children, all of whom 
are living at this time, and all well known in Humboldt county, where all 
were born except the eldest, Harry Ellsworth, now a resident of Alton. 
Walter Lovejoy, a resident of Garberville, married Miss Lillian M. New- 
house ; they own a seventy-acre ranch near Garberville. Fred A. is a rancher 
residing at Garberville. Elmer Willard, a rancher, married Miss Mary Meyer, 
and resides at Garberville. 

The Hurlbutt family is one of the most highly respected in Humboldt 
county, and in the vicinity of Garberville and Alton, where the stalwart sons 
make their homes, the name stands for honor and honesty in business trans- 
actions, for industry, sobriety and ability. The father is well remembered 
as a man of superior ability and reliability, and the sons have proven worthy 
of their sire. 

JOHN HARPST.— The decade following the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia was characterized by great activity in prospecting throughout prac- 
tically every section of the state. As early as 1850 parties of prospectors had 
explored the country between the head waters of the Trinity and Klamath 
rivers and the coast, finding sufficient presence of gold to justify the operating 
of mines for a considerably later period. AVhen John Harpst, a native of Ohio, 
born in 1839, came to California in 1857, at the age of eighteen years, he 
sought these mines in Trinity county and for some time followed the search 
for gold at Canadian Bar. When in the fall of 1858 Governor Weller called 
for volunteers to take the field against hostile Indians in the western part of 
Trinity county and the eastern part of Humboldt county, he was among the 
men who promptly enrolled their names and ofi^ered to do service. Under 
Capt. I. T. Messig he took part in a campaign that lasted through the winter 
of 1858-59. A number of serious engagements made the winter memorable. 
In one of these battles a bullet from the Indian lines pierced the left breast 
of Mr. Harpst and inflicted a serious wound, but youth and powers of endur- 
ance enabled him to quickly recover from the efifects of the injury. 

After the close of the campaign, having seen the advantages of soil and 
other resources offered by Humboldt county, Mr. Harpst decided to take up 
residence here. A few years later he became a partner with O. H. Spring 
in the mercantile business in Areata, which in an early day was a noteworthy 
rival of Eureka, although the latter, selected as the county-seat in 1856 and 
incorporated as a city at the same time, soon outstripped all competitors. 
Near the head of Humboldt bay he engaged in lumber operations with Mr. 
Spring and James Gannon. Later, with these men, together with D. J. Flani- 
gan and T. F. Brosnan, he founded and operated the Union mill on the bay 
shore near Eureka. A store and shingle mill were afterward established at 
Bayside and lumbering together with quarrying operations continued on a 
very large scale for a long period of profitable years. Eventually Mr. Harpst 
retired from the heaviest of his responsibilities and for a considerable period 
before his death, which occurred February 19, 1906, he had enjoyed a rest from 
business cares. In September of 1896 he married Miss Kate L. Carr, who was 
born in Weaverville, Trinity county, Cal., the daughter of Thomas Carr, a 
pioneer of this state, whose sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume. 
Mrs. Harpst was reared in Eureka and still lives in this city. Lately she 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 551 

has built a large and beautiful residence on the corner of Huntoon and D 
streets. She has given much care to her gardens, in which she takes much 
pride, and as the result of her efiforts she has one of the most attractive places 
in the city. Fraternally Mr. Harpst belonged to the Masons and Elks. In 
the former he had been associated with the blue lodge and chapter in Eureka, 
a member of the Golden Gate commandery, K. T., and Islam Temple, A. A. O. 
N. M. S., of San Francisco. 

In the circles of early settlers, where he was best known, his name stood 
as a synonym for honor, while in his general circle of acquaintances, especially 
among younger generations, he was looked up to as a pioneer who had endured 
many privations in the period of the Indian troubles and who had merited the 
best that later years could bestow upon him. 

JOSEPH EDWARD MERRIAM.— Although for many years he followed 
the fortunes of the sea, and though he came to the Pacific coast with the 
expressed intention of continuing his sea-faring life, Joseph Edward Merriam 
has never been aboard a vessel since he sailed into the harbor at Eureka on 
June 19, 1884. With him were his wife and one child, and soon after coming 
to Eureka he determined to give up his former calling and locate on shore, 
choosing Humboldt county for his future home. During the succeeding years 
he has been variously occupied, but has always met with much success, and 
is today one of the leading insurance men in the county and is also largely 
interested in real estate. Besides his home in Blue Lake he owns a valuable 
fruit garden and also a valuable timber claim of one hundred and seventy 
acres about six miles southeast of town. Judge Merriam does not believe 
in any vigorous man being idle, and seeing the many small pieces of valuable 
land around homes neglected, he desires to show the people of the community 
as well as outsiders the wonderful production of the soil and the value of 
raising vegetables and fruits on small tracts. Having a love for horticulture 
and gardening and believing that every foot of the soil should produce, he 
purchased two and one-half acres in Blue Lake which had been neglected 
and to which he devoted his spare moments. It is now in orchard, small 
fruits, berries and vegetables, and the whole space to the fence line is produ- 
cing under intensified culture. Its success has been demonstrated, hence it is 
a plan that others would do well to emulate. Judge Merriam has also been 
interested in the buying and selling of real estate for a period of years. He 
has never regretted his decision, and feels that it was a wise choice that 
brought him to California. 

Mr. Merriam was born in Port Greville, Cumberland county, Nova Sco- 
tia, December 3, 1856. His boyhood days were spent there and during his 
youth he attended the public schools. His disposition was a roving one, 
however, and when he was a lad of only fourteen years he went to sea, sailing 
on coasting vessels running to New York City. This was a hard and a danger- 
ous life, for the ice floes drifted along the coast for many months of the 
year, and the vessels of the coast fleet were in much danger for this reason, 
as well as on account of storms and fog. Afterwards he was in West Indies, 
South American and Western Island trade, sailing out of New York and 
Boston, but always in Canadian ships. He was mate of the brig Zebenia for 
three years and for two years master. These voyages necessitated his absence 
from home for protracted periods, and wishing to avoid them he resolved to 
seek the Pacific coast, intending to run river steamers in California. For 



552 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

two years previous to this time his wife had been constantly with him on the 
water, but after the birth of their first child, Adeline, she had to remain ashore. 
He brought his wife and child across the continent to San Francisco, arriving 
in June, 1884. After four days they came on to Eureka and have remained in 
Humboldt county ever since. Mr. Merriam claims to be a Humboldter because 
he never crossed the bar after the day of his arrival. 

The conditions on the coast were quite different from what he had been 
led to expect, and Mr. Merriam soon decided to try his fortunes on land. He 
secured employment with S. S. Loveren on his ranch near Mad river where 
the chief occupation was dairying. Mr. Merriam had never worked on a farm 
and was not familiar with any of the farm work, never having even harnessed 
or hitched a horse before this tinie. He was, however, strong and willing to 
work and to learn, and remained with Mr. Loveren for two years. 

For the next three years he worked on various ranches in the neighbor- 
hood, learning much of the ways of the new country and the new occupation, 
and becoming an efficient farmer. In 1889 he determined to engage in farm- 
ing for himself, and going into the mountains, he leased a stock range from 
Thomas Baird and started in the stock-raising business. This enterprise was 
undertaken on a small scale in the beginning, as stock at that time was high. 
The following year he took up a homestead on Boulder creek, near the old 
Rock ranch, his tract comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Here he re- 
moved with his family, remaining until their home was proved up on, which 
was in 1898. 

It was this same year that Mr. Merriam decided to leave the homestead 
and go with his family into Blue Lake to reside. They moved into the thriving 
little city July 25, 1898, and here they have built a permanent home, where 
they now reside. Mr. Merriam was already well known in the community 
and his popularity was attested when in the following November he was 
elected justice of the peace, on the Populist ticket, and has been repeatedly re- 
elected since, holding office continuously from that time until the present. 

Soon after locating in Blue Lake Mr. Merriam took up the insurance and 
realty business on a small scale, increasing his interests and the scope of his 
operations as his business developed. Now he is one of the leading insurance 
men of the county, and his real estate transactions are also important. He 
deals in both life and fire insurance, representing some twenty companies, 
and has written many policies in both Trinity and Humboldt counties. 

The marriage of Mr. Merriam and Miss Clara Russell Webster took place 
at Parrsborough, Nova Scotia, June 15, 188L Mrs. Merriam is a native of 
Nova Scotia, born in Cumberland county May 6, 1860, and her mother was 
born in that county April 15, 1835. Mrs. Merriam bore her husband five 
children, one of whom died in infancy. Of the others we mention the follow- 
ing : Adeline M., born in Nova Scotia, and now residing in Blue Lake, is the 
wife of Eugene B. Tamboury and the mother of one child, Clara Anetta ; 
Harold Mathew, born in Alliance, Humboldt county, married Minnie Griffith ; 
Mary Henrietta, also born in Alliance, Mlay 4, 1887, died in Blue Lake in 
1901 : Elsie Marion, born at Thief camp, on Maple creek, became the wife of 
Chester Moore, of Blue Lake. Mrs. Webster, the mother of Mrs. ^lerriam, 
at present makes her home with her daughter in Blue Lake. 

Mr. Merriam is very much interested in all matters of public interest in 
Blue Lake and indeed throughout Humboldt county. He is an enthusiastic 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 555 

advocate of suffrage for women and his efforts are largely responsible for 
the fact that Blue Lake is the banner suffrage town in the county. He has 
taken an active part in all suffrage movements and worked earnestly for the 
passage of the amendment which enfranchised the women of California. He 
is also well known in fraternal circles, and is a prominent member of the 
Woodmen of the World and of the Red Men, being connected with the local 
lodges of each organization. He is the father of what is known as the "Blue 
Nose Picnic" in Humboldt county, which was started as the result of his 
effort to bring together and renew acquaintances of the people who came to 
the county from the New England states and the provinces of" Canada, em- 
bracing an Atlantic coast line from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape Race, New- 
foundland. Obtaining the available addresses he sent each person a postal 
written by himself, and the first picnic at Blue Lake, held in August, 1911, 
was well attended, being one of the largest picnics held in the county, and 
it has since become an interesting annual event. 

The varied experiences of both Mr. and Mrs. Merriam give them a wide 
outlook on life, and there is a fund of interesting tales that they may tell 
when their fancy so inclines. Mrs. Merriam was the first woman ever known 
lo land on the Isle of Mona, an uninhabited island seven miles long, 
located in the Mona channel midway between San Domingo and Porto Rico. 

An interesting possession of Mr. Merriam, and one on which he has 
spent much time and effort, is a book in which he has recorded the name 
of every family in Blue Lake, the date on which they took up their residence 
there, where they came from, who they are, and such other valuable and avail- 
able information as he deems of interest. 

Throughout the county Mr. Merriam is regarded as one of the most 
reliable and trustworthy men in the community, and his prosperit}^ is due 
entirely to his own efforts and to the confidence that has been reposed in 
him by his fellow citizens and the resulting patronage that this has brought 
into his office. He has also been especially successful in all his dealings with 
the Indians, by whom he is regarded as a true friend and is referred to by 
them by the familiar name of loe, which carries with it great respect. 

SOPHUS NICOLAI JORGENSEN, M. D.— The man who pursues a 
purpose with resolute energy usually becomes an important factor in the 
professional or business circles of his community. _ In this respect Dr. Jor- 
gensen has not proved an exception to the general rule, for through skill in 
the practice of medicine and devotion to the demands of the profession he 
has risen to a position of influence at Fortuna, his headquarters for more 
than a decade of continued activity and usefulness. It has been his practice 
to study every modern development in therapeutics. With this end in view 
he has read current medical literature with interest and concentration of 
thought and has maintained an active membership in the Humboldt County, 
Califprnia, and American Medical Associations, besides being personally and 
intimately identified with the American Institute of Homeopathy. 

Salt Lake City, Utah, is the native home of the Doctor, and January 4, 
1868, the date of his birth, but he has few childhood memories, except such as 
are associated with San Francisco, the family having established a home 
there in 1870. Always eager to learn, he proved a diligent and intelligent 
pupil in the San Francisco schools and when he had completed the studies 
of the common branches he turned his attention to medicine with a view to 



556 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

entering upon the duties of that profession. Following an unusually cred- 
itable record as a medical student he was graduated from the Hahnemann 
Hospital College of Medicine in 1897, with the degree of M. D., and has 
since followed the practice of medicine and surgery, for one year in Nevada 
City, Cal., and since 1898 in Humboldt county, the first five years in Hydes- 
ville, and since 1903 in Fortuna. Aside from being identified with associa- 
tions of a professional order he has some social and fraternal associations, 
notably with the Knights of Pythias and the Evireka Aerie of Eagles. 

A. DAMGAARD. — The senior member of the firm of Damgaard & 
Strain, of Eureka, Humboldt county, Mr. Damgaard has built up a good 
business in the sale of Napa, Sonoma and other California wines. He has 
lived in Humboldt county since 1898, most of the time at Eureka, and has 
made a success in the wholesale liquor trade. Mr. Damgaard came to Cali- 
fornia in 1894, the year of his arrival in America, and before he went into 
business on his own account was variously engaged, principally at agricul- 
tural work. He is a native of the Isle of Eyen, Denmark, born April 22, 1871, 
and came to America in 1894, arriving at Omaha, Nebr., on the twenty-third 
anniversary of his birth. It was also the day Coxey's army reached that 
point. After spending the summer in Nebraska he continued on to the coast, 
and for some time was in Contra Costa county, Cal., where he found employ- 
ment at all kinds of farm work, cattle ranching, general farming, driving 
teams, bailing hay and operating a threshing machine. In 1898 he came to 
Humboldt county, making the trip on the steamer Chilcot, and landing at 
four o'clock on the morning of September 22d. His first location here was at 
Ferndale, in the Eel river valley, where he remained for two and a half 
years ; the first year and a half he worked at teaming, breaking marsh land, 
and did any other work which came to his hand. For six months he was 
clerk for G. A. Waldner in the Western hotel. Eureka, then for two years 
was in business in Ferndale. Selling out, he went down to San Francisco, 
at which place and Oakland he was employed for a year, since when he has 
been settled at Eureka. Here he has established a family wholesale liquor 
business in partnership with Mr. Strain, their location being at No. 103 
Fifth street. 

Mr. Damgaard is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and of the 
Eagles fraternity, and his genial disposition has brought him many friends. 
A lover of sports and outdoor life, he spends six weeks of each year camping 
out in the mountains of Humboldt county, to hunt and fish, which he 
enjoys more than any other diversion. Mr. Damgaard is a Republican in 
his political views, but beyond voting taking little active part in the cam- 
paigns. 

In 1901 Mr. Damgaard was married at Eureka to Miss Selma Sjoblom, 
of Eureka, who was born in Sweden, and their family consists of two children. 
Myrtle and Lillian. Mr. Damgaard owns the fine residence at the corner 
of Clark and E streets which he occupies with his family. 

EDWARD BACKENSTOSE, D. V. S.— The distinction of being the 
oldest veterinary now in active practice in California belongs to Dr. Back- 
enstose, who is well known in Eureka not only as a successful practitioner 
in his chosen line, but also as a food and sanitary inspector. It seems little 
less than remarkable that one who was graduated from the New York Vet- 
erinary College as early as 1854 should still be engaged in active practice 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 557' 

and, notwithstanding- the arduous and at times dangerous experiences of the 
intervening sixty years, should still exhibit the skill characteristic of his 
earlier days of professional work. During boyhood and youth he saw much 
of the dark side of life. The death of his parents and his own desolate 
condition without money or friends made him familiar with sorrow and 
privation at a time when the majority of boys are care-free. He was 
born at Geneva, Ontario county, N. Y., March 31, 1833, and in 1850 was 
employed to drive a stage between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, which 
places were then still unconnected by any railroad line. Considerable ex- 
perience in the driving of a stage-coach with all of its hardships and fre- 
quent dangers gave him a broad knowledge of life. During the years of such 
work he developed a love for horses and skill in caring for them. Indeed, 
it became apparent that he was unusually expert in the selection of remedies 
for the diseases of all animals and he gained a record so enviable that he 
was sent for in important cases throughout his section of the country. This 
led eventually to his course of study in the veterinary college and to his 
selection of the profession as a life calling. 

Practice in the southern states, continued uninterruptedly for a period 
of years, was interrupted when the Civil war began in 1861. The Doctor, 
then in New Orleans, hurried back to New York City, there to enlist as a 
veterinary surgeon in Governor Sprague's Rhode Island regiment. While 
nominally a veterinary, this did not prevent him from taking an active part 
in every engagement and he fought at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold 
Harbor, Antietam and many other battles of strategic importance. His 
regiment was noted for courage and he was worthy of the command with 
which he associated. Three times he was wounded in action and to this day 
he carries a bullet in his body, a memento of that great struggle. During 
the war he became deeply interested in military tactics and the life of the 
camp proved so interesting that after he had been honorably discharged he 
volunteered for service in the regular army. Accepted as a veterinary sur- 
geon in the army, he was assigned to Washington Territory and for fifteen 
years was stationed at Walla Walla. During this time he served in the 
Joseph Indian war in Washington and was ordered to Montana, but before 
his regiment arrived the battle of Little Big Horn had been fought and lost, 
and it was ordered back to Walla Walla. Finally he resigned from the ser- 
vice and in 1884 came to California, where for seven years he was county 
veterinary of San Diego county and at the same time built up a large private 
practice. Since 1892 he has practiced his profession in Eureka, where since 
1905 he has served under appointment as food and sanitary inspector and for 
a number of years also held office as veterinary of Humboldt county. A 
devoted believer in the principles of Masonry, he was made a Mason in 
Lake Erie Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in Girard, Pa., in 1860, and is now a member 
of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., 
and a charter member of Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and also holds 
membership in Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco. 

WILLIAM LORD. — Few pioneers surpass Mr. Lord in length of asso- 
ciation with the history of Humboldt county, for with the exception of his 
first eighteen years (1840-58) all of his life has been passed within its limits. 
During all of this long period, up to 1910, he has been more or less con- 
nected with mining enterprises and at various times has owned sixteen 



558 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

different mines on the Klamath river, so that he is as well informed as any 
man in regard to mines in this section of the state. A member of an old 
family of New England and himself a native of Carroll county, N. H , born 
Febnaary 8, 1840, he was seven years old when the family moved across the 
state line into Maine, settling at Milo, where he received a public-school 
education and remained until eighteen years of age. So keen was his 
interest in the west, brought into conspicuous public notice through the 
discovery of gold, that he determined to seek a livelihood on the Pacific 
coast and, coming here in 1858 via the isthmus, he settled on the Klamath 
river in Humboldt county. For a long period he was one of the leading men 
at Orleans, where he bought six different mining claims, besides conducting 
a general store and running a pack-train from the bar to Areata. About 1886 
he removed to Areata and here he has since made his home, now largely 
retired from business enterprises and enjoying in his advancing years the 
comforts made possible by former frugality and thrift. At the time of the 
Indian troubles he was in the midst of the region made perilous for white 
men, but his own warm friendship for the red men and his long-continued 
kindness to them seemed to exempt him from any danger whatever at their 
hands. 

In the establishing of domestic ties Mr. Lord chose as a helpmate Miss 
Eleanor H. Locke, a native of Miaine, a woman of fine mind and keen insight 
into both national issues and domestic problems, and a very active worker 
in the cause of temperance. Their children, seven in number, are as follows : 
Oscar A'Villiam, of Eureka ; Lewis M., bookkeeper for Richard Sweasey, of 
Eureka ; Wilbur, of El Centro, Cal. ; Mrs. Bessie Lytle, of Areata ; Benjamin 
Edward, winekeeper for the Humboldt Stevedore Company, Eureka ; Frank 
D., who was accidentally killed by an electric shock at Knight's Landing, in 
July, 1907 ; and Edward L., of Los Angeles. The eldest son, Oscar William, 
was born December 4, 1870, at Orleans, Klamath (now Humboldt) county 
and had a primary education in Areata, supplementing the same with a 
course in the Eureka Business College in 1887-88. As a wage-earner he had 
his first experience as bookkeeper with Baker, Nye & Co., of Areata. Coming 
to Eureka in 1891, he entered the employ of the Ricks (now the Eureka) 
Water Company and has continued with the same concern and its successors 
ever since. Starting as bookkeeper, he afterwards also became collector and 
in these capacities became thoroughly familiar with the entire system. On 
the organization of the Eureka Water Company he was elected secretary in 
January, 1903, and on the death of W. G. Corbaley in October, 1913, he 
succeeded him as superintendent. AVhen the system was taken over by the 
city of Eureka September 1, 1914, he was appointed superintendent of Public 
Works by the City Council and as such continues superintending the city 
water works. It is generally conceded that the council could not have made 
a wiser choice, for his experience with the Eureka water system for nearly a 
quarter of a century has made him more familiar with the water supply, 
distribution and the citizens' needs than any other man. The position is one 
entailing great responsibility, but he has proved equal to every emergency 
and his management of the water interests has been satisfactory to all inter- 
ested parties. In fraternal relations he is a member of the Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E. Three children, Clarence W., Miriam and Ruth, have 
been born of his union with Miss Lottie Riddell, a native of San Francisco 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 559 

and a daughter of William S. Riddell, for some years a resident of that city. 
During 1877 the family came to Humboldt county, where Mr. Riddell had a 
position with Franklin Ellery for a time, but for ten years afterward he 
remained in the employ of the John Vance Lumber Company. Removing 
to Los Angeles in 1893 he has since made his home in that city. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lord are members of the First Congregational Church of Eureka. For 
many years he was a member of the board of trustees and since 1906 has been 
superintendent of the Sunday school. In 1909 he built a comfortable resi- 
dence at No. 1312 H street, where the family dispense genuine hospitality to 
their many friends and acquaintances. 

LUTHER LEE HOTCHKISS.— Years of experience have given to Mr. 
Hotchkiss a thorough knowledge of the lumber business and enable him, 
almost at a glance, to place a correct valuation upon a tract of timber or a 
block of lumber. Before he came to Humboldt county in 1910 he had worked 
in timber regions in different portions of the country both north and south 
and had been connected with practically every department of the industry 
from the felling of the trees to the shipping of the lumber. It was shortly 
after the Civil war that he first began to work in the lumber business and 
since then he has been connected continuously with the work, rising from 
a most humble place to one of responsibility and proving his worth to lumber 
companies time and again in enterprises involving tact, energy, intelligence 
and shrewd judgment concerning the various grades of lumber. During 
early life he lived in Connecticut, where he was born in New Haven and 
educated in the grammar school of Meriden and the high school of New 
Britain. The first money he ever earned came through work in a factory 
at Meriden where ivory novelties were manufactured. Later he spent several 
years in the Hartford office of the William H. Imlay Lumber and Paper 
Company. On removing to the middle west he found employment in the 
commission business at Battle Creek and afterward was connected with the 
money-order department of the American Express Company at Detroit. 

The outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 found Mr. Hotchkiss true to the 
Union and so anxious to enlist in the service that he returned to his old 
home in Connecticut, where he became a private in Company B, Third Con- 
necticut Infantry, and with the regiment went to the front. The most im- 
portant engagement in which he bore arms was that of Bull Run. On the 
expiration of his term of service he received an honorable discharge and 
returned to Detroit, Mich., where he entered upon a long identification with 
the Brooks & Adams Lumber Company. In these years of growing expe- 
rience in the lumber industry he proved his worth to the company employing 
him. During a long period of busy years he considered Detroit his home, 
although the demands of the lumber business were such that he was fre- 
quently called on long trips to other sections and during 1888 the interests 
of the yellow pine lumber business took him to Brunswick, Ga. Large enter- 
prises engrossed his attention upon his return to Detroit and later he was 
connected with timber interests near Green Bay, Wis. Upon coming to 
Humboldt county in 1910 he entered upon the duties of manager of the Pa- 
cific Lumber Company at Scotia. Since 1912 he has made Eureka his head- 
quarters and has engaged in the buying and selling of timber lands, for 
which important work his previous experience admirably qualifies him. Since- 
coming west he has been an active member of the Humboldt Club of Eureka, 



560 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

while prior thereto he became connected with the blue lodge chapter and 
commandery of Masons at Milwaukee, Wis., and Oasis Temple, N. M. S., 
at Charlotte, N. C. By his marriage to Eliza C. Conkie he is the father of a 
daughter and a son, namely : Marion H., who married Dr. C. C. Cottrell, of 
Scotia ; and Ray, now living in Oregon and employed at Coos bay in Coos 
county. 

CHARLES EVERDING.— For about a quarter of a century (1868-1892) 
it was the privilege of Charles Everding to be identified with the business 
interests of Eureka, where as a partner of Capt. H. H. Buhne in the hardware 
line, as a leader in movements for the material upbuilding of the town and 
as a factor in the advance made in every department of local activity, he 
was counted a representative of that splendid German-American class indis- 
pensable to the progress of the west. For years his intelligent and kindly 
face was familiar to the people of the community. They recognized in him 
the traits that make for good citizenship and civic loyalty, as well as the 
intrinsic qualities of character that win and retain friends. Even in the 
'independent financial circumstances of his later years he retained the fru- 
gality and industry of his boyhood years and never forgot the training he 
received in the parental home in Hanover, although after coming to America 
at the age of twenty-one he never again had the privilege of renewing the 
associations of early life or of seeing once more the humble cottage familiar 
to his earliest memories. 

An experience in the manufacture of starch at Cincinnati, Ohio, qualified 
Mr. Everding for the same business, as a partner of his brother, John, in 
Berkeley, Cal., where he settled during 1862. Six years later he came to 
Eureka and here he remained until his death in 1892, meanwhile increasingly 
prominent in business, in social affairs and in the activities of the Odd Fellows. 

In Cincinnati, Ohio, December 22, 1851, Mr. Everding was united in 
marriage with Miss Catherine Kohlman, also a native of Hanover, Germany, 
and both members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Everding survives her 
husband, and resides at the old home surrounded by the love and tender care 
of her youngest daughter, Clara A., who lives with her. The two other 
living children are Louis C, of Areata, assistant manager of the North Red- 
wood Lumber Company at Korbel, Humboldt county; and Sarah, the wife 
of E. Miller, residing at San Jose. Edward Everding, in early life was book- 
keeper in the mill of D. R. Jones and later was the second man to serve as 
cashier of the Humboldt County Bank, Avhere his keen intuition in financial 
affairs proved of the utmost assistance to the growth of the institution. 
Active in Odd Fellowship, in banking circles and in business affairs, his death 
in the year 1894 removed from Eureka one of its leading men and was 
regarded not only as a distinct loss to his own family, but likewise to the 
town of his lifelong identification. 

AUGUSTUS GUSTAFSON.-^A fondness for the life of a sailor and the 
necessity of earning his own livelihood took Mr. Gustafson to the sea when 
he was yet a mere lad in his native country of Sweden. Born December 12, 
1858, he had traveled in all of the oceans and touched at all of the leading 
ports of the world before he sailed around the Horn on an English ship 
which cast anchor in the harbor of San Francisco during 1879. Nor did 
his experiences on the high seas end Avith his temporary sojourn in San 
Francisco, for soon he was induced to enlist in the United States navy, after 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 561 

which he was attached to the battleship Alaska, under Commodore Belknap 
and continued in the service until the expiration of his time. During the 
wars in Chile and Peru he engaged in patrol duty on the South American 
coast. Subsequent to receiving an honorable discharge on Mare Island in 
January, 1882, he became connected with a dry goods business in San Fran- 
cisco. A very early experience as a clerk in his native land somewhat quali- 
fied him for such enterprises and when he left San Francisco in 1884 it was 
for the purpose of embarking in a similar venture at Sacramento. The fol- 
lowing years brought their share of reverses and encouragement, but it was 
not until 1897 that he left the capital city for his former headquarters in San 
Francisco, where he spent some months as manager of a department in the 
Emporium. 

Immediately after his arrival in Eureka during May of 1898 Mr. Gus- 
tafson became an employe in the dry goods house of Crocker Bros., and 
from them he was transferred to the management of the White House dry 
goods establishment, of which C. C. Dixon & Son were the proprietors. In 
1902 he resigned his position in order to embark in business for himself. 
Opening the Model, a men's furnishing establishment at No. 437 Second 
street, he carried on a specialt}^ store in Eureka until 1908, since which time 
he has engaged in the liquor business. For some time he was a member of 
the Eureka Chamber of Commerce. The Red Cap and Corona De Ora Min- 
ing Companies, owners of valuable mines, have his name enrolled on their 
lists of stockholders, and he has further acted as a director of the Waldner 
Fruit & Land Company, in which he owns stock. 

By his first marriage Mr. Gustafson had three children, Augustus, Jr., 
Karl and Albert, all living in San Francisco. The present Mrs. Gustafson 
was formerly Mrs. Flora Davis. The fraternal connections of Mr. Gustafson 
are numerous and varied, including membership in Court Eureka, Foresters 
of America; Knights of the Royal Arch, of which he- is past valiant com- 
mander; Eureka Aerie No. 130, of the Eagles; Eureka Camp No. 652, B. P. 
O. E., and the Woodmen of the World, whose local lodge he has helped to 
develop by personal efforts and by official work as council commander. His 
interest in the Foresters of America began with his initiation in Court Sacra- 
mento No. 12, of which he was past chief ranger in 1889, and since his resi- 
dence in Humboldt county he has organized Court Ferndale and Court 
William McKinley at Areata, had the honor of being elected supreme repre- 
sentative and attended the supreme court held in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1904. 

WILLIAM PETER McDADE.— One of the most important industries 
of Humboldt county is that of ship building, and the ship yards at Fair Haven, 
across the bay from Eureka, are well known throughout the state, and in fact 
along the entire coast, as many vessels of importance, and even some little 
fame, have been constructed there. At present one of the most prominent 
figures in this great industry is William Peter McDade, who for practically 
his entire lifetime has been associated with the yards at Fair Haven, and 
to whom the construction of vessels of various types is as the breath of his 
life. 

Mr. McDade is a native of California, having been born at Fair Haven, 
August 6, 1880, the son of Hugh and Agnes (Day) McDade, both of New- 
Brunswick, Canada. His father was a ship carpenter, born in St. John, 
New Brunswick, where he lived for many years and where he was mar- 



562 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ried. He learned his trade there, and followed it for some time, but after his 
marriage he came to California, hoping to better his financial condition in 
the west. He arrived here about 1873, locating in Humboldt county, and 
for many years he and his wife have made their home in Eureka. He is 
now about sixty-seven years of age, and is employed by his son in the Fair 
Haven yards as a ship carpenter, in which line he is an expert workman. 
The parental family numbered four children, three of whom are still living. 
They are : Edith, now the wife of William Falk, and residing in Eureka ; 
Nellie, deceased ; William Peter, of whom we write ; and Everett, a ship 
carpenter employed at St. Helena, Ore. 

After completing his education, received in the public schools, Mr. 
McDade was apprenticed in the H. D. Bendixsen ship yards at Fair Haven, 
where he served an apprenticeship of five years, mastering all the details 
of the craft of building ships. Bendixsen was then the foremost ship builder 
of the vicinity and the Bendixsen ship yards were the first to be located at 
Fair Haven or in that region, and it is these yards that Mr. McDade now 
leases from the Bank of Eureka. The former owners were John Lindstrom, 
John C. Bull, and Bendixsen. During his ownership of the yards Bendixsen 
did a thriving business, constructing in all some one hundred six vessels. 

Mr. McDade remained steadily with Bendixsen during his ownership of the 
yards, then with Mr. Bull, and after they were purchased by Lindstrom he 
was made the superintendent, remaining in this capacity for three years, 
during which time the following vessels were built : Florence Wood, Daisy 
Freeman, Tahoe, Yellowstone, Shoshone and Catherine. Of these all were 
steam schooners except the Florence Wood, an auxiliary cable schooner, 
which was purchased by the United States government and taken to the 
Philippines and is still in the government service, laying telegraph cables. 

Later Mr. McDade worked for the McCormick Company in the capacity 
of yard foreman, and while there built the Klamath, a steam schooner with a 
capacity of one million two hundred thousand feet of lumber, and sixty pas- 
sengers. The Hammond Lumber Company then leased the yards and ran 
them for three years, building the Nehalem, the Fort Bragg and the Willam- 
ette, Mr. McDade being their yard foreman during this time. Later this 
same company, continuing their lease, built the Necanicum, in 1911-1912, and 
the Mary Olsen in 1912-1913, with Mr. McDade in direct charge as superin- 
tendent of the construction. 

It was in 1914 that Mr. McDade leased the yard and engaged in the busi- 
ness of ship building for himself. He has recently completed the building of the 
Magnolia, a one hundred ton, twin screw gasoline schooner, owned by Capt. 
Ed Johnson, of Eureka, and also built a seventy-foot barge, beam twenty-six 
feet, for the Coggeshall Launch Company, of Eureka. The first steamship 
that Mr. McDade built was the Toledo, owned by the Fay Brothers, and now 
in Alaskan waters. It was one hundred six feet long, with a twenty-foot beam, 
and eight-foot hold. He was only twenty-four years old at that time. When 
he was but twenty-six years of age he was superintendent of the yards with 
one hundred men under his charge. 

The marriage of Mr. McDade took place in San Francisco, May 27, 1901, 
uniting him with Miss Minnie Murphy, a native of Malone, N. Y. She is 
the daughter of Peter and Mary (Brady) Murphy, both natives of New York 
state. The father died in New York, but the mother died in Eureka. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. McDade are well known in Fair Haven and in 




Ji^yvuLSLA^ 



S, i^X^ela. 




jAyL^^^A<^ (^ AXiJC--^ 



■ HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY .567 

Eureka, where they have many friends. Mr. McDade is recognized as one 
of the most influential and prominent of the younger generation, and his 
splendid qualities of heart 'and mind have won him the confidence and 
esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. He is especially well 
liked by his business associates, including the patrons of his ship yards and 
the employes, the men in the yards being his most loyal and devoted admirers 
and friends. Aside from his business associates Mr. McDade is also popular 
in fraternal circles, where he is associated with several well known orders. 
He is especially interested in the afifairs of the Elks. 

MRS. SUSAN STILL.— The life of Mrs. Susan Still, of Eureka, Cal., has 
been from the first closely associated with the hard conditions attendant upon 
residence in the sparsely settled portions of our country. Born in Jefferson 
county, in eastern Tennessee, on October 29, 1831, she was the daughter of 
Robert L. and Margaret (Haynes) King, the father's family being natives of 
Virginia, and the mother a descendant of Revolutionary ancestors. With her 
parents, Mrs. Still removed to Johnson county. Mo., in 1839, and there she 
grew up and received her education in one of the primitive log school houses 
characteristic of that time, subsequently adding materially to her store of 
information by systematic reading, so that she is now a well-informed woman 
and an interesting conversationalist. Her first marriage occurred in 1847 to 
John Marr, a native of Missouri. Two years after their marriage he came to 
California across the plains, engaging in mining for about two years, when 
he started on the return trip by way of Panama and the Mississippi river. 
In the meantime he had contracted cholera and he died of this scourge in 
Illinois in 1851. Mrs. Marr was subsequently married in Missouri, on Sep- 
tember 14, 1854, to James E. Still, a native of Bowling Green, Ky. For some 
time after their marriage they continued to live in Lafayette county. Mo., 
where Mr. Still was engaged in farming, but later removed to the West, with 
other members of the King family, among them being Mrs. Still's brother, 
William W. King, who later became her husband's partner on his farm in 
Humboldt county, Cal. The journey across the continent, which was made 
by means of ox-teams and wagons, was of six months' duration, continuing 
from April 6 to October 6, 1864. Arriving at Sublimity, Ore., the party re- 
mained there a year, driving from there to Crescent City, Cal., whence they 
shipped their goods on the steamer Del Norte to Eureka, they themselves 
. coming down the coast with their stock by trail to Eureka, there being no 
wagon road at that time. Here Mr. Still and Mr. King rented land, which 
they farmed until 1868, at which time they purchased the Willowbrook 
farm of one hundred sixty acres near the mouth of Salmon creek from Captain 
Ticnor, and commenced clearing and improving the land, and by the addition 
of adjoining land became the owners of three hundred acres. Until Mr. Still's 
death they conducted the Willowbrook hotel on their property, Mrs. Still 
and her brother later giving their attention to dairying interests and the 
building up of their herd of cows, in that way clearing the estate of mortgage. 
They conducted the business in partnership until 1901, at which date they 
removed to Eureka, where they now reside on Harrison avenue, having leased 
their dairy and herd of sixty cows. 

By Mr. Still's first marriage, to Mary Still, who died in Missouri, he had 
two children, Arabella, who became the wife of Thomas McDaniel and died 
in Willowbrook, and Alexander Leonidas, of Fields Landing. By his second 



568 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

marriage six children were born and of these three are now living: James 
H. is an engineer in Eureka ; Roberta was twice married, first to Justin N. 
Adams, and after his death she became Mrs. McFee and now resides in 
Canada; and Louisa H., the wife of Walter Church, resides in Grizzly Blufif. 
Though now advanced in years, Mrs. Still is hearty and active, and busily 
engaged in household duties. Since the age of fifteen years she has been a 
faithful and enthusiastic member of the Baptist Church, and in her political 
interests is an upholder of the principles of the Democratic party. 

ADOLPH BARRY ADAMS.— The son of a CaUfornia pioneer, but him- 
self a native of Australia, whither his father had gone in answer to the lure 
of the gold mining excitement, Adolph Barry Adams has yet been a resident 
of Humboldt county since he was a lad of- sixteen, coming here thirty years 
ago, and is today one of the most progressive and influential citizens of 
Eureka, where he has made his home for most of his time since locating in 
California. He is at present engaged in the real estate and insurance busi- 
ness and represents several of the best-known companies, both in life and 
fire insurance. As would be but natural with one whose faith in the future 
of Eureka is unqualified, he has invested from time to time in real estate, 
building and selling several residences, and at present owning several pieces 
of city property. 

Mr. Adams was born at Omeo, Gippsland, Australia, October 28, 1869. 
His father was St. Clair Adams, a native of County Cavan, Ireland, and a 
pioneer of Humboldt county, having located here first about 1854. He was 
then interested with his brother, Barry Maxwell Adams, in gold mining, 
and they were among the first to land at Humboldt Bay. They engaged for 
a time in mining with much success, and later took up government land and 
engaged in the cattle business. At this time they also were interested in 
packing freight into the Salmon creek gold mines, employing pack trains 
of mules, and making a success of the enterprise. A'Vhen the great gold ex- 
citement in the early '60s broke out in Australia, St. Clair Adams answered 
the call, leaving his brother, Barry Maxwell Adams, still in Humboldt county. 
While in Australia he met and married Miss Marie Craig, of Glasgow, Scot- 
land, and by her had four children, three daughters and one son, Adolph B. 
Adams, the subject of this sketch. The mother died in Australia and later 
the father returned to Humboldt county, where he died about twenty-four 
years ago (1890) and was buried at Weaverville, Trinity county, Cal. 

The early life of A. B. Adams was spent in the gold fields at Omeo, 
Gippsland, Australia. He was a mere boy when his mother died, and at the 
age of fourteen he determined to go to sea, and secured a berth as a cabin 
boy on one of Pope and Talbot's vessels, the Locksley Hall. For several 
years he followed this life, meeting with many and varied experiences, and 
at the end of that time came to San Francisco, thence to Eureka, where his 
father had preceded him. He at once secured employment in the lumber 
mills near Eureka, being first in the employ of Isaac Minor, at Glendale. 
He did not care for this class of employment, however, and so saved his 
earnings and took a business course at the old business college, located on 
Fifth street, Eureka. Completing his course he became a bookkeeper and 
stenographer, and for a time made this his occupation. In 1892 he first en- 
gaged in the insurance business, conducting a public stenographic business 
in connection with this undertaking for some time, owing to the hard times 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 569 

which attended the panic of 1892 and 1893, and which made it difificult to 
estabUsh a new business. His undertaking prospered, however, and at the 
present time he has one of the best insurance businesses in Eureka. 

The fraternal field is also one that has proven of great interest to Mr. 
x^dams and he is a prominent factor in many of the best known organizations 
in the community. He is secretary of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F. ; 
clerk for the Alodern Woodmen of America, and chief of records for the 
Improved Order of Red Men, all of Eureka. He is also the commanding 
officer of the Fifth Division Naval Militia of California, a state military 
organization of Eureka, composed of seventy-five seamen and two officers. 

The marriage of Mr. Adams took place in Eureka in 1902, uniting him 
with Miss Mae Louisa Nellis, the daughter of James Nellis, one of Eureka's 
oldest pioneers. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are the parents of three children, 
Marcel, St. Clair and Adolph Barry, Jr. 

J\Ir. Adams possesses a bright and cheerful disposition, and expresses 
success naturally. He is enthusiastic about the growth and general welfare 
of Eureka and never loses an opportunity to give his city and county a boost. 

Fie has a beautiful home on Harris street, where he has a carefully tended 
lawn with a wealth of flowers which add materially to the beauty and worth 
of his property. This is the third residence that he has built in Eureka, the 
two former ones having been sold. Mr. Adams is a conscientious worker, 
and early and late he may be found in his office ready to give attention to the 
needs of his patrons and to the aft'airs of the fraternal orders which he repre- 
sents. It is this careful attention to detail that has built up his present splen- 
did business, and which has given him his high place in the esteem of his 
fellow citizens. 

FRANK EDWIN CLONEY.— The chief of police of the city of Eureka 
is a native of the province of New Brunswick, Canada, and was born at New 
St. Stephen, Charlotte county, December 19, 1870. Like the average j^outh 
of the East he received a good public school education. He made the most 
of every chance and subsequent habits of observation in travel and thought- 
fulness in reading have enabled him to become the possessor of a varied fund 
of information. Leaving home at the age of seventeen he was attracted to 
the lumber camps of Maine and from there to the logging industries of New 
Hampshire. Reports received from acquaintances concerning steady employ- 
ment to be had in the lumber camps of Humboldt county and his keen desire 
to see the west led him to California in 1888, when he was a youth of eighteen 
years, and during the next fifteen years he remained an employe of the large 
lumber interests of this section of the state. 

Efficiency in the work of a woodsman, steadiness and sobriety won for 
Mr. Cloney a high reputation among his associates in the camps, and by 
degrees he also became well known in the toAvns, so that his appointment to 
the police force of Eureka in 1903 was regarded as a merited recognition 
of his ability. Indeed, so thoroughly did he familiarize himself with the 
duties of the department and so capable did he prove in their discharge that 
when he was appointed chief in July, 1907, the people without regard to 
politics felt pleased with the choice and there has been uniform satisfaction 
with the efficiency of the department and the success of the force in the 
maintenance of law and order. Some years after coming west he married 



570 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Miss Heffren, a native of Areata, by whom he has a son, Francis. Fraternally 
he is connected with the Elks and Eagles at Eureka. 

GEORGE ALEXANDER CROWE.— One of the great industries of 
Flumboldt county is represented by the dairy business and creamery interests, 
and prominent among the men interested in these enterprises may be men- 
tioned George A. Crowe, of Eureka, the present manager of the Buhne Dairy 
Company, one-half owner in the company. Their offices are located in the 
Buhne building in Eureka, and they represent one of the most prosperous 
and sound enterprises in the county. 

Mr. Crowe is a native of Indiana, having- been born April I, 1868, near 
JefTersonville, Scott county, where his father, Samuel S. Crowe, was a prac- 
ticing attorney in that region. When the son George was a boy of twelve 
years the family removed to Texas, locating at Palestine, where the father 
engaged in farming for about one year. Later the father died there, and the 
mother and four children came to California, locating in Humboldt county 
in 1885. An elder sister, Mary, Mrs. Fonts, lived at that time in San Fran- 
cisco, and the family spent some time there before coming on to Eureka, 
where they had other relatives (the Ricks) living. The present esteemed citi- 
zen of Eureka was the youngest of the four sons, and for a time he worked in 
Eureka and San Francisco, being variously occupied, but eventually becoming 
interested in the dairy business. He first began working for the Buhne Dairy 
Company twelve years ago on delivery, and his success and rise with the 
company have been almost phenomenal. He was steadily promoted from one 
position to another, as his splendid qualities were discovered and tried out 
by the management, and in 1906 he was made the manager of the company. 
At that time also he purchased a one-half interest in the business, which he 
retains. Under his capable supervision the scope of the enterprise has 
materially widened, and the business is steadily increasing in value. The 
company obtains all the milk and cream from the Buhne Dairy ranch, 
and the product stands the highest test for sanitary condition and quality. 

The marriage of Mr. Crowe occurred in San Francisco in 1897, uniting 
him with Miss Clara Taylor, a native of Eureka, and the daughter of Frank 
Taylor, a pioneer of Humboldt county. She has borne her husband three 
children, Dorothy, Donald and Clarence. 

Aside from his success as a business man, Mr. Crowe is deservedly 
popular wherever he is known. He is an influential member of Humboldt 
Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F., being past grand, and is past chief patriarch of 
Mount Zion Encampment. He is also a member of the Canton of Odd 
Fellows, of which he is clerk. In politics he is a Republican, and is especially 
interested in all that pertains to the welfare of his home city and county. 
He is wide awake to the best interests of the community, standing four- 
square for the right and is always well in the forefront of any movement 
which stands for the betterment of conditions of public weal. 

JEFFERSON R. LANE. — The beautiful city of Eureka is one of the 
most important ports along the northern California coast, and the number 
of vessels putting in at this point has created a demand for trade con- 
ditions and conveniences of service of many kinds. One of the successful 
business men of the place who has made a specialty of work for the marine 
trade is Jefferson R. Lane, proprietor of the Marine Iron Works, which are 
equipped for a large variety of machine work, but particularly for repairs 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 571 

on vessel machinery. The recognized reliabiUty of his establishment has 
brought him much responsible work, and he has never failed the patrons 
vi^ho rely upon him for conscientious attention to their needs. Considerable 
general machine work is also done, including automobile repairing, and Mr. 
Lane has the agency for the Rambler motor cars. 

Mr. Lane is a Kentuckian by birth, and in both paternal and maternal 
lines belongs to old-established families of his native state, prominent in her 
politics and government affairs. He was born at Louisville August 11, 1861, 
and having lost both his parents by death in 1865 made his home during the 
next six or seven years with his maternal aunt, Louisa Butler, in that city. 
His independent career began at the early age of eleven years, when he left 
home and went west to Denver, Colo., later .spending some time at Leadville, 
then in its pioneer days. Though so young when he started out for himself 
he was prudent with his earnings and managed to save a little. Some years 
later he went to Arizona, where he followed gold mining very successfully, 
laying the foundation for a competence by his profitable operations there. 
In 1903 he settled at Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., where he has since 
been doing business, his principal interest being in the Marine Iron Works, 
located on First street. There he has a splendidly equipped plant, completely 
fitted with the most modern lathes, drills and other iron working machinery, 
and a corps of efficient employes capable of handling the most difficult auto- 
mobile or marine engine work. He handles the Exide storage battery and 
makes a specialty of storage battery repairs and recharging. A large share 
of the business consists of expert repairing on automobiles, and he carries 
a large stock of automobile accessories. But the most important work is 
the repairing. of marine and stationary gas engines, for which this establish- 
ment has no rival in skill and expert service. Aside from his interest in the 
works ^Ir. Lane holds stock in the Holmes Lumber Company at Eureka. In 
all his associations, business or social, he has gained a reputation for high 
personal qualities which accounts for the confidence of his fellow citizens and 
the respect which he commands wherever known. 

NICHOLAS J. NILSEN.— Prominent among the dairymen of Humboldt 
county, and especially of the vicinity of Eureka, may be mentioned Nicholas 
J. Nilsen, who is owner and manager of the Bucksport dairy, one of the 
most thoroughly modern and best equipped dairies in the community. Here 
the latest sanitary methods are employed, and here an especially high stan- 
dard of excellence in every department and detail is maintained. Mr. Nilsen 
has been a resident of Humboldt county since 1885 and has been variously 
employed during the intervening years and the time that he first engaged 
in the dairy business. He is a brother of O. Nilsen, proprietor of the grocery 
firm of O. Nilsen & Co., of Eureka, and both of the brothers are regarded as 
citizens of the highest type and are highly esteemed wherever they are known. 

N. J. Nilsen is a native of Norway, and was born at Mandal June 30, 
1855. His father. Nils Christian Nilsen, a tailor by trade, died when this 
son was. but twelve years of age. His mother, Johanna Christine Nilsen, bore 
her husband seven children, of whom all but the two sons now residing at 
Eureka died when still very young. After the death of the father the burden 
of support fell largely on the shoulders of the twelve-year-old Nicholas, and 
he was obliged to work very hard during his entire boyhood. In fact he 



572 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

had commenced working when he was but seven years of age, being employed 
in the match factory at Mandal. He attended the public schools and Avas 
confirmed in the Lutheran Church at the age of fourteen. The following 
year he went to sea as a ship's cook oh a sailing schooner, but did not like 
the work and later secured employment in a sawmill, where he remained 
for two years. He then again went to sea, being engaged in the lumbering 
business, carrying lumber from his native land to Denmark on sailing sloops. 
His next berth was on a three-mast barkentine, which sailed between Eng- 
land, Ireland and American ports, and in this connection he paid his first 
visit to America, landing at Baltimore, Md., when he was seventeen years of 
age. Returning to England, he was wrecked off the west coast of Ireland, 
and his escape from death was almost miraculous. He afterwards sailed to 
Australia, England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, the Medi- 
terranean Sea ports, South America and North America, continuing to follow 
the fortunes of the sailor until 1883. In the meantime, in 1880, he had married 
at Mandal Miss Magen Gunderson, whose father was a sailor and ship car- 
penter, at which trade Mr. Nilsen had worked for two years. 

It was in 1885 that Mr. Nilsen came to California and located in Hum- 
boldt count5^ His brother, O. Nilsen, whose sketch also appears in this 
edition, had come west the previous year, and his reports of the opportunities 
offered in the new country were such as to make the elder brother anxious 
to make the change and settle here. Leaving his wife in Norway (where 
she remained for five years before joining him in California), he arrived in 
Eureka in May, 1885, and very soon he found work as a carpenter. He helped 
to build the Minor mill at Glendale, and also helped to get out the necessary 
timbers, but overwork broke down his health, so that for a year he 
was unable to do anything. Upon recovering he and his brother and brother- 
in-law (Hans Gunderson, who had come to California with him) cleared and 
grubbed land under contract, meeting with an appreciable success. In 1890 
his wife joined him, and they settled in Eureka. Mr. and Mrs. Nilsen were 
the parents of one child, a daughter, Johanna, born in the mother country. 
She came with her mother to California, where she died at the age of thirteen 
years. Mr. Nilsen had been engaged in the pursuit of his trade as a car- 
penter, but after the death of his daughter he engaged in dairying on Mad 
river. Later he moved to Bayside and again rented a dairy farm, meeting 
with much success in this new undertaking. From there he came to Buck- 
sport, in the fall of 1902, and rented Henry Deering's dairy ranch of one 
hundred seventy acres. In 1912 he bought his present place on the historic 
site of old Fort Humboldt, where he owns seven lots, and where he has built 
a handsome bungalow of seven rooms, with all modern improvements and 
conveniences. On this location General Grant M^as in command during the 
winter of 1853-54. Mr. Nilsen has also built a large dairy barn which is the 
most modern in scientific and sanitary construction, and which has accom- 
modations for forty milch cows. His ultimate intention is to install the latest 
scientific milker and other modern improvements for dairying. This site is 
especially desirable for a home place, as it is within reach of Eureka by 
electric car service, and is on a high plateau overlooking Humboldt bay, with 
a magnificent sweep of scenery. 

Both Mr. and A-Irs. Nilsen have many friends in the county and especially 
in Eureka and vicinity. They are members of the Norwegian and Danish 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 573 

Methodist Episcopal Church, where they take an active part in the denomina- 
tional activities. Mr. Nilsen is well liked wherever he is known and his 
business integrity is acknowledged to be above question. During the early 
years of his life, and even for a few years after he came to California, he was 
beset with many difficulties and met with discouraging reverses and mis- 
fortunes ; but within later years he has been prosperous and successful, and 
today is one of the influential and progressive men of the vicinity where 
he lives. 

HUMBOLDT BREWING COMPANY.— The history of the Humboldt 
Brewing Company dates back to experiences that involved its stockholders 
in financial losses and made the plant a losing factor in the industrial devel- 
opment of Eureka', but recent years have witnessed a change in the entire 
mode of operation and new owners with new methods of manufacture and 
with the most modern devices of equipment have transformed the hitherto 
unprofitable investment into a popular and profitable enterprise. The Hum- 
boldt Brewing Company is headed by the Zobeleins of Los Angeles, the 
officers being as follows : George Zobelein, president ; Edward Zobelein, 
vice-president; William Kramer, secretary; and Philip Zobelein, treasurer. 

The early history of the brewery shows a frequent change of ownership 
and a complete lack of success. The first step toward later success occurred 
with the purchase of the plant, then known as the Eureka brewery and 
situated on Eirst street, by John U. Haltinner, July 8, 1895, seven years after 
which A. Johnson became a partner. During the summer of 1904 Messrs. 
Palmatag and Cressman bought the grounds forming the site of the present 
brewery on Broadway. They began to build and had the brewery perhaps 
one-half completed w^hen discord arose between them and they sold out 
to Max Kuehnrich of Los Angeles, who purchased the plant. January 17, 
1905, Messrs. Johnson and Haltinner, who owned two small brewing plants, 
sold them to Mr. Kuehnrich, and in 1905 the present company was incor- 
porated and took over the plant. In 1907, when the Zobeleins acquired 
the Los Angeles Brewing Company plant, they also acquired the Humboldt 
Brewing Company plant. In March, 1911, John R. Hagen, after a long ex- 
perience with the Los Angeles Brewing Company, brewers of the famous 
East Side beer, was transferred to Eureka and given charge of the plant, and 
since the advent of ]\Ir. Hagen as manager the output has been increased and 
the business has doubled in volume, with every prospect for continued de- 
velopment under his capable supervision. Only one-fourth of the capacity 
of fifty thousand barrels is in use at present, so that the plant will bear a 
remarkable expansion of business before its capacity will be exhausted; and 
there is every reason to believe that with such a manager as Mr. Hagen 
progress will be permanent and development assured. The company manu- 
factures exclusively for wholesale and retail dealers in Humboldt county 
and bottlers and distributors elsewhere. Purity is the watchword of the 
concern and its manager has been called the "patron of purity" on account 
of his determination to turn out nothing but a pure product. He exercises 
the greatest care in purchasing malt or hops and in employing a competent 
brewer, nor is he less concerned as to the purity of the water used in the 
manufacture of the beer. To provide this requisite the company bored its 
own wells and regularlj^ makes tests for the purpose of preserving the uni- 
formity necessary to satisfy not only its own code of purity, but as well 



574 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

\ 

its maintenance of a commercial standard. Through the alert and efificient 
management" the. plant has been developed from a losing proposition to a 
valuable unit, in the industrial prosperity of Eureka. 

HARRY A. PERRY.— Prominently identified with the growth and 
upbuilding of Humboldt county is Harry A. Perry, who is a native son 
of California, born near Napa, Napa county, April 28, 1879, and he attended 
the public school's of, Napa and Sonoma counties. His father, James Martin 
Perry, was a native' of Switzerland, in 1866 coming to California, where he 
married Ida Farsblade, a native of Sweden, and settled on a farm in Napa 
county. In the fall of 1895 he came to Humboldt, but within a year returned 
to Sonpma county. In 1-897 he returned to Humboldt county and since then 
has been a resident of the Eel river valley. Here he was employed on dairy 
ranches and gained his experience in the work that was to be his means of 
livelihood'iin after years. In 1907 he rented the present ranch on the island 
in Eel river, consisting of fifty-five acres of improved land. Twenty acres 
of the land he cleafed and fenced off into settions of six-acre tracts. He is 
at the present time actively engaged in dairying and is interested in the 
breeding of a fine line of graded Jersey stock, having thirty of the finest 
cows in the county. He is a member of the Ferndale Cow Testing Associa- 
tion, president of the Humboldt County Dairymen's Association and is a 
director of the Farm Bureau of Humboldt county. He has passed through 
all the chairs of the Knights of Pythias and is at the present time deputy 
grand chancellor of the local lodge. He has always been actively interested 
in matters pertaining to the Republican party and is ready at all times to 
aid any movement that has for its object the good of the community. He 
is an ardent member of the Presbyterian church. 

Mr. Perry was united in marriage with Leila Lucretia Hansen, a native 
of Ferndale, Humboldt county, having been born here January 20, 1885. 
Their marriage took place in Ferndale December 4, 1907, and of their union 
there have been three children, Evelyn Aileen, Gordon E., now deceased, and 
Dorothy Isabel. Mrs. Perry is the eldest daughter of George C. Hansen, who 
was born in Iowa and came to Humboldt county in the early '70s. He pur- 
chased a farm which he cleared and improved and engaged in the dairy busi- 
ness. In Ferndale he married Miss Lucretia Hall, a native of Michigan. They 
are retired, making their home at Point Kenyon. Mr. Perry is a successful 
and enterprising young man, one who is progressive, industrious and very 
public spirited. 

OSCAR NILSEN. — Among the most desirable citizens that come to 
America from foreign shores there is no question but that the Scandinavians 
rank well at the head of the line, their industry, honesty, sobriety, and gen- 
eral high class of natural ability leaving little to be desired. Such an one 
is Oscar Nilsen, of Eureka, at present one of the most prominent general 
grocers that the city supports, and a man of sterling qualities of mind and 
heart. He came to America many years ago and has acquired his splendid 
business through his own efforts, ably assisted by his wife, and later by his 
children, all of whom are highly esteemed wherever they are known. 

Mr. Nilsen is a native of Mandal, Norway, where he was born August 17, 
1857. His father. Nils Christian Nilsen, was a tailor by trade, but he died 
August 12, 1866, when Oscar was but nine years of age. His mother, Johanna 
Christine (Jensen) Nilsen, thus left a widow with two small children (there 




(yCi5iyiyUyf , OL, ^-^ 






^eytytycf 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 577 

being another son, Nicolai Johan Gustav, two years older than Oscar, who 
is now a, dairyman at Eureka) was beset with difficulties to provide for the 
needs of her little family, and Oscar started to work in a match factory 
when he was but nine years of age. He was educated and confirmed in the 
Lutheran church, and when he was fifteen years of age he went to sea as a 
sailor, following this line of occupation until he was twenty-two years of age. 
He sailed on various Norwegian ships for several years, and later engaged in 
sailing in the coasting trade on the eastern coast of North America. During 
that time he visited practically all the principal ports of England, Holland, 
Germany, Belgium, Scotland, the North Sea, the Atlantic coast of Canada 
and the U^nited States and the Gulf of Mexico. Finally chance sent him to 
Hull, England, and while there he married Miss Theodora R. Gabrielsen, a 
native of Mandal, Norway, and together they returned to their native city. 
While in England Mr. Nilsen had been in correspondence with an old school- 
mate, James Osmundsen, who was engaged in bridge building in Humboldt 
county, Cal., and he became desirous of coming to California to make his 
home. Accordingly he left his wife in Norway and made the journey alone, 
coming by way of Philadelphia, and from there crossing the continent to 
San Francisco. From there he came to Eureka, arriving July 16, 1884. 
Three years later Mrs. Nilsen joined her husband and since that time they 
have made their home in Eureka. 

Mr, Nilsen first found employment in the lumber camps and saw mills, 
working for a time at Korbel, and later in the shingle mills at Eureka. When 
the mills finally closed he took contracts to clear land, meeting with much 
success in this undertaking, in which for a time he was in partnership with 
his brother, they employing often as many as six men. After his wife came 
and they were located in Eureka, Oscar Nilsen was employed for two years 
as a longshoreman. Later he was employed as deliveryman for J. H. Trost, 
in the grocery business, and there learned much of the detail of that business. 
For five years he worked in a feed and seed house, and later for a feed, seed 
and farm implement house for another period of five years. Sixteen years 
ago he engaged in business for himself in partnership with A. R. Abrahamsen, 
under the firm name of O. Nilsen & Company, and as such has continued to 
do business continuously since. The firm makes a specialty of staple and 
fancy groceries, hay, grain and seeds, enjoying a large and splendid patron- 
age. They soon purchased the corner of Fifth and A streets and eight years 
ago they erected a two-story structure which is occupied entirely by their 
business. Even this has proved inadequate and in addition to it they now 
rent space on A street for their feed and hay business. They also deal exten- 
sively in seeds, carrying a large and assorted stock of garden, grass and farm 
seeds, without doubt the largest and most complete line of seeds carried by 
any dealer in Humboldt county. They conduct both a retail and wholesale 
trade and are modern, up-to-date and progressive in all their business 
methods and pride themselves in carrying only the highest grade of stock. 
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Nilsen has been especially happy. They 
are the parents of ten children, and lost one child in infancy. These children 
are all grown and are a credit to the community, being, like their parents, in- 
telligent above the average, industrious and progressive men and women, 
and well and favorably known in Eureka. They take an active part in the 
affairs of the community, being interested in social, religious and fraternal 



578 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

affairs, and all are engaged in business pursuits. In this they are closely as- 
sociated with their father, who is a prominent member of the Norwegian 
Nordmanna Literary Society. Of the children we mention the following: 
Sigurd H., who is the buyer for the grocery department of O. Nilsen & 
Company, married Miss Delia Miner of Ferndale, and they have two chil- 
dren, Margaret and Baby; Margaret N. is the wife of Ben Anderson, of 
Eureka, and the mother of two children, Benhard and Clarence ; Carl O. is an 
employe of his father's establishment ; Nellie is the wife of Harold W. Hansen 
of Eureka, who owns and operates a machine shop on D street; Thomas, 
Joseph, Minnie (Mrs. Marcussen), Selma, Richard and Oscar, complete the 
family. 

JOHN H. BLOEMER.— A representative type of the sterling men in 
Areata is found in John H. Bloemer, proprietor of a flourishing laundry 
business which he inaugurated thirty years ago. So much of his life has been 
passed in the west that he might well be called a typical westerner, but 
nevertheless he was born and reared in the east and had also acquired 
his first business experience there. His earliest memories are of St. Louis, 
Mo., where he was born August 12, 1854, the son of parents who were able 
to give him good educational advantages. Appreciating his opportunities, 
he studied diligently in the public schools and later took a business course in 
Jones's College, and was thus equipped theoretically for the duties which he 
was to take up later. Opportunity offered a position as clerk in a grocery 
store in St. Louis, and he filled it acceptably for three years, in the mean- 
time saving his earnings as a nest egg for future enterprises. A part of his 
earnings was spent in the trip to California in 1876, and he considers the 
money well expended, for life in the west opened up to him possibilities that 
in the east he had never dreamed of. Coming direct to Areata, Humboldt 
county, he was engaged in mining at Orleans Bar for about a year, when he 
left the Klamath river for the Salmon river, there buying an interest in the 
Andrew Baer mine. This he operated until 1882, and after selling it to 
William Bennett he returned to Areata, which has been his home ever since. 
After his return he bought a block of land and erected his present residence. 
For a time he was in the employ of the Jolly Giant Mill Company, but in 
1885. he resigned his position to start an enterprise which he believed could 
be developed into a thriving business. In his surmise he was correct, for 
the small hand laundry which he started at that time he has seen develop 
into an up-to-date establishment which has no equal in the city. It was 
maintained as a hand laundry until 1896, in which year it was equipped 
with steam, and from time to time since then improvements have been added 
in modern machinery and the latest devices for turning out immaculate linen. 
All departments of the work are equipped with steam power, and the purest 
of water is supplied from a deep well on the premises. Mr. Bloemer takes 
great pride in the business which he has built up, and he has reason to be 
proud of his success, for he has spared neither effort nor means in his deter- 
mination to serve his customers faithfully and well. 

Mr. Bloemer's first marriage occurred at Orleans Bar, in 1876, uniting 
him with Miss Minnie Baer, who survived until 1883, and at her death in 
that year left four children. The eldest, John H., resides in Seattle, Wash., 
where he holds a position as engineer ; F. W. maintains an automobile ser- 
vice in San Francisco ; C. W. is engaged in the real estate business in Bakers- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 579 

field ; and Rose is auditor in the Union Savings Bank in Oakland. iMr. 
Bloemer's second marriage was solemnized in Areata and united him with 
Miss May E. Hammitt, a native of Oregon, and of this marriage there is one 
child, Grace. For much that Mr. Bloemer has been able to accomplish in 
later years he gives credit to his wife, who is a woman of unusual business 
ability and sterling worth and has been of great assistance in furthering his 
interests. Fraternally Mr. Bloemer is a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he also belongs to the affiliated order 
of Rebekahs. In politics he is an independent Democrat. 

HON. WILLIAM KEHOE.— Politics in the hands of a man like Senator 
Kehoe is a straightforward matter requiring earnestness of purpose and 
energy of temperament; with him, politics never descends to partisanship, 
but partakes of the elements of statesmanship and contains the loftiest 
patriotism of spirit. More than a decade before a Progressive party had 
been formed in California he had put forward as his favorite principles such 
measures as lie at the basis of that organization. On these principles he had 
rested his policy as a citizen, as a lawyer and as a public official. With their 
aid he has becorrie known for largeness of views and breadth of civic vision. 
In various bills and measures they have taken visible form, always for the 
well-being of the state and the advancement of its citizens. 

A lifelong resident of Northern California and of the coast country, 
William Kehoe was born at Greenwood, Mendocino county, September 12, 
1876, and at the age of seven years in 1883 accompanied other members of the 
family to Humboldt county, where he completed a public school education. 
From early life he directed his studies with the law as his objective occupation, 
and the consummation of his hopes, as well as the beginning of his profes- 
sional responsibilities, came with his graduation in 1899 from the law depart- 
ment of the University of Michigan. During the same year he was admitted 
to practice in the courts of California. Returning to Eureka, he opened an 
office in this city, where he has since risen to merited prominence as a lawyer 
and public man, and where also he has participated in business as vice- 
president of the Alderpoint Development Company and secretary of the 
Mattole Development Company. His family consists of his wife, Mrs. Ella 
(Cook) Kehoe, a native of the town of Wiconisco, Pa., and one son, Harold 
B. Elected to the state assembly from the second California district in 1908, 
he served with efficiency. At the expiration of his term he was reelected to 
the assembly and was chosen chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1912 
he was elected senator from the first senatorial district and in the session 
of 1913 he acted as chairman of the committee on corporations, a member of 
the judiciary committee and a worker on five other committees of import- 
ance, meanwhile introducing and taking a very prominent part in the passage 
of the immigration bill, the water conservation bill and the forestry bill, all 
measures vitally close to the permanent welfare of the state and the best 
interests of the people. 

DANIEL HALLARAN. — Of the officials who are engaged in looking 
after the welfare of Eureka none is more earnest in his endeavors than 
Daniel Hallaran, who since January, 1861, has resided here, and now repre- 
sents the first ward as a member of the city council. He has been asso- 
ciated with the Vance Lumber Company and its successors, the Hammond 
Lumber Company, since 1867, originally as foreman of the mill and yards 



580 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

until the mill was destroyed by fire, and since that time as manager of the 
local yard. 

Of Irish birth and ancestry, born August 8, 1840, Mr. Hallaran was only 
five years of age at the time he was brought to the United States, and during 
boyhood he was a pupil in the public schools of Springfield, Mass. At the 
age of fifteen, in 1855 he went to sea, shipping in the whaling bark Monte- 
zuma. From New Bedford he cruised around the Western or Azore Islands 
after whales for about three months, touching at Fayal Harbor several times 
for water. After capturing two whales they started for the Rio de la Plata, 
where they captured a large sperm whale. They then put in at St. Catharina, 
Brazil, for water, and started for a trip around the Horn, intending to cruise 
in the Arctic, but in a storm off the Rio de la Plata the bark sprung a leak 
and the captain headed her for New Bedford, while the crew worked the 
pumps the entire way. During the year 1856 Mr. Hallaran shipped as a boy 
on the clipper ship John Gilpin from New York city, bound for San Fran- 
cisco around Cape Horn, the voyage of one hundred fifty days being passed 
without special incident. Its most exciting moment was the hour of landing 
in San Francisco (in the fall of 1856), then in the throes of the civic up- 
heaval caused by the vigilance committee. Shipping in the United States 
revenue cutter Jeff Davis for Puget Sound, he witnessed many exciting 
scenes during the Indian troubles in AVashington and saw the great Indian 
chief Lushi brought on board the ship in double irons, a prisoner, to be 
consigned to authorities at Olympia. Six months were spent in the north- 
west in the United States service and during that period he saw much of the 
country, passing through Seattle when it was an insignificant hamlet of 
three hundred persons. 

Returning to San Francisco from Washington and exchanging govern- 
ment service for industrial pursuits, Mr. Hallaran found employment in the 
oil and camphor distillery of R. F. Knox located on Rincon point, in what is 
now South San Francisco, and continued there until the works were shut 
down. He then found work in a sawmill back of Redwood City, remaining 
there until he started for the mines at Oroville, Butte county. During 1858 
he followed the stream of mining emigration to the Frazier river, but soon 
returned to the Oroville mines. Next he went to Siskiyou county and mined 
on the Klamath river, but he was not very successful. The winter of 1859-60 
was spent in Stockton. The first trip he ever made to Eureka occurred 
in January of 1861, when he found a small seaport village whose entire busi- 
ness was concentrated on First street. After working for a lumber concern 
for some months in 1862 he went to the Salmon river of the north and 
engaged in prospecting, thence to Elk City and from there went on to the 
Big Hole excitement, where he prospected about three weeks when the 
stormy season came on and he had to get out of there on account of the 
snow. Returning to Elk City, he mined until the end of the season, and then 
made his way back to Eureka in the fall of the same year, resuming 
employment in his former capacity. When he left the second time it was for 
the purpose of revisiting his old home in the east, but after he had spent 
the greater part of 1864 in Massachusetts he returned to Eureka and 
secured a position in the mill of the Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company. 
Very early in 1866 he again left for the mines, this time spending almost two 
years at Idaho City, and returning in October of 1867 to establish a perma- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 583 

nent home at Eureka. During the more than half a century he has been 
associated with the business interests of Eureka Mr. Hallaran has been op- 
timistic for its future and his investments have proven the wisdom of his 
judgment. He is now in the afternoon of life and in possession of valuable 
property which gives him an ample income. Several times he had worked 
here and as many times sought other places temporarily, only to come back 
to the seaport town of Humboldt county with an affectionate longing for 
the quiet place of his former association. These trips into various parts of the 
country had given him a healthful life in the open and stimulated his love of 
nature, at the same time lending the color of romance to his young manhood, 
but. as a permanent abiding place he has been content to select Eureka, on 
Humboldt Bay, and here he has lived busily and happily ever since his 
marriage in 1867. The people honor him for his worth of character and 
integrity of life. 

In the Democratic party Mr. Hallaran has been prominent and a local 
leader, however his election to the city council was made on the independent 
ticket in 1907, 1909, 1911 and 1913 and he is now serving his fourth term. 
He has been a firm believer in municipal ownership of public utilities and was 
always in favor of the city buying and operating the water works. Since 
becoming a member of the council he has had opportunity to enlist the aid 
of others, the result being the calling of an election in which the people 
voted the bonds necessary and the purchase of the water system was accom- 
plished, thus giving the city and people a valuable asset that is continually 
enhancing in value. In addition he also served as library trustee for some 
time. By his marriage to Mary O'Brien he became the father of ten chil- 
dren. Mary is the wife of John Clancy ; Nora died in her nineteenth year ; 
John is an electrician ; Daniel is employed at the Toggery ; Arthur died when 
twenty-six years of age ; Frank and Esther were twins ; the former died at 
twenty-five years and Esther is now Mrs. Peters of San Francisco ; George is 
a resident of Fort Bragg; Alfred and Edmund are twins, the former assistant 
manager of the Hammond Lumber Company yards, while the latter is em- 
ployed in the United States Engineer's office in Eureka. Mr. Hallaran was 
bereaved by the death of his beloved wife and helpmate January 29, 1915. 

During Mr. Hallaran's first term as councilman the mayor and council 
issued a signed invitation to Mr. Harriman, president of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, to visit Eureka in the hope of interesting him to the point of extend- 
ing the road from the south into Eureka. This was the beginning of a move- 
ment that culminated in the completion of the railroad to Eureka in October, 
1914. 

MATTHEW SHELBOURN.— The residents of the Mattole valley felt 
that they had a welcome acquisition to their numbers and a real social gain 
when Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Shelbourn settled among them in the year 1897, 
and the friendliness they were first met with has never diminished. Their 
home is three and a half miles south of Petrolia, on what was formerly the 
Collins ranch, where Mr. Shelbourn is engaged principally in the stock busi- 
ness. A native of England, he was born July 16, 1866, in Belton, Lincoln- 
shire', and his parents, William and Ann (Singleton) Shelbourn, were also 
born in that country and died there. The. father, a carpenter and builder by 
calling, lived to the age of seventy-eight years, dying in 1904; the mother 
passed away in 1906, when seventy-three years old. They had a family of 



584 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ten children, six sons and four daughters, nine of whom reached maturity and 
only two of whom are in the United States. Mr. Shelbourn's sister, Charlotte 
Shelbourn, makes her home with himself and wife. 

Matthew Shelbourn grew up in his native country and acquired a good 
education in the public and private schools of Lincolnshire. When he began 
to work he engaged as a gardener in the employ of Lord Brownlow, and at 
the age of twenty-one years entered the railway service, at first as porter at 
the stations, gradually working his way through various promotions until 
he became conductor, on the Great Northern railway line. Altogether he 
was in railroad work ten years, until he came to America, in the fall of 1897. 
Meantime he had married, and his wife had two bachelor uncles who owned 
and lived upon the ranch now occupied by the Shelbourns, George and 
Joseph Collins, at whose urgent request Mr. and Mrs. Shelbourn left Eng- 
land for this country. They were accompanied to California by Mrs. Shel- 
bourn's mother and brother. The Collins brothers had acquired possession 
of about seven hundred acres of ranch land in the Mattole valley district of 
Humboldt county, and besides operating the same the younger, Joseph, acted 
for several years as assistant keeper at the Cape Alendocino lighthouse, 
situated off the most westerly point on the mainland of the United States. 
They were well and favorably known citizens of their section of the county, 
the Mattole and Eel river valleys, and their sister, Mrs. Gilbert, and her 
daughter and son-in-law, the Shelbourns, were hospitably received into the 
life of the community, into which they entered heartily. George and Joseph 
Collins are now deceased, and their property is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. 
Shelbourn, who have maintained high standing among their fellow citizens 
by their substantial character and many admirable qualities. 

Forest View Farm, as the ranch is appropriately named, is located on 
Mattole river about three miles south of Petrolia and besides being supplied 
by the Mattole is well watered by numerous mountain springs and streams, 
one of these having two natural water falls of fifty and twenty-five feet re- 
spectively. From the pool above the lower falls is obtained the water supply 
for domestic use by piping a distance of about eight hundred feet, thus giv- 
ing the purest of mountain water. In 1906 a new residence was erected, 
which is large and commodious and modern in all its appointments. The 
larger portion of the ranch is open grazing land with smaller areas studded 
with fir, pine, laurel or pepperwood and tanoak, and it is further beau- 
tified by profuse growths of many varieties of ferns including the maidenhair. 
The ranch takes its name from the beautiful view of the forests on all sides, 
a gem in its beautiful setting. 

At Peterborough, England, June 17, 1895, Mr. Shelbourn was married, 
being united with Miss Alice Gilbert, a native of Peterborough. She is the 
daughter of William and Kezia (Collins) Gilbert, natives of Sibsey, Lincoln- 
shire. The father was an engineer on the Great Northern Raihvay until 
his death at the age of forty-six, and as stated above her mother now makes 
her home with Mrs. Shelbourn. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Gilbert only two are living, Mrs. Shelbourn and her brother, Charles William 
Gilbert, who is assisting Mr. Shelbourn in his cattle raising enterprise. Mr. 
and Mrs. Shelbourn had one child, Edward, who died in infancy. They 
are firm believers in the principles of the Republican party, believing that its 
policy is for the best interests of the whole country. The family are members 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 585 

of St. Mary's Episcopal Church at Ferndale. Mr. Shelbourn is a member of 
Active Lodge No. 379, Ferndale, and Mattole Lodge No. 92, K. P., at Petrolia, 
of which he is past chancellor commander and as a delegate attended the 
Grand Lodge at San Francisco in 1915. He has always been interested in 
the cause of education and is serving as a member of the board of trustees 
of the Petrolia school district. 

GEORGE ALEXANDER KNIGHT.— The genealogy of the Knight 
family is traced back to the colonial period of New England history and 
thence to substantial ancestry in England. Records, whose accuracy has 
been emphasized by the traditions of successive generations as well as the 
written accounts of the period, indicate that the family had patriotic partici- 
pation in the Revolutionary war. Even now there are many of the name 
within the borders of New England, but the greater number have sought 
the larger opportunities of the middle west or the Pacific coast country. 
High among them all, adding prestige to a name honored throughout the 
entire history of our nation, but particularly worthy as the artificer of his 
own fortunes • and the winner of his own success, is George Alexander 
Knight, the silver-tongued orator of California, the man of intellectual 
powers well reinforced by integrity of purpose, the citizen whose patriotic 
plans promote progressive legislation and the eloquent and tactful stand- 
ard-bearer of the Republican party through many stormy convention ses- 
sions memorable in politics and decisive in results. His parents, George H. 
and Elizabeth Knight, the former a native of Providence, R. I., and the 
latter of St. Andrew's, New Brunswick, Canada, lived during the early part 
of their married life at Worcester, Mass., and there his birth occurred July 
24, 1851. A'Vhen two years of age he was brought to California, where the 
family established a home at Eureka, Humboldt county, and where his 
father conducted the first hotel for many years, meanwhile endeavoring 
to promote the development of the community and direct attention to latent 
local resources. In the sports on the playground of the Eureka grammar 
school the boy proved to be a recognized leader. In the schoolroom he 
stood at the head of his classes. So generous was he in heart, so bright 
in mind, so honorable in soul and so tactful in friendship that he became 
popular in every circle. Older people predicted a future of great promise 
for him, for they recognized his admirable endowment of intellect. 

The advantages of the Oakland high school and three years in Oakland 
College supplemented a grammar-school course of study and enabled Mr. 
Knight in 1870 to take up the study of law with a substantial substratum 
of classical education. In selecting the law for his profession he was sin- 
gularly fortunate in appreciating the bent of his talents. His fine mind 
assimilated the theories and practices of the law with facile readiness. Nor 
was he less quick in his processes of logical reasoning. With the swiftness 
of lightning he grasped a case in all of its intricacies. Combined with this 
facility of mental grasp there was an ease of expression, a fluency of lan- 
guage, that even in early youth marked him as about to enter upon a career 
of promise and professional prominence. To such an one admission to the 
bar with honors was a foregone conclusion of his studies. It was also to 
be anticipated that in his six years of service as district attorney his powers 
should be expanded, his knowledge of the law broadened and his ability to 
conduct difficult cases increased. Even in those early years he had aligned 



586 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

himself as a stanch supporter of the Republican party, but he allowed no 
partisan influence to detract from the success of his administration as dis- 
trict attorney, in which capacity his ofificial opinions were regarded as of 
great value and he exercised his influence toward the righting of wrongs 
that interfered with the functions of government. In the prosecution of 
criminals he displayed remarkable efficiency and at that early date gave 
evidence of the splendid legal abilities that afterward brought him to the 
front of his profession in the west. "Our George," the people of Humboldt 
county then learned to call him and in this way they still affectionately 
refer to him. During that period he laid the foundation of his later in- 
fluence and proved himself unexcelled in the administration of our criminal 
laws. 

With the campaign of Hon. George C. Perkins for governor of Cali- 
fornia on the Republican ticket, Mr. Knight suddenly sprang into promi- 
nence, and from that year (1879) to the present (1914) he has been one of 
the leading orators and statesmen of the west. It was a source of pride 
to his admirers in Humboldt county that his remarkable oratorical ability, 
of which they had been fully aware, should take the entire state by storm 
during a memorable campaign that brought into prominence every gifted 
orator in the state. Of all the speakers who went forth to "stump" the state 
for Mr. Perkins none was more effective or popular than the young orator 
from Humboldt county and Mr. Perkins always gave to him much of the 
credit for his gratifying victory at the polls. In appreciation of his work 
the governor and party leaders urged him to become a candidate for con- 
gress the following year, but the Democratic party was then in the ascend- 
ancy, and their candidate, Charles P. Berry, defeated Mr. Knight. What 
seemed a defeat, however, proved to be the greatest good fortune of his life, 
for it caused him to determine to devote himself to the law and to relinquish 
all office-seeking allurements, and to that decision may be attributed his 
subsequent eminence at the bar. Removing to San Francisco and opening 
a law office, he soon became known as one of the best-posted lawyers in the 
western metropolis, where the firm of Knight & Heggerty long has held 
rank with the leaders of the profession and has retained the clientage of 
some of the wealthiest litigants of the period, besides taking part in many 
of the most famous criminal and civil cases in the state's history. Indeed 
the reputation of the firm is practically national in its scope. 

There are many attorneys (and among them Mr. Knight himself) who 
consider his greatest legal forensic effort to have been his address on the 
final trial of Josh Hamlin, charged with the murder of John Massey. Ham- 
lin, convicted of murder in the first degree, but granted a new trial, lost his 
attorney by death, and Judge Toohey appointed Mr. Knight to defend the 
accused man at the new trial. The talented Henry Edgerton was on tne 
opposing side. It would have seemed almost folly to attempt the defense 
of a case in which the opponent was an attorney so famed for logic and 
eloquence, but by a succession of court battles Mr. Knight managed to save 
the life of his client, who escaped with a light sentence. This trial in 1882 
enhanced the reputation previously made by the rising young attorney, 
who later became even more prominent through the subsequent defense of 
Dr. Llewellyn Powell, charged with the murder of Ralph Smith, editor of the 
San Mateo Gazette, at Redwood City. After five trials in this case an 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 587 

acquittal was secured. In the case on appeal it was decided that the statute 
authorizing the change of venue to the people was unconstitutional. 

National interest was aroused by the trial of Cordelia Botkin, charged 
with murder, by poisoning, of two women in Dover, Del., a case involving a 
number of important questions never before presented for adjudication in 
the California courts. In this case Mr. Knight appeared as attorney for 
the defendant. Aside from criminal cases he has gained distinction in the 
civil branch of his profession, notably in the litigation over the great estate 
of Thomas Blythe, the contest of the will of Jacob Z. Davis and the contest 
in behalf of Charles L. Fair over the will of ex-United States Senator 
James G. Fair. Difficult indeed would it be to enumerate all of the cases, 
civil and criminal, that have engaged the attention and kindled the ambi- 
tion of Mr. Knight in legal victories. Suffice it to say that he has been 
more or less intimately identified with every important case in his home 
city for more than a quarter of a century, and his professional eminence 
renders consonant the specific recognition accorded to him throughout the 
entire west. 

A firm advocate of the principles for which the Republican party stood 
from the first era of its organization, Mr. Knight early in life became in- 
terested in political affairs. Since 1879 he has participated perhaps in every 
state and national campaign, giving his services without remuneration and 
solely for the good of the cause dear to his heart. Considered the strong- 
est convention man in the state, he has appeared as a delegate at every 
Republican national convention since 1884 with the sole exception of 1888, 
when he received the largest electoral vote of the party for that year. 
One of his most noteworthy sessions of service as delegate occurred in 1884, 
when, at the age of thirty-three, as the champion of James G. Blaine, he 
opposed the famous orator, George William Curtis, editor of Harper's 
Weekly and a supporter of Arthur. No one who attended the convention 
has ever forgotten the oratorical effort of Mr. Knight, who defended Blaine 
in one of the most eloquent convention addresses ever delivered. The 
speech Avas the climax of the convention. Every sentence, almost every 
w^ord, received a deafening applause. In the opinion of one of the noted 
correspondents and press reporters of the convention, it was worth half a 
lifetime to witness such a scene and the effect upon the great audience of 
the impassioned appeal of Mr. Knight, a gem of oratory, worthy of De- 
mosthenes or Patrick Henry. That morning Mr. Knight had been com- 
paratively unknown outside of the west. That night his name was a house- 
hold word. Twelve years later a similar occasion occurred in the Demo- 
cratic convention when William Jennings Bryan leaped from obscurity into 
prominence through an eloquent effort. However, such scenes are rare in 
the history of a nation, and whatever may be the cause of the flow of 
oratory its effect is a distinct addition to political literature. 

As a delegate to the convention of 1892 Mr. Knight assisted in securing 
the nomination of Benjamin Harrison for the second term as president. 
Four years later he secured the entire vote of California for William 
McKinley and was elected a delegate to the St. Louis convention, where 
he formed strong personal friendships with Mr. McKinley and others of 
the foremost statesmen of the country. During 1900 he seconded the 
nomination of President McKinley upon the invitation of the latter. It 



588 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

had been a great convention, but those in the rear of the vast building had 
been unable to hear any of the speeches, and when suddenly the voice of 
the silver-tongued orator broke upon them, the confusion and noise ceased 
as if by magic. As a consequence he won the heartiest applause given anj'- 
speaker. Great and small alike listened eagerly to his eloquent address 
and were quick to do honor to his ability. In the national convention of 
1904 Mr. Knight was requested by Theodore Roosevelt to make one of the 
speeches seconding his nomination. Of this speech Collier's Weekly gave 
the following report : "The last day was devoted to nomination oratory. 
It was a severe test for the speakers, since the day was hot and the list of 
speakers unconscionably long. The nominating address for president, by 
ex-Governor Black of New York, was epigrammatic and ornate. That of 
ex-Senator Beveridge, who made the first seconding speech, was excellent, 
although a trifle overrhetorical for the occasion. Indeed the soporific 
dominated in the addresses and the big audience wearied of it. The best 
speaker of the day was George A. Knight of California. He had terse, 
meaty, sense-bearing phrases and his magnificent voice reached every man 
in the great hall. His first words, 'Gentlemen of the Convention,' brought 
ringing cheers from the straining audience. His next sentence was inter- 
rupted by a voice from a remote gallery, 'Not so loud,' and everybody, 
including Mr. Knight, roared with laughter. Mr. Knight should stand 
hereafter with Mr. Thurston in voice attainment. And his speech as a 
whole was a really great eflfort, by far the finest of the entire convention." 
The New York Sun mentioned the same address in these words : "Mr. 
Knight is California's pet orator. He has a voice like a Sandy Hook fog- 
horn. He hadn't said three words of his speech before a voice from a 
gallery roared out, 'Not so loud, if you please.' This brought forth cheers 
and laughter, which Mr. Knight acknowledged by a gracious bow. Several 
of Mr. Knight's utterances were graciously applauded." The New York 
Evening Post gave this mention : "The convention was treated to an 
agreeable surprise in the speech of George A. Knight of California, who 
revives in physical type, in voice and in oratorical methods the liveliest 
memories of the late Robert G. IngersoU. He made the great hit of the 
whole convention and could have stormed it for any political favor he had 
to ask. The applause, whenever called for, came in gusts and storm, 
sweeping the hall and sometimes coming back again after it seemed to 
have spent its force." 

During this convention Mr. Knight was selected to represent California 
on the national Republican committee. His services were called into 
requisition in the east and middle west, and such was his popularity that 
he was invited to speak in Madison Square Garden, that vast hall where 
the measure of true orators is so promptly taken. Of that address a 
reporter gave this verdict, which was one of countless others of a similar 
tenor : "Standing in the presence of twenty thousand Republicans, George 
A. Knight, California's silver-tongued orator, got a reception in Madison 
Square Garden that will be talked of in party annals for years to come. 
Knight was third on the list of speakers. 'Eli' Root, the idol of New York 
Republicans, and Frank Higgins, the popular nominee for governor, had 
already spoken at length, and the audience, enthusiastic as it had been was 
growing weary of much oratory and the lateness of the hour. 'California 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 589 

stretches her hands across the mountains, deserts and fertile valleys tonight 
to the Republicans of the Empire state, and bids you stand with her and 
give a mighty majority for Theodore Roosevelt, the champion of human 
rights,' said Knight, and his victory was won. From thence on it was 
cheering and singing for over an hour. When Knight, after a glorious 
tribute to Grant, said, 'The Republican party ofifers you another Grant for 
a leader' a cheer went up from ten thousand throats that shook the garden. 
On the platform were two score party veterans of fifty years. When 
Knight spoke of them as pathfinders who had followed Fremont as the 
first Republican leader, the old men rose in a body and led the most remark- 
able demonstration of the night. Knight in closing said that in the olden 
days the farmer made a man of straw and stuck him in the fields where 
the crops were choice, to let the crows know where the good stufif was. 
'So the Democrats have placed bogie men in the Philippines to let the 
people know the grand work the Republican party has accomplished,' said 
Knight, and the audience cheered for five minutes. The Californian tried 
to cut short again and again, to make way for Senator Fairbanks, but each 
time the audience roared its disapproval and told him to talk 'all night.' " 
During that same memorable address delegates from Columbia, Princeton, 
the University of New York, Yale and Harvard, present in large numbers, 
gave exhibitions of "rooting" never before equaled in a political convention. 
When the national convention of 1908 was held in Chicago, Mr. Knight 
attended as delegate from California and seconded the nomination of Will- 
iam Howard Taft at the personal request of that gentleman. In this speech 
he fully sustained his high reputation as an orator. During the convention 
he was again chosen to serve on the Republican national committee. Nor 
has he been less prominent as a leader in state conventions than as one of 
the principal men in the national gatherings of the party. As chairman 
of the state convention in 1894 that nominated M. M. Estee for governor, 
he wielded large influence in the work of the party. During 1908 he acted 
as chairman of the state convention that chose delegates to the national 
convention of that year. In all of this intimate connection with party 
affairs he has held aloof from office-seeking and only occasionally has per- 
mitted his name to be used for office, as in 1905, when he was prominently 
mentioned for the position of United States senator. Under Governor 
Perkins he served as state insurance commissioner, while later he was 
judge advocate on the staff of Governor Markham and attorney for the 
state board of health under Governor Gage. 

In the midst of professional, political and public duties of vast impor- 
tance and continuous demand upon his time, Mr. Knight has found the 
leisure for participation in social and fraternal activities and has been 
especially interested in Masonry as a member of the chapter and Com- 
mandery No. 1, K. T., California Lodge, and Mystic Shrine. While yet a 
resident of Humboldt county he was honored with the office of grand 
master of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
and more recently he has been an influential member of the Bohemian and 
Pacific Union Clubs of San Francisco. A type of the public-spirited citi- 
zen, upright business man, talented attorney and gifted orator, his name is 
worthy of perpetuation in state annals not alone as the "silver-tongued 
orator," but also because of the force of character that made possible his 



590 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

rise and the integrity of purpose that permitted no blemish or evidence of 
injustice in his entire record, public or private. Courage and confidence 
have characterized his career; an intelligent purpose has pointed the path 
to progress ; superior attainments have enabled him to surmount many- 
obstacles in the struggle for supremacy, but withal he has retained the kind- 
liness of heart that sees good in all, the earnestness of character that is 
unaffected by prosperity or adversity and the thoroughly admirable attri- 
butes that have made him a man among men. 

GEORGE W. BURGESS.— As a justice of the peace for Van Dusen 
township, Humboldt county, George W. Burgess has rendered splendid ser- 
vice to the cause of peace and justice, law and order, in his home community. 
To him the functions of his ofhce are the settlement of claims and difficulties 
in an amicable manner, and there is no other justice of the peace in the 
state whose record for the successful accomplishment of such service ex- 
ceeds his, and few if any which equal it. He is now serving his last of 
eight terms in this capacity, and during the past four years there has not 
been a fine collected or a suit prosecuted in his jurisdiction, all difficulties 
and differences having been peacefully settled through the splendid man- 
agement of Mr. Burgess. For some years he also served as deputy assessor. 
He is also interested in real estate and owns a fine farm of eighty acres a 
quarter of a mile from Blocksburg. 

Mr. Burgess has been in California since November 15, 1862, when he 
landed in San Francisco from a trip across the Isthmus of Panama and up 
the coast. He is a native of Maine, having been born in Searsmont, Waldo 
county, August 4, 1839, and there he grew to maturity. The educational 
advantages were very meager, but he received a good common school educa- 
tion and had one year at high school. When he was eighteen years of age 
he commenced teaching in the public schools of the county, usually teaching 
during winter terms and in the summers remaining at home and assisting 
with the management and care of his father's farm. When he was twenty- 
three years of age he forsook the home environment and came to California. 
Arriving at San Francisco, he went at once into Napa valley, where for a 
time he found employment on a ranch, and then went into the mines at 
Weaverville. Later he took a wood contract on the eastern slope of the 
Sierra Nevada mountains, at Jack's valley, Nev., remaining there for a year 
and a half. During this time his wife joined him, and later he met with an 
unfortunate accident, being struck by a heavy four-foot log as it rolled down 
the hill side, and he was pronounced fatally injured. He has, however, out- 
lived the doctor who made the fatal prediction and is still hale and hearty 
at seventy-five years of age. After his recovery he taught school for a term 
before leaving Jack's valley, and then became foreman for the William 
Winter's ranch. Following this he ran a hydraulic mine at Douglas City 
for one winter, this claim being the property of one Charles Trurot. In 
May, 1871, he removed into the mountain district of southwestern Trinity 
county, where he located a claim of a tract eight miles by twelve miles. The 
region had not been surveyed, and Mr. Burgess was the only white man 
therein. In 1875 the surveys were made and settlers began to come in. Mr. 
Burgess homesteaded a claim of one hundred sixty acres and acquired a 
similar tract of school land by purchase. Many of the settlers remained 
but a short time, and Mr. Burgess continued to purchase the abandoned 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 593 

rights of others until he owned a tract of eleven hundred forty acres. He 
prospered exceedingly in this locality, remaining until June 28, 1881, when 
he moved over to the Watch ranch, in Van Dusen township, Humboldt 
county, and for five years ran this property. December 5, 1887, he removed 
to Blocksburg, where he lived for two years, and December 5, 1889, he pur- 
chased his present place of eighty acres from a ]Mrs. Harris, and has since 
resided thereon. 

Mr. and Mrs. Burgess have five children, three daughters and two sons, 
all natives of California, and well known in Humboldt county. Of these, 
Sadie A. is now the wife of Craig R. Thompson, a rancher of Alderpoint, and 
the mother of six children, George A., Edith A., Craig Gaston, Vina M., Clara 
D., and Ellis F. ; George G. is a blacksmith in Blocksburg, and is married to 
Miss Maude AI. Smith, by whom he has three children, Joseph G., Francis 
and Bessie S. : Dora is the wife of William Wilson, of Fortuna, where Mr. 
Wilson is a carpenter and millwright, and owns a ranch at Cuddeback, and 
they have six children, Laura S., Nellie F., Lester B., Helen Georgie, John E., 
and Vernon ; Lucena is the wife of S. Arnet Shields, ranger on the Trinity 
Forest Reserve, the family making their home in Blocksburg; they have five 
children, Stella N., Bernice R., George William, Edith S. and Sadie A. ; and 
Edward I., who is manager of the home place, is married to Miss Julia 
Josephine Smith, of Blocksburg ; they are the parents of five children, Theo- 
dore F., Lloyd Edward, Willard Howard, Earl Smith and Georgette M. 

Mr. Burgess is one of the most enthusiastic boosters for Humboldt 
county particularly and for California generally that will be found anywhere. 
He is especially enthusiastic regarding the advantages of real estate invest- 
ments, and his advice to young men is to put all their money into land. He 
declares that the value is certain to increase with a rapidity that will surprise 
even the most sanguine, and that especially in the vicinity of San Francisco, 
as he believes that within a remarkably short time the region surrounding 
San Francisco Bay will be closely built up. In his warm appreciation of the 
possibilities offered by California Mr. Burgess is closely seconded by his 
splendid wife. She was Miss Sylvina Conant in the da3^s of her maidenhood, 
a native of xA.ppleton, Me., and her marriage with Mr. Burgess was 
solemnized at Searsmont, Waldo county, Me., September 17, 1861. Their 
home is plain but comfortable, and there the true California hospitality of a 
day gone by is still dispensed, giving the fortunate guest a glimpse of a 
period that has vanished. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burgess are well known and 
popular with their many friends. Mr. Burgess is a Republican and is well 
versed in the affairs of his party, particularly in questions of local importance. 

CAROLINE COOPER BECKWITH.— The distinction of having been 
the first white women in the Eel river valley and the fourteenth and fifteenth 
white women in Humboldt county belongs to Mrs. Beckwith and her sister, 
Mrs. Rowena VanDyke. Mrs. Beckwith, hale and hearty at the age of 
seventy-nine, recounts many exciting and even dangerous experiences with 
the Indians that still roamed the dense forests. It is impossible for a writer 
of this day and generation to adequately depict the trials and anxieties of her 
pioneer history. There have been many memoirs written concerning the era 
associated with the discovery of gold, but every pen has faltered before the 
romance, the renunciation and the anguished apprehension of the women and 



594 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

girls who left their loved ones in the east and endured the terrors of Indian 
massacres, the privations of poverty and the loneHness of the vi^estern frontier. 
Grateful reverence from later generations is due these early settlers, and the 
twilight of the useful existence of Mrs. Beckwith has been surrounded and 
brightened by the affection of children, the devotion of friends and the com- 
panionship of the few survivors of those far-distant days. Sorrows, such as 
come into every life, have flecked her pathway with shadows, but always she 
has been bright, courageous and hopeful. Joys, too, have come into her life, 
but perhaps nothing has given her more satisfaction than the devotion of her 
children, whose successful and useful careers she did much in establishing. 

A native of Prince Edward Island, the childhood of Caroline Cooper 
seemed absolutely devoid of advantages. Her father, an English sea captain 
and a man of considerable prominence in maritime activities, had little money, 
and the maintenance of the large family in comfort in the rigorous climate of 
the island became a serious problem. Finally he was led to the west by the 
discovery of gold. Early in 1850 he set sail from his northern home along the 
Atlantic coast. Accompanying him, in a vessel he had built himself, were his 
wife and thirteen children and their families. All went well during the 
voyage of. nine months, but misfortune awaited them, for the party arrived 
in San Francisco during a serious epidemic which carried away many mem- 
bers of the family. Three or four of the sons came to Humboldt county and 
engaged in lumber manufacturing, and were afterwards joined by two of their 
sisters, Caroline and Rowena. Three of the brothers were killed by the In- 
dians on Eel river and a fourth brother perished in the same manner near 
Hydesville. Of a once large family Mrs. Beckwith and Mrs. Rowena (Walter) 
Van Dyke are the sole survivors. It will thus be seen that Mrs. Beckwith's 
life has been unusually eventful and her knowledge of pioneer conditions in 
Humboldt county most comprehensive. 

While the name of Caroline Cooper Beckwith is worthy of perpetuation 
in the annals of Humboldt county, not less worthy is the name of her honored 
husband; Leonard Crocker Beckwith, a native of Connecticut and from the 
age of ten years until eighteen a sailor on the high seas in a New Bedford 
whaler. Arriving in Humboldt county in the fall of 1851, he settled in the 
Eel river valley near Fortuna and bore a part in all the pioneer history of 
the community. Until his death in the year 1905 he owned and operated a 
claim of one hundred sixty acres near Rohnerville, but in addition to cultivat- 
ing the land he did much for the public service and also ran a pack-train to 
Trinity county. A brave Indian fighter, he enlisted in the early Indian wars 
and helped to drive the red men out of the county, thus making it possible 
for white settlers to engage in farming peacefully and uninterruptedly. On 
the organization of the Eel River Lodge of Masons he became a charter 
member and he stood four-square on the philanthropic and humanitarian prin- 
ciples of the order. Of his marriage to Caroline Cooper there were nine 
children, namely : Gertrude, Mrs. D. H. Allen, of San Francisco ; Leonard, 
who was drowned in Van Dusen river; Mrs. Anna Poole, deceased; Frank 
Walter, of Humboldt county; Mrs. Caroline Prichard, of San Francisco; 
Harry S., of Los Gatos ; Helen, Mrs. George S. Shedden, of Eureka ; Mrs. 
Maude Stevens and Mrs. Hattie Davis, both of Seattle, Wash. 

FRANK WALTER BECKWITH.— It may well be a source of pride to 
public-spirited citizens of Humboldt county that a goodly number of the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 595 

native-born sons of the community have remained here to establish them- 
selves in some life work and by their integrity, intelligence and progressive 
enterprise have not only promoted their own fortunes, but in addition have 
been a credit to the county of their birth. Such a list of capable business 
men would include the name of Frank Walter Beckwith, who was born in 
the Rohnerville district July 31, 1859, and during early life became familiar 
with the difficult tasks of farming and stock-raising as conducted in this then 
frontier and isolated region. Love of the farm, however, was not sufficiently 
strong to subdue an innate desire to embark in business and at the age of 
nineteen he left the ranch to take a clerkship in a general store at Rohner- 
ville. Upon coming to Eureka he found employment in the store of J. Lowen- 
thal and there gained an experience of considerable value in later enterprises. 
From Eureka he went to Hydesville to open a general mercantile store and 
this business he conducted until the spring of 1915, when he sold it, having 
won and retained the trade of that section through his varied assortment of 
goods and uniform uprightness in all transactions. 

The Hydesville store did not represent all of the business activities of 
Mr. Beckwith, vi^ho in addition thereto was the owner of the finest shingle 
mill in Humboldt county, this being a modern plant with substantial equip- 
ment and furnishing steady employment to thirty-five men. To develop a 
business to such an extent in spite of many handicaps indicates the possession 
of abilities out of the ordinary and Mr. Beckwith indeed merits consideration: 
as a man of striking acumen and keen insight. This business was also dis- 
posed of in 1915. On the organization of the Eureka Lodge of Elks he became 
a charter member and since has retained a deep interest in the work of the 
order. As a Mason he has risen to the Knights Templar, Scottish Rite and 
Shriner degrees and has been prominent in the local work. By his marriage 
to Miss Gesina Drucker, of San Francisco, a Native Daughter, he has five 
children, the eldest of whom, Genevieve, is the wife of E. B. McFarland. The 
others, Shirley, Harry, Anne and Caroline, live with their parents in Eureka. 

JOHN SLAUGHTER ROBINSON.— All citizens who cherish a patriotic 
affection for Eureka watch with deepest interest the erection of new build- 
ings and appreciate every evidence of artistic taste and substantial construc- 
tion on the part of the men having in charge this most important department 
of civic advancement. Perhaps few have been more successful in the drawing 
of their own plans and specifications than has John Slaughter Robinson, who 
for more than twenty-nine years has been identified with the building business 
in Humboldt county, and during that long period of industrious activity has 
been awarded contracts of considerable importance. Skill with tools seems 
to have been a natural gift with him, for he can scarcely recall a time when 
he was not interested in everything pertaining to the trade of carpenter ; yet 
it happened that, instead of entering the occupation for a period of apprentice- 
ship during youth, he was put to serve under a blacksmith, and thus gave 
four years to a trade which he never followed and which has been of little 
practical benefit to him in the building business. As a boy he lived on a farm 
in Lawrence county. Mo., where he was born May 18, 1859, and where he 
had such advantages as the schools of the locality and period rendered 
possible. 

For some years while still making his home in Missouri Mr. Robinson 
followed the trade of a carpenter, and this has been his chosen calling in 



596 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Humboldt county, where for fourteen months, beginning in the spring of 
1886, he followed the trade in Bridgeville and since then has lived in Eureka. 
For seven years he worked under Knowles Evans, the well-known contractor. 
At the expiration of the time he began to take contracts for himself and since 
then he has been given many building contracts of importance, including the 
following: Residence of Fred Bell on Third street, Eureka; residence of 
John C. Bull, Jr., on E street ; Smith home on E street ; Bowker residence on 
the corner of Second and S streets ; Need's block on F and Third streets ; the 
First Christian Church on Seventh street, Eureka ; the Odd Fellows' hall in 
Areata ; Hotel Vance, and many others too numerous to mention. Besides 
his home in Eureka he is the owner of a ranch of eighty acres in the Ozark 
mountains in Missouri, as well as other holdings of considerable value. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. By 
his marriage to Caroline Bennage, a native of Indiana, he became the father 
of ten children. Eight are now living, including twin daughters, Jessie and 
Bessie,' the former the wife of T. Benson. The others now living are Mrs. 
Pearl Hill, Mrs. Annie Winters of Vallejo, Barney, Walter, Leonard and 
Frank. 

AUGUSTUS COTTRELL.— An identification with Humboldt county 
that began immediately after the arrival of Mr. Cottrell in California during 
1865 has continued up to the present time to the advantage of both himself 
and the county ; the former by reason of his stirring and profitable association 
with business enterprises ; the latter on account of his energetic cooperation 
in developing projects for the material upbuilding. The most unwearied 
exertion had been his previous experience, laying the foundation of the 
rugged constitution and tireless energy that enabled him to work his way 
forward to prosperity and local prominence. His early life had been passed 
at Oak Bay, New Brunswick, where he was born February 7, 1840, and where 
he had worked during boyhood on farms and in lumber woods, earning only 
his board and clothes, but gaining an experience of the utmost importance to 
later efforts. When he came to the west via the Isthmus of Panama and 
landed at San Francisco, he determined to seek employment in the lumber 
woods of Humboldt county. At that time only two steamers sailed from San 
Francisco to Eureka each month. Few people had begun to seek the oppor- 
tunities of Humboldt county, and the demand for transportation as a rule 
was slight, although at times the vessels were crowded to their utmost 
capacity and even beyond the limitations stipulated by law. 

On his arrival in Eureka the young man from New Brunswick found a 
village whose entire business was concentrated upon one short street. Beyond 
in the forests there was considerable activity, for the demand for lumber had 
caused the erection of sawmills and shingle mills and the woods were re- 
sounding with the ring of many axes swung by stalwart young fellows. He 
had no difficulty in securing employment and engaged in cutting down trees 
or working in sawmills or scaling logs, also contracting logging for many 
years. Little by little he put by his earnings and finally he had saved an 
amount that enabled him to embark in business for himself. With George 
Connick as a partner in 1888 he established a grocery store and when later 
the partner sold his interest to Mr. AVarren the title was changed to Cottrell 
& Warren, continuing as such through a considerable period of growing 
business. For some time, however, Mr. Cottrell has been the sole proprietor 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 599 

of the store, which he manages with the earnestness, energy and efficiency 
characteristic of him in every relation of life. To superintend a business of 
such importance leaves him little leisure for outside activities, yet he has 
proved himself a progressive citizen by the ready aid he gives to enterprises 
of merit and by his cooperation in educational, financial and commercial up- 
building. A service of six j^ears as member of the city council and of four 
years as a member of the board of education impressed the people with his 
desire to promote the welfare of the city along worthy lines. At one time 
he owned valuable timber lands in partnership with Thomas Baird, to whom 
he later disposed of his interests in these great holdings. His principal fra- 
ternity is the Odd Fellows, with which he has been connected since 1867 and 
to whose lodge and encampment he has been a generous helper. He is an 
active member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Eureka and for 
many years has been a member of its board of trustees. With his wife, who 
was Martha Jane Brown, of Michigan, he has a high standing in Eureka 
society and a host of warm personal friends. By his first wife, Keziah 
(Young) Cottrell, who was born in New Brunswick and died at Eureka in 
1901, he is the father of two sons, Emile L. and Charles C, and one daughter, 
Ida May. The sons are physicians of excellent education and recognized 
skill and have built up a growing practice in the village of Scotia, Humboldt 
county. 

EDWIN GRAHAM. — The climate of southern Humboldt county is 
particularly favorable for the propagation of fine fruits, some of the choicest 
varieties reaching perfection of color and flavor here, and although there is 
a relatively small number of fruit growers it is being steadily augmented by 
those who have investigated the advantages of the location. The new rail- 
road line of the Northwestern Pacific, affording improved transportation 
facilities, is another argument to attract agriculturists -of this class. Edwin 
Graham has a valuable homestead about eight miles northeast of Harris, off 
the Harris and Alderpoint road, and is at present specializing in the produc- 
tion of fine fruits, having about twenty-five acres planted in choice varieties 
and yielding abundantly in response to the intelligent care he has given 
them. He is a most capable worker, attending faithfully to the numerous 
details of orcharding, which keep him busy in practically all seasons. 

Mr. Graham was born November 6, 1856, at Adel, Dallas county, Iowa, 
about twenty-five miles west of Des Moines. Francis S. Graham, his father, 
was a prominent official and business man of that section for years, holding 
the county offices of assessor and treasurer eight years each. Selling his 
farm for $30,000, he embarked in the banking business, building the Bank of 
Dallas county, but he had reverses, and after the failure of his bank came out 
to Napa county, Cal., where he died in 1912, at the age of eighty-seven years. 
His widow died January 28, 1915, in Dallas county, Iowa, when almost eighty- 
five. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Francis S. Graham : Morris 
J., the present county clerk of Dallas county, Iowa; Edwin; John P., who 
died leaving a wife and three sons ; Mary Elizabeth, wife of J. L. Simcoke, 
druggist, at Adel, Iowa; and William F., who is in business at Perry, Dallas 
county, Iowa. 

Edwin Graham grew up on his father's farm in Iowa, and had the educa- 
tional advantages afforded by the neighboring schools. After his father's 
business losses he clerked in stores at Adel and Minburn, Iowa, following 



600 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

that kind of work for many years. The day after his marriage to Miss Adel 
Winans, of Adel, Iowa, he started with his wife for CaUfornia, arriving at 
Healdsburg, Sonoma county, in October, 1877. After clerking there for two 
years he removed to Petaluma, where he was in the employ of Joseph Camp- 
bell, a pioneer merchant of that place, continuing with him for three years, 
when he engaged in ranching three miles out of town. In the fall of 1886 
he removed to Willits, where he was a dealer and shipper of poultry and 
eggs. During this time he drove a band of two hundred turkeys overland 
from Willits to Cloverdale, where he sold them at a good profit. In the fall 
of 1889 he removed to Ukiah, where he accepted a position in the old 
Ukiah House. For ten years he acted as head clerk and bookkeeper at the 
old Ukiah House, and meantime, in 1893, took up the homestead in southern 
Humboldt county which he now cultivates and resides upon, having one 
hundred sixty-three and twenty-three hundredths acres, of which twenty- 
five acres are cleared and planted in fruit. He has over five hundred trees 
set out, including two hundred peach trees, principally Muirs, although he 
also has Wheatland, Triumph, Foster, Susquehanna and Strawberry varieties ; 
fifty fig trees of the White Adriatic variety, besides San Pedro White, San 
Pedro Black and California Mission; apples. Early Harvest, Yellow Trans- 
parent, Summer Sweet Paradise, Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, Yellow Belle- 
flower, Ben Davis, AVallbridge, Newtown Pippin and Arkansas Black ; pears, 
Bartletts, Winternellis and Howell ; prunes. Tragedy, German, French, 
Imperial Epinuse, Silver and Sugar; plums, Kelsey Japans, Imperial Gage, 
Washington, Jefferson and First Best; besides six hundred grapevines, ]\Iis- 
sion, Muscat, Alexander, Mrs. Pince, Thompson Seedless, Black Malvoise, 
Isabelle, Muscatel and Zante currants ; blackberries, Himalaya Mountain, 
Lawton, Mammoth, Oregon Evergreen, Loganberries and Burbank's Phe- 
nomenon; raspberries, Evergreen Red. Mr. Graham has taken great care in 
the selection of his fruit stock, and is reaping the results. In addition to his 
orchard work he is giving some attention to stock growing, raising about 
$500 worth of hogs annually. There is still considerable timber on his 
property, pine, spruce and tan oak, the latter especially valuable, not only 
for the bark, but also for the lumber, which is beautifully grained, takes on 
a high polish, and is strong and durable, particularly desirable for the manu- 
facture of fine furniture. Mr. Graham has won the highest respect of his 
neighbors by his industrious devotion to his work, and he is regarded as one 
of the most intelligent, progressive ranchmen in his locality, where he is 
helping to raise and maintain high standards by his own fine productions. 

Mr. and Mrs. Graham have one child, David Morris Graham, now in the 
employ of Livingston Brothers, San Francisco, as head window trimmer; he 
married Miss Hattie Babbage, of San Francisco. 

ALBERT VAN DUZEN, JR. — California is justly proud of her native- 
born sons, and among them is Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., who was born in Del Norte 
county, July 15, 1878. His parents moved to Trinidad, Humboldt county, 
when he was but four years of age and here he received his educational train- 
ing in the public schools of the county until he was eleven years old. He then 
moved with his parents to North Fork, which is now Korbel, and here he 
attended the schools of the Scottsville district, now known as Blue Lake. He 
remained here two years, next going to Bayside, and in another year moved 
to Glendale and still continued his schooling for two years in that district and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 601 

from there to Warren Creek for a year, when they located in Scotia, where 
he completed the grammar school, June, 1894. He then attended the high 
schools at Areata and Eureka for two years, but gave up the rest of the 
terms to engage in lumbering in the woods at Scotia. Later he entered actively 
in the management of his father's general merchandise establishment in 
Loleta. 

Albert Van Duzen, Sr., is also a native son of California, having been 
born near the San Gabriel Mission, Los Angeles county, Cal., ]\Iay 7, 1855, 
and he is the son of Isaac Van Duzen, one of the old pioneers who crossed 
the plains in 1852, by way of the southern route, and located in Mariposa 
county. Here he entered on one hundred sixt}^ acres of government land and 
for a time engaged in teaming and hauling and later moved to Humboldt 
county in 1865. Here he located at Table Bluff and rented what is known as 
the Bluff House. His son, Albert, Sr., then attended the public schools of 
the district and also in Areata until fifteen years of age and in 1875 he married 
and moved to Trinidad, where he drove the mail route for two years, from 
Trinidad to Areata. Later he engaged in teaming with ox teams and for five 
years drove an ox team in the woods, logging in Del Norte county. He then 
returned to Trinidad and continued his teaming for Cooper Brothers for one 
year, and from there moved to Mad river valley and drove for Korbel Broth- 
ers, and for three years was engaged by the Minor Company at Glendale. 
He was one of the last men in the county to give up the ox-team method of 
transportation, hauling the last logs at Scotia with ox-teams. He then moved 
to Loleta and opened a general merchandise store, where he still resides. He 
is a member of the Odd Fellows and in national politics favors the ideas of 
the Republican party. He was united in marriage with Florence Cartwright, 
born in Racine, Wis., and of their union there have been two children, Albert, 
Jr., and Theodore, who assists his brother in the store.' 

Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., in the management of the store, keeps it well stocked 
and up to date, having added to the stock from time to time until now they 
have the largest and finest store in Loleta. A new building has been built 
where the store is now housed. They have been very successful since coming 
to Loleta and have done a great deal for the advancement of the community. 
Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., has been secretary of the Board of Trade for a number of 
years. He is a stanch Republican, always entering heartily into all move- 
ments for the general upbuilding of the town. 

He was married in Eureka to Mildred Olive Hannah, a native of that 
city, and they have been blessed with three children : John Henry, Theodore 
Lewis and Paul Stillman. Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., is public-spirited, enterprising 
and industrious. 

JAMES T. ERASER.— It is not a misstatement of fact to say that there 
is no work in which one may engage which has greater possibilities for 
benefiting and uplifting humanity along broad and deep lines than has the 
teacher's profession. This had been the life work of Mr. Fraser's forebears 
for several generations, and while he himself is not engaged directly in that 
occupation, he is still interested in educational matters and exerts an im- 
portant influence in- Eureka as a member of the school board. As the name 
might suggest, the family is of Scotch origin, and the grandfather of James T. 
Eraser, also James Thomas Eraser, a native of Inverness, Scotland, was 



602 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

closely related to the jMacDonalds and IMacGregors of that shire. He was a 
man of splendid learning, a college graduate and it was with this training 
that he came to the new world and became a school teacher in Nova Scotia, 
teaching in both the English and Gaelic languages. His love of learning he 
bequeathed to his children, and his son Donald became a noted geologist. 
Another son, Abraham, the father of our subject, and a native of Pictou 
county, Nova Scotia, was also an educator of note, and a graduate of the 
college in Pictou. In addition to teaching the general branches he specialized 
on music, making a specialty of teaching in classes, in which he proved un- 
usually successful. He was also a valued leader in religious work, especially 
in the Presbyterian church, of which he was a member. His usefulness to 
the world was cut off when he was comparatively a young man, his death oc- 
curring when he was only forty-nine years of age. His wife was in maiden- 
hood Susanna Mcintosh, a native of Smithfield, Nova Scotia. Her family 
had also originated in Scotland, her father, George Mcintosh, a native of 
Greenock, establishing the family in Nova Scotia, where he became a farmer. 
The mother still makes her home in Caledonia, Guysborough county, Nova 
Scotia. 

Five children were included in the parental family and James T. Fraser 
was the third in order of birth. Besides himself two others of the family are 
residents of Eureka, Mrs. Margaret Zerlang and J. M. James T. Fraser was 
born in Caledonia, Guysborough county. Nova Scotia, August 24, 1869, and his 
boyhood and youth were passed in his native heath. After attending the 
public schools of that place and obtaining a good education he began work- 
ing on the farm and in the woods, and still later became interested in mining 
there. He was about seventeen years of age when he left the family home 
and started out in the world independently, coming to the United States at 
that time and locating in Minneapolis. There he found employment at team- 
ing and log driving on the Mississippi river, as well as in the woods. Alto- 
gether he remained in that section for about three years, then setting out for 
the far west, and his advent in Eureka dates from July, 1889. During that 
summer and following ones he was employed in the redwoods, while during 
the winter seasons he devoted his time to learning the boiler-maker's trade 
in Langford Brothers' boiler works. After completing his trade he continued 
in the employ of the firm under whom he had had his training. During 1896 
and '97 he had charge of the pump station of the Eureka water works for the 
Ricks Water Company, but at the end of this time he returned to his old 
employers, continuing with them and becoming one of their most trusted 
employes. So trustworthy was he held to be that he was sent b}^ the firm to 
various places in this and other states in charge of important work that 
needed the supervision of an expert. 

In 1914 Mr. Fraser was elected justice of the peace of Eureka township 
and January 4, 1915, he assumed the duties of the ofifice, his term covering 
four years. It is Mr. Eraser's intention to fit himself for the practice of the 
law, and for this purpose he has been reading law for some time, and will 
continue his studies while holding the office of justice. 

In Eureka, on July 31, 1896, Mr. Fraser was united in marriage with 
Miss Dora Zerlang, a native of this city and the daughter of Charles Zerlang. 
The latter, a native of Prussia, Germany, immigrated to Nova Scotia, and 
from there came to California, becoming a pioneer settler. In 1871 he came 




^UyCi^ i^-^^^;^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 605 

to Eureka, where he owned and ran lighters, and it was while pursuing his 
daily duties that he was accidentally drowned in Humboldt bay. • In Nova 
Scotia he married Elizabeth Williams, who was born in Guysborough county, 
and of her eight children Dora, Mrs. Eraser, was next to the oldest. Some 
time after the death of her husband Mrs. Zerlang became the wife of Fred 
Haase, of Eureka. Three children have been born of the marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Eraser, A. L., Elizabeth Zerlang and James Thomas. Mr. Eraser 
was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, E. & A. M., of which he is 
past master, and with his wife is a member of Camelia Chapter No. 63, 
O. E. S., he being past patron. In the Loyal Orange Institution of the United 
States, of which he is a member, Mr. Eraser is past grand master of the 
state, and both himself and wife are active members of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

VICTOR HOPE. — Coming to Blocksburg forty years ago, and since 
that time continuously residing here and conducting a flourishing business 
until he retired from active life a few years ago, Victor Hope is known as 
one of the oldest and most substantial residents of this part of the county. 
He is a pioneer in the truest sense of the word, and blazed the way for more 
than one industry or undertaking. He purchased a blacksmithing business 
on his arrival here, and is well known to the farmers and ranchers for a radius 
of thirty miles. He invented a side-hill plow which he manufactured and 
sold for many years, and also invented and manufactured a picket weaving 
machine. He built a tiny cabin back of his shop, cleared a small patch and 
improved it by planting a garden and orchard, he being the first man to plant 
apples in this vicinity, thus demonstrating the suitability of this locality for 
this great industry. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hope are very musical, he being an 
accomplished violinist, while his wife is a pianist of ability. In an early day 
they played very often for dances and other social events, but in recent years 
their music has been their chief social pleasure. They are both very socially 
inclined and are popular with a wide circle of friends. 

It was in 1875 that Mr. Hope came to California, locating at once in 
Blocksburg, where he bought out the blacksmith shop of John Stemmons, 
this being the first business of the kind in Blocksburg, and is still owned 
by Mr. Hope and leased out by him. He was born in Washtenaw county, 
Mich., March 22, 1847. His father, the Rev. S. B. Hope, of the Universalist 
church, was born and reared in New London, Conn., while his mother, Lucy 
Moore, was born and reared iri Ontario county, N. Y., where she met and 
married the Rev. S. B. Hope, who was attending college in that county. 
After their marriage they came by ox teams to Washtenaw county, Mich., 
where Mr. Hope, Sr., engaged in farming. Both parents died there, the 
father at the age of sixty years and the mother living to be seventy. There 
were ten children in their family, all of whom lived to maturity save two, 
Victor being the sixth born. He attended the public schools until he was 
fourteen years of age, and then ran away from home and traveled extensively. 
From the time that he was fourteen until he was twenty-six he was in every 
state and territory of the United States, except Washington, Oregon and 
Montana. He learned the blacksmithing trade at Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo 
county, Mich., and became a journeyman blacksmith and an expert horse- 
shoer. He is a natural machinist and has so been able to accomplish much 



606 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

more at his trade than would otherwise have been the case. He came to 
Colorado and worked for a time in the gold mines, prospecting for gold where 
Leadville now stands. He then went to Nevada and worked in the Belcher 
gold and silver mines on the Comstock lode at Gold Hill. From there he 
went to Reno, where for one summer he was employed in the lumber woods, 
and then came to Humboldt county in the fall of 1875, settling at Blocksburg, 
where he has since made his home. Mr. Hope was a strong Union sym- 
pathizer and at the time of the Civil war he tried to enlist in the cause of free- 
dom, but the loss of an eye by an accident many years before prevented his 
being accepted. He drove cattle across the plains from Texas to Nevada and 
was in many skirmishes with the Indians where the fighting was close and 
sharp. He learned to understand the savages, however, and after coming to 
Blocksburg he had no trouble with them, although this place was one of their 
meeting places and on the exact spot where his residence now stands the 
Digger Indians had a large wickiup, and here they congregated and held their 
war dances. Often as many as five hundred bucks and squaws were assem- 
bled here, but there was never any resultant trouble. About two years ago 
Mr. Hope met with a serious accident. While he was drilling a premature 
blast of dynamite nearly tore his hands off, besides which he received other 
injuries, from which he was laid up for months, and even yet he cannot close 
his hands with a firm grip. 

The marriage of Mr. Hope took place in 1879, uniting him with Mrs. 
Emily (Tooby) Prior, the daughter of George J. and Emily (Close) Tooby, 
both natives of England, the father having been born in Gloucester and the 
mother in London, within sound of Bow-Bells. Mrs. Hope was born at 
Gloucester, and there was reared and educated, especial attention being- 
given to her musical education, in which line she has marked talent. She was 
married there to Thomas M. Prior and came to Alderpoint in 1874. By 
this marriage she had two children : Gertrude, now the widow of Elisha 
Bosworth and residing in Eureka with her four children ; and Douglas H. 
Prior, of the Tooby & Prior Cattle and Land Company. Mr. and Mrs. Hope 
have one child, Roscoe Moore, who resides at home and manages the Hope 
ranch of five hundred acres, of which this capable young man owns about 
one-half. 

The parents of Mrs. Hope both died in England, where her father was 
especially well known and respected. One of her brothers, George J. Tooby, 
formerly an extensive sheep owner, now lives in Eureka. All of his six 
children are well known in Humboldt county, and E- N. Tooby is the present 
county assessor, just having been re-elected. He is one of the extensive land 
owners and stock men of the county and is held in high esteem. 

Mr. Hope is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in all 
local affairs, being broad minded and progressive, and having the courage 
of his convictions. Mrs. Hope is a member of the Episcopal church, in 
which she was reared. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hope are in sympathy with the 
cause of education and their influence in local affairs has always been felt on 
the side of right. They are also keenly interested in the early pioneer history 
of the county, and particularly of this section, being well informed on all 
details of early history and land marks. 



HISTORY OF HU^IBOLDT COUNTY 607 

WILLIAM CARSON.— It is difficult to say anything of William Carson 
•without referring at once to the salient feature of his business career, his 
preeminence in the redwood lumber industry in Humboldt county. One of a 
little group of Canadians from the province of New Brunswick who started 
■out together in the famous year of the exodus to California, instead of 
"striking it rich" in the mines he found his early training in his native woods 
the best possible preparation for success in his new field. He did follow 
mining part of the time during the first few years after his arrival, but it was 
as a lumberman that he acquired fame and fortune, and did most to attract 
attention to the resources of his adopted county. AVhen the comforts and 
luxuries of the civilized world began to find their way into the settlements 
about Humboldt bay and the social order became established, none was more 
prompt to encourage the improved living conditions made possible by the 
numbers of enterprising tradesmen and merchants who flocked to this promis- 
ing region. Eureka especially felt the impress of his interest and generosity. 
His heavy investments in local undertakings and property were not made 
entirely with the idea of personal profit, for all of them contributed to her 
upbuilding. He did not hesitate to show his faith in her prospects in the 
most substantial manner, putting his capital into buildings and public utilities 
as the spirit of the town warranted such expenditures, and doing more than 
his share in the furtherance of projects which were purely the expression of 
civic pride. The North Mountain Power Company, now known as the West- 
ern States Gas & Electric Company, was one of the ambitious concerns he 
fostered to success. Something of the man's wonderful mental and physical 
vigor may be understood from the fact that he remained in active connection 
with his large financial and lumbering operations up to the age of eighty-five 
years. As one of the characters whose deeds stand out in the records of the 
early days he could never be forgotten, and he was spared to see and take 
part in so much of the modern development of his section- that his name enters 
into practically all of her history from 1849 to the present. 

Mr. Carson was born in Charlotte county. New Brunswick, July 15, 1825, 
and had his early experience in lumbering there, assisting his father, who was 
engaged in getting out ship timber for exportation to Liverpool. The year 
of the gold excitement he decided to join the adventurers flocking to Cali- 
fornia, and on September 18, 1849, embarked at The Ledge, New Brunswick, 
in the ship Brazilian, which was several months on her journey around the 
Horn, arriving at San Francisco April 1, 1850. His companions were Oliver 
Gilmore, Jeremiah Whitmore, Daniel IMorrison and Sandy Buchanan, all like 
himself woodsmen from New Brunswick. They found temporary employ- 
ment at San Francisco, part of the time rolling out (by hand rollers) gold 
bars, from which the fifty-dollar slugs of those days were made. Going to 
Sonoma city, the party bought wild horses from the Mexicans, packed their 
goods and proceeded to the Trinity gold fields. When they struck the water- 
shed of the Eel river on their journey north they mistook the stream for the 
Trinity and followed its downward course until their approach to the ocean 
told them they were on the wrong track. They eventually reached their 
destination and worked there during the summer of 1850. Food in that region 
being scarce and high priced, they decided to winter in Humboldt county, 
where game of all kinds was plentiful, and therefore made their way to the 
bay, arriving late in October. At that time Martin White was about to build 



608 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a small slash sawmill with an estimated capacity of four thousand feet per 
day, and for this mill Mr. Carson and his companions contracted to supply 
logs. On the 1st of November, 1850, they started out and located their log- 
ging camp between Ryan's slough and Freshwater, at a point where spruce 
and similar timber of a size suitable for a small mill was available, close to 
the slough. It was at this camp, in November, 1850, that Mr. Carson and 
Jerry Whitmore cut the first tree for a saw log that was ever felled in Hum- 
boldt county. Thus began his remarkable career as a lumberman. "His 
history has been similar to that of many of the successful pioneers of Cali- 
fornia. He came to get gold out of the ground, but he did not get it in the 
shape of virgin metal, but in the form of another product of the ground, the 
wonderful lumber resources of this county." 

After a winter of logging the party again went to the mines, starting 
March 1, 1851. They arrived at Big Bar, on the Trinity, about the middle 
of the month, and resumed work on the claims they had left the year before. 
During that summer they constructed the Arkansas dam across the Trinity. 
The following May they learned of the construction of a sawmill on Hum- 
boldt bay by Ryan & Dufif, and leaving the mines they went to the Sacra- 
mento valley, where they bought oxen with which they drove to Humboldt, 
with the view of engaging in logging. Reaching Humboldt again in August, 
1852, the original party divided, and Mr. Carson went into the lumber busi- 
ness, with which he was thereafter permanently associated. In the summer 
of 1854 he operated the Muley Mill in Eureka, located at the foot of I street, 
and during that year worked as a sawyer, his shift being every day and every 
alternate night. In the fall he shipped on the Cydras the first cargo of red- 
wood lumber which was sent out from Humboldt bay, all previous shipments 
having been of spruce and fir. The partnership between William Carson and 
John Dolbeer was formed in 1863, and continued until the death of Mr. 
Dolbeer in 1902. 

The Daily Humboldt Standard in its announcement of Mr. Carson's 
death mentions him as the dean of redwood manufacturers of the state, and 
he was survived by only one of the pioneers in that line, Noah Falk, who 
went into the business considerably later. But it was not merely because of 
his prominence as a lumber manufacturer that Mr. Carson was entitled to 
recognition among the leading men of the state. Financial institutions and 
public utilities of various kinds were among the useful enterprises he pro- 
moted, and while he was interested in most of the local undertakings of the 
kind his operations extended all over the state. He was one of the founders 
of the Humboldt County Bank, of the Bank of Eureka and of the Savings 
Bank of Humboldt County. As one of the incorporators of the Eel River & 
Eureka Railroad Company, and one of those who made possible the Bucksport 
& Elk River railroad and the Humboldt Northern railroad, in both of which 
he held interests, he deserves credit for the introduction of transportation 
facilities which brought new business and new life into his section, enabling 
it to compete with other localities on terms of comparative equality. The first 
large modern brick business structure in Eureka was the Carson block, the 
three-story building which occupies a quarter of a square at the northeast 
corner of Third and F streets. Mr. Carson built it in 1890, at a cost of 
$100,000, besides which he put $30,000 into the part of the second and third 
floors devoted to theater purposes. At the time of the erection of the building 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 609 

a number of citizens of Eureka were clamoring for a modern playhouse, and 
it was to meet their wishes that Mr. Carson fitted up the theater, which is 
still considered the finest between Portland and San Francisco. The North 
Mountain Power Company, which has since become the great electric power 
and light distributing concern of the county, now known as the Western 
States Gas & Electric Company, also numbered Mr. Carson among its foun- 
ders. Outside of Humboldt county, the Milford Land & Lumber Company, 
the San Diego Lumber Company and the West Coast Lumber Company owed 
their development to Mr. Carson's participation and influence, which he also 
exerted towards building up the shipping so important to the lumber com- 
panies. In the latter connection he was one of the powers of the Humboldt 
Lumber Manufacturers' Association of Eureka, which handled exclusively 
foreign lumber shipments from the mills represented in its organization, and 
operates the tugs Relief and Ranger on Humboldt bar. 

It is noteworthy that Mr. Carson continued to give his personal attention 
to his large milling and other interests up to two years before his death, re- 
maining in active business up to the age of eighty-five years, when he turned 
his afifairs over to his sons, whom he had trained for the purpose, J. M. and 
C. Sumner taking charge of the milling and lumbering operations at Eureka, 
and W. M. Carson having charge of the San Francisco offices. 

Except as a life member of the Humboldt Club, and a member of Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., Mr. Carson belonged to no social organiza- 
tions. Nothing more complimentary to Mr. Carson could be cited than his 
popularity as an employer. It is no exaggeration to say that in the great 
county of Humboldt, and probably in all California, there was none more re- 
spected and beloved by his employes. Nor was there an employer who 
gathered about him better men. He was a friend to them all, particularly in 
sickness and in trouble, although they may not always have realized it. In 
his own early experience he became thoroughly familiar with their side of 
affairs and their attitude, and he never forgot the lessons then learned, as his 
regard for their comfort, sympathy in all his dealings with them and kindly 
understanding well showed. It is significant that in the court records of 
Humboldt county there is no instance of a suit for damages for personal in- 
juries to which Mr. Carson was defendant. 

Mr. Carson died February 19, 1912, after several months' illness, at his 
home in Eureka. His modesty and unassuming disposition had always made 
him averse to publicity so far as his personal affairs were concerned, but 
just before the San Francisco fair C. P. Soule, of the Bank of Eureka, of which 
Mr. Carson was president, prevailed upon him to compile a brief autobiog- 
raphy, and the outline of his career which appeared in the Daily Standard at 
the time of his death was written from notes taken then and formed the 
basis of the present article. 

In May, 1864, Mr. Carson was married to Miss Sarah Wilson, of San 
Francisco, whose death in 1904 terminated a union remarkable for happiness 
and devotion. They are survived by four children : J. Milton and C. Sumner, 
of Eureka ; William M., of San Francisco ; and Mrs. Carlotta C. Tyson, of 
Piedmont; Cal. 

The beautiful residence on the mill site, at the head of Second street, was 
one of the most significant indications of Mr. Carson's affection for Eureka. 
This palatial dwelling, not excelled by any other home in the state, was one 



UO HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of his most important contributions to the beautifying of his chosen city, the 
scene of the interests closest to his heart. 

ROBERT PORTER.— As a typical representative of those brave, 
courageous pioneers who settled in this county when the country was yet in 
its original wildness, mention is due Robert Porter, who lived to witness the 
changes which fifty-seven years brought, knowing meanwhile that he had not 
been an idle looker-on in the transformation which had been wrought. His 
father, David R. Porter, who was born in Londonderry, Ireland, immigrated 
to the United States in young manhood and settled in Lancaster, Pa. His 
marriage united him with Catherine McDee, who was born in Scotland and 
came to the United States with her parents during her childhood. David R. 
Porter engaged in general merchandising in Pennsylvania and also in Bote- 
tourt county, Va., accumulating a competency in the undertaking, for it is 
known that several years before his death, at the age of seventy-two, he had 
lived retired. His wife passed away when in her seventy-fifth year. 

It was while the family was living in Old Virginia that Robert Porter 
was born in Fincastle, February 22, 1828, and in that state he was reared 
and educated primarily. At the age of sixteen he began to earn his own 
living, his first work being as clerk in a general store in Virginia for two 
years. Later he joined an engineering corps on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road, and during this time diligently pursued his studies in civil engineering, 
so that he ultimately rose to the position of superintendent of construction 
for the company, continuing as such until 1852. In the spring of that year 
he and eleven companions started for California, each of the party being well 
equipped for the long and tedious overland journey. June 9th was the day on 
which they crossed the Missouri river at St. Joseph, Mo., from there going 
to Salt Lake City, where they rested for about two weeks. The possibilities 
of making a fortune in the mines had not been the least consideration in the 
minds of the young men when they started on their journey, and while in 
Salt Lake City they made investigations as to the conditions and prospects 
at a camp called Seventy-six. Evidently opinions differed as to the advisa- 
bility of investing at the camp, for it is recorded that Mr. Porter bought the 
animals from those of his companions who wished to remain there, while he 
and his little train started out for Sacramento, reaching that town the day 
■after the fire that nearly destroyed it. From there he went to Hangtown, 
now Placerville, and from there to Jay Bird canyon, but his labors did not 
produce the results he had anticipated, and he went to Mariposa county, 
where better results rewarded him. In the latter part of the '50s he came 
to Eureka, then a crude town on the water front claiming a population of 
less than five hundred inhabitants. Employment awaited him in the saw- 
mill of Johii Vance, where he familiarized himself with the business and was 
finally given charge of the office and finances of the concern and remained 
'associated with it until 1866. In the meantime he had recognized a good 
opportunity to establish a business of his own and forthwith opened the second 
-general merchandise store in the town, a business which he conducted suc- 
cessfully for two years. It was in 1868 that he went to Hydesville and en- 
gaged in the same business in partnership with James M. Cox, having bought 
out the pioneer merchant in the town, R. O. Metcalf, and thereafter business 
-was conducted under the name of Porter & Cox. Associated with H. C. 
Hansen, in 1878 Mr. Porter bought a one-half interest in property which be- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 611 

came known as the Hansen & Porter stock ranch, adjoining Fort Baker. The' 
purchase was made at a time when stock land was selling at a low figure. 
Subsequently the partners consolidated their interests with those of Joseph 
Russ, thus bringing under the control of the three over twenty-four thousand 
acres of fine land. Meantime Mr. Porter bought out the interest of Mr. 
Hansen in the enterprise and Mr. Russ and himself were thereafter equal 
partners. The raising of sheep and cattle formed their chief industry and 
proved profitable from the first. In partnership with A. W. Torrey he pur- 
chased the laqua ranch of about seven thousand acres located thirty miles 
east of Eureka, and of this he ultimately became the sole owner by the pur- 
chase of Mr. Torrey's interest, continuing to run it as a stock ranch up to 
the time of his death. He also owned the Kneeland ranch of sixty-five hundred 
acres near Blocksburg. In the meantime the general merchandise business 
at Hydesville had been continued in partnership with Mr. Cox, but just prior 
to the death of the latter Mr. Porter purchased his interest in the business 
and continued it alone. However, in 1898 he sold out his interests in Hydes- 
ville and removed to Eureka, where as early as 1858, with Richard Brett, he 
had purchased forty acres of land for $1000. This was afterwards laid out 
as Brett & Porter's Addition and is one of the finest residence portions of 
Eureka. In 1892 Mr. Porter erected a handsome residence in the city, and it 
was in this that he resided from 1898 up to the time of his death, April 
13, 1906. 

While making his home in Hydesville Mr. Porter assisted in the organ- 
ization of the Bank of Eureka and continued to be a stockholder in the same 
until his death, also for many years having been a director and vice-president. 
He was also interested in the founding of the Savings Bank of Humboldt 
County, of which he was also president. It was largely through his efforts 
also that the Humboldt Bay Woolen Mills Company was organized in 1901 
with a capital of $100,000 and with himself as vice-president. Up to the 
time of his death he continued actively interested in the various institutions 
with which he was connected, as well as overseeing his large ranching 
interests. 

On the 8th of March, 1868, Mr. Porter was married at Table Blufif, Hum- 
boldt county, Cal.,'to Miss Eliza Foss, who was born in Saco, York county. 
Me., the daughter of Tristram and Lydia (Cousins) Foss, both natives of 
Saco, Me. The grandfather of Mrs. Porter, Zachariah Foss, was also a native 
of Saco, Me., and a participant in the Revolutionary war. He was the owner 
of the old Foss farm near Saco, which is still in the possession of the family. 
Mrs. Lydia (Cousins) Foss was born in Lyman, Me., and died there after 
rearing to years of maturity a family of five children. She was survived by 
her husband, who passed his last days at Table Bluff, Cal. The eldest of the 
five children born to this couple was Tristram Henry, who died at Table 
Bluff, Cal. ; Mary, Mrs. J. K. DolHson, is a resident of Palo Alto, Cal. ; Samuel 
is a resident of Eureka ; Calvin resides in Palo Alto ; and Eliza, Mrs. Porter, 
completes the family. She was reared and educated in Saco, Me., and in 1856 
accompanied her father to Bureau county. 111., where she taught school. In 
1866 she came with her father to California, making the trip by way of Panama 
to San Francisco and locating at Table Bluff. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Porter eight children were born, as follows : Catherine, Mrs. H. L. Shattuck, 
of Denver, Colo. ; Elizabeth, Mrs. O. F. Pira, of Alameda, Cal. ; Robert Dol- 



612 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

lison, a director of the Bank of Eureka, and who assists his mother in the 
care of her extensive ranch and property interests ; David, who died at the 
age of ten years ; Theodore, a resident of Eureka ; Edith, who makes her 
home with her mother ; Kendall, junior member of the firm of Sarvis & 
Porter, of Eureka; and Grace, Mrs. Kimball, residing in Denver, Colo. Since 
the death of her husband Mrs. Porter has continued to make her home in the 
old family residence at No. 1710 E street. Eureka, finding her time fully 
occupied with looking after her varied interests and in fulfilling her social 
and religious duties. She is stanch in her support of Republican principles, 
and is a member of the Monday Club. In early life Mr. Porter was a believer 
in Democratic principles, but after the second administration of President 
Cleveland he changed his party affiliations and identified himself with the 
Republicans, owing to the attitude of the Democracy on the financial ques- 
tion. As early as 1850 he affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows in Virginia and became a charter member of Plumboldt Lodge No. 77 , 
I. O. O. F., Eureka. Mr. Porter was a noble, high-minded, useful citizen and 
friend, who deserves a prominent place in the history of the county and 
state. 

CONRAD BULLWINKEL.— Descended from a long line of farming 
ancestors, Mr. Bullwinkel was born in Driftsete, Ampt Hagan, Hanover, 
Germany, March 22, 1838, the son of John and Tepke Bullwinkel, also natives 
of Germany. There he received his early schooling and at the age of fourteen 
he began to help his father on the home place. In 1855, when he was seven- 
teen, he set sail for America, going direct to South Carolina, and at a small 
place called Valhalla he was employed on a farm for a few years. Later 
he became interested in the gold mines in that vicinity, but after remaining 
in that state for four years he decided to come to California. Taking passage 
on a steamer westward bound by way of the Isthmus of Panama, his journey's 
end brought him to San Francisco in 1859, and from there he went direct 
to San Pablo, Contra Costa county. There he again engaged in farming, 
but not finding conditions quite to his liking he went to Nevada. After en- 
gaging in mining in that state for one and one-half years he returned to San 
Francisco and obtained employment in a grocery, and later was employed 
in a hotel for a short time. On coming to Humboldt county in 1869 he 
preempted eighty acres on Little river and soon afterwards he took up a 
homestead claim of one hundred sixty acres of government land adjoining the 
original tract. This land, now the home place, is under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, in distinct contrast to the virgin condition at the time it was purchased. 
The effort spent in clearing the dense growth of brush and timber and putting 
the land in condition for farming has been well rewarded, for it has been 
transformed into a valuable dairy farm. For years he followed dairying and 
general farming with success, and at the present time is retired from farming 
activities, having leased the home place and retired to a justly earned rest. 
He is the only one of the original pioneer settlers in the Little river section, 
where he was also the first to engage in dairying. In those days the milk was 
skimmed from pans and churned by hand. Later the use of a separator 
simplified butter making; to furnish power for his churn and separator Mr. 
Bullwinkel installed a water wheel in the creek running past his house. In 
the early days he hauled the butter in kegs to Eureka, where it was shipped 
to San Francisco, whereas he now has a market at his door. 




%0/)O^M^ <0ijylJ/yWJ/i^-O<Uit 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 615 

Mr. Bullwinkel has never entered into political affairs, but is an ardent 
Democrat and an earnest follower of the party's ideas. He is also a member 
of the Lutheran Church. He is a man who has been successful in his long 
life as a farmer and one whose success is entirely due to his own thrift and 
perseverance. Mr. BuUwinkel's father also devoted his whole life to farming 
and became one of the substantial citizens of his community. 

CIPRIANO MARK BERNARDI.— One of the enterprising and progres- 
sive young men engaged in dairying in Humboldt county is Cipriano M. Ber- 
nardi, who, though of foreign birth, has brought to his work in this country 
the energy and ability which America is always glad to recognize among 
her citizens. A native of Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Mr. 
Bernardi was born August 16, 1871, the son of Natale and Marcelena Ber- 
nard!, both of whom died in their native canton. The father of Mr. Bernardi 
was a painter and decorator by trade, and spent much time in that line of 
work in Paris, where there are many fine examples of his skill remaining. 
Of the six children in the family, Cipriano was the youngest, and grew up in 
Lodrino, receiving; a good grammar and high school education, graduating 
from the latter school in 1888. The next year he came to San Francisco, Cal., 
having been attracted hither by the good reports from his sister, Mrs. Helena 
Biasca, and her husband who were dairying at Capetown, Humboldt county. 
Soon after coming to this country Mr. Bernardi secured employment on a 
dairy farm at AVaddington, Cal., being engaged later at others in the same 
locality. When he had saved sufficient money to enable him to start in the 
dairy business independently, he removed to Freshwater and there leased a 
dairy from Dr. Felt, which he conducted for twelve years with a herd ot 
sixty cows. In 1912 he leased his present place from George Crowe, a one 
hundred acre ranch adjoining Eureka on the east, whereon he raises grass 
and clover, as well as such green feed as beets, carrots, 'peas and corn, for 
his herd of forty milch cows. His herd consists of high grade Jerseys, twenty- 
five of which are full blooded, of the Sam Lambert stock, which is con- 
sidered the finest Jersey stock in California. The bull, which was brought 
from Highland, N. Y., was sired by Noble Oakland, the grandsire being 
Golden Jolly. Mr. Bernardi has sold full blooded male and female Jersey 
cattle in different parts of California and has sent about fifteen head to 
Honolulu, always obtaining good prices because his stock is the highest 
strain. For some years he has sold milk to retailers in Eureka, in which city 
he is now starting a new milk route. 

The marriage of Mr. Bernardi took place in Eureka, April 30, 1905, his 
wife having formerly been Celia iMarcionetti, also a native of Canton Ticino, 
Switzerland, and they are the parents of four children, Marcelina, Emory, 
Lloyd and Archie. The political interests of Mr. Bernardi are with the Repub- 
lican party, and in fraternal circles he is known as a member of the Knights 
of the IMaccabees. 

HON. GEORGE WILLIAMS.— Between the date of his birth, March 
29, 1822, and that of his death in 1908, there were compassed into the existence 
of Hon. George Williams eighty-six useful years. Throughout much of that 
period he was identified with the stock industry in Humboldt count3^ When 
he first drove a herd of cattle to Bear river in 1856 there was little in the 
aspect of the country to win his admiration or attract favorable notice. Very 
few white men had sought the isolated spot. Indians still roamed through 



616 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the forests and their occasional outbreaks kept in constant danger such hardy- 
pioneers as dared to venture upon claims, with the hope of developing farms. 
With shrewd foresight he grasped the opportunities of the region and saw 
that the excellent range and abundant water afforded excellent advantages 
for the stock business ; later years proved the wisdom of his early judgment. 
The grandson of Welsh people and the son of Thomas Williams, a life- 
long resident of Pennsylvania, George AA^illiams was born in Lancaster 
county, that state, and after the death of his father in 1834 he went to Ohio 
with his mother, who died there at the -age of forty-five. For a time he 
earned a livelihood as a farm hand, then at the age of eighteen learned the 
trade of baker, and in 1849 taught a country school in Illinois. During 1850 
he came west, driving an ox-team a part of the way, but walking the entire 
distance from Green river to Hangtown, where he arrived almost penniless. 
For ten months he worked in a bakery, then for some months worked in the 
mines, and from 1852 to 1854 carried on a bakery at Weaverville, Trinity 
county, later working there as a butcher. Next he turned his attention to 
stock-raising and in 1856 brought his first herd of cattle to Humboldt county, 
where the following year he admitted to partnership Cyrus W. Morrison. 
It is significant of the character of the two men that they continued in har- 
monious and profitable partnership for forty-nine years. 

Returning to Ohio in 1857 Mr. Williams married at Circleville Miss 
Mary Anderson, who was born there January 28, 1838. For ten years after 
his marriage he lived at AVeaverville, Trinity county, but in 1867 brought his 
family to Hydesville, Humboldt county, and in 1885 removed to Ferndale, 
where he remained until death, a familiar and beloved figure in affairs of the 
town, a man of venerable and commanding presence, who bore the weight 
of advancing years with dignity and grace. Early in the '70s he served for 
two years as a member of the county board of supervisors, twice he was 
elected to the assembly from this district, and always he was a local leader in 
the Republican party. While living in Trinity count}^ he served as member 
of the school board for years and as provost-marshal during the Civil war, 
enrolling a goodly number of volunteers, but never being obliged to make a 
draft for the army. Fraternally he Avas connected with Hydesville Lodge 
No. 252, I. O. O. F. He and his wife trained their five children for the 
responsibilities of life and had the satisfaction of seeing them fill worthily 
positions of honor in business and society. The older son, Frank G. Wil- 
liams, is president of the Russ-AA^illiams Banking Company of Ferndale, and 
in his sketch further mention of the family history appears. 

JACOB LOEWENTHAL. — Among the number of high-class mercan- 
tile houses which do credit to the city of Eureka, none in its line is more 
favorably known than that of Jacob Loewenthal, the veteran clothing mer- 
chant of the city. The attractive appearance of his store and stock is an 
indication of the manner in' which the business is conducted. The benefits 
to proprietor and patrons are mutual, for Mr. Loewenthal has repaid^ the 
liberal patronage of the community in kind, giving the best possible service 
to his customers, excellent values and a large selection, for all of which they 
have shown substantial appreciation. Moreover, in the forty years of his 
business career at Eureka he has not only become widely and favorably 
known in his commercial relations, but has won a measure of esteem for his 
personal characteristics not bestowed except where deserved. Though never 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 617 

participating directly in public affairs, he has lived up to the highest standards 
of citizenship, and has been a helpful influence in the promotion of different 
projects intended to contribute to the general welfare. 

Mr. Loewenthal is a native of Germany, born at Kamberg, near Frank- 
fort on the Main, September 27, 1845. His father, Hirsch Loewenthal, was a 
dry goods merchant at Kamberg; his mother, whose maiden name was 
Rebecca Loewenstein, died in 1893, when about seventy-eight years old. 
Jacob was their only son, and of the three daughters but one survives, 
Sarah, who is the widow of Jacob Schiller, of Schweppenhausen, who was in 
the cattle business at Bingen on the Rhine. Another daughter, Hannchen, 
who died at Eureka, was the wife of the late B. Feigenbaum, who was in 
merchandise business at Eureka prior to 1868, when he removed to San B>an- 
cisco, continuing in the same line there. 

Jacob Loewenthal received ordinary public school advantages, living in 
his native land until after he became of age. In 1867 he came to Eureka, 
Humboldt county, CaL, making the long journey by way of New York and 
Nicaragua. On the voyage to New York he was a passenger on the Ham- 
burg liner Cymbria, sailed from New York to Greytown on the Santiago de 
Cuba, and came up from Nicaragua to Eureka on the Moses Taylor. For 
several years thereafter he was employed as a clerk by various merchants in 
the city and county. In 1874, having acquired considerable experience and 
thorough familiarity with the demands of the local trade, he decided to 
begin business on his own account, opening a store in April of that year. 
In the four decades which have since elapsed he has become one of the most 
popular merchants in the city, a fact attributable entirely to square dealing. 
His store is at No. 503 Second street. He carries a large and well assorted 
stock of clothing and men's furnishings, with an average value of $60,000, 
and that he endeavors to supply his patrons with the best goods may be 
judged from some of the well known brands of ready-to-wear articles he 
handles, "Griffon," "Society," "Slattford" and "Loewenthal" clothing, "Stet- 
son," "Barsalina" (imported) and "Imperial" (imported) hats, and Flor- 
sheim, AA'illiam Kneeland Company, Johnson Murphy, George H. Bass and 
Loewenthal shoes. Here is a selection which more than meets the wants of 
the average customer, and well adapted to the tastes of the most fastidious, 
who are aware of the advantages of having an establishment of this kind 
in their home town. He is the oldest clothier and men's furnisher in Eureka 
at the present time, and has the good wishes of his fellow citizens for a long 
continuance of his prosperous career. 

Mr. Loewenthal's life has been a success from more than the material 
standpoint. His means have enabled him to assist others less fortunate, and 
his genial, benevolent disposition is illustrated in his relations with such, as 
well as in the courtesies of social life. Fraternally he is well known as an 
Odd Fellow and a Mason. On June 7, 1873, he joined Ferndale Lodge, 
I. O. O- F., of Ferndale, Humboldt county, and he has attained the thirty- 
second degree in Masonry, is a past master of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, 
F. & A. M., and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, one of the two 
charter members of Cornelia chapter. Politically he supports the Repifb- 
lican party. 

In 1886 Mr. Loewenthal was married at San Francisco to Miss Carrie 
Meyer, a native of Germany, and they have a family of four children : Harold 



618 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Hirsch, Sidney Simon, IMyrtile and Leon. Their beautiful residence is at 
No. 1405 I street. 

JAMES FERGUSON.— A native of New York state, James Ferguson 
has been a resident of California since 1869, and is today one of the honored 
citizens of Areata and a prosperous farmer of this community. He spent 
many years in the employ of the various lumber companies of the county, 
but in the end he chose the occupation of dairy farming, and in this line he 
has been very successful. 

Mr. Ferguson was born in Rochester, Monroe county, N. Y., September 
1, 1849. His father was Robert Ferguson, a native of Scotland, who was 
engaged in farming during practically his entire residence in the United 
States. It was after coming to this country that he was married to Anna 
(Bawks) Ferguson, also a native of Scotland, and of this union were born 
nine children, six sons and three daughters. Of these James was the fifth 
in order of birth. His childhood was saddened by the death of both his 
parents when he was in his tenth year, and he was forced to leave school and 
start out in life for himself. He therefore received little schooling from books, 
but has accumulated a vast store of knowledge from personal observation, 
from reading and from talking with persons of education and information. 
His practical education was commenced when he was a mere lad, and that 
in itself was of great importance. He first secured employment with E. J. 
Hill, driving a milk wagon, and remained with him for a period of nine 
years. At the end of that time he was filled with a great desire to come to 
California, and accordingly, in the fall of 1869, he left Rochester and started 
for the land of promise. The trip was made by steamer down the coast to 
Aspinwall, thence across the Isthmus of Panama, and up the coast by the 
steamer Guatemala to San Francisco. About ninety miles below Acapulco 
the ship on which he had taken passage was wrecked, and the passengers, 
some one hundred forty-seven in number, were cast ashore. They walked 
over the rugged country to Acapulco, and there they had to wait for a month 
before another vessel came to take them on to their destination. They arrived 
in San Francisco in December of that year. 

From San Francisco Mr. Ferguson went at once to Petaluma, Sonoma 
county, and there found employment on a ranch, where he remained until 
April of the following year (1870), when he went into the Russian river 
country and secured employment in the woods, driving an ox-team. Later 
he rented land and engaged in farming, but was not successful in this under- 
taking, and shortly afterward gave it up. In 1885 he came to Humboldt 
county and went to work in the woods for W. Murphy, at Fortuna. After 
remaining a few months he accepted a position with the Korbel Redwood 
Company, continuing with them for six years, driving seven or eight yoke 
of oxen hauling a string of logs, from seven to fifteen, strung out some three 
hundred feet. Although this was dangerous work he never had a serious 
accident. From Korbel Mr. Ferguson came to Areata and rented a forty- 
acre ranch near Alliance and engaged in dairying and general farming. In 
this venture he was very successful and remained on this place for three 
years, at the end of which time he purchased his present home place, thre» 
miles north of Areata, and on which he has since that time made his home. 
The property consists of fifteen acres of highly improved land, which Mr. 
Ferguson is devoting to dairying and general farming. 




lyOt^-'T-y'^i^ ^Le^S^^jyiA^yl^^tr^^---^-^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 621 

Aside from his business interests Mr. Ferguson has alAvays been keenly 
aUve to all matters of interest to the general public, and on all questions that 
have affected the welfare of the community. He is road overseer for the fifth 
district, having been appointed in 1902, and having held the position con- 
tinuously since. One of the best known pieces of work under his direction 
was the building of the Fieldbrook road. He has been actively interested 
in the political affairs of the county, and favors the Republican party, although 
he is an independent thinker, and always holds the best interests of the com- 
munity at heart, regardless of party affiliations. He has been honored by 
the confidence of his constituents on many occasions, and has represented 
his district at party conventions on frequent occasions during the past ten 
years. He is also a prominent member of the Redwood Lodge, I. O. O. F., 
at Guerneville. 

The marriage of Mr. Ferguson occurred at Alliance November 24, 1890, 
uniting him with Miss Nancy B. Nicks, a native of Illinois, born at Spring- 
field, October 5, 1857. She was the daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Hall) 
Nicks, and came to' California with her parents in an early day, locating in 
Humboldt county, where they were esteemed pioneers. Mrs. Ferguson died 
at her home February 27, 1906, leaving the family to mourn the loss of a 
faithful wife and loving mother. They were the parents of five children, one 
daughter and four sons, all of whom were born in Areata, where they are 
well known. They are Pearl, Marvin, Ralph, Eugene and Lester. They have 
all been well educated in the public and high schools, and have received many 
other advantages which their father was forced to forego, but which he has 
steadfastly striven to provide for his children. 

ARTHUR WILLIAM BLACKBURN.— The justice of the peace of the 
Ferndale district, who is also town attorney of Ferndale, secretary of the 
Ferndale Chamber of Commerce and a director of the local telephone con- 
cern, is well fitted in every particular to faithfully represent the interests of 
the people, to decide impartially matters of considerable importance and to 
promote local progress by his progressive aptitude for affairs. A native of 
Wisconsin, born at Rochester, Racine county, November 2, 1878, and a son of 
Matthew and Caroline (Anderson) Blackburn, he was given the best advan- 
tages his neighborhood afforded. After he had completed the studies of a 
private preparatory school known as Rochester Academy he entered the 
University of Wisconsin and continued a student in that institution until 
he was graduated in 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Two years 
later his alma mater conferred upon him the degrees of Master of Arts and 
Bachelor of Laws, he having completed the regular course of law study in the 
university law department. During June of 1903 he was admitted to practice 
in the United States courts and all courts of the state of Wisconsin, but, 
instead of taking up professional work at once, he taught history for one 
year in the high school at Marinette, Wis., resigning the position in 1904 in 
order to remove to the west. 

After one year in the law office of Gregor & Connick at Eureka in 1905 
Mr. Blackburn came to Ferndale, where he has since engaged in professional 
work and public service. Appointed justice of the peace to fill an unexpired 
term, he was duly elected to that office in 1910 and has since officiated with 
precision, dignity and an impartial administration of justice. On the organ- 
ization of the Eel River & Southern Telephone Company, in which he was a 



622 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

leading factor, he was chosen to serve as a director of the concern and still 
fills the position. Any movement for local grov^^th receives his quiet but 
capable support. In the fraternities he is allied with the Masons and Odd 
Fellows. Possessing a true public spirit, he endeavors to promote the wel- 
fare of Ferndale and Humboldt county and champions any movement for the 
general advancement. Through his marriage to Florence Bell, a native of 
Wisconsin, he is the father of three sons, Arthur William, Jr., John and 
Edwin. 

V\/ILLIAM H. BARNWELL.— In the early days of the history of 
California, before land had attained its present great value, vast areas were 
owned by wealthy rancheros and by the church Avhich at one time held 
almost complete sway in Southern California. Thus the land from Capis- 
trano to San Diego was formerly the property of a single ranchman, while 
the original territory of the San Gabriel mission extended as far as the San 
Bernardino mountains. In our day no such enormous ownership is possible 
in this rapidly growing country, but there are today numerous landowners in 
California possessing prosperous ranches many acres in extent. Such a one 
is William H. Barnwell, a well-knoAvn rancher and road overseer of Hum- 
boldt county, Cal. 

Born in Southampton, England, July 31, 1858, Mr. Barnwell Avas the 
son of Thomas Joseph Barnwell, a storekeeper, and Ellen E. (Jenner) Barn- 
well, who were the parents of sixteen children, William being the fifth in age. 
The first twelve years of his life were spent in school, after which he secured 
a position as messenger boy. But the desire for a more stirring life was 
uppermost in his mind, and following, perhaps, the example of a sailor 
uncle, Henry Hyde Ticknor, who had crowned his roving life b}^ coming 
to far distant California where he became the owner of a one hundred sixty 
acre claim at Willowbrook and was one of the earliest white settlers of this 
county, the boy William Barnwell spent two years at sea, making several 
trips by steamship from Bristol, England, to New York City, and becoming 
a personal friend of the captain. After seven years spent in clerkship in 
London, Mr. Barnwell followed his unchanged determination and in 1880 
came to his uncle in California, locating at Alderpoint, Humboldt county, 
where he took up a pre-emption and worked for his uncle who had then sold 
his sheep ranch and kept a roadside inn and store and owned a ferry. Be- 
sides these interests, his uncle had charge of the stage at Alderpoint, for at 
that date there was no train service such as we have today. B}^ assisting 
his uncle in the running of this stage, Mr. Barnwell became efficient in the 
work and was taken into the employ of the Miller, Bullard & Sweasey Stage 
Company, running a stage from Eureka to San Francisco in thirty-six hours, 
changing horses every ten miles. 

In January, 1884, Mr. Barnwell .located a homestead claim at Chalk 
Mountain, Humboldt county, proved up on it and later bought the balance, 
and here is located today his vast ranch of nine hundred sixty acres called 
Chalk Mountain. West of this property lay an estate of twenty acres belong- 
ing to Greenleaf C. French, an old settler in the county, who had come from 
Maine when a young man. Four years after the death of Mr. French, ]\Ir. 
Barmvell married his widow, Mrs. Orinda French, and acquired the owner- 
ship of this property which is known as Burr Creek ranch, on the Bridgville 
and Blocksburg road, and here stands his pleasant home which has recently 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 623 

been fitted with an acetylene gas plant and possesses the comforts and conve- 
niences of modern life. In all, Mr. Barnwell is the owner of nine hundred 
eighty acres, all of which is in the Van Dusen township, Humboldt county. 
Mrs. Barnwell had already been twice married and was the mother of seven 
children. By her present marriage she has one child, William H. Barnwell, 
Jr., who lives with his parents on the estate at Burr creek. 

The beautiful residence of Mr. and Mrs. Barnwell, besides standing on an 
estate which is to both of them redolent of the enthusiasm of the pioneer 
spirit and the gentler thought of old home ties, abounds with all that modern 
taste can bring to the making of a hospitable and pleasant home, and is ex- 
pressive of the cordial and generous spirit of its owners. Of English descent, 
Mr. Barnwell brings to his country home in California the geniality of old 
England and here dispenses hospitality with much of the large and kindly 
spirit of old English squires of whom Washington Irving's books tell us. 
Vines and gardens, a piano and other musical instruments, guns and the 
kindly presence of dogs, speak of the pleasant home life as well as of the 
sportsman's interests and the health-giving outdoor life which all California's 
seasons offer. 

JOHN ALEXANDER LANE, M. D.— It has been the destiny of Dr. 
Lane to be identified with Humboldt county throughout practically all of 
his life, for although a native of North Carolina, born in Guilford county, 
December 5, 1873, he was less than two years of age when his parents, Henry 
and Martha (Campbell) Lane, came to California, settling in this county and 
here rearing their two sons, George and John Alexander. Through his skill 
as a woodsman the father earned a livelihood for the family until it eventually 
became necessary to seek an occupation requiring less manual exertion and 
he then engaged in the hotel business at Fortuna, where he lived during his 
later years. The schools of that village were small, but more thorough than 
might have been expected, so that they afforded Dr. Lane the necessary foun- 
dation on which to build the larger intellectual and professional equipment of 
maturity. In the carrying out of his early desire to make a scientific study 
of materia medica and enter the profession of a physician and surgeon, he 
matriculated in the Cooper Miedical College of San Francisco and had all 
the advantages offered by that old-established institution. Upon receiving 
the degree of M. D. at the conclusion of his regular course of lectures he 
remained in San Francisco for a year as. an interne in the City and County 
hospital, then returned to Fortuna to take up professional work, but in 1907 
removed to Ferndale and has here since made his home. 

Through marriage to Augusta V. White, a native of Humboldt county 
and a member of a pioneer family honored throughout this section of the 
state. Dr. Lane is the father of three children, Lora, Henry and Tante. 
Activity in professional, public, educational and fraternal affairs has charac- 
terized his residence in Ferndale and his intelligent co-operation with. local 
problems. The Humboldt County, California and American Medical Asso- 
ciations have his name on their lists of members and he in turn derives the 
benefits offered by their modern grasp of professional affairs. As a trustee 
of the Ferndale high school he has kept in touch with educational develop- 
ment and has fostered every measure tending toward the more thorough 
preparation of boys and girls for the responsibilities of life. His fraternal 
connections are numerous and include association with Eureka Lodge, B. P. 



624 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

O. E.; Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., at Fortuna; Ferndale Chapter 
No. 78, R. A. M., of Ferndale; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., Islam 
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; the Eastern Star; the Lodge of 
Odd Fellows, in which he is past grand; and the Knights of Pythias, in 
which he is past chancellor commander. 

BENJAMIN MAXWELL MARSHALL, M. D.— The association of Dr. 
Marshall with the professional life of Eureka commenced during the fall of 
1903 and has continued uninterruptedly up to the present time, his interests 
not being limited to private professional practice, but including also a vital 
and important connection with hospital work. It is perhaps not too much to 
say that Eureka is unsurpassed in the character of its hospitals. Considering 
the size of the place, it affords a hospital service that is exceptionally up-to- 
date and thorough, and the physicians identified with these institutions are 
men of wide professional knowledge and the most earnest devotion to their 
chosen work. In this respect Dr. Marshall is surpassed by none, as evi- 
denced not only by his able service as county physician and as surgeon at 
the county hospital, but also through his splendid service for many years 
as chief surgeon of the Union Labor hospital, an institution founded on the 
cooperative plan by the Union Labor bodies of Humboldt county. The Doc- 
tor himself took a prominent part in the founding of the hospital and the 
building, erected in 1905, reflects in its modern appointments his determina- 
tion to secure for it a complete equipment, with facilities for operations of 
every character. A board of directors comprising members of the various 
unions in the county maintains a close supervision of the hospital. There is 
a capacity of fifty beds and it is not limited to its own members or their 
families, but is open to the public in general. 

Descended from a long line of Scotch ancestry, the Doctor himself is a 
native of Ardpatrick, Argyleshire, Scotland, born November 26, 1875. At 
the age of six years he was brought to America by his parents, who settled 
in Canada during 1881 and later sent him to the public schools of that country. 
Ambitious to gain a broad educational opportunity that would prepare him for 
service in the world, he took a complete course of study in the classics at 
Westminster College in British Columbia, an institution affiliated with the 
famous Toronto University. After having graduated from that college he 
took up the study of medicine, which he prosecuted with the diligence char- 
acteristic of him in every department of mental research. During 1902 he 
was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at San Fran- 
cisco, and afterward he was engaged as assistant to A. W. Morton. M. D., 
in the Morton hospital, San Francisco. Meanwhile he had gained consid- 
erable added experience through service as house physician in the City and 
County hospital and as an assistant to the chair of medicine in the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons. Such advantages proved of inestimable assist- 
ance to him when he embarked in private practice and enabled him to 
diagnose diseases with promptness and accuracy. For five years he was 
surgeon at the Humboldt county general hospital in Eureka, where also he 
has given most able service as chief surgeon of the Union Labor hospital. So 
engrossed has he been in professional work that it would not be expected 
of him to give active participation to the fraternities, yet we find him 
prominent in the Orders of Elks, Eagles, Red Men and Knights of Pythias, 
while at the same time he is deeply interested in the work of the Humboldt 




^2^:^:?&^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 627 

Club and has aided its enterprises to the extent of his time and influence. By 
his marriage to ]\Iiss Josephine Pearson, a native of New Brunswick, he 
has two sons, Benjamin ]\Iaxwell, Jr., and Joseph W. Personally he is popu- 
lar in the community which his character and professional ability are helping 
to upbuild. A friend of the public schools, good roads movements and other 
w^ell known local projects, his residence in Eureka has tended to the widening 
of its prospects and the enhancing of its opportunities. 

ALBERT FELIX ETTER.— In the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland, 
where the Etter family originated, the science of horticulture has probably 
reached greater perfection than in any other spot on the earth. So it is safe 
to assume that heredity accounts for Mr. Etter's taste for his life work, par- 
ticularly as his parents, Benjamin and Wilhelmina (Kern) Etter, exhibited 
the same tendencies, though they made no attempt at scientific labors of the 
kind. However, the father was the first man in Humboldt county to grow 
lentils, and made a decided success of the venture. The mother was a nature 
lover and showed a gift in the cultivation of plants, and strong analytical 
and executive powers, which may well be cited as evidence that her talented 
son comes b}' his tastes and ability largely through the maternal line. Per- 
sonally he is too unassuming to claim anything he cannot prove for his work, 
and has such high ideals that he would disclaim any pretensions to fame. 
But when his accomplishments are summed up, and when time has proved 
their worth, it is safe to say that in his own line he will rank closely after 
such eminent horticulturists as Luther Burbank of California and N. E. 
Hanson of South Dakota — in fact, he is to Humboldt county what Burbank 
is to the world. Though yet a young man his experiments have ranged over 
a period of twenty-five years. The high order of his success coLild be 
attained only through the genius which must be accompanied by untiring 
industry, patience and adherence to a purpose until results crown the effort. 

"Study nature, not books," was the motto of the great naturalist, Louis 
Agassiz, and Air. Etter has endeavored to follow the advice of so distin- 
guished a leader in nature study. What he has done has brought him repu- 
tation as an authority, especially in the propagation of strawberries, but the 
great future of his work lies in its value to Humboldt county and the rest of 
northwestern California. Hitherto this region has not undergone the devel- 
opment as a fruit belt which his experiments are proving feasible. With 
the ever growing needs of the nation her soil must be more intensively culti- 
vated and w411 be as agriculturists recognize the advisability of making small 
tracts yield a:bundantly by concentrating their efforts rather than drawing 
small profits from large areas. The hundreds of trials which Mr. Etter has 
made with fruits, forage plants, grasses, clovers, etc., will influence the plant- 
ing of orchards and fields in this territory especially, having been made with 
the object of ascertaining what varieties thrive best here. Next to his joy 
in his work the scientist no doubt places its approval by his understanding 
colaborers, and then the appreciation of the public. Yet whether this comes 
in his lifetime or not the knowledge that he has done a real service makes all 
his efforts worth while. If this were not so, if he did not have this for his 
ultimate goal, his labors would not have the incentive which holds him until 
his object is attained, no matter what the obstacles which confront him. 

Albert F. Etter was born while the family lived in Eldorado county, 
near Shingle Springs postoflfice, November 27, 1872. Coming with his par-^ 



628 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ents to Humboldt county he remained at his father's home on the Eel river 
until twenty-two years old, meantime attending the public schools near home 
up to the age of fifteen years. From early boyhood he put in all his spare 
time at horticultural work, mastering grafting when a mere child, conduct- 
ing experiments in hybridizing and plant breeding from pure love of the 
game. He had done practical work at such things at the age of seven, with 
apples and peaches ; by the time he was twelve he had an excellent collection 
of dahlias and had begun breeding strawberries. Since he left school he has 
devoted himself to horticulture. The mere enumeration of his experiments 
would serve to illustrate how indefatigable he has been in his efforts to get 
at the varieties best adapted to this climate. Six hundred kinds — new and 
old — of apples (obtained mostly through the University of California) have 
been tried out by him, with the result that he has found the Northfield (origi- 
nated in Vermont several years ago), Rolfe, Ecklinville, Bedfordshire, Rein- 
ette, Annas and Kirkbridge to possess exceptional qualities of color, flavor 
and productiveness and well adapted for cultivation in northwestern Cali- 
fornia. As yet, these varieties are practically unknown in the horticultural 
world, and their introduction will mark a distinct advance. Of all these, he 
sees special merit in the Northfield, which he believes will prove as great a 
benefit to northwestern California among apples as the navel orange was to 
southern California among citrus fruits. It is large, attractive and hardy, 
and the tree has the additional superiority of holding its fruit and not drop- 
ping it on the ground before thoroughly ripe, a fault particularly noticeable 
in the Gravenstein. He has brought out a seedling of the Northfield which 
has all the good qualities of its parent. By his experiments he has demon- 
strated that the Northfield apple is immune to scab. The discovery of this 
fact is of great importance, opening as it does the possibilities of breeding a 
family of varieties circumventing one of the greatest obstacles to successful 
apple culture in many sections. It has been pronounced by one of the best 
food concerns as being the best apple for canning of all known varieties. 
Some ordinary varieties of apples, such as the Gravenstein, Wagner, Spitzen- 
burg, Hyde King and Roman Beauty, have also been found to thrive here. 

Over one hundred varieties of forage plants, grasses and clover have 
been included in Mr. Etter's experiments in that department,, in which he 
has kept in close touch with the activities of the United States department 
of agriculture. In this line his results have shown that the large white 
clovers of southern Europe are particularly well suited for the needs of the 
dairy section of Humboldt county, inasmuch as they have a large growth 
during the winter. 

At present he is conducting extensive experiments with nuts, mostly 
English walnuts, chestnuts and filberts, some of which grow so well here 
that they should find a place among the staple crops of the county. 

But it is as an expert authority on strawberries that Mr. Etter excels. 
In this field it is no exaggeration to say he is without a peer — a "plant 
wizard" whose achievements are bound to revolutionize many phases of the 
strawberry industry. The Ettersburg family of strawberries originated by 
him has distinctive characteristics never before attained in the production 
of strawberries. The perfection of the best varieties has been reached only 
through years of painstaking observation and practical demonstration at 
each step, a task whose magnitude may be guessed at when we are told that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 629 

besides working with all the leading old varieties he has created thousands 
of new hybrid varieties. These experiments have been conducted with 
various objects in view, multiplying the difficulties of the work in proportion 
to the results sought. But the new types are so far superior to the old, not 
only in quality but in abundant crop returns for labor expended, that it is 
only a question of time when they will entirely supersede their less thrifty 
aucestors. This family of strawberries has been created on a completely new 
fine of ideas, hence the great difference from the species generally found under 
cultivation. Cultivated varieties have been blended with wild stock of known 
superiority and embodying the qualities desired, among them two species 
classed as Fragaria chilensis, though widely different in type — the Peruvian 
Beach or Sand strawberry and the Cape Mendocino Beach strawberry, 
secured in varying types all the way down the Pacific coast from Cape 
Mendocino to Patagonia, South America. The sand dunes of this coast from 
Alaska to Patagonia have all contributed parent stock, and the regions around 
Cape Mendocino, Point Arena, Ano Nuevo (Cal.), Callao (Peru), and Chile 
and Patagonia, have been ransacked and given up their treasures to Mr. 
Etter, who has found the hardiness and vigor he sought in the plants of the 
cliffs and dunes, subject for countless generations to drouth, exposure to 
rains, changes of cold and heat, overcoming and surviving sterility of soil, 
alkaline conditions and adversities of all kinds. The Beach strawberries, 
although producing an exceptionally fine flavored fruit, are of such extreme 
hardiness that they exist and thrive when through privation and sterility all 
other plants fail to maintain themselves. The wood strawberry in varying 
types indigenous to the coast of California, and the wild Alpine strawberry 
from Europe, are other wild species he has crossed with cultivated plants, 
and the resultant new species in quality and quantity of fruit surpass any- 
thing heretofore known. 

Keeping in mind the various uses of berries for the market, Mr. Etter 
has now a number of established varieties evolved by infinite pains and 
judicious selection from all the kinds he created, each with its own merits, 
and though he does not hold out any promises which cannot be substantiated 
he is able to recommend all of them for cultivation in this climate. These 
include half-blood Beach berries, the Rose Ettersburg berry, five sister 
varieties which are one-quarter each Cape Mendocino Beach, Peruvian Beach, 
California wood and the ordinary type, and two recently perfected varieties — ■ 
Beaderarena and Trebla. The Beaderarena is a mixture of Point Arena and 
the Beaderwood, possessing all the characteristics of the foliage of the Beach 
types, a very distinctive and high quality, bearing large sized berries and 
exceedingly productive. But the Ettersburg Trebla is the marvel among all 
these. For flavor, color, firmness and size it is all that could be desired, and 
is so individual in appearance that unless seen could hardly be imagined 
even by a grower of ordinary types. Without irrigation a plant has produced 
three quarts of the choicest berries in six weeks' picking, twenty-five thou- 
sand quarts to the acre in a season. With irrigation this can be increased 
possibly to forty thousand quarts per acre, as the plants would be made to 
bear throughout the summer, under favorable conditions. 

The Ettersburg berries have a variety of flavor which has usually been 
considered impossible of attainment, and Mr. Etter regards some of his 



630 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

accomplishments in this respect as novelties which will be welcomed by 
some and of indifferent value to others who do not care for banana or cherry 
taste in berries. The Rose Ettersburg is particularly fragrant. All the 
varieties will thrive in soil more sterile than that required for ordinary 
strawberries, and some are particularly adapted for growth in clayey soils 
or other peculiar conditions. Their strong, leathery foliage helps to resist 
the heat and drouth, and the berries have been left on the vines for as much 
as ten days after ripening without spoiling. This length of life in warm • 
weather and under exposure to rain is a valuable quality indeed, as they may 
be left unpicked with no danger of loss, and the vines hold up well, keeping 
the fruit off the ground. Some kinds are very valuable for canning, as they 
may be cooked without loss of color and without breaking, while others are 
delicious dessert berries. All the product of the strawberry beds, fruit or 
stock, is packed under Mr. Etter's personal supervision. 

Dr. Bitting, in charge of the exhibit of the American Canners' Association 
in the Palace of Horticulture at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, after a care- 
ful examination of Ettersburg Strawberry No. 121 and the Ettersburg Trebla, 
has pronounced them varieties of the very highest merit for canning pur- 
poses, in fact being in a class by themselves. The No. 121 is a direct cross 
between two wild species, i. e.. Cape Mendocino Beach and the Wild Alpine 
species from Europe. It is so exceedingly hardy that it is perfectly capable 
of growing wild and producing immense crops of the finest of berries where 
ordinary vari'eties would not thrive to advantage even under careful cultiva- 
tion. This variety has been found capable of growing and thriving on soils 
heretofore considered almost worthless for any known agricultural purpose. 
It would even seem that the net revenue gained by the cultivation of this 
berry on this type of land would in a few years be sufficient to buy outright 
any acre of land devoted to agricultural purposes in the state. The above 
varieties have met a long-felt want by canners in supplying a berry with 
an indelible color which does not fade after the fruit is canned. 

The Ettersburg Trebla strawberry is such a radical breaking away from 
the hereditary type in structure and other characteristics of fruit that Mr. 
Etter sees in it the beginning of an entirely new and distinct type of straw- 
berry. These varieties will exceed all others in crispness, solidity, intense 
color and special characters necessary in the production of the highest class 
of prepared products such as canned, preserved, glaced, Marischino, etc. 

Though Mr. Etter has been self-taught in his life vocation, he has fol- 
lowed it along strictly scientific lines, learning by direct contact with his 
work rather than from books, yet despising nothing that the great teachers 
found worthy of record in their labors. His wonderful work has only begun 
to be appreciated, but the many who profit by its results will carry down 
the story of his service to mankind written in the book of nature. 

Mr. Etter is a member of the California Nurserymen's Association, of 
the American Pomological Society, and president of the Ettersburg Farm 
Center, one of the livest of all the branches of the Humboldt County Farm 
Bureau. His interest in the last. named, and his very effective efforts in the 
promotion of its welfare, are another proof of the unselfishness of his activi- 
ties, which have been the means of attracting widespread attention to this 
one-time neglected portion of northwestern California. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 631 

ETTER BROTHERS.— The bare fact that there is a settlement called 
Ettersburg in the Mattole river district six miles west of Briceland, in south- 
ern Humboldt county, where the Etter family have been settled for more 
than twenty years (although the representatives were located in the county 
since March, 1876), will indicate that its members have been active and 
respected citizens of their community. But it does not convey any adequate 
idea of what they have accomplished, either for themselves or for their chosen 
home. They are a numerous family, nine sons and one daughter of Benjamin 
Etter, the progenitor of all of the name in this region, still surviving — and all 
in Humboldt county. Each and every one has given such a good account 
of himself that the county has come to expect things of them as a matter 
of course. George B., Fred J., August A. and Albert F. Etter are in partner- 
ship under the firm name of Etter Brothers, whose operations are especially 
along the lines of fruit growing and evaporation, plant breeding and lumber- 
ing. For individual achievements and originality, particularly in the field of 
horticulture, Albert F. Etter is the most widely known, and his work is com- 
mented on in the personal article which appears in this volume. Flowever, 
he carried on his experiments primarily in the interest of the business of 
Etter Brothers, each of the four partners looking after that branch for which 
he is best adapted. Fifty of the eight hundred acres they own are in fruit, 
apples and strawberries, the rest being valuable timber and pasture land. 

Benjamin Etter, father of this most interesting family, was born and 
reared in Switzerland, where he learned the painter's trade. In young man- 
hood he came to the United States, the promised land of many a European 
emigrant, and for a few years lived in Missouri, where he farmed. He en- 
tered the United States service during the Mexican war and fought to its 
close. Returning to Missouri, he remained there until he came out to Cali- 
fornia in 1850, going up to Chicago, whence he started the overland journe}^ 
which ended in Siskiyou county, Cal. After mining in that section four 
years he went back to Chicago, in 1854, and thence again to Missouri, where 
he lived another ten years, from 1856 to 1866. During that period he was 
engaged in various pursuits, including farming. Meanwhile he married, his 
wife, Wilhelmina (Kern), being a native of Germany, brought to this country 
when one year old, and a resident of Missouri up to the time of her marriage 
and for several years thereafter. When Mr. and Mrs. Etter came with their 
family to California in 1866 they set out from Sainte Genevieve, Mo., for 
St. Louis, and proceeded via Chicago to New York City by railroad, Erie 
canal and the Hudson river. Arriving at Aspinwall (now Colon) they crossed 
the isthmus by rail to Panama, where they took passage on a steamship to 
San Francisco, continuing thence by steamboat to Sacramento, where the 
family stayed a few days, until the father could go to Eldorado county and 
buy a farm. They settled at Latrobe, that county, where Mr. Etter was 
occupied principally at farming, though he also mined. In March, 1876, he 
came up to Humboldt county with his father, and located on the Eel river, 
buying the tract of twenty acres where he resided ten years, then sold and 
purchased forty acres on Eel River Island, upon which he resided until his 
death, in 1889, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife outlived him many 
years, until 1913, reaching the age of seventy-eight. Of the thirteen children 
born to them two died young, and another at the age of nineteen years. The 
rest still survive : Louise, who is unmarried and lives with one of her broth- 



632 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ers ; Emil J. ; Henry J. ; George B. ; Fred J. ; Albert F. ; August A. ; Frank X. 
and Louis S., twins ; and Walter E. All reside at Ettersburg but Emil and 
Frank, who live in Upper Mattole. 

Emil J. Etter was born January 6, 1861, and lived at Sainte Genevieve, 
Mo., where his father had a farm, until his sixth year, when he accompanied 
his parents to California. He well remembers the various stops and incidents 
of the long journey. Though he was given public school advantages he 
began to work early, helping with the farm duties at home, and in his boy- 
hood he saw considerable of mining. Remaining with his father until twenty- 
four years old, he then rented a place, and after ten years or more came over 
to the Mattole district in 1896, settling on the property he has since occupied. 
It consists of four thousand acres, and he is engaged principally in raising 
cattle, making a specialty of grade Durhams. Ordinarily he keeps from one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred head. They are dual purpose cattle, and 
he does a considerable dairy business, owning an eighteen-inch Case sepa- 
rator, which he operates by gas power, having a gasoline engine of ten horse- 
power. For ten years he has also been doing threshing. He owns the 
Evarts ranch, which he bought, about five miles up from Petrolia, and 
operates that land as a stock ranch. On his home place he has a good family 
orchard, but has not attempted to raise any fruit intended for the market. 
Public affairs have interested him sufficiently to draw him into service as 
a school trustee, and he is a Democrat on political issues. In 1888 he mar- 
ried Miss Minnie Shallard, a native of Switzerland, who came to Humboldt 
county with her widowed mother when nine years old. Six children have 
been born to this marriage : Mary is the wife of Vernile Shinn, and mother 
of two children, Evelyn and Minnie (Mr. Shinn is proprietor of the Shinn 
resort on the Upper Mattole) ; Joseph, Gertrude, Charles, Benjamin and Ray- 
mond are at home. 

Frank X. Etter, another son of the late Benjamin Etter, is a cattleman 
in the Upper Mattole section, owning seven hundred acres of land. In 1904 
he married Miss Dora Hill, daughter of George R. Hill, and their family con- 
sists of four children : Alma, Donald, Keith and Francis. 

George B., Fred J., August A. and Albert F. Etter, the four sons of 
Benjamin Etter constituting the firm of Etter Brothers, about twenty years 
ago homesteaded land in the Upper Mattole river district west of Briceland, 
a mountainous portion of Humboldt county which by reason of its inaccessi- 
bility was long regarded as practically worthless. But they were young 
and had little capital ; that is, in money. Time has proved that their industry, 
perseverance and intelligence were all-sufficient for success ; and having 
made a fortune partly in occupations hitherto considered unprofitable here, 
they have demonstrated that this once unfruitful region is capable and 
worthy of cultivation and the production of first quality fruits in abundance, 
there being no finer strawberries in the market today than those developed 
and propagated at the Etter experiment grounds. Forty acres of the eight 
hundred now owned by Etter Brothers are planted with choice varieties of 
apples. Ten acres are in strawberries, to which more attention is devoted 
in the sketch of Albert F. Etter, who has charge of the horticultural work. 
The rest is in pasture and timber lands, the latter including large groves of 
tanbark oak, most of which they are conserving for future exploitation, and 
fir from which they obtain a valuable output of lumber. The economy and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 633 

thrift of their old world blood and training have combined with iVmerican 
push to produce prosperous conditions in the midst of a once unpromising 
territory. With characteristic thoroughness they have provided all the 
essentials for the conduct of their diversified operations, right on the grounds, 
facilitating and condensing the work by eliminating unnecessary handling 
with its consequent delays, and preparing the way for further developments 
as they become feasible. Thus they have erected a steam sawmill with 
machinery large enough to saw logs four feet in diameter, and have a plan- 
ing mill in connection, and they have turned out splendid dimension lumber 
for bridge building and other equally important uses on contract. All the 
boards and other lumber they have required for the construction of their own 
dwelling houses, barns, evaporating plant, and the other structures which 
have sprung up on their property as occasion necessitated or expansion justi- 
fied, have been made in their own mills. 

Probably the most notable work done on this place, in view of its 
relation to progress and importance from the horticultural standpoint, is in 
the breeding of plants, Albert F. Etter having supervision of this depart- 
ment. His work in the propagation of strawberries, the production of new 
varieties and experiments with those of established merit, will no doubt 
secure his name a permanent place in the history of fruit culture ; but it will 
not rank far ahead of his achievements with apples, forage plants, grasses 
and clover, and when Humboldt county and all northern California are ready 
to do more in the way of intensive agriculture, as they must to keep up with 
growing needs, their best orchards will be the result of his years of investiga- 
tion and experimentation. The Etter Brothers have put up a large evaporat- 
ing plant, at present devoted entirely to handling the product of their forty 
acres of apple trees — another instance of commendable foresight which is 
typical of all their work. The choicest ripe apples are treated by an improved 
system of drying known as the "Like Fresh" process, and the brand of dried 
fruit produced is superb. 

The talents of each of the four brothers associated as Etter Brothers 
are employed in the line for which he is -specially fitted by experience and 
natural endowment. August A. and George B. Etter look after the stock 
and horses, transportation and farm work. Albert F. Etter conducts the 
evaporating plant and cannery, and superintends the horticultural depart- 
ment. Fred J. Etter is particularly clever as a machinist and superintends 
the sawmills and responsibilities of that nature. The youngest brother, 
Walter, though not formally a member of the firm, is identified with its 
operations, being a capable engineer and mechanic, helping to run the engines 
and saws, blacksmith shop, donkey engine, etc. In fact, all the members of 
the family cooperate harmoniously, though the five outside of the firm con- 
duct their farms individually. The holdings of the nine brothers in the 
Mattole valley aggregate over eighty-seven hundred acres. 

THOMAS VANCE.— It is a far cry from Maine to California, but such 
was the call that brought Mv. ^'^ance to the far west over forty-seven years 
ago. His earliest recollections, however, are of a home in Nova Scotia, his 
birth having occurred there, in Colchester county, October 23, 1828. Nova 
Scotia was also the birthplace of his father, John Vance, who passed the 
greater part of his life as a farmer in that country, his earth life coming to 
a close when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Of the 



634 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

parental family of ten children Thomas Vance was the youngest and is the 
only one living. As his father was a farmer it is but natural that he should 
also become familiar with the calling, and indeed this early training became 
the ground work of his success in the same line in after years. In the schools 
adjacent to his boyhood home he received his educational training, which, 
with his experience on the home farm, constituted his equipment for the duties 
of life that lay before him. 

When he started out to make his own way in the world farming appealed 
to Mr. Vance very strongly, in the first place because it was the only thing 
with which he was familiar, and in the second place because it was the only 
thing that offered at the time he most needed it. Thus it followed that he 
continued farming in Nova Scotia until 1865, that year marking his removal 
to Maine. In Aroostook county he settled upon a farm which he purchased 
and continued to make his home until the attractions of California co"uld no 
longer be resisted. March 17, 1868, marks the day on which he left the 
Pine Tree state, and his residence in Eureka, Cal., dates from May 15 of the 
same year. More fortunate than many who have made this cross-country 
journey he was met by a relative, his brother John having preceded him to 
the west and become established in business. As proprietor of a sawmill 
he was doing a good business and was able to give the younger brother em- 
ployment. As soon as the latter became familiar with the business he was 
placed in charge of the mill and for over twenty years he continued in this 
capacity. At the end of this time he gave up active business life altogether 
and has since lived retired in Eureka, now making his home at No. 635 
Fifteenth street, with his daughter, Mrs. McCullough. 

In Nova Scotia Mr. Vance was united in marriage with Elizabeth Miller, 
a native of that country, who died in Eureka August 5, 1913. Six children 
were born of this marriage and of them we mention the following: John 
died when four years old ; Mary Jane died when two years of age ; James E. 
was accidentally drowned in Humboldt bay ; Cassie, Mrs. Jenson, passed away 
in Eureka ; William died in July, 1913 ; and Annie Belle, Mrs. McCullough, 
with whom Mr. Vance makes his home, is the only living child. In the loss 
of wife and children Mr. Vance has indeed suffered deeply, but his later 
years are being filled with all of the joy and comfort that it is possible for 
his only remaining daughter to bestow. In his religious faith Mr. Vance 
believes in the tenets of the Presbyterian denomination, and in his political 
belief he is a Republican. 

A. L. FRITZ. — There is no industry that has done more to bring Hum- 
boldt county to the front than dairying, a business that has been completely 
revolutionized in methods since it was started in the county. Where formerly 
the milk was skimmed from pans and churned by hand, it now passes through 
power separators and churns, or is otherwise manufactured into condensed, 
evaporated or powdered milk, thus placing milk upon the market in various 
forms. When he came to Humboldt county Mr. Fritz brought with him valu- 
able experience in the dairy business gained in the east, and this has con- 
tributed in no small degree to the success which he has enjoyed throughout 
his career in the west. 

On his father's side, A. L. Fritz, of Loleta, comes from an old Pennsyl- 
vania family of German descent, while his mother was a member of a Southern" 
family of English ancestry. Both parents are still living on the home farm- 




(^. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 637 

at Lexington, N. C, where Mr. Fritz was born in 1877, his parents being 
William and Jane (Grimes) Fritz. Of the family of eight children, A. L. Fritz 
Is the fourth oldest, and received his education in the public schools of his 
home, after which he was apprenticed to the machinist trade for the usual 
term of training, removing in 1897 to Sheridan, Ind., at which place com- 
menced his association wnth the condensed milk industry, in which he has 
been interested continuously since that time. His first connection with the 
business was as engineer at the Indiana Condensed Milk Plant, where he 
learned the manufacture of the product in all details and in 1899 was placed 
in charge of the plant. It was a new industry and ^^Ir. Fritz took up the 
experimental part of the business from the start with practical energy and 
ability, being later sent by the company to Ontario, Wayne county, N. Y., to 
install a condensed milk plant at that place, and likewise one at Lexington, 
Ohio, spending in all five years with the compam^. After severing his con- 
nection with them and spending a couple of years in hunting and fishing in 
the northwest, Mr. Fritz was employed by the American Milk Products Com- 
pany of Chicago, as manager of the Illinois plant of that corporation, which 
he rebuilt and changed from a creamery to a condensed milk plant, continuing 
there as manager when the company became one of the plants of Libby, 
McNeill & Libby. After having spent five years in this work, Mr. Fritz was 
transferred to Union, 111., to become manager of the company's plant at that 
place, where he remained for a period of eighteen months, being then trans- 
ferred to the plant at Loleta, Cal., as manager. This branch was established 
many years ago, but in 1909 Libby, McNeill & Libby took it over, added to 
and enlarged it and brought it up to its present high standard as a large 
and extensive establishment, manufacturing all kinds of condensed milk, in- 
cludmg evaporated milk, with a combined capacity of about five hundred 
cases per day; of powdered milk about three thousand pounds are manufac- 
tured per day ; and butter about two tons a day, the milk being obtained in 
large part from the lower part of the Eel river valle)'-, stations for collecting 
the same being located at Newburg and Ferndale. The plant employs about 
fifty people, and much of its product is shipped to the islands of the Pacific 
coast by way of San Francisco. 

Though much of his time is of necessity taken up by his business re- 
sponsibilities and the furthering of the interests of the company wdth which he 
is associated, Mr. Fritz yet finds time for the enjoyment of fraternal interests, 
he having been made a Mason in Orion Lodge No. 358, at Union, 111. 

HARRISON MAVEL MERCER.— From the time of his arrival in 
Eureka in 1873 until his death, November 10, 1909, Mr. Mercer was an im- 
portant factor in the business history of the town, keeping constantly in 
touch with its progress, witnessing its growth in man}^ directions and recog- 
nizing its needs in others. Prior to removing to the Pacific coast he had 
lived in Maine, where he was born in Calais and where during young man- 
hood he had engaged in lumbering in the woods extending back from the St. 
Croix river. Throughout the entire period of his residence in Eureka he 
gave his attention almost wholly to contracting and building, in which he 
gained an accuracy, expertness and efficiency that gave permanence to all of 
his work and satisfaction to all of his customers. After he had been asso- 
ciated with j\Iessrs. James Simpson and Close successively in the taking 
of contracts, he founded the Mercer-Hodgson Construction Company and 



638 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

later organized the Mercer-Frazer Construction Company, both of which 
were leading agencies in the material upbuilding of Northwestern California. 
Many of the most substantial homes and stores were erected under his super- 
vision, but that by no means represented the extent of his contracts. Be- 
sides erecting the Electric Light building and remodeling the Sequoia hos- 
pital, he built many of the wharves on the water front, did the construction 
work on the jetty on Humboldt bar and had numerous contracts for bridges 
and tunnels as well as track-laying on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. 
The nature of his work attested his skill. Every contract was given his close 
personal supervision and unskilled, unreliable work was never permitted. 
Therefore he was a force for durable construction work and a factor in the 
permanent upbuilding of the county. 

A sincere faith in the future of Humboldt county led Mr. Mercer to 
take an active interest in the Eureka Chamber of Commerce and the Hum- 
boldt Club, while his interest in the fraternities caused him to assist in the 
organization of the local lodges of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. 
Because of being a charter member, his interest in these two fraternities was 
particularly keen. He served four years as a supervisor of Humboldt county 
and filled the position faithfully and well. While never a partisan in politics, 
he kept well posted concerning matters pertaining to the welfare of our 
country and the prosperity of the nation. A representative of the best in 
American citizenship, he lived up to a high ideal in public and private life 
and made his influence felt throughout the community for its moral uplift. 
Twice married, the death of his first wife left him with two children. John 
and Maude, the latter now Mrs. Fairfield, of Oakland. The son married 
Mabel Zane, of Eureka, and is a business man of this city. The second mar- 
riage of Mr. Mercer united him with Clara L. Finch, a native of Fort Atkin- 
son, Wis., and a member of a family that had charge of the erection of many 
handsome residences in Milwaukee during early days. Her father, Charles 
B. Finch, a veteran of a Wisconsin regiment in the Civil war and a member 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, came to California in 1875 and settled 
in Humboldt county. Although a carpenter by trade, he took up agricul- 
tural pursuits in the west and for many years farmed near Eureka, where he 
died in 1910. 

The only child of the union of Mr. Mercer and Clara L. Finch was a 
son, Clarence M., born at Eureka on the 22d of February, 1882, and primarily 
educated in the Eureka schools. After he was graduated from the Healds- 
burg high school he matriculated in the Jefferson INIedical College of Phila- 
delphia, where he took the complete course of lectures and was graduated 
with an excellent standing. During 1913 he went to New York to have the 
advantages of a post-graduate hospital course in that city. After beginning 
to practice the medical profession in Eureka he established domestic ties in 
1909, through his marriage to Miss Grace Richmond, a native of Ohio. Be- 
sides his private practice he acts as physician to Sequoia hospital at Eureka 
and already is being recognized as a talented young physician whose future 
holds out promise of professional success. The Humboldt Club has his 
name enrolled on its membership list and he is also connected with the 
Loyal Order of Moose. 

WILLIAM EDWARD MICHEL.— A thoroughly competent man and 
one who enjoys the entire confidence of his employer, employes and patrons 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 639 

is W. E. Michel, who is in charge of the Uvestock and packing house interests 
of the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, Cal. There is not one of his 
customers who would not gladly deal with him again. He is the buyer of 
all the cattle, hogs and sheep to supply the four stores and to feed the army 
of about three thousand workers connected with the great Pacific Lumber 
Company. 

Mr. Michel comes from some of the leading American families. His 
father, Dr. William M. Michel, whose native state was Virginia, was a 
nephew of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army. The Johnston 
family was one of the "F. F. V.'s" ; the well-known writer, Mary Johnston, 
author of "To Have and To Hold" and other novels, is a member of this 
family. Mr. Michel's branch of the Michel family is traced back to King 
Robert Bruce of Scotland. His father served several years as a surgeon in 
the Southern army, and .after the close of the Civil war as surgeon in the 
government navy. .Later he came to Humboldt county, Cal., and was con- 
nected with the Round Valley (Mendocino county) and the Hoopa (Hum- 
boldt county) Indian Reservations. At the close of his term of service as 
doctor at the Hoopa Reservation, he moved to Ferndale, Cal., where he 
engaged in the general practice of medicine and also ran a drug store for 
several years. He was accidentally killed by the breaking of a banister rail- 
ing at a ball game in Ferndale, dying several weeks later from the effect 
of the accident. The mother of Mr. Michel was formerly Miss Lucy Dennis, 
a native of Virginia. She is now living with her daughter, Mrs. R. D. Porter, 
at No. 1628 E street. Eureka. 

The parents of Mr. Michel had six children, four daughters and two 
sons. The eldest, Maynard H., is state sheep inspector and resides at 
Rohnerville, Cal.; Genevieve is the wife of William Smiley, a rancher and 
dairyman of Carlotta; Elizabeth is now the wife of R. D. Porter, manager 
of the Robert Porter estate and director of the Bank of Eureka; Marian is 
the widow of Ellis Roberts and resides at No. 1628 E street, Eureka; Lucy 
is the wife of Hon. John W. McClellan, of Bridgeville, proprietor of the 
Casa Loma Ranch (see his sketch) ; William Edward, the youngest of the 
children, was born in Mendocino county, August 6, 1880. 

As a boy Mr. Michel had to work hard. At the age of fifteen he started 
in the meat market business at Ferndale with Payne & Beck, and has been 
in the meat market and stock business ever since, ten years in Ferndale and 
two in San Francisco. His association with the Pacific Lumber Company 
dates from the year 1907, when he was engaged to take charge of their 
packing plant. He and Alexander Lamb, Jr., worked together in devising 
plans for the packing house and refrigerating plant which the company 
adopted and which are still in use and regarded as one of the most satisfac- 
tory systems known to date. In 1910 Mr. Michel was put in charge and ever 
since has been at the head of the livestock and packing house department. 
He has made a special study of the animal and meat industry in all its 
phases, breeding, feeding, buying and selling, slaughtering, refrigerating, 
cutting, making lard, sausages, salt pork and other meats, curing, smoking, 
retaining, etc. It is an unfailing rule with him never to kill for use any 
animal unless it is free from disease and in good order, and he inspects all 
animals intended for the block while on hoof. 

The Pacific Lumber Company kills enough hogs to provide all the lard 



640 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

consumed and handled by the Eel River Mercantile Company at its four 
stores located at Scotia, Dyerville, Shively and Field's Landing. Besides 
this, the company keeps on its cut-over lands about eight hundred head of 
stockers and feeders. They have six thoroughbred Hereford bulls vi^hich 
they use for breeding purposes, raising approximately two hundred head 
every year, and they kill tvi^elve hundred annually. 

It is almost beyond belief that there are but tvi^enty-two horses employed 
by this gigantic lumber concern ; yet this is true. Steam machinery is in- 
stalled for logging, loading and transporting the logs, and gigantic cranes 
and monorails handle the sawed lumber in units of about two thousand feet 
each. The horses are used mainly to haul building material to places where 
the company is building residences for its employes, and erecting other 
necessary structures. 

AVhile a youth at Hoopa Indian Reservation Mr. Michel became con- 
vinced that Humboldt county held great deposits of gold-bearing quartz, 
sulphuret of gold and iron, and at the present time he is largely interested as 
a stockholder in the Red Cap Mining and Development Company of Hum- 
boldt county. He has studied the mineral wealth of this county and has the 
utmost faith in its resources along this line, especiall}'' in the gold at Orleans 
Bar. 

Mr. Michel was married in 1902 to Miss Adah Davis, daughter of Frank 
Davis of Rohnerville, a pioneer of Humboldt county. He is a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ferndale, and Myrtle Encampment 
at Ferndale ; is a member of the Weeott Tribe No. 147, I. O. R. M., at Scotia, 
being past sachem of the tribe ; also Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. 

FERNDALE BANK. — The history of this reliable and conservative 
banking institution dates back to March of 1893, when it was organized with 
a capital of $25,000 and the following officers: Adam Putnam, president; 
William N. Russ, vice-president; and J. H. Trost, cashier. Later E. P. Nisson 
became the vice-president and in July of 1905 F. N. Rasmussen was elected 
to the office of cashier. The officers of 1914 are as follows : Adam Putnam, 
president ; E. P. Nisson, vice-president ; and F. N. Rasmussen, cashier. The 
three officers together with the following, other stockholders serve as directors 
of the concern : J. H. Ring, F. G. Williams, J. A. Shaw, P. J. Peterson, W. N. 
Russ and P. Calanchini. The growth of the bank has been healthy, dividends 
have been paid with unfailing regularity, a.nd now the capital and surplus 
aggregate more than $100,000. After nineteen years of occupancy of quarters 
not especially designed for modern banking purposes, in July of 1912 the 
institution moved its headquarters into the attractive and substantial new 
building of re-enforced concrete with white tile trimmings, with interior 
equipment of the most approved and modern type, now occupied by the bank 
and used exclusively for banking purposes. For twenty years the institution 
was strictly commercial, but in January, 1913, a savings department was 
added and this has since become a very important accessory of the main 
institution. 

DAVID PAGE CUTTEN.— The Cutten family was established in 
Humboldt county during the early '50s by R. D. Cutten, who for many years 
had many interests in connection with the timber industry and not only 
operated sawmills and shingle mills near Eureka, but for a time also owned 
an important ship-building business, continuing indeed until his death as one 




Mo^ (PjJZm ai^Ui^ (hZt^Lo 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 643 

of the well-known lumbermen of his adopted community. Six children 
formed his family, namely : David P., Avho was born in Colchester county, 
Nova Scotia, August 7, 1850, and joined his father at Eureka in 1868; Edward 
L., William F., Mrs. Thomas McDonald, Mrs. J. S. Murray and Mrs. Sophia 
B. Gardner, the latter deceased. Coming to this section of the country at 
the age of eighteen, David Page Cutten has remained here ever since, mean- 
while having large interests in a number of the industries connected with local 
advancement. For fifteen years he was employed by the John Vance Lum- 
ber Company in a clerical capacity and as private secretary, besides acting 
for a time as superintendent of the interests of Mr. Vance on Mad river. In 
valuation of timber land he came to be recognized as an expert and authority. 
For this reason David Evans of the California Redwood Company engaged 
him to- buy large tracts of timber land, depending upon his judgment as to 
the proper price for the same. In addition he bought timber land for the 
Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company. 

As one of the organizers of the Redwood Land and Investment Company 
and as its secretary Mr. Cutten engaged in the buying and selling of timber 
lands, utilizing for the benefit of the concern his exceptional ability in judg- 
ing valuations. While filling the office of secretary of the board of harbor 
commissioners he originated a system of keeping records of exports and im- 
ports and prepared the first report concerning the same for the consideration 
of the board. The first successful system ever compiled by the board may 
be attributed to his intelligent mastery of the subject of imports and exports. 
The Samoa Company comprised a party of local men, himself included in 
the number, who bought six thousand feet of water front and two hundred 
forty acres of land occupying the present site of Samoa as .well as the country 
adjacent thereto. The company subdivided some of the tract and sold a 
large number of lots, but later the Hammond Lumber Company purchased 
the entire property. Another important local enterprise of Mr. Cutten was 
the organization and promotion of the Dutch Colony, owners of one thousand 
acres at Fruitland, with one hundred sixty acres of the tract planted- to 
prunes, apples, grapes and peaches. A school was built on the land and 
other improvements made necessary to the permanent well-being of settlers. 
Besides other local associations Mr. Cutten has engaged extensively in the 
buying and selling of real estate and has handled many large transfers of 
property. Fraternally he belongs to the Eureka Lodge of Elks. Some years 
after coming to Humboldt county he married Miss Catherine McGraw, daugh- 
ter of Hugh McGraw, an honored pioneer who assisted in locating and lay- 
ing out the town of Eureka in a very early day. Mr. and Mrs. Cutten are 
the parents of three children, namely : Charles Pryde, ex-state senator from 
Humboldt county and now attorney for the Pacific Gas & Electric Light 
Company in San Francisco; Ivy M., wife of B. F. Porter, Jr.; and David 
Page, Jr. 

FRANK PETERS.— From the Azores Islands Mr. Peters has come 
to make his home in Humboldt county, Cal., of which state he has been a 
resident since the year 1874, never having regretted the change. Coming to 
this country with almost nothing, in a financial way, he has made for himself 
a comfortable fortune, and is an enterprising, liberal man, well liked in the 
vicinity where he resides, and blessed with an able helpmeet who has been 
an encouragement and assistance to him all along. 



644 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Born in Manadas, Isle of St. George, in the Azores, December 4, 1851, 
Mr. Peters was the son of John and Marie C. Peters, likewise natives of 
Manadas, where the father was an attorney, both parents now being deceased. 
Frank was one of nine children, and the oldest of the family, of whom four 
have come to Humboldt county. John and William, both dairymen, died in 
this county, and Antone now resides in Ferndale. Mr. Peters was educated 
in the public schools at his home, remaining in that country until 1871, when 
he removed to Boston, Mass., securing employment near there in farming 
and dairying until 1874, when, having heard and read good reports of Hum- 
boldt county, he determined to try his fortune upon the Pacific coast. He 
was joined by two brothers, William and John, and together they came to 
San Francisco, a journey of fourteen days, arriving there on April 24, 1874. 
Thence they made a three days' trip on the steamer Pelican to Eureka, in 
Humboldt county, and from there came by a six-horse stage to Ferndale, 
which consumed an entire day. Mr. Peters' first employment in this state 
was at Peter Nissen's Whatcheer ranch on Bear River ridge, which he 
reached by a long journey afoot by the Wildcat trail, carrying his valise with 
him. After working for Mr. Nissen one season he was employed by D. A. 
Spear for eighteen months, after which he came to Ferndale with his two 
brothers, who had also been working on Bear River ridge. They engaged 
in digging potatoes at ten cents a sack, but in the same fall the three brothers 
purchased forty acres of wild land on Coffee creek, paying $600 cash for it, 
building thereon a cabin and barn. There they remained two winters, during 
the first winter hunting rabbits, duck and quail, Mr. Peters to this day well 
remembering the easy and carefree life they led, the hunting providing for 
them plenty of good hearty food. Improving their ranch, they started a small 
dairy, John being left in charge while William worked out during the busy 
seasons, during which time Mr. Peters was employed two years on the 
dairy ranch of Nat Hurlbutt and five years in the same occupation with 
others. A period of seven years was spent by him as a woodsman around 
Eureka in the employ of the Occidental Lumber Company under John Vance 
and Herman Doe. Then, determining to engage in the dairy business on 
his own account, in the autumn of 1888 Mr. Peters leased the O'Dell ranch 
at Capetown, consisting of four hundred fifteen acres, where he conducted 
a dairy of sixty-six cows, and a year later bought the place, making valuable 
improvements in the buildings and manufacturing butter for the San Fran- 
cisco market, continuing there in dairying and stock raising with notable 
success. In the latter part of the year 1911 he rented his ranch to others 
and retired from active business, purchasing a residence and three acres of 
property in Ferndale, where he now lives in the enjoyment of his retirement 
after a very energetic and industrious career. 

The marriage of Frank Peters took place in Eureka, Cal, November 7, 
1888, uniting him with Miss Mary Ruther, who was born in Texas, the 
daughter of Anthony and Mary Ruther. The Ruther family came to Napa 
county, Cal., via Panama, in 1860, remaining three years ; in the fall of 1863 
coming to Humboldt county on the old sailing vessel j\Ietropolis, and made 
a twenty-four days' journey to Eureka from San Francisco; and the father 
then engaged in dairying at Cape Mendocino, and was later proprietor of 
the Ocean House, and tTie following year manager of the Centerville House. 
He then purchased a ranch on Coffee creek, where his wife died some years 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 645 

afterward, after which he sold his ranch and spent his time traveling. The 
daughter (Mrs. Peters) received her education in the public schools, and is 
now the mother of one son, Fred Peters. For many years Mr. Peters was 
trustee of the Capetown school district, and the fraternal associations with 
which he is connected are as follows : The Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , L O. 
O. F. ; the Veteran Odd Fellows Association, both in Eureka, and Humboldt 
Camp No. 228, W. O. W., Ferndale. 

PATRICK KEATING.— A brief sojourn in Eureka as early as 1887 gave 
Mr. Keating a very favorable opinion concerning this section of country and 
he employed the period of his residence in Humboldt count}^ in the building 
of houses not only at Eureka, but also at outside towns, particularly in Fern- 
dale. Prior to and after that year's sojourn in California he made his home 
in Canada, where he was born at Georgetown, Ontario, in December of 1853, 
and where, on the completion of a common school education, at the age of 
seventeen years he took up the trade of a carpenter. That occupation he 
learned in all of its details, acquiring such skill that he was able to secure 
steady work in his home town, a small place, with only a small amount of 
building in process of construction. With the exception of the early and 
brief period of employment in California he remained in Ontario, principally 
at Seaforth, until 1901, steadily following the business of a builder and 
officiating for three years as a member of the city council of Seaforth. While 
living in Canada he was united in marriage with Miss Julia Fitzgerald, a 
native of County Perth, Ontario, and two children, Joseph and Genevieve, 
were born of the union. The family are of the Catholic faith and Mr. Keating 
has been identified with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. Another 
fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, also has enlisted his sup- 
port and co-operation. 

A goodly number of substantial buildings indicates the character of the 
work done by Mr. Keating since he came to Eureka the second time. Besides 
many cottages in Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna and Loleta, he had the con- 
tracts for the Lincoln school in Eureka, St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church, 
the John Ryan flats and four hovises for E. D. Tobin. Among the residences 
he has built are those of C. D. and J. F. Daly, A. B. Adams, E. F. Reese, J. 
Nelhs, George Molloy, B. Call and B. Callaghan, besides numerous others. 
A careful workman, skilled carpenter and honorable business man, he is one 
of our fine types of Canadian-Californians and is counted among the reliable 
citizens of Eureka. 

FRED BAUMGARTNER.—Throughout the entire period of his resi- 
dence in this country Mr. Baumgartner has followed the trade of a butcher 
and is now one of the proprietors of the Hurlbutt Market in Eureka. Switz- 
erland is his native republic, and he was born at Engi, Canton Glarus, October 
11, 1857. He received his education in the public schools of his native 
country, and is regarded by associates as a well-informed man of afl:airs. 

In March, 1881, Mr. Baumgartner came to the United States, going 
direct to Milwaukee, Wis., and the year following to Stillwater, Minn., where 
he learned the butcher business. After following his trade there for eight 
years he came to California in 1890, and here he has since engaged at his 
trade, first in San Jose for one year, and since 1891 in Eureka, Humboldt 
county. From 1891 to 1893 he was employed with W. S. Clark, having charge 
of his slaughter house on Elk river, and afterwards he held a similar position 



646 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

with Frank Hurlbutt, from whom, at the expiration of eight years as a 
salaried employe, he bought the market in partnership with J. J. Weiss. Since 
that time he and his partner have devoted their attention to the management 
of the market, the sale of their product and the supervision of the slaughter 
house which they own on Elk river. About nine years ago they built a new 
slaughter house on Elk river, in which the most sanitary modern equipment 
is carried in the interests of the market. While Mr. Baumgartner is kept very 
busily engaged in the management of his department of the business he 
found time during the summer of 1913 to take his wife, Mrs. Marie (Luch- 
singer) Baumgartner, also a native of Switzerland, back to their old home, 
and together they revisited the scenes familiar to their early memories and 
enjoyed several months of pleasurable reunions with the friends of olden 
days. Their sons, Fredrich John and Hilarius, had remained in Humboldt 
county during their absence, and when the parents returned to their family, 
their home and their western friends, it was with the opinion that California 
excels other sections of the world as a place of residence and a center for 
business enterprises. 

LANGFORD BROTHERS.— The ancient and potent laws of heredity, 
environment and training have made Thomas and George Langford luminous 
exponents of the principles of integrity and honor and have emphasized the 
dignity of labor, for these brothers, inheritors of the sturdy traits of the 
English race, as proprietors of the Eureka boiler works, doing business under 
the corporate name of Langford Brothers, are very practical industrial work- 
ers who learned boiler-making as a trade and personally superintend the 
filling of every order received at their plant. While giving due attention 
to the executive department of the business, with Thomas as president and 
George as secretary of the corporation, they give so much of their time to 
personally superintending the manufacture of boilers and tanks and to the 
filling of orders for sheet iron work that nothing leaves the plant until it has 
passed the most searching inspection and is known to be sound. The product 
is the best that skilled labor, good material and intelligent oversight can 
turn out. The reputation of the company for a high class of finished product 
has double-riveted their prosperity on Humboldt bay and has brought them 
no little outside business, the territory of their orders extending from Port- 
land, Ore., on the north to San Diego on the south. 

Though born in Wales, Thomas Langford was the son of English parents, 
his birth occurring March 17, 1851, and his education was received in Wales 
and England. He came to the United States in 1868, taking up the trade of 
a boiler-maker with the Dixon Manufacturing Company and continued with 
them five or six years. When he came to California in 1874 he secured em- 
ployment in the repair shops of the Central Pacific Railroad at Sacramento, 
from which city the company transferred him to West Oakland, there to 
repair the ferry boats operated by the railroad. Later the company sent him 
to Nevada and kept him for a time in the Wadsworth repair shops. On re- 
turning to Oakland he opened a cigar store and conducted the business for 
three years, after which he had charge of the Heald boiler works at Vallejo 
and also engaged in the manufacture of threshing machines. A later con- 
nection with the Baker & Plamilton Company gave him the supervision of 
their boiler works at Benicia. During 1885 he came to Eureka with his 
brother George, whose life history has been much the same as his own, except 




%^^ C?Mt^L<^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 649 

that he had remained longer with the Central Pacific Railroad in Sacramento, 
coming direct from that city to Eureka and joining in the purchase of the 
Rose boiler works at the foot of E street. Under their skilled oversight and 
personal direction of every job, the business grew and expanded until larger 
quarters were needed. During 1903 they removed to the foot of T street on 
the bay front, where they own a large fireproof corrugated iron building and 
give employment to fifteen or twenty men in the manufacture of boilers and 
tanks and in similar lines of manufacture. 

Personally the brothers stand high in the community as progressive, 
hardworking and capable business men, who take a praiseworthy, but not 
obtrusive, interest in public affairs and in all that tends to promote the 
permanent welfare of their city and county. Both are members of the Odd 
Fellows, Masons and Knight Templars. For some years George has been 
a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Eureka. By 
his marriage to Mamie Harrington, of Sacramento, he is the father of a 
daughter and son, namely: Mrs. Ethel Essig, of Berkeley; and George, Jr., 
a graduate of the State Agricultural College at Davis. Through his marriage 
to Susanna Jones, now deceased, Thomas Langford is the father of one son, 
Leslie. The brothers are thoroughly awake to the civic needs of Eureka 
and lend their aid to any enterprise tending toward the development of public 
interests. 

JOHN PLITSCH. — Among the ranchers of northern Humboldt county, 
Cal., none holds a higher place than John Plitsch, a pioneer in that district, 
who located upon his claim in the early days of the county, when there M-as 
not even a wagon road through the new land, the settlers traversing it by 
means of a trail, packing their goods on horseback and either fording or swim- 
ming the Big Lagoon. Mr. Plitsch is a splendid man, an upbuilder and improver 
of the country, liberal and enterprising, a person in whose praise too much 
cannot be said, as is proved by the success which he has had since start- 
ing out for himself in the New World. 

A native of Cologne, in the province of Rhein, Germany, Mr. Plitsch was 
born November 11, 1862, the son of John Plitsch, a farmer and merchant in 
that province. The son John was brought up on the farm and received his 
education in the public schools, after which he assisted in his father's store 
and on his farm until reaching the age of fifteen years, in the spring of 1878, 
at which time he made the journey to New York City, remaining there about 
two years. In 1880 he came to California via the Isthmus of Panama, and 
in San Francisco he was employed for a time in a meat market, in 1881 remov- 
ing to Trinidad, in Humboldt county, where he was employed in Hooper's 
sawmill for two years. When he had saved about $800, Mr. Plitsch pur- 
chased one hundred sixty acres on the hill at Stone Lagoon, where he engaged 
in ranching and stock raising, two years later selling the place at a good profit. 
He then bought two hundred acres in the valley at Stone Lagoon, which he 
still owns, and this he has improved and brought to a high state of cultivation, 
converting it into a dairy farm well stocked with high grade milch cows, as 
well as engaging in stock raising. After getting the ranch well started, he 
rented the dairy and herd, and for ten years has been giving his time to the 
work of road overseer of six miles of road in District No. 5. Successful in 
this as in his dairy enterprise, he keeps up his division in good shape and 
holds the high esteem of all who know him. In his political interests he is a 



65G ■ HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Republican of the Progressive type, and his religious associations are with the 
Lutheran Church. 

Mr. putsch has been twice married, his first wife having been Miss Nellie 
Foss, a native of Humboldt county and the daughter of J. B. Foss, a pioneer 
-of that county. By this marriage Mr. Plitsch became the father of one child, 
Alice, who died at the age of twelve years. His second marriage, which 
occurred in Eureka, Cal., united him with Mrs. Viola (Warner) King, who 
was born in Josephine county, Ore., the daughter of John and Hattie (Butler) 
Warner, natives of New York and Pike county, 111. ; they became pioneers 
of southern Oregon, crossing the plains with ox-teams in the '50s. Mr. 
and Mrs. Plitsch had two sons, both of whom died in infancy. The two 
daughters of Mrs. Plitsch by her first marriage are both living in California, 
Alva, now Mrs. Alexander Tucker, residing at Stone Lagoon, and Ruth making 
her home with Mr. and Mrs. Plitsch. 

HENRY B. HITCHINGS.— The probation officer of Humboldt county, 
who is filling a most responsible position with the same intelligence, tact and 
fearlessness noticeable throughout the long period of his service as chief of 
police at Eureka, claims New Brunswick as his native province and his 
parents, Andrew and Tryphena (Little) Hitchings, likewise were natives of 
that same Canadian country. The family came to California during 1869, a 
year memorable in western history on account of the completion of the first 
trans-continental railroad. At that time the eldest son, Henry B., whose 
birth had occvirred in Charlotte county, March 9, 1859, was a lad of ten years, 
old enough to be greatly impressed by the importance of his first trip outside 
of the limits of his native province. Arrival in Humboldt county brought 
the family face to face with the privations and pioneer environment of this 
then sparsely populated timbered country lying between the mountains and 
the great sea. A millwright by trade and a skilled mechanic with consider- 
able ability along every line of general work, the father found employment 
with George Vance and for some years also conducted a spar-yard, where he 
made spars for vessels. He made the first truck-wheels used on the old truck 
cars that hauled the logs in the lumber camps and did much other work of a 
similar nature. For two years he served as marshal of Eureka and for a 
similar period he was a member of the council. 

The parental family included five children, namely : Henry B., Sidney, 
George, Hattie (Mrs. Conant) and Guy. Of these the first was old enough 
at the time of leaving New Brunswick to appreciate the diversity of scenery 
en route to California and to enjoy the voyage from San Francisco to Eureka 
on the famous old steamer Pelican. Immediately after coming to this place 
he became a pupil in the old Brown school on H street and for some years 
he continued in the grammar school during the winter months, while in the 
summers he worked in the woods or in the mill. Later he became an 
assistant in his father's spar-yard. For five years he acted as janitor of the 
old court house, besides filling the position of deputy sheriff under Thomas 
M. Brown. At other times he earned a livelihood through carpentering. After 
about eighteen months as a member of the police force of Eureka he was 
promoted to be chief of police and continued to fill the office with efficiency 
for thirteen years. Under appointment from the state officers he served as 
deputy fish and game warden. For a time he was employed with the 
Western States Gas & Electric Light Company, and on the 1st of October, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 651 

1913, he accepted an appointment as probation officer of Humboldt county, 
since which time he has devoted his attention wholly to the duties of the 
position. Besides being an Exempt Fireman, he is fraternally connected 
with the Elks and the lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows. By his mar- 
riage to Miss jNIartha J. Brown, a daughter of the late Thomas M. Brown, he 
became allied with a lady favorably known in Eureka as a charter member 
of the First Christian Church and a welcomed accession to the most select 
social circles. Four children form their family, namely : Helen F., Thomas 
M., Andrew and Idelia. 

PHILIP NEEDS.— To those who Avere privileged to know him, :\Ir. 
Needs was not only a splendid type of the typical pioneer of the '50s, to whose 
energy and perseverance is due a large share of the remarkable development 
of California, but he was also a man who displayed ability in many avenues 
of usefulness and rose to a local prominence abundantl}^ justified in the light 
of his varied talents. " Well known for years through his practical interest in 
local enterprises, his passing, September 8, 1911, was mourned as a distinct 
loss to the community of his long association and by the friends gained 
during an identification of fifty years with the progress of Humboldt county. 
That he should have risen to success, notwithstanding the privations of 
orphanage and poverty in boyhood, lack of educational advantages and lack 
of friends to interest themselves in his behalf, betokens the sturdy, substan- 
tial qualities of his mind. Destiny qualified him to assume responsibility and 
fitted him for the lines of labor in w^hich he gained prosperity. His life story 
in fact is one of those biographies that seem to combine the desirable elements 
of all stories of men who have risen to success and affluence through adversity 
and trials which would appear insurmountable through any human agency. 
Self-made in the strictest sense of the word, obtaining his start in business 
by frugality and thrift, he developed under the pressure of responsibilities 
until he became a leading man in his community, influential not only because 
of the great means he accumulated, but also because of the high character 
evidenced in all his transactions. His credit was good, not merely on account 
of his large possessions, but on account of his proven integrity. 

No memories of parental love brightened the lonely childhood of Philip 
Needs, who for his first four years was a charge of the overseers of the parish 
of Lummon, England, where he was born in October, 1828. An aunt and 
uncle who lived in Berluscom parish took him into their home and as soon 
as old enough put him to work on a vinegar farm. Later he worked on other 
farms in England. During 1850 he crossed the ocean to Canada and found 
employment successively in mills and on farms. The year 1854 found him 
a pioneer homesteader of Iowa, where he proved up on a claim and then 
leased the land to tenants, while himself working for wages on near-by farms. 
Next he worked in a sawmill in Wisconsin and thence returned to Canada, 
where he remained for three years. • A decision to try his fortune on the 
western coast brought him to California in 1858. After landing at San 
Francisco in June he went at once to the gold diggings on the Eraser river 
and later worked by the day on the dry ditch of the Sailor diggings. During 
1859 he went to the Puget Sound region, where for two years he \vorked 
in the lumber woods and adjacent sawmills. 

From his arrival in Eureka in 1861 until his death, September 8, 1911, 
Mr. Needs continuously was identified with the history of Humboldt county 



652 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in logging industries and general business activities. By dint of perseverance 
he rose from poverty to financial prestige. Nor was his sole advance in the 
matter of finances. It had ever been a source of regret to him that he had 
received no education. At the time of coming to Eureka he could neither 
read nor write, but with genuine pluck he set about the task of making up 
for the deficiencies in schooling, and soon he had an excellent knowledge of 
the common branches, becoming particularly expert in arithmetic. After 
the burning of the Ryan mill, in which he had been employed, he entered the 
Vance mill and later engaged as a sawyer in the Bayside mill until 1872. 
Utilizing his savings as the capital for a brokerage business, he gave his 
attention to such interests until shortly before his death. During 1904 he 
erected the Needs building, a three-story frame building on E and Third 
streets, Eureka, at a cost of about $25,000, and the oversight of that valuable 
property he maintained personally until his death. Recognized as a man • 
of financial acumen, he had been selected by depositors of the Randall Bank, 
Eureka, to settle its accounts upon the failure of the institution, and he 
discharged that responsible task with excellent success and general satis- 
faction. 

Though Mr. Needs began to earn his own living when but eight years 
old hard work never apparently impaired his constitution, nor hard experience, 
his faith in human nature and kindliness of heart. Responsibility at too early 
an age is not considered desirable, yet the lessons he learned made him self- 
reliant and industrious, and ready to extend a helping hand to others in the 
same straits. The necessity for hard work never narrowed his outlook nor 
made him selfishly zealous in the promotion of his own interests to the 
exclusion of the rights of others or of his duties to his fellow men, and so 
he had a full life, enjoying the respect of his associates for his personal 
qualities as well as for his abiUty. Except for the office of road supervisor 
he held no public positions. He was always a Republican in political sym- 
pathy, but never took any part in the work of the party. Many years ago 
he joined the Sons of Temperance, and the moral and social betterment of 
the community never failed to receive his support. During 1871 he married 
Mrs. Caroline (Grifiin) A'Vhite, of New England ancestry, who died January 
19, 1879, leaving one daughter by her first marriage, Nellie, wife of Thomas 
H. Chope and mother of a daughter, Carrie E. Chope, whose affectionate 
memories of Mr. Needs prompt this tribute to his character and life. 

JERRY QUILrL. — The quiet fund of wit, the ability to see the humorous 
in every situation and the power to look out on life with unfailing optimism 
and good cheer, these characteristics of the Celtic race enabled Mr. Quill to 
endure the privations of early youth in his native Ireland and to surmount 
the vicissitudes of many discouraging experiences in America, where for a 
time he engaged as a day laborer on farms in Canada and New York, earning 
barely enough for the most pressing necessities of existence. With the re- 
solve to seek California there came a great change into the humdrum routine 
of toil. After crossing the isthmus and saihng to San Francisco in 1859, he 
spent two years in the mines of Shasta county and then brought his family 
across the mountains to Humboldt county in 1861. Indians were then very 
troublesome and outbreaks were common. To protect the women and chil- 
dren of the party, a ring was made of pack-saddles around them and the men 
stood guard through all the long hours of the night. The baby son, John 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 653 

F. Quill, rode all through that journey in an apple box, strapped to the back 
of a mule. 

A short time before bringing his family to Humboldt county Jerry 
Quill had been here on a tour of inspection and had purchased a tract of 
three hundred twenty acres on Salt river in the Eel river district. It was 
his intention to establish a permanent home on the place, but the danger of 
Indian hostilities was so constant that he sold the land and took his family 
into Eureka for safety. To earn a livelihood he worked in the mill of John 
Vance. At the end of the Indian troubles he returned to the Eel river district 
and bought a ranch on Nigger Head, north of Eel river, the improvement and 
cultivation of which engaged his close attention until he died in 1883. Eleven 
years later occurred the death of his wife, Julia (Tierney) Quill, a native of 
Canada. Three sons survive them, namely : James A. and Jerry, both of 
San Francisco, and John F., the second in order of birth and the only one 
of the three to remain in Humboldt county. 

At the time the family set sail from New York City John F. Quill, who 
was a native of Albany, that state, was an infant in arms, hence his entire 
life practically has been identified with the west and with Humboldt county. 
During boyhood he assisted in the work on the home ranch and later he 
engaged in the hay and grain business in Eureka for two years. From 1891 to 
1906 he owned the Bay livery stable on Third street, while since 1908 he has 
owned and operated the Eureka Drayage Company (formerly the Tufts- 
Davis Drayage Company). Much of the heavy hauling in the town is 
done under his supervision and in addition he delivers to all parts of the 
county consignments from the National Biscuit Company, for which he is 
distributor, and the Hibernian brewery of San Francisco, for which he is 
agent. Goods are consigned to him direct from various eastern cities. His 
identification with public and political affairs has been limited to service as 
deputy sheriff under Thomas M. Brown and as a deputy under County 
Assessor George Shaw. His leading fraternity has been Eureka Lodge No. 
652, B. P. O. E. In establishing a home he chose for a wife Miss Nellie 
Deering, who was born at Machias, Me., and in 1867 was brought to Cali- 
fornia by her father, George Deering, who had operated a sawmill in the 
Maine woods, but after settling in Humboldt county cultivated a ranch of 
one hundred sixty acres on Table Bluff and a three hundred acre ranch at 
Bucksport. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Quill comprises six children, all well 
educated, earnest and capable, filling creditably their chosen positions in 
life. They are as follows : Florence, wife of P. J. Rutledge, of Eureka; Harry, 
secretary of the Humboldt Lumber Association ; Edward, head bookkeeper 
and assistant manager for the H. H. Buhne Company; Grace, a teacher in 
the Washington school. Eureka ; Carl, of Tacoma, Wash. ; and Nellie, who is 
a teacher in the State Normal School at San Jose. 

LOREN M. KLEPPER.— The proprietor of the Eureka Marble and 
Granite Works, who has been a resident of California since the early '90s 
and of Eureka since 1901, was born in Chicago, 111., February 28, 1858, and 
learned the trade of a marble and granite worker in Minnesota, where and 
in Iowa he followed the occupation for a considerable number of years, first 
as a worker by the day and then as a foreman. For some time Stillwater, 
Minn., was his home and occupative headquarters. Upon coming to Cali- 
fornia he was put in charge of the Colton marble works in the city of Colton, 



654 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

where he remained for a number of years, meanwhile filling contracts of 
importance that carried him to different parts of the state. The marble work 
in the Academy of Science building, San Francisco, which cost $25,000 and 
was the finest work of the kind done there up to that time, represented his 
intelligent supervision in filling a contract for his company. 

Subsequent to a period of identification with the Western granite works 
at San Jose, in 1901 Mr. Klepper came to Eureka and bought one-half interest 
with John O'Neil in the Eureka works. At the expiration of six years he 
purchased the interest of his partner and is now the sole owner. On his 
removal to Eureka he brought with him his family, consisting of his wife, 
formerly Mary M. Merrick and a native of Indiana; also their three chil- 
dren, namely: Mabel, now the wife of W. E. Peacock; Winfred M., now a 
student in the University of California; and Hazel, a student in the Eureka 
high school. Since coming to this city Mr. Klepper has been active in all 
local movements of importance and has the honor of being one of the organ- 
izers of the Eureka Board of Trade. His fraternities are the Elks, the 
Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

The marble and granite yards, located at the intersection of Fifth and 
Myrtle avenue, Eureka, represent one of the most complete works of the 
kind on the coast. Originally established by John O'Neil in 1884 and by him 
conducted alone until 1901, in the latter year Loren M. Klepper bought an 
interest in the concern and eventually became the sole proprietor. At that 
time the plant was located near the present site of the Times office, but Mr. 
Klepper removed to his present place of business and erected a plant with a 
floor space of 40x130 feet, equipped with the latest approved and most modern 
stone-working machinery. The dressing and the carving of the stone are 
done with pneumatic tools operated by compressed air. The plant has the 
capacity to handle the largest and most complex work, such as is necessary 
in the building of mausoleums, a line of work in which Mr. Klepper has been 
very successful. Seven attractive and dignified structures of this kind have 
been erected by him in local cemeteries. His designs are original and his 
work expresses the dignity and simplicity nowhere so appropriate as in the 
City of the Dead. The reputation of the proprietor has brought him cor- 
respondence from all parts of the state and he makes shipments to various 
sections of the coast, filling orders for monuments, tombstones, markers, 
tablets, curbing and all kinds of cemetery work in foreign and domestic 
marble or granite. With the exception of the dairy products of Humboldt 
county, its lumber and shingles, and certain novelties wrought from the 
redwood burl, it is doubtful if any manufactured local product reaches out 
into such distant markets as the products of the Eureka Marble and Granite 
Works. 

WILLIAM SLAUGHTER ROBINSON.— Five different states made a 
home for Mr. Robinson during dift'erent periods of his life. In four of them 
the first twenty-two years of his life were passed, namely : Virginia, where 
he was born February 4, 1828; Tennessee, to which he accompanied his 
parents at the age of eight years ; Kentucky and Missouri. For a period of 
fifty-seven years beginning in 1850 and closing with his death at Eureka, 
March 10, 1907, he lived in California and practically all of that time in Hum- 
boldt county, so he was thoroughly familiar with early conditions here and 
with the gradual transformation from frontier isolation to twentieth-century 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 655 

civilization. During the summer of 1850 he crossed the plains with an 
ox-team, arriving at Nevada City on the 20th of September and at once 
engaging as a teamster from Sacramento to Shasta City with Joseph Russ 
as a partner. In a short time he came with a party from Trinity to Humboldt 
county, where he and Mr. Russ had many exciting experiences in hunting 
elk in the Wild Cat and Bear river districts. The meat found a ready sale in 
Eureka and Areata, so that their hunting expeditions brought them a fair 
profit. Stirring adventures with black and grizzly bears in the mountains 
brought them into constant danger, yet gave them the excitement of the 
chase so enjoyable to every hunter. It is said that Mr. Robinson was one of 
the most skilled marksmen in the mountains. His aim was almost unerring 
and when he started for the mountains with his hunting outfit, it was 
definitely understood that he would not return empty-handed. 

Taking up ranch pursuits in the Eel river valley and developing a stock 
industry at Bridgeville, Mr. Robinson gradually accumulated two thousand 
acres of stock range and was one of the first men in the county to specialize 
in wool-growing, a department of activity that became fairly profitable under 
his constant supervision. Throughout all of his adult life he voted the 
Democratic ticket and gave stanch support to the party principles. On the 
organization of Anniversary Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Areata, he became a 
charter member, while afterward he entered Hydesville Lodge No. 250, 
I. O. O. F., also as a charter member. Through his marriage to Lavina 
Electa Albee, daughter of Joseph Albee, a pioneer of Humboldt county, he 
became the father of the following-named daughters and sons : INIrs. E. 
Schreiner, of Ferndale ; Grant, residing in Lewiston, Mont.; Caltha; Wil- 
liam A., in charge of the Robinson ranch ; Mrs. Charles Allen, of Montana ; 
Mrs. Bert Griffiths, of Berkeley; Gertrude, of Eureka; Bertha, wife of E. S. 
Murray, also of Eureka ; and Edward J. Robinson, D. D. S. The youngest 
child, who like the other members of the family claims Humboldt as his 
native county, is a graduate of the Eureka high school and of the dental 
department, University of California, class of 1909. All of his professional 
experience, with the exception of one year at San Jose, has identified him 
with Eureka, where he is regarded as an efficient and educated dentist, thor- 
oughly familiar with the profession in its every detail. His fraternities are 
the Masons and the Native Sons of the Golden West. 

GUSTAVE ADOLPH STRAND.— The city engineer of Eureka is a 
representative of that remarkable class of native sons of California, who 
without advantages other than those they made for themselves have risen to 
prominence and become factors in the permanent upbuilding of their com- 
monwealth. All of his life has been passed in the west and, while still a young 
man, already he has had the supervision of some notable pieces of engineering 
work that tested and proved his scientific accuracy and professional skill. 
Realizing the inestimable value of thorough preparatory instruction, he 
endeavored to secure the best technical advantages the state afforded and 
he left no effort unmade that would lay broad and deep the foundation of his 
occupative knowledge. The common schools of San Francisco (in which 
city he was born November 11, 1887) gave him preliminary training in the 
customary branches, while his special training was had in the Vander Nail- 
len Engineering School of Oakland and the engineering department of the 
University of California at Berkeley. At the expiration of two years of 



656 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

study in the university he was equipped with sufficient knowledge to permit 
of practical work and from that time to the present he has been identified 
with important projects calling for engineering skill and proficiency. 

The twenty thousand acres in the San Joaquin valley known as the 
Patterson irrigation project was the first large enterprise to engage the 
attention of Mr. Strand, who became an engineer there in 1908 and continued 
for two years in the prosecution of that irnportant work. When he first came 
to Eureka in 1910 it was for the purpose of engaging in construction work 
on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad then in process of building. Most 
important was the contract he filled for the construction of four miles of the 
road from Camp Grant to McCann's Mills as well as the building of the 
Thompson Bluff tunnel on the same road. He was also in charge of the 
opening of Jacoby creek quarries, and furnished the rock for building the 
United States government jetties at the entrance to Humboldt Bay. Mean- 
while he served as city engineer of Fortuna for one year. In June of 1913 
he was elected city engineer of Eureka by a majority of thirteen hundred, the 
large vote in his favor attesting his personal popularity as well as the general 
confidence in his engineering efficiency. Socially he and his wife (who was 
Miss Lydia Atkeson, a native of Trinity county) have a host of warm per- 
sonal friends among the people of Humboldt county, to whom their fine 
traits of character have endeared them. So intense has been his devotion to 
engineering and so fully occupied his time with the filling of contracts and 
the making of estimates that he has had little leisure for political activities 
and he has no fraternal connections aside from membership in the Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Improved Order of Red Men. 

INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL.— Established in 
Eureka during 1901, the International Correspondence School has developed 
rapidly under the supervision of Robert Lewis Werner, who in 1908 became 
general manager of the district comprising Humboldt and Del Norte counties 
in California and Curry and Coos counties in Oregon, with one sub-agent in 
Marshfield, Ore., the main office being in Eureka, Cal. In the years of his 
supervision he has totaled about twelve hundred new students, which is 
about an average of fifteen per month or one hundred and eighty a year. The 
agricultural courses are the ones usually preferred, although there have been 
a goodly number of students in the drafting, surveying, and civil and elec- 
trical engineering courses. Among local men who have taken the course are 
Robert L. Thomas, ex-city engineer of Eureka and deputy county surveyor 
of Humboldt county ; Frank Kelly, chief engineer of the Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany at Scotia ; Fred Newman, deputy county surveyor ; John Harnett, super- 
intendent of the Western States Gas and Electric Light Company at Eureka ; 
and G. A. Strand, city engineer of Eureka ; all these being men who are a 
credit to the county and to the institution in which they prosecuted their 
studies by correspondence. The manager assists the students in getting a 
start with their studies and gives them such help as they may need, so that 
they are not hampered in the course by any lack of understanding of diffi- 
culties, and undoubtedly much of the success of the work may be attributed 
to this important feature. One of the chief instruments in bringing about the 
success and great interest in the work of the International Correspondence 
School was the organization of the Humboldt County Associated I. C. S. 
student body by Mr. Werner. The meetings and associations of this body 




^Jlr-i^i^^UL^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 659 

are an inspiration to students who have become lax and are the means of 
renewing their interest and spurring them on to ever greater effort in com- 
pleting their courses. 

When Mr. Werner came to Humboldt county in July, 1905, it was for 
the purpose of acting as agent at Eureka for the Metropolitan Life Insurance 
Company, which previously he had represented for two years at Missoula, 
Mont., and later at San Leandro, Alameda county, Cal. His early life had 
been spent in Wisconsin, where he was born in Manitowoc county, July 29, 
1881, and where he had received an excellent education, later teaching school 
until he took up life insurance work. Education and temperament qualify 
him for the duties of manager with the Scranton school, and he is succeeding 
in a work that is Avorthy of his greatest energies and highest talents. 

The International Correspondence School through its two hundred 
and thirty-five courses and through its agencies in every part of the world 
has done more to prepare people for success than any other single agency 
or institution. The history of the students is a history of success. The 
leaders of the movement at Scranton, Pa., are receiving grateful letters 
from every part of the world, telling how their training enabled men in 
trades and professions to do superior work ; or how j^oung men without 
employment were trained to get a start; and how better salaries have 
resulted from the special studies. Indeed the institution carries specializa- 
tion further than any other school in existence. The students are not re- 
quired to study trades or courses in which they are not interested, but 
they are encouraged to specialize their energies upon the one occupation 
in hand. The incomparable text books explain every intricate or involved 
problem. The school of architecture trains men for that enduring and 
useful occupation, with courses in the kindred subjects of structural engi- 
neering, structural drafting and concrete engineering, also courses for 
building contractors, building foremen and masons. Essentially modern is 
the school of arts and crafts, with its technical training in illustrating and 
designing, bookcover designs, carpet designs, linoleum and wall paper 
designs, perspective and architectural drawing and kindred subjects. The 
school of civil engineering develops splendid technical instruction not alone 
in that specialty, but is invaluable to surveyors, topographers, draftsmen, 
bridge engineers, railroad engineers, road masters, municipal or city 
engineers, designers of water works, sewerage systems and hydraulic power 
plants. In recent years the school of electrical engineering has attracted 
many students, for it embraces a complete electrical course and is inval- 
uable in this age of dynamos, electric lighting and wiring, electric rail- 
ways and electric traction. Nor is mechanical engineering less important 
in this era of mechanical development and this school instructs in every 
department of shop practice, toolmaking, foundrywork, blacksmithing, 
etc. Courses in refrigeration and gas engines are most important to young 
men desiring to specialize in such work. There is also a course to instruct 
chauffeurs in the running and repairs of automobiles and many garage 
managers have been enrolled in this department. Mechanical drawing in- 
structs in the draftsman's branch of the mechanical field, where opportunity 
for employment is excellent and salaries for the proficient quite large. The 
schools of steam engineering, mines, navigation, commerce, stenography, 
bookkeeping, banking, pedagogy, commercial English, manufacture of monu- 



660 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ments, sheet-metal work and boiler-making, civil service, plumbing, heating 
and ventilation, chemistry, textiles, advertising, salesmanship, languages, com- 
mercial law, locomotive running and many others, chief among which is 
the school of agriculture with all of its subsidiary courses, furnish an 
opportunity for specialization unequalled in any part of the world or in 
any previous era of the world's history, giving to the ambitious but unedu- 
cated young man a chance to reach a position high in the world of thought 
and activity, with the financial and social standing such advancement ren- 
ders possible. 

LOUIS A. BERTAIN.— There are a number of residents of Eureka of 
foreign birth who have joined the prosperous colony of merchants and busi- 
ness men and themselves met with success in this thriving city where room 
may always be found for progressive workers. To this class belongs Louis 
A. Bertain, proprietor of the Bertain French Laundry on Myrtle street which 
he built in 1906 and has since operated. 

Mr. Bertain is a native of Verdun, France, born December 25, 1867. He 
lived in the land of his birth until twenty-four years old, receiving a common 
school education and afterward working in a cotton factory, for which he 
later became a traveling salesman. When he came to America, in 1891, he 
was first at Chicago, 111., for a short time, thence proceeding to New Orleans, 
and in 1893 he settled at Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal. For two years he 
was employed in a dairy. In 1896 he went into the laundry business at Oak- 
land, this state, carrying on the East Oakland French Laundry for five years, 
until August, 1901, when he returned to Eureka and for about four years 
or so worked in a laundry. By this time he had familiarized himself with the 
prospects in' the city and the demand for good work, and felt justified in 
starting a business of his own, which he did in 1906, building the plant at No. 
1610 Myrtle street which he has since conducted as the Bertain French 
Laundry. He has equipped his establishment with fine machinery, having 
the engines and full complement of machinery for a well appointed steam 
laundry, and the large trade which he has built up fully warrants the ex- 
penditure he has made. By improved methods and system he has been able 
to care for the increase of trade, which has been steady from the beginning. 
Fourteen hands are employed, and in his business he uses an automobile 
and a delivery wagon. Though Mr. Bertain had to face severe competition, 
especially at the start, he has kept going ahead undismayed, and as he has 
prospered by his industry and integrity he deserves the respect he commands 
among his patrons and fellow citizens generally. Strict attention to business, 
thorough study of the wishes of his customers and an obliging disposition 
have won out, and he owns a fine property on J\Iyrtle street, having his 
home near his business, at No. 1614. He owns the buildings and grounds of 
both the business and residence locations he occupies. 

In 1895 Mr. Bertain married, in Eureka, Miss Eugenia IMoine, a native 
of Belleforte, France, and six children have been born to their union : Louis, 
Jean, George, Victor, Harry and Alice. 

EDWARD L. LEWIS.— The president of the board of trustees of Blue 
Lake, Edward L. Lewis has been a resident of Humboldt count}^, Cal., for 
more than thirty years and during that time has made many friends, and has 
built up a business and a business reputation that are both valuable assets, 
both to their owner and to the community at large. His present place of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 661 

business in Blue Lake is a credit to the city and is one of the best known of 
the general mercantile establishments in the valley. 

Mr. Lewis was born in Smaland, Sweden, January 3, 1861. His boyhood 
days were passed there on his father's farm and in the vicinity he attended 
the public schools, graduating from the regular course in 1875. After com- 
pleting his education he secured a position in the postoffice department of 
the government, continuing there until he came to the United States in 1881. 
He arrived at Castle Garden, N. Y., but soon set out for Warren county. 111., 
where he entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
on construction work. In the meantime he was constantly on the alert for 
information as to the section of the United States offering the greatest oppor- 
tunities and in 1883 he decided that this place was California. From San 
Francisco he came by water to Eureka on the City of Chester, arriving on 
March 15. He at first found employment in the woods with Frank Graham, 
pioneer lumberman, working on the site of the city of Blue Lake, then 
thickly covered with trees. He rose gradually from one position to another 
until he became a foreman. 

Mr. Lewis remained in the employment of this company until in 1907, 
at the time of the great strike. He was then president of the labor union 
and had been an active and a prominent member since its first organization 
in Humboldt county. The- conditions resulting caused him to sever his con- 
nection with the lumber company and he went to Blue Lake, there following 
carpentering, contracting and building for a time. Later he carried on mer- 
chandising, opening with a small stock of candy and notions. From this 
beginning he has constantly increased his scope and added to his stock of 
goods, until he now carries a full line of general merchandise and is doing a 
profitable business, with a host of friends and his full share of the patronage 
of the town and community. Aside from his business he has been interested 
in general farming and has also built about a dozen residences in Blue Lake, 
most of which he still owns, as well as owning property in Eureka, on the 
Bay, and in Oregon. Mr. Lewis attributes much of his success to his 
faithful wife, who has always put her shoulder to the wheel and aided him 
in every way by her wise counsel and good judgment. 

Mr. Lewis is popular among his business associates and friends and is 
accredited a citizen of sterling worth and integrity of character. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, an Odd Fellow, a Woodman of the 
World and a Hoo-Hoo and is influential in each of the several orders. In his 
political affiliations he is a Republican, and has always been interested in the 
afifairs of his community and in the politics of the state. He is close in the 
confidences of local party affairs and on several occasions his constituents 
have shown their confidence in his ability by making him their representative 
at various party conventions. He is also prominent in city governmental 
affairs, where he stands for progress and good government and for civic 
improvement and general uplift. He is a member of the board of city trustees 
and is president of the board. 

The marriage of Mr. Lewis and Mary Emily Coulter took place at Eureka, 
July 3, 1887. They have two children, Lucile and Carroll Lewis, to whom 
they are giving all the educational advantages within their means. Mrs. 
Lewis is a native of Gilroy, Santa Clara county, Cal. Her father is Benjamin 
Carroll Coulter, a native of Bledsoe county, Tenn., where he was born 



662 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

July 8, 1832. When but three years of age he removed with his parents to 
Arkansas territory. He attended a subscription school up to the age of four- 
teen years, after which he assisted his father on the farm until 1850, when 
he came to California with his father and brother, locating at Weaverville, 
Trinity county. Being attracted by the discovery of gold and interested in 
the mining opportunities in Trinity county they prospected and mined for 
gold, but failed to meet with the desired success, however, and Mr. Coulter 
later went into Shasta county, where for four years he engaged in independent 
ventures in mining. From there he went into Nevada county, where for 
eight years he followed placer mining, also with indifferent success. 

It was in 1860 that Mr. Coulter first came into Humboldt county. His 
brother was located at Eureka and for a tinie Mr. Coulter engaged in team- 
ing and in working in a pack train. In 1861 the Indian wars broke out and 
he responded to the call for volunteers to fight the Indians, serving under 
Captain Work. On one occasion the company was constantly on duty for 
three months and on many other occasions made short expeditions after the 
savages. 

Following this, in 1863 Mr. Coulter journeyed north into Washington 
territory prospecting, but again without success, and later he returned to 
Red Bluff and worked for J. D. Carr & Co. After a short time there he 
removed to Santa Clara county, and in 1872 opened a general merchandise 
store, which he sold the following year and engaged in the teaming business. 
Another trip north followed this, Oregon this time being the objective point, 
and for a time he looked for a suitable location there. Failing to find what 
he wanted he again returned to Red Bluff, where for a time he had charge 
of the Oak Grove House. In 1883 he removed to Humboldt county, locating 
at Blue Lake, where he has since remained. He purchased land and erected 
a house for a residence, and in this opened a small store and restaurant, but 
this he sold and is now living retired. When Mr. Coulter first visited 
Eureka there was only one street and but few houses, the surrounding coun- 
try being still principally virgin forest. 

The father of Mr. Lewis is Lawrence Lewis, a native of Sweden, born 
August 14, 1830. At that time there were no public or private schools, the 
teachers going from house to house and giving their instruction in the 
homes, and Lawrence Lewis received a good education. During his early life 
he engaged in farming. Later he entered the service of the government as the 
first postmaster at Smaland, which position he held until within the past few 
years, when he retired on account of his age and is now passing the afternoon 
of his life at his old home. 

JOHN PETERS. — From many foreign lands people have come to make 
their home in California, attracted hither by the success of others as well as 
by the excellent cUmate. John Peters, one of the leading business men of 
Eureka, Humboldt county, where he is well known with his partner, C. W. 
Widnes, in the firm of Peters & Widnes, as proprietors of the Log Cabin 
Bakery and also the Eureka Bakery, is a native of Finland, born at Helsing- 
fors, the capital city of that country, November 25, 1873, the son of Peter 
Peters, a farmer near that place, and Annie (Olsen) Peters, who still resides 
at the old home. Later the father became a contractor and builder in Helsing- 
fors, an occupation in which he continued until the time of his death. Of 
the five children in the family, three are now living, John being the second 




i^^>-^^^:AS^2^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 665 

youngest and the only one who has made his home in America. He grew 
up in his native city, receiving his education in the pubhc and industrial 
schools there, at the age of sixteen years being apprenticed as a baker for 
three years under his brother Andrew, a councilman. After learning his 
chosen trade, John Peters traveled through Sweden, Germany and France as 
a journeyman for a period of eight months, also visiting London and working 
for a time in St. Petersburg, being an expert baker and confectioner. After 
returning home to Finland, he took a position with his brother as foreman, 
where he continued until his brother's death, at which time the business was 
sold. Mr. Peters then accepted the position of foreman of a large co- 
operative bakery in Helsingfors, where he remained until enlisting in the 
Finnish army at the age of twenty-three years, for three years being a member 
of the Czar's Life Guards, after which period he was honorably discharged. 
Returning then to his former position, he continued there until 1899, when 
he went to Australia, via London, on the vessel Austrail, visiting Sydney and 
then Brisbane, where for six weeks he worked at railroad construction, after 
which he secured employment in Brisbane as a baker for six months, acting 
as foreman after the first month's employment. He then came to the United 
States, on the way spending a year as baker in Vancouver, B. C, coming 
thence to Seattle, Wash., where he worked at his trade, in August, 1904, 
arriving at San Francisco, where until the year 1907 he was foreman of the 
California Baking Company, the largest concern of the kind west of Chicago. 
For two years thereafter he made a visit to his old home in Finland, and 
though it was his intention to remain there, he was not satisfied with the 
conditions there, so returned to San Francisco to his old position as foreman 
of the California Baking Company. After looking for a suitable location 
in Washington and Oregon, without success, Mr. Peters in 1911 came to 
Eureka, Cal., where he started the Co-operative Bakery, meeting with much 
success in his venture, but on account of his wife's health sold the business 
and removed to Los Angeles, his wife's death occurring in Monrovia a short 
time later. Mr. Peters then went to Berkeley, Cal., where he secured employ- 
ment in the Golden Sheaf Bakery, later starting a bakery in Marshfield, Ore., 
which he ran for a year, selling it at a profit. Following this he returned to 
Eureka, where he was employed by the Mulford Log Cabin Bakery. Three 
months later he bought out that estabhshment, on February 15, 1915, and 
has continued it with success since that time. In April of the sam.e year he 
became associated with C. W. Widnes of the Eureka Bakery, on Fifth street 
between E and F streets, each purchasing a half interest in the business of 
the other, and the two are now conducting the largest bakery north of San 
Francisco. They have made the Log Cabin Bakery at No. 621 Fifth street 
the manufacturing plant, this being equipped with the latest machinery, on 
the first floor, which is large and sunny. Mr. Peters' aflfairs go on like clock- 
work, large shipments of bakery goods being made to the neighboring towns 
each day, with an average of one thousand loaves of bread a day, besides 
which he has a large line of confectionery, Mr. Peters being the manager of 
the bread department, and Mr. Widnes of the cake department. 

The marriage of Mr. Peters took place in San Francisco, his wife having 
been Lena Maria Ostermark, who was born in Gamle, Garleby, Finland, and 
died in Monrovia, Cal. They were the parents of one son, John Peters, Jr. 



666 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

In his religious associations Mr. Peters is connected with the Lutheran 
Church. 

JAMES J. NIEBUR. — California can boast of a more cosmopolitan pop- 
ulation than any other state in the Union, and many of her people are of 
German descent. Although a native-born son of California, Mr. Niebur is of 
German ancestry, being the son of Henry H. Niebur, a native of Hanover, 
Germany, vv^here he was born October 9, 1832. He first came to America in 
1842 with his parents, and, locating in Missouri, attended the public schools, 
but in 1848 he engaged in mining in the Iron Mountains, later following the 
stone cutter's trade in the quarries in the vicinity until 1852. In this year, 
in the company of his brother, he started for the west, crossing the plains 
by ox-team, bravely facing the dangers attending, such a journey. They 
located first in Oregon, later moving to California where he located in San 
Mateo county near Redwood, where he found employment in the woods. 
The following year he became employed by the farmers in the vicinity of 
Half Moon bay. In 1856, hearing of the advantages of Lake county he 
undertook a trip to Clear Lake but only remained there one year, leaving to 
move to Humboldt county, homesteading on a claim of one hundred sixty 
acres near Mr. Boynton's ranch on the island. Here he engaged in farming 
until 1861 and here he first enlisted in the army as a volunteer in Company 
D, Second California Infantry. In 1863 he served at Fort Bragg, Mendocino 
county, and in 1864 was honorably discharged. He then went to Oregon and 
enlisted in Company E, First Oregon Infantry, where he remained until 

1866, when he returned to Humboldt county and located on a ranch near 
Ferndale. Here he engaged in the brick mason's trade and this he followed 
until the time of his death. He was married to Mary A. Dougherty, a native 
of Ireland, who came to America in 1840, locating in Maryland where she 
remained a number of years, coming to Humboldt county, California, in 

1867, and here she married Mr. Niebur December 29, 1868. Mr. Niebur 
took up several timber claims near Ferndale where the large mill at Scotia 
is now located. Fle took an active part in all political affairs and served as 
justice of the peace of Ferndale for six years. He was also a member of 
Anderson Post, G. A. R., and was a very successful man, remaining active 
until the time of his death in 1906. 

James Niebur attended the public schools of Ferndale until eighteen 
years of age, leaving then to help his father with his many duties about the 
ranch, remaining at home until he was twenty years old, when he entered 
the butcher shop of Mr. Patrick where he learned the business, but, on 
marrying, gave up the butcher's trade and moved to the home place of forty 
acres where he engaged in farming and dairying for himself. He has a fine 
dairy of mixed Jersey stock and is at the present time actively engaged in 
the business and is one of the successful men of the community. In Fern- 
dale, May 17, 1899, occurred the marriage of Mr. Niebur, being united with 
Miss Ruby A. Haley, a native of Table Blufif, Humboldt county, and they 
have two children : James Francis and Alma. Fraternally Mr. Niebur is a 
member of the Knights of Columbus and Native Sons of the Golden AA^est. 

ROBERT JOHNSTON.— One of the most public-spirited men of Hum- 
boldt county is INIr. Johnston, of Fortuna, who was born' in Chickasaw county, 
Iowa, June 1, 1860, and here he received his educational training in the 
public schools of the county, and when seventeen years old, left school to 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 667 

live at home with his parents, Robert and Sarah L. (Crowthers) Johnston, 
the former a native of Ireland and the latter a native of Liverpool, England. 
Robert Johnston, Sr., was a man who engaged in farming the greater part of 
his life, and who came from the old country to Iowa and there held the office 
of county recorder for a number of years and always took an active part in 
all political affairs. When he first located in Iowa in 1857, he entered gov- 
ernment land consisting of one hundred sixty acres, but in later years he 
moved to Humboldt county, Cal., and here he passed away at Fortuna in 
1899. His son, Robert, when eighteen years old, became apprenticed to learn 
the blacksmith's trade, serving two years and, in 1880, decided to better con- 
ditions by moving to California, arriving in Sacramento February 1, 1881, 
where he obtained employment in a blacksmith shop. Later he moved to 
Humboldt county and locating in Eureka, he again engaged in a local shop 
for two years. In 1884 he moved to Hydesville and entering into partner- 
ship with another man, he successfully operated a blacksmith shop for three 
years, but in 1887, selling his interests in Hydesville, he moved to Fortuna 
and here purchased the shop belonging to W. G. Hunt, and continued to 
operate the business until 1902, when he engaged in the livery business and 
at the present time owns the only livery stable in Fortuna ; in connection he 
also runs a blacksmith shop. In this business he has been very successful 
and is a man well liked and respected in the community. He also served as 
school trustee of Fortuna for twelve years. In national politics he favors the 
principles of the Republican party, always entering actively into all of its 
afifairs. 

Mr. Johnston was married June 1, 1887, to Carrie Emma Smith, a native 
of Hydesville, and of their union there have been four children : Clyde Roy, 
Waiter Robert, Mabel C, and Edna Evelyn. He has achieved his success 
only by his own thriftiness and perseverance and no man is better liked or 
more highly venerated in the community than Mr. Johnston. 

JAMES UNDERWOOD.— A native of Oregon, and one of the oldest 
and most highly respected of the Humboldt county pioneers of today, is 
James Underwood. He is himself a descendant of one of the very oldest of 
the early California pioneer families, his father and grandfather having 
crossed the plains with ox teams in 1853 and thereafter making their homes 
in California, save for a few years when his father resided in Oregon. At 
present James Underwood is engaged in the general merchandise business 
in Trinidad, where he has made his home for almost twenty years, and is 
meeting with success. 

Mr. Underwood was born in Clackamas county, Oregon, August 3, 1867. 
He is the son of John and Caroline Elizabeth (Wills) Underwood, both 
being early settlers in California. His early youth was spent in Oregon, but 
when he was nine years of age his parents returned to California, locating on 
the old Underwood homestead on Dow's Prairie, Humboldt county. Here 
young James continued his attendance at the public schools of his district, on 
Dow's Prairie, graduating from the grammar course. Later he completed a 
course in the Eureka Business College. In 1887 he gave up school and 
started out for himself. During the vacations for several years he had worked 
in the woods, and now he naturally turned to this familiar occupation and 
secured employment with the Riverside Lumber Company, remaining with 
them for five years. The following year he was with the Korbel Lumber 



668 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Company, and from there he went to work for the Vance & Ham- 
mond Company, remaining in their employ for twelve years, and being for 
the entire time engaged in working in the woods. In the spring of 1907 he 
gave up this line of occupation and went to Santa Cruz county, where he 
was employed by the Humboldt Contracting Company for eighteen months. 

It was in 1908 that Mr. Underwood returned to Humboldt county and 
bought out the general merchandise business of W. W. Shipley, at Trinidad, 
which enterprise he is still conducting with much success. He is owner and 
manager of the business and has extended and enlarged its scope since taking 
it over and has materially increased his trade. 

The marriage of Mr. Underwood took place in Trinidad, December 8, 
1897, uniting him with Miss Martha Watkins, the daughter of Warren and 
Rose Ann Watkins, and a native of Trinidad, born April 20, 1872. She has 
borne her husband one child, a son, Warren. 

Since his marriage Mr. Underwood has always made his home in Trini- 
dad, and has been closely associated with public matters of interest for many 
years. In politics he is a Republican and a stanch party man, and has on 
numerous occasions represented his party at important conventions. He 
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, at Blue Lake, and of the local lodge 
of the Odd Fellows. His success in business is due to his careful and con- 
scientious application to duty, as well as to his ability, good management 
and industry. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Underwood are descended from splendid old pioneer 
stock. The mother of Mrs. Underwood, Mrs. Rose Ann Watkins, is the 
oldest settler in Trinidad at the present time. She is a native of Vermont 
and came to Humboldt county in 1863 and has continuously resided here 
since that time. She has witnessed many changes in the country, and her 
tales of the early Indian troubles are full of interest, having lost none of their 
thrills through the intervening years. 

The father of Mr. Underwood was John Underwood, a native of Indiana, 
born in Parke county, September 13, 1831. AVhen he was three years of age 
he removed with his parents to Illinois, where they lived for a short time, 
later moving to Missouri and locating near St. Joseph, Buchanan county. 
Here he attended the public schools up to the age of seventeen years, and for 
a few years after that continued to live at home with his parents, helping his 
father on the farm. Later he went to New Mexico where he engaged in 
teaming and freighting, making the trip from Fort Leavenworth to Santa 
Fe during the Mexican war (1848-1849). Returning after a time to his home 
in Missouri, he made the long journey across the plains to California with 
his parents, in 1853. They left their home on May 10, and were five months in 
making the trip, using ox teams all the way, and arriving at Redding, Cali- 
fornia, in October. From there they went to Hayfork, from which point they 
were obliged to complete their journey on mule-back and with pack-horses 
across the Coast range to the coast itself, finally reaching Areata after a hard 
and perilous journey. 

The father of John LTnderwood, and the grandfather of the present 
respected citizen of Trinidad, was William Underwood, a native of North 
Carolina, born in 1800. The mother was Matilda Colcleasur, born in Ken- 
tucky in 1804. Her marriage to William Underwood took place in Indiana 
in 1822. William Underwood was a hatter by trade but for many years he 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 671 

followed the occupation of the farmer, both in Illinois and in Missouri, as 
well as after coming to California. Immediately after arriving at Areata he 
took up a government claim of one hundred sixty acres on Dow's prairie 
where he followed farming until the time of his death, December 5, 1875. He 
is remembered now by but a few of the oldest settlers, but the property is 
still known by his name. His wife died December 28, 1889, on the home place, 
which is still in the possession of the family. 

Shortly after the family was established on their Dow's prairie ranch, 
the son, John Underwood, went to Gold Bluff where he secured employment 
and where he remained until 1859. In June of that year he moved to Oregon, 
locating in Marion county, where for a short time he engaged in farming. 
Later he took up a government claim in Clackamas county and again engaged 
in farming and stock raising. While living there he was married to Caroline 
Elizabeth Wills, a native of Des Moines county, Iowa, born November 12, 
1846. She was the daughter of James Wills, who crossed the plains to 
Oregon in the early days. From this union have come seven children, of 
which the present honored citizen of Trinidad is the third born. They are : 
Matilda, now deceased ; Milburn Gipson, also deceased ; James Andrew ; 
William Thomas, deceased ; John Jackson, of Orange county ; Fred Wills, 
and Norman Owen, both farmers at McKinleyville. 

John Underwood continued farming in Oregon for a number of years, 
meeting with much success. It was in 18/6 that he returned to California, 
locating on the home place in Humboldt county, as the death of his father 
the previous year had left the mother without protection and the farm with- 
out a manager. He has continued to reside on this ranch. on Dow's prairie 
since that time, having charge of his mother's affairs until the time of her 
death. When he took over the property it consisted of the original one hun- 
dred sixty acres, only partly improved; he cleared the balance and put it in 
shape for farming, in which line he is now engaged. Forty acres of the place 
have been sold, leaving only one hundred twenty acres at the present time. 

John Underwood is the only old pioneer at present residing on Dow's 
prairie, and many and interesting are the accounts that he is able to give 
of the days long gone by. He was living here during the worst period of the 
Indian troubles and during one summer served actively with the troops that 
were out to quell the marauders. 

Mrs. John Underwood is also one of the early pioneers of this section. 
Her father was James Thomas Wills, a native of North Carolina, born June 
12, 1812, and her mother, Elizabeth Wills, was a native of Virginia, born 
May 30, 1815. They crossed the plains in 1853 to Oregon, at the same time 
that the Underwood family was making the crossing, to California. They 
located in Clackamas county, Oregon, and remained there until the time of 
their death. 

JOHN ALBERT THEODORE WYATT.— Jacob Riis often said that 
he was a better American than any native-born citizen of the Republic, be- 
cause, while the native had no choice in the question of selecting his 
country, he, Riis, came to the United States because he knew perfectly well 
that it was the most wonderful country on the face of the earth, and made 
his selection deliberately and intelligently. And, following his deductions, 
one would be obliged to say that John Albert Theodore Wyatt is a citizen 
of the same class, for after spending a quarter of a century wandering 



672 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

over the face of the earth, first in the English navy, and later as mate on 
a merchantman, visiting strange ports and journeying afar into many lands, 
he came in 1865 to Humboldt county, still as a sea-faring man, fell under 
the spell of the locality, and forsaking his former calling, settled within 
its generous confines, and never since that time has been beyond its 
boundaries. For most of this time he has followed farming and stock 
raising and has met with appreciable success. He is now living retired 
from active life, and is spending his declining years in his pleasant home in 
x\rcata, where he resides with his family. 

Born in Ludwell, Wiltshire, England, October 1, 1838, Mr. Wyatt 
attended the public schools until he was sixteen, when he joined the navy, 
and was assigned to the drill ship Victory as. a recruit, where he remained 
until he was twenty-one years of age. After his time of service had ex- 
pired he sailed on the merchant vessel Queen of the Lakes, making several 
trips to India and the islands of the East, to South America, and was for 
some time in Mediterranean ports. After this he shipped on various mer- 
chantmen for a period of eleven years, again visiting many parts of the 
world. The last of these trips brought him to San Francisco as second 
mate, under Capt. Adam Sedwick, arriving in September, 1865. Here he 
remained for a year and a half, working in and around the ship yards and in 
the coasting trade to Puget Sound, and then accepted a berth as first mate, 
this time on the Old William Arctic, bound for Humboldt Bay. Arrived here, 
he determined to give up the life of the seaman permanently and locate in 
Humboldt county. Without efifort he secured employment at the Vance 
sawmill, where he remained for some time, being later transferred by the 
company to Eureka. After a number of years Mr. Wyatt gave up lumbering 
and renting a ranch at Bayside, from Stillman Daby, for a term of five years, 
he engaged in farming. This was the first venture of the erstwhile sailor as 
a tiller of the soil, but he was clever and industrious, and his efforts brought 
just returns. The high tide waters from the bay, however, caused him much 
trouble, and he was at last forced to give up this place, afterward renting 
from William Carson, on a three-year lease, and continuing his former occu- 
pation. Prospering again in his farming enterprise, he purchased fourteen 
acres from Carson, at Bayside, cleared the land, which was heavily timbered 
and covered with heavy brush, and later opened a store on the highway which 
he fronted. This latter undertaking did not prove successful, and eventually 
he traded both the store and the acreage for a tract of one hundred seventy- 
seven acres on Kneeland Prairie, all of which was unimproved. It was the 
work of many months, even of years, to clear this tract and bring it all under 
cultivation, but this Mr. Wyatt did, and engaged in farming and stock raising 
with splendid success, this being his home for twenty years. In 1903 the 
Kneeland Prairie property was sold, and another ranch of one hundred 
seventy-five acres on Fickle Hill was purchased. This was held until 1913, 
when it was also disposed of,, and Mr. Wyatt moved into Areata, where he 
owns a handsome home. 

Mr. Wyatt was married in Eureka April 21, 1877, to Miss Nancy War- 
field, a native of Morgan county, 111., the descendant of an old Southern 
family resident in Illinois since 1827. Mrs. Wyatt was reared near Jackson- 
ville, 111., coming to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1876. Since locating in the 
county Mr. AVyatt has made many friends and is recognized as a man of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 673 

ability and worth. He has never been interested in political matters, although 
he is identified closely with matters of local interest, otherwise his attention 
is centered almost wholly on his business interests. 

Since locating here in 1865 he has not been outside of the county, finding 
here those things which satisfied him, and after his many years of roving, 
being well content to call Humboldt county home, and proud to be classed 
among the California pioneers, and to have done his share in the development 
and upbuilding of his community. 

MARSHALL PATRICK. — Crossing the plains with his parents and five 
brothers and sisters in 1852, when he was but a babe of three years, locating 
first in Sacramento, where the family home was devastated by the great fire 
of 1852, and later journeying by wearisome stages and by devious ways, 
through rugged country where there were no wagon roads, and even the 
pack trails were rough and dangerous, Marshall Patrick came to the Eel 
river valley in 1853, where his father had taken up a claim of one hundred 
sixty acres of land, and on which he established his family. Here the chil- 
dren of this dauntless pioneer couple Avere reared near where Marshall Patrick 
resides today, amid the scenes of his childhood. He has witnessed the trans- 
formation of the wilderness into a land of beautiful homes and flourishing 
towns and villages. He has seen the perilous mountain trails give way to 
wide roads and winding boulevards as smooth as a floor. He has watched the 
slow transformation of the modes of travel from the ox-team and pack- 
horse days down through the varying changes of wagons, light carriages, rail- 
roads and now the swift automobile. He himself trudged many weary miles 
through the wild woods to the little log school-house, while the children of 
this generation are gathered in stately structures of wood and stone. Mr. 
Patrick has seen varying changes in his own fortunes as well, but he has 
never yet regretted the turn of the wheel of fortune which brought him to 
California, and today the welfare of his adopted state is as dear to him 
as ever. 

His father, Nehemiah Patrick, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., 
June 1, 1813. He attended the schools of that locality for a short time and 
then took up the blacksmith's trade. His wife, and the mother of his chil- 
dren, was Jane Daily, also a native of Wyoming county, Pa., born June 6, 
1817. They were married in Pennsylvania in 1835, and for several years fol- 
lowing Mr. Patrick engaged in farming there. In 1843 he removed to Illinois, 
locating in Whiteside county in the northern part of the state near Rock river 
and eighteen miles from the Mississippi river. Here he engaged in farming 
and blacksmithing with appreciable success. There were few settlers in that 
locality and the means of travel were very cumbersome, there being no 
bridges, all rivers being crossed by ferry boats. The lure of the far west was 
penetrating all the land and the reports of opportunities in California and 
Oregon were so flattering that Mr. Patrick determined to remove his family 
and settle on the Pacific coast. Accordingly in 1852 the perilous trip was 
accomplished, the party leaving their Illinois home on May 4, and reaching 
Sacramento October 15. 

Having seen his family comfortably established in Sacramento, the father 
set out to look after the location of Spanish grants, and it was while he was 
away that the great fire of 1852 swept over Sacramento, leaving them home- 
less. Mrs. Patrick and her brood were far from helpless, however, and 



674 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

managed to save everything but the stove. Their possessions w^ere then 
piled in the wagon and hauled to a place of safety, where the family encamped 
for two weeks. Later they left Sacramento and traveled overland to Hum- 
boldt county. There were no wagon roads and everything had to be packed 
over the trails on horseback, this being the only means of transportation for 
man or goods. The trip was made by way of Weaverville and across the 
mountains to the head of Mad river on down to Areata, and from there to 
Eel river valley by way of Table Blufif, up the Slough to Salt river, finally 
arriving at Centerville, these last stages being made by water, and the last 
stretch to the ranch again by pack-horses. The father had taken up a pre- 
emption claim of one hundred sixty acres, part timber and part prairie land 
and started farming, besides running a blacksmith shop. Later, in 1858, 
he built a saw-mill on Price creek and engaged in lumbering, but with indif- 
ferent success, and sold his interests in a short time. The farm, however, 
proved to be a good one, and the family prospered. 

Mr. Patrick was the first man to set out an orchard in his locality and 
one of the first in the entire valley. He planted an extensive orchard to 
apples and cherries and again was very successful in their culture. He 
acquired much property, owning several hundred acres in the Eel river valley 
and much range land around Mattole, this being well stocked with cattle and 
horses. The Patricks were among the first to establish a home in this 
section of the county and are remembered as real pioneers of an early day. 
The children were Giles, Zipporah, Bingham, Marshall, Mary and Josephine, 
all of whom are well known in Humboldt county. Mrs. Patrick was a de- 
voted mother and a truly wonderful woman of the pioneer type, strong, 
resourceful and kindly. She died in 1884. 

Marshall Patrick was born in Whiteside county. 111., March 1, 1849. His 
early life, so far as his own recollections were concerned, was centered about 
the farm in Eel river valley. He attended the Grizzly Bluff schools until he 
was eighteen, and lived at home working with his father on the farm for a 
number of years. After the death of his father he bought a part of the home 
place and engaged in dairying and farming. Later he sold this property and 
purchased a ranch of eighty acres all improved. He also took up land in 
the Mattole section and engaged in cattle-raising on the range, but with 
only partial success, and here also he met with severe loss by range fire 
which swept away practically all of his property in this location. He 
then returned to Grizzly Blufl: and went to work on a ranch, where he 
received an injury from which he recovered only a short time ago. At- 
present he has retired from active business and makes his home in Wadding- 
ton. Mr. Patrick is well known and highly esteemed by his associates. He 
is a member of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, and is a Republican 
in politics, being for many years closely associated with the afifairs of his 
party. 

WILLIAM ALBEE ROBINSON.— The name of Robinson has for 
many years been associated with the most extensive farming and stock- 
raising interests of Humboldt county. The founder in this state, William S, 
Robinson, the father of William A., was a man of great strength of character, 
pronounced experience and business ability and well fitted for the large respon- 
sibilities which came to him. The death of this popular citizen, in 1907, when 
in his seventy-ninth year, is still recalled with expressions of regret by his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 675 

numerous friends and business associates. He was born in Virginia but 
passed his early manhood in Tennessee and Missouri. His changeful youth 
had well prepared him for whatever of vicissitudes he might encounter and 
the term self-made applied to him in its truest sense. In 1850 he crossed the 
plains with ox teams, to California, and in 1854, in company with Joseph Russ, 
crossed the mountains to Humboldt county and located at Areata, coming 
here from Sacramento Valley. Strongly outlined against the history of this 
part of California is the career .of W. S. Robinson, who at the time of his 
decease was one of its wealthy residents, having accumulated a vast property 
numbering two thousand acres. He married Miss Electa L. Albee and to 
them were born nine children, of whom William A. was the fourth, his 
birth occurring in Areata, June 19, 1869. The mother is still living, making 
her home at Eureka, where she is a member of the Congregational church. 

As a boy AVilliam A. Robinson studied in the public schools of Bridgeville 
and, on the completion of his education, assisted his father in the manage- 
ment of the home place. In 1902 he assumed entire charge of the ranch, 
giving his attention for many years to the raising of sheep. In 1911, having 
disposed of his sheep, he began cattle-raising with desirable results, soon 
gaining an enviable reputation in the business world, devoting the entire 
ranch to the raising of cattle and fattening them for the market. While 
he had the influence of his father to aid him in starting out, yet it may 
be said of him that, even without such influence, his own perseverance, wise 
judgment and common sense would have brought him prosperity and prom- 
inence. 

In politics he is a Democrat, while fraternally he is a member of Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. Mr. Robinson was married in 1907 to Miss 
Florence Knowles, a native of Mendocino county, this state, and they have 
one daughter named Elizabeth. Always interested in the cause of education, 
Mr. Robinson has for many years been a member of the board of trustees 
of the Bridgeville school district, serving as clerk during the entire time, 
and the school house is the same he attended his last few years of school. 

ALBERT MAURICE DINSMORE, D. D. S.— The president of the 
Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, who is also proprietor of the Dinsmore 
jewelry store at this place as well as a dental practitioner of experience, is a 
member of a pioneer family of Humboldt county, where he was born at 
Rio Dell, February 23, 1879, and where he received public-school advantages. 
An early desire to enter the dental profession led him to matriculate in the 
dental department of the University of California, where he took the regular 
course of lectures, graduating with a high standing in 1904. Meanwhile, in 
order to assist in defraying the expenses of the university course, he had 
taught school for ten months in his native county. On returning home from 
the university he opened a dental office at Ferndale, where later he became 
a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce and in 1909 bought out the 
jewelry business of R. H. Edwards, now conducted under his own name. 
With his wife, who was Cavy E. Miner, a native of Petrolia, Humboldt 
county, he has a high social standing' in the community. His fraternities are 
numerous and include the Knights of Pythias, Native Sons of the Golden 
West; Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M. in which he is past master; 
Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; Eureka 



676 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San 
Francisco. 

The founder of the Dinsmore family in Humboldt county, the late John 
Owen Dinsmore, the grandfather of Dr. Dinsmore, was born in 1816 on the 
banks of the Kennebec river in Maine and died at his western home June 21, 
1891. In early life he engaged in logging and lumbering, but the failure of his 
health caused him to go from Maine to Texas in 1846 and for a few years he 
taught in the south. Improved by the change of climate, he returned to 
Maine and remained there until the discovery of gold in California caused 
him to come to the west. At the end of the first year he went back as far as 
Illinois and bought a farm in Knox county, where an uncle lived. Soon he 
moved to Henry county, same state, where he met and married Margaret J. 
Davis, a native of Indiana, born April 1, 1832, but from infancy a resident of 
Illinois. 

The second trip of John Owen Dinsmore to California was made in 
1859 in company with his brother, Bradbury, Mrs. Dinsmore and the three 
children remaining on the Illinois farm. Coming direct to Humboldt county 
and locating at laqua, he engaged in the cattle industry, but the depreda- 
tions of the Indians forced him to move his cattle nearer the coast on the 
Mattole river. In the fall of 1860 he sold the stock and returned overland to 
Illinois. During May, 1861, accompanied by his family, he came west, land- 
ing in Humboldt county on the 4th of September. During some of his over- 
land trips he acquired a tract of land in Kansas and that property he still 
owned at his death. After two years as a renter in Humboldt county he 
purchased one hundred sixty acres on the Eel river. It necessitated long 
years of the most arduous toil for him to reclaim and improve the land, but 
it is now as valuable as any farm in the county. In politics he was prominent 
in local Republican affairs and served for two terms as supervisor. Of his 
eight children Thomas died in infancy and William, a very influential rancher, 
died at the age of forty-eight. Wallace became an attorney at Marysville. 
Harriet, Mrs. M. P. Hansen, settled on a ranch near Alton. Clara married 
George Cooper, and Mrs. Dinsmore, after the death of her husband, made her 
home on the Cooper ranch. George died at seventeen years and Sophia in 
infancy. Harold became manager of the old homestead for his mother, and 
inherited forty acres of the tract as his individual property. 

William Dinsmore, son of John O. and father of Dr. Albert M., was born 
in Henry county, 111., August 29, 1855, came to California when about seven 
years of age, lived on the home farm until his marriage at the age of twenty- 
one and then settled at Rio Dell, Humboldt county. Six years later he bought 
one hundred thirty acres and moved to the new property, thirty acres of 
which he planted in apple trees. The orchard has been considered one of the 
best in the county and its value was largely due to the care of the original 
orchardist in selecting the best varieties of trees. For some years William 
Dinsmore served as school director. His fraternities were Eel River Lodge 
No. 147, F. & A. M., of Rohnerville ; Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. ; 
Hydesville Lodge No. 250, I. O. O. F., and Hydesville Encampment. At his 
death, June 7, 1903, he was survived by his wife and five children, Albert M., 
Fred A., George E., Elsie and Mabel L. Mrs. William Dinsmore was Annie, 
daughter of Joseph and Bertha (Thompson) RoUey, natives respectively of 
England and Pennsylvania. In 1844 her father settled in New York City and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 677 

found employment in the butcher's trade. Going as far west as Grundy 
county, 111., he bought raw land and engaged in farming. The year 1874 
found him in California, where he bought one hundred sixty acres near 
Fortuna, Humboldt county. Dairying became one of his specialties. A man 
of splendid physique, six feet and two inches in height, and weighing one 
hundred and eighty pounds, he continued active up to the very hour of his 
death, which occurred (the result of hemorrhage of the brain) in February of 
1896. In politics he voted the Republican ticket. He was not long survived 
by his wife, whose death occurred in March, 1897, when she was sixty years 
of age. Ten children had been born of their union, namely : Edward, who 
died at twenty-one years ; Annie, mother of Dr. Albert M. Dinsmore and 
widow of William Dinsmore ; Frank ; William Walter ; Minnie J., wife of 
Frank Legg ; Mary E., Mrs. John E. Hosier ; Albert ; Gertrude, now Mrs. 
Frank L. Parker; George T., attorney of Eureka and in 1902 elected a member 
of the state legislature ; and Charles. All established homes at Fortuna, with 
the exception of the three last-named, who settled at Eureka. George T. Rol- 
ley attained wide prominence through his election in 1903 as supreme rep- 
resentative of the supreme court of the Foresters of America. 

GEORGE RUSSELL HILL.— One of the old-timers in the Upper Mat- 
tole valley is George Russell Hill, who has resided there for over forty years, 
and at his present home for the last thirty years. He has a valuable little 
fruit and stock ranch about a mile south of Upper Mattole post office, on the 
opposite side of the river, and has been so successful in the growing and 
evaporation of prunes that he has helped to give the Humboldt county 
product in that line a reputation equal to any. His principal interests, how- 
ever, are in general agriculture and stock. 

Mr. Hill may well be proud of the record of his family in the west. His 
father came to the Pacific coast across the plains in 1845, several years ahead 
of the gold discovery. Russell Taylor Hill was born in Tennessee, and died in 
Idaho when about sixty-five years old. His life was full of adventure typical 
of the times. He first settled at Lebanon, Oregon, moving down to Cali- 
fornia when gold was discovered and living in this state a number of years. 
He had married in Oregon, and after deciding to settle in California brought 
his family hither. Like many another attracted by the mining possibilities, 
he found his fortune in quite another line, being engaged mainly as a stock- 
man, buying and selling cattle, and as a drover. For several years he lived 
in Suisun, Cal., moving thence when his son George R. was seven years old to 
Idaho, where he built a toll road into Idaho City, where he also engaged in 
butchering, raised stock, and led the life of a genuine frontiersman. He 
married Adelaide Cheadle, a native of Michigan, who also came west by the 
plains route, and they had a family of nine children, four of whom survive 
at this writing. The mother lived to the age of seventy-four years. 

George R. Hill was born December 24, 1855, at Suisun, Cal., where the 
first seven years of his life were spent. He was next to the youngest of his 
parents' family, and is the only one living in Humboldt county. He obtained 
his education in the public schools, and during his youth and early manhood 
saw a great deal of the northwest, living at various places in California, Idaho 
and Oregon before settling down in the Upper Mattole district in Humboldt 
county. As an expert sheep shearer he was never at a loss for occupation, 
following that calling, starting in the Sacramento valley, whence working 



678 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

north each year up into Oregon, Washington and Montana, being thus en- 
gaged more or less for thirty years. When a youth of eighteen years he 
came from Oregon to Ferndale, Humboldt county, and at the age of twenty- 
one he came to Upper Mattole and took up a claim ten miles from his present 
place in the mountains. Thirty years ago he settled on his present property, 
a tract of twenty acres about one mile up the river from Upper Mattole, and 
his varied experiences with stock have helped him in his successful opera- 
tions here. He is best known as a stockman and farmer, but his success in 
growing prunes has also gained him some reputation. He evaporates large 
quantities by drying them on trays in the sun, and the excellence of his 
product shows that as good prunes may be raised in Humboldt county as 
the famous Santa Clara variety or any other of popular renown. His indus- 
try and other substantial qualities have brought him the esteem of all who 
know him, and he is considered one of the best citizens of his neighborhood. 
Politically he is with the Progressive party. 

On December 24, 1881, Mr. Hill was married to Miss Bertha Jane Roscoe, 
daughter of Wesley Horton Roscoe, one of the prominent old settlers of the 
Upper Mattole district, and a family of five children was born to this union: 
Dora M., now the wife of Frank Etter, a ranchman residing in the Mattole 
valley; Edward E., cashier of the Loleta Bank at Loleta ; Lulu A. and Georgie 
A., living at home; and Winifred, who is engaged as a teacher at Fortuna, 
this county. Mrs. Hill died August 20, 1895, and while Mr. Hill was called 
upon to mourn the loss of a devoted helpmate after a comparatively short 
wedded life, he has found great comfort in his children. He and his daughters 
have a comfortable home on the ranch, and no family in the vicinity is more 
highly respected. 

ROBERT EDWARD BYARD.— A descendant of one of the old pio- 
neer families of California, and himself a Native Son of the Golden West, 
Robert Edward Byard is today one of the most respected citizens of Hum- 
boldt county, and at Korbel, where he has made his home for a number of 
years, he is held in high esteem by his fellows, both among his business asso- 
ciates and his friends and acquaintances. He is at present foreman of the 
Jackson, Everding & Graham Company's mill at Korbel, having held this 
responsible position for more than twelve years, and is considered one of the 
foremost men in the community. His business integrity and high moral 
principles have won for him the respect and confidence of the community, 
and also of his workmen and of his employers. 

Mr. Byard is a native of Humboldt county, having been born at For- 
tuna, December 20, 1870. He passed his boyhood at Fortuna, attending the 
public schools there and later taking a business course in Eureka, graduating 
from the Eureka Business College in 1890. In that year he started out for 
himself, registering as a lumberman, and soon accepting a position as tally- 
man with the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, remaining in their employ 
for a year. Afterward he went to work for John Vance as tallyman for the 
Pioneer Lumber Company and for eleven yeai-s held a position with this same 
company, ultimately becoming foreman. It was in 1902 that he accepted his 
present position of foreman of the Jackson, Everding & Graham Company's 
mill at Korbel, and removed with his family to his present home. 

Mr. Byard is a citizen of the highest type. He is a Progressive Repub- 
lican in politics, but has never been actively associated with the affairs of the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 681 

party. He is, however, truly progressive in the broadest sense of the vv^ord, 
and every movement that has for its object the moral and social betterment 
of the community is certain to receive his instant and hearty support. He 
is a member of the Lincoln Lodge K. of P., Eureka, having united at the 
time of his residence there. Mr. Byard is also a member of the Methodist 
church, and besides taking an active part in church work, is prominent in the 
Christian Endeavor society and other religious societies. 

The marriage of Mr. Byard took place May 17, 1893, uniting him with 
Miss Florence Snow, daughter of William Snow, and a native of Missouri, 
born in 1873. She came to California with her parents in 1885, locating in 
Humboldt county, where she has since made her home. 

Mr. Byard himself is the son of one of the oldest pioneer families in 
Humboldt county. His father, George Augustus Byard, is a native of Maine, 
born March 15, 1835. When very young he left home to follow the fortunes 
of the sea, in this following in the footsteps of his forebears, his father having 
been a sailor all his life and the son of a sailor. He followed the sea for a 
period of nine years, from the time he was fourteen until he was twenty-three. 
In October of 1858 he left Boston on a sailing vessel bound for the Cali- 
fornia coast, rounding the Horn, and arrived in San Francisco in the spring 
of 1859. At this time he gave up the life of a sailor and went to work in 
the woods of Marin county, later engaging in the wood business for himself. 
In 1865 he removed with his family to Humboldt county and for the first 
two years worked for George A. Kellogg in the woods. In 1867 he pur- 
chased a farm at Fortuna, where he resided until his death, March 3, 1915, 
and was for many years engaged in dairying and diversified farming, own- 
ing one of the best farms of the valley. He had been interested in the 
political affairs of the country all his life, was a stanch Republican in his 
political affiliations and was progressive and well informed on all questions of 
public interest, both local and national. 

Mr. Byard's mother was Agnes Ingram, a native of Ireland, born in 
County Armagh, August 20, 1841. She came with her parents to America 
in 1848, locating first in Illinois. By way of the Isthmus the family came to 
California in 1860. Miss Ingram was married to George -Augustus Byard in 
San Francisco, December 25, 1862. She bore her husband eight children, 
several of whom are now prominent citizens of this locality. She passed 
away August 20, 1891. 

WARREN L. HADLEY.— The old Hadley ranch on the Mattole river, 
about a mile above where the Upper Mattole post office is now located, is 
one of the oldest settled tracts in this part of Humboldt county, and the 
members of the Hadley family are among the most respected residents of 
the neighborhood. AVarren L. Hadley has become very well known all over 
this section, particularly as mail driver, in which capacity he acted until the 
route from Upper Mattole to Briceland was discontinued, August 1, 1914. 
Like his father, Alfred Augustus Hadley, he is also keenly interested in local 
politics, and he is one of the members of the Mattole brass band organized in 
1913. 

Alfred Augustus Hadley was one of the earliest settlers in the Upper 
Mattole country. A native of Ohio, he was raised in that state and in Indiana, 
where he began to teach school when only eighteen years old, a fact which 
indicates that he had been enterprising enough to take advantage of his edu- 



682 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

cational opportunities. His adventurous disposition was manifested early, 
for he was mining in Mexico in the forties, and came to California in the 
early fifties, mining in the hills back of Merced for a time. Then he came 
up to Humboldt county and settled on the Mattole river, on the side opposite 
Upper Mattole post office, where he improved land and prospered. He had 
at least the average share of hardships and dangers to combat. On several 
occasions he had fights with the Indians, and one time had his leg broken 
and was badly disabled, but he did not lose his grit or courage, and though 
his companions had fied, he drove ofif the savages single handed with his six- 
shooter, with which he was an expert. His valuable service to the Repub- 
lican party won him a place on the county central committee for many years, 
and he served a long period as justice of the peace. 

Mr. Hadley was married here to Miss Annie Rouch, who was born in the 
Eel river valley, .and eleven children were born of this union: Albert A., a 
blacksmith by trade, resides at Wheatland, Cal. ; Rosa is the wife of R. R. 
Landergen, a teamster, of the Honey Dew district in the Upper Mattole 
territory ; William T. S., a lawyer by profession, is also engaged in ranch- 
ing in this section, being now the owner of the old homestead ; Warren L. is 
mentioned below : Ida M. died unmarried, she and her sister Mary being 
drowned in the Mattole while out boating ; Isaac Clay is a ranchman on the 
Hood river in Oregon ; Grace, unmarried, lives on the old Hadley ranch with 
her mother; Frank S., also unmarried, lives on the home ranch; Mary was 
drowned with her sister ; Nettie, Mrs. Ornbaum, taught school in Lake county 
for a time; Gussie is married and living in Oakland, Cal. The father of this 
family died at the age of seventy-eight years, being accidentally killed while 
riding horseback. 

Warren L. Hadley was born April 6, 1868, on the old Hadley ranch along 
the Mattole river, where he grew to manhood. He has been familiar with 
ranch work from boyhood, but his specialty has been sheep shearing, at 
which he is an expert, having sheared as many as one hundred fifty-eight in a 
day of ten hours. For several years he followed this business almost exclu- 
sively, traveling over Idaho, Oregon and Montana as well as various parts of 
his own state, espeoially the Sacramento valley. He has taken out tanbark 
on contract, 'and is a thoroughly reliable teamster, having driven the mail 
from the Upper Mattole country to Briceland until the route was abandoned, 
in the summer of 1914. At present he is carrying on general ranch work, 
renting the three hundred acres he operates. His active, outdoor life has 
made him robust, and he is thoroughly capable and trustworthy, his intelli- 
gence and energy making him valuable to the community. He is a member 
of the Knights of Pythias at Petrolia, and in politics has followed in his 
father's footsteps, being one of the most efficient workers in the local ranks 
of the Republican party. He has served repeatedly on the county central 
committee. 

When the Mattole brass band was organized in 1913 Mr. Hadley was 
one of the nine members, and now serves as secretary and treasurer of the 
organization, of which Emil Sund is leader and R. N. Holman president. 
The players have the following parts : R. N. Holman, B flat bass ; Earl 
Shortgen, Jean Landergen, E flat altos ; F. S. Hadley, tenor slide trombone ; 
W. E. Thrapp, valve tenor trombone; W. L. Hadley, B flat baritone; Robert 
M. Hadley, B flat cornet ; Frank Luce, tenor ; Frank Blatz, bass and snare 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 683 

drums ; Emil Sund, E flat cornet. The band is in great demand at Fourth 
of July celebrations, picnics and other gatherings. 

In Garberville, September 19, 1895, Mr. Hadley married Miss Ella R. 
Wood, who was born at Garberville, Humboldt county, daughter of James E. 
and Laura (Webb) Wood. Eight children have come to this union: Robert 
McKinley ; one that died in infancy ; Rose M. ; Crystel M. ; Alfred J. ; Her- 
bert S. ; Warren Lincoln, and Ervin A. Mrs. Hadley's mother was born in 
California ; her father's native state was Illinois, and he became a pioneer 
stock-raiser at Garberville, Cal., where he died ; the mother now resides at 
Rohnerville. 

LEWIS J. STONE. — As one of the leading carpenters and builders of 
Waddington and vicinity, Lewis J. Stone is well and favorably known. He 
has erected churches, schools, creameries and especially residences, many of 
the handsomest homes in Waddington, Ferndale, and in fact throughout the 
southern half of Humboldt county, being testimonies to his skill and handi- 
craft. He has been a resident of Humboldt county since 1891, and has been 
actively engaged in the pursuit of his trade since coming to this part of the 
country. He is a progressive, clear-sighted man, demanding and giving a 
square deal at all times and in all places. He and his family are highly 
respected throughout the county, and wherever they are known receive the 
most honorable mention. 

Mr. Stone is a native of Wisconsin, having been born at Waukau, Winne- 
bago county, Wisconsin, December 5, 1860, the son of John and Sarah (Pack- 
ard) Stone. His father was a native of Vermont, and enlisted in the Union 
army during the Civil war, meeting his death during that troubled period. 
The mother was a native of Ohio, and is still living near Waukau, Wis., at 
the age of seventy-five years, making her home with her daughter. There 
were but two children in the family: the present respected citizen of Wad- 
dington, and an elder sister, Jessie, now the wife of John Lefivre, a farmer,, 
residing at Waukau, Wis. The mother married a second time to Morris Gay, 
a farmer of A'Visconsin, and one child was born of this second union, a son,. 
Eugene. Lewis John Stone grew to young manhood on the farm of his step- 
father, attending the schools in the district and assisting with the labor and 
responsibility of the home place, remaining thus until he was twenty years 
of age, when he commenced to work out on the neighboring farms for wages. 
When he was twenty-three years of age he commenced to learn the carpenter's 
trade, and later went to Hope, Steele county. North Dakota, where he took 
up and improved a government claim, also working at his trade. He remained 
in North Dakota from 1882 until 1891, at which latter date he came to Cali- 
fornia, locating at Waddington, where he has since made his home. 

Mr. Stone has been twice married, his first wife having died many years 
ago. She was Miss Beatrice Slingsby, of Waukau, Wis., and their marriage 
was solemnized in 1884 at that place. Of this union were born six children, 
four daughters and two sons, all of whom are well and favorably known 
in Humboldt county, where they were reared and educated. They are : Eliza- 
beth, wife of John Downs, head wood chopper in the lumber woods, and 
residing at Sterling, Tehama county (they have two children, Elizabeth and 
John, Jr.) ; Beatrice, wife of Joseph Gofif, of Ferndale, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere in this work; Gay, wife of Gustavus Jasper, the editor of the 
Beacon, at Fortuna, and present candidate for the state assembly (they have 



684 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

one child, Cedrick) ; Alice, wife of Peter McCabe, tanner, of Portland, Ore. 
(they have one child) ; Eugene, who works on a ranch in Humboldt county; 
and John, aged fourteen, who is still attending school. 

Quite apart from his prominence in the commercial life of the county, 
Mr. Stone is well and favorably known in his home community in fraternal 
and political circles. He is a man- of much strength of character and has 
formed many warm friendships. He traces his genealogy back to a sturdy 
old line of English ancestry, which, according to a recently published ac- 
credited work, declares that the Stones first settled in America in 1638, estab- 
lishing their homes near the now historic site of Guilford Courthouse. They 
took an important part in the early history of the colonies and later in the 
history of the States. Mr. Stone is a Republican, and is always intensely 
interested in all questions that pertain to the general welfare of the country, 
and to the future development of Humboldt county in particular. He en- 
dorses whatever tends toward the upbuilding of the community, such as 
educational advancement, good roads, etc. Mr. Stone is also a Master 
Mason, and takes an active part in the affairs of the local lodge. His second 
marriage occurred December 4, 1905, uniting him with Miss Lillian Lee 
Steward, of Sonoma county, California. 

JOSEPH A. FITZELL.— As senior member of the firm of Fitzell Broth- 
ers, of Van Dusen township, the operators of a large ranch of five hundred 
eighty acres which belongs to their father, Joseph A. Fitzell is well known 
through this section of the county and is very highly esteemed. Associated 
with him is his younger brother, Frank Lester Fitzell, both being natives of 
Eureka, the latter born January 22, 1890, and the former January 6, 1889. 
They have been in charge of the ranch for a number of years, taking entire 
charge of it in 1908, and are making a very decided success. 

Mr. Fitzell spent his boyhood in Eureka, where he attended the public 
school, and then for five 3^ears worked in his father's drug store there. His 
brother served a like apprenticeship in the business world for four years. 
Their father is Charles R. Fitzell, a successful druggist of Eureka, owner and 
manager of the Fitzell Drug Company, on F street. He is a native of Iowa, 
born at Cedar Rapids, December 15, 1860. His father, Joseph Fitzell, was 
a successful general merchant at Cedar Rapids, and in 1873 he removed with 
his family to California, locating at Eureka. The son, Charles R., received 
a grammar school education in Eureka, and later for a period of six years 
he was in the employ of F. A. Week, who at that time was prominent as a 
druggist in Eureka. In 1880 he entered the Department of Pharmacy, at the 
University of California, at Berkeley, graduating in 1883. Returning to 
Eureka he took charge of Mr. Week's drug store for a period of four years 
and then bought out his employer and has since conducted the business him- 
self. He married Miss Mary D. Week, the daughter of F. A. Week, and of 
their union nine children were born, as follows: Bertha; Joseph A., the sub- 
ject of. this article; Frank L., partner with Joseph in the management of the 
ranch at Blocksburg ; Laura ; Susan ; Charles ; Mary ; Alfred ; and Edward. At 
present Mr. Fitzell, Sr., resides in a comfortable home on Fourteenth and M 
streets, in Eureka. Mrs. Fitzell's family is one of the oldest and most highly 
respected of the early pioneer families of Humboldt county, and her parents 
are still living in San Francisco. 

Since taking over the management of their father's ranch, Joseph A. and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 687 

Frank L. Fitzell have made many improvements and have greatly extended 
their business venture. They raise principally grain, hay and hogs, with 
some cattle and horses. They fatten and sell on an average of one hundred 
head of hogs per year, and they also breed a high grade of Belgian horses. 
They are both sportsmen of a high order and deer and other game are 
plentiful in their region. Their ranch is a model of care and enterprise and 
speaks well for the ability and industry of Fitzell Brothers. 

HORACE C. ANDERSON.— A native of Hydesville and the son of one' 
of the oldest and most highly respected pioneer families of Humboldt 
county, Horace C. Anderson has spent his entire lifetime in this county, 
being for the most part engaged in business in or near Hydesville. For the 
past seven years- he has been in the threshing business, owning a twenty- 
four cylinder Buffalo-Pitts separator, and a traction steam engine. He is 
also prepared to saw wood and to take care of such other odd contracts 
during the season when there is no work in the threshing line. Fie owns 
extensive farm property in the vicinity of Hydesville, and is one of the 
prosperous and progressive men of the county. 

Mr. Anderson is a native of Humboldt county, having been born near 
Hydesville, October 15, 1884, the son of Jasper and Eleanor (Case) Ander- 
son. His father, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, came to California when he 
was a young man, engaging in farming and dairying in this county for many 
years. He is now operating his large ranch at Hydesville. The mother, a 
native of Oregon, came to California in girlhood. She became the mother of 
seven children, four sons and three daughters, six of whom grew to maturity, 
Horace C. being the eldest. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, 
attending the district school and learning at an early age to bear his share 
of responsibilities of the home place. For some years he engaged in farming 
and stockraising on his ranch comprising one hundred and ninety acres, all 
improved, located near Hydesville. However, he now has the place rented 
so as to devote his time to looking after his other interests. In the spring 
of 1915 Mr. Anderson opened the Rio Dell lime quarries three miles above 
Rio Dell, where he is engaged in grinding lime which is used largely by farm- 
ers for fertilizing their lands. The undertaking is proving a success, and as 
the need demands it he is increasing the capacity of his plant. 

Mr. Anderson owns a comfortable residence in Hydesville, where he 
made his home until the spring of 1915, since which time he has made his 
home and headquarters in Eureka. In addition to his activities as a farmer 
and in connection with his threshing machine business, Mr. Anderson has 
been engaged in general contracting and has built several miles of heavy 
roads in the Van Dusen section of Humboldt county, which were completed 
in a satisfactory manner. 

The marriage of Mr. Anderson was solemnized in 1908 at Alton, the 
bride being Miss Nellie Hansen, the daughter of H. J. and Mary E. (Smith) 
Hansen, born on the island of Falster, Denmark, and Eldorado county, Cal., 
respectively; they were married in Hydesville. By trade Mr. Hansen was a 
blacksmith, a business which he followed in Hydesville for many years. 
After selling out his shop he purchased his present ranch at Alton, where he 
and his wife reside. Of their three children Mrs. Anderson was the youngest 
and was born at Alton, where she was reared and educated. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Anderson are popular and well known not only in their home but 

24 



688 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

throughout Humboldt county. Mr. Anderson is a member of Hydesville 
Lodge No. 250, L O. O. F., of which he is past grand, is a member of Hydes- 
ville Encampment No. 59, and with his wife is a member of Hydesville 
Rebekah Lodge No. 98, of which Mrs. Anderson is past noble grand. In 1910 
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were delegates to the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows 
and Rebekahs at Fresno. 

HECTOR ALBERT NELSON is one of the pioneers of Humboldt 
county, of which he is also a native, and is the son of one of the oldest 
pioneer families of the county. His father and mother both came to this 
section of the state at an early day, and here their home was established and 
their family born and reared. Mr. Nelson at present resides on the old home 
place, where he was born and where he grew to manhood. He has made a 
decided success of his undertakings and as a prosperous farmer is well known 
and highly esteemed in Areata and the surrounding country. 

Mr. Nelson was born in the old Nelson home, Areata Bottoms, January 
17, 1864, and his boyhood days, and in fact most of the years of his life, have 
all been passed in or near Areata, where he has a host of life-long friends. 
He received his education in the public schools of Areata, and later attended 
Heald's Business college in San Francisco, where he wa"s graduated in 1885. 
After completing his studies he remained at home, working for and with his 
father on the home place until the time of his father's death, which occurred 
March 6, 1896. Since that time he has himself conducted the farm, following 
the line that had interested his father, namely diversified farming and dairying. 

This home place is a ranch of eighty acres and is all in a splendid state 
of cultivation, and is one of the best cared for places in the valley, as well 
as one of the best improved. A-Vhen he first went into the dairying business 
Mr. Nelson had a herd of fifteen cows, which he has since increased to forty 
head. He has given careful attention to the details of the work and has 
met with appreciable success in his business. His property is constantly 
increasing in value, as are also his stock, while each year improvements are 
added to the farm, which in themselves enhance its value. 

The marriage of Mr. Nelson with Miss Angle Maria Brown took place 
July 28, 1907. Mrs. Nelson is the mother of one child, a son, Frederick Morris 
Nelson, who is the pride of his father's heart. Mrs. Nelson is the daughter 
of an old pioneer family of California, and was born in Petaluma, Sonoma 
county, August 25, 1875. She received her education in the Petaluma public 
schools, graduating first from the grammar schools and later from the high 
school. Her parents eventually removed to Humboldt county, where she met 
and was married to Mr. Nelson. 

The parents of Mr. Nelson are both from the other side of the Atlantic, 
his father being a native of Denmark, while his mother was born in Germany. 
The father was Christian Nelson, who was born in Denmark, July 7, 1822. 
He attended the public schools of his native village but a short time, as both 
his parents died when he was a small lad. At an early age he decided to 
become a sailor, and for about fourteen years he followed a sea-faring life. 
He came first to San Francisco in 1854, and from there sailed up the coast 
to Trinidad. At this time he had determined to give up the sea and for a 
time he worked in a sawmill, and later spent some time in the mines, remain- 
ing at Gold Blufif for about two years. Then he was farming at Little River 
Bridge, but in 1862 was driven out by the Indians, so in the fall of 1862 he 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY . 689 

came to Areata and purchased eighty acres of bottom land, which at the 
time of purchase was unimproved. This was later cleared and brought into 
a high state of cultivation, and has since then been the home of the family. 
The mother of Mr. Nelson was Augusta Bayreuther, born in Saxony, Germany, 
February 10, 1832. She came to California by way of the Isthmus, making 
the trip directly from Germany. She was married to ]\Ir. Nelson, Sr., in 
Humboldt county in 18.58. Their union was blessed by four children, three 
of whom are still living. The aged mother is still living on the old home 
place where her children were born and reared and which holds for her so 
many happy memories. 

Mr. Nelson is a man of keen interests in all questions of the day, is well 
informed and broadminded and decidedly liberal in his views. He is a 
Republican and is interested- in all the affairs of his party, both locally and 
in matters of state and national policy, although he has never been actively 
engaged in politics. 

MADS P. HANSEN. — This thrifty farmer and business man of Rohner- 
ville township is a citizen of whom Humboldt county may well be proud. A 
foreigner by birth, and without advantages of friends or money when he 
settled here, he has worked his way to a position of affluence and high standing 
by reason of his substantial qualities, shown in his good citizenship as well 
as in the management of his personal affairs. Mr. Hansen was born July 
29, 1847, in North Schleswig, Germany, son of M. P. and Elizabeth (Hoist) 
Hansen. He was reared in his native land, and had excellent educational 
advantages, so that he was well trained for the practical work of life before 
he left home. 

In 1869 the young man came to the United States, and for four months 
lived in Illinois, but he decided on California the year of his arrival in this 
countr}^ and has remained here ever since. The first four years of his resi- 
dence in this state he was employed as a laborer near Oakland, meantime 
gaining a knowdedge of the language and familiarity with American customs. 
In 1873 he came thence to Humboldt county, and the same year located 
the property in Rohnerville township where he has since carried on farming 
on his own account, having one hundred twenty-nine acres of valuable land. 
He has been successfully engaged in general agriculture, but has made a 
specialty of dairying, keeping about forty cows the year rovmd, and finding 
a steady market for the milk and his other products. As opportunity has 
offered he has turned his attention to other undertakings, in which his good 
judgment and business capacity have been equally apparent. He owned 
three acres of land in the village of Alton, which he platted in town lots, and 
he has also acquired commercial interests there, owning the only store and 
the only livery stable in the place, both of which he conducts with commend- 
able enterprise. Mr. Hansen's ambition and progressive disposition have 
gained him a place among the most active residents of his locality. All who 
have had dealings with him testify to his absolute honesty and unquestion- 
able methods, which have established him thoroughly in the confidence of 
his fellow men wherever he is known. He has taken an intelligent interest 
in the welfare of his township, especially regarding public school facilities, 
which he regards as highly important, and he gave excellent service to the 
township in the position of school trustee. He was nominated for the offfce 
of supervisor, but defeated. In politics he has been a Republican, and he 



590 . HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

has taken part in the local campaigns, wielding considerable influence in his 
neighborhood, where he has done good work for the party. Socially he is 
an Odd Fellow, holding membership in Hydesville Lodge No. 250. 

Mr. Hansen was married to Harriet Dinsmore, a native of Illinois, daugh- 
ter of the late J. O. Dinsmore. They have had a family of four children, namely : 
John A., who lives in Yuba county, this state ; Winifred, deceased ; Christina 
M., Mrs. Nathan Hauck ; and George. 

■ FREEMAN ART.— The development of a large establishment out of 
the small business established in Eureka in 1906 is attributable to the 
capable efforts of Emma B. Freeman, the founder and present proprietor of 
the studio and a woman whose intense love of the beautiful and picturesque 
in nature led her in early childhood to follow the bright-plumaged birds to 
their hidden haunts in great trees ; to study the flowers as they bloomed uncul- 
tivated and often unseen along the wayside ; and to watch the changing 
cloud in the sky and every phase of scenery that allures the possessor of an 
artistic temperament. A'Vhen she decided to develop her remarkable natural 
talent and to make drawing, painting and photography her life Avork, she 
selected Humboldt county as the spot best adapted to her occupative duties. 
The results proved that her selection was not amiss. It has been her privilege 
to tour practically every portion of northern California, taking with her a 
complete outfit of photographic necessities or a drawing and painting outfit. 
With these she has made pictures of the sun-kissed seashore, the isolated 
mountains and the dense forests. A special atmosphere of romance seems to 
envelop these reproductions of picturesque spots and even a most casual 
glance at the large assortment of local pictures displayed in her studio proves 
her to be a true lover of nature and an expert in photography. 

A visitor to the Freeman art store on the corner of Fifth and H streets. 
Eureka, finds much to interest the mind and awaken the admiration. Beside 
the thousands of views taken in every part of the county there are many 
redwood novelties and Indian baskets, all but the latter manufactured on the 
premises, as well as art leather goods, artistic souvenirs and an assortment of 
inaterial for the framing of pictures. Every branch of photography is in evi- 
dence, including copy work, enlarging of pictures, and scenic and commercial 
reproductions, together with the usual forms of portraiture. 

Emma B. Freeman's portrait work is now being sought by publishers. 
Recent issues of Collier's, Leslie's, Sunset, Outing and other publications 
are using her prints. Her artistic studies of the native Indians are being 
ordered not alone from different parts of the United States, but from other 
countries. The State Library at Sacramento has commissioned her to place 
with them her entire collection of Indian pictures ; so that with her local 
work she is adding fame to northern California as well as winning the 
deserved honor that comes to herself as a true artist. 

Singularly fortunate has Mrs. Freeman been in interpreting the scenic 
grandeur of Humboldt county in a series of photographs that have attracted 
wide and favorable attention from art critics and connoisseurs and that 
afford gratification to her friends who possess the utmost faith in her 
artistic abilities. It is indeed a source of general gratification that there is 
an artist within the county capable of reproducing local scenic beauties and 
thus making it possible for the entire country to understand and realize the 




^:^^^-^ ^ y^O^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 693 

landscape attractions that make this section one of the most picturesque 
spots in the west. 

FRANK L. CAIN. — As assistant postmaster of Alderpoint, and the 
first bona-fide resident of the now thriving Uttle town, Frank L. Cain has 
taken a prominent part in the affairs of the community since its beginning, 
and is today one of its most influential residents. His name is indelibly 
associated with the fame and fortunes of the North-Western Pacific Railroad, 
whose advent into this region is responsible for the birth of the new town, 
through the fact that the "golden spike" which marked the completion of the 
line was driven at "Cain's Rock," a landmark which Avas named for him on 
account of its being located at a point in Eel river where Mr. Cain home- 
steaded in 1898. The opening of the North-Western Pacific Railroad, which 
formally occurred on October 23, 1914, marked an era of great importance 
in this part of California, and Alderpoint, which had been a prosperous little 
town during the period of construction, has since grown into a place of com- 
mercial importance, and promises to be one of the prominent county towns. 

Mr. Cain is a descendant of an old pioneer family of great prominence 
in California, he being a nephew of ex-Governor Burnett, the first American 
governor of California, through his maternal ancestry. Flis mother was 
Elizabeth Burnett, familiarly known by her family and intimate friends as 
"Betty Burnett," and was an own sister of Peter H. Burnett, the aforemen- 
tioned governor, and an aunt of Judge Albert Burnett, of the appellate court 
at Sacramento. His father, Robert Cain, a native of Kentucky, was a man 
of means, but lost much property during the Civil war. He had moved to 
Platte City, Mo., many 3^ears before, and died there in 1869, at the age of 
seventy-six years. After his death his wife came to California in 1875 with 
her children, with the exception of Emmett, who remained in Missouri. The 
family located at Cloverdale, and later removed to Williams, Colusa county, 
where she died in 1883, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Cain, Sr., 
were the parents of four children, all sons, and all well known residents of 
California at this time, with the exception of Robert Emmett, the second 
born, who resides in Oklahoma, where he is engaged in farming. Of the 
other sons, the eldest, Burnett, resides in Los Angeles, where he is a promi- 
nent contractor and builder ; Frank L. is the subject of this sketch ; and Henry 
M. is a contractor and builder in Los Angeles. The mother was married to 
Dr. Ware May before her marriage to Mr. Cain, and by the first union was 
the mother of six children. 

Frank L. Cain is a native of Platte City, Mo., born January 12, 1854, and 
there grew to maturity, receiving his education in the local public and high 
schools. After coming to California with his mother in 1875 he worked on 
various ranches in Sonoma county, being employed by the month, and later 
engaged in the sheep business in Sherwood valley, Mendocino county, where 
he owned a thousand head of sheep in partnership with his brother-in-law, 
Oliver Todd. Later he disposed of his interests there and went to Los 
Angeles, where he lived for four years, from 1882 to 1886. He then returned 
northward, locating at Cloverdale, and engaged in the cattle business on the 
Crigler ranch, a property of two thousand acres, raising both cattle and hogs, 
and meeting with success. After a time he disposed of his interests there to 
good advantage and went to Fort Bragg, Mendocino county, where he pur- 
chased and improved a place, which he later sold, and then came to Hum- 



694 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

boldt county, where he has since resided. In 1898 he homesteaded a ranch 
of one hundred and sixty acres on Eel river, this being the property located 
at Cain's Rock, of golden spike fame, and at that time Blocksburg was the 
nearest postoffice. In 1910 Mr. Cain sold this ranch. He came to Alderpoint 
in 1907 and bought two lots, building a residence and a small barn, in which 
he kept four stage horses for the Helmke Stage Company. At this time the 
surveys for the North-Western Pacific Railroad were being run, and from 
this small beginning the town of Alderpoint has grown to its present promis- 
ing proportions, with a growing, population and prosperous business district 
which supplies the tributary country. When the postoffice was instituted in 
1909 Mr. Cain was made assistant postmaster, and has occupied this position 
continuously since that time. He is a Democrat in politics and takes an active 
part in the affairs of his party, being especially interested in all qviestions of 
local importance, in which he takes a leading part.. He has served in various 
capacities, being a member of several election boards, and also having served 
as judge of elections. He is a man of high moral integrity and is honored 
and respected wherever he is known. 

CRAIG R. THOMPSON.^A resident of Humboldt county for more 
than fifty years, and today one of the most influential and enterprising citizens 
of the new town of Alderpoint, Craig Rickey Thompson is well known as a 
rancher of means and ability and also as a contractor and builder, this latter 
occupation being the one that he is following at the present time, although 
he still owns his splendid farm of three hundred twenty acres near Aider- 
point. He was one of the first men to build in Alderpoint when this thriving 
little city sprang up on the line of the new North-Western Pacific Railroad 
and has been instrumental in promoting many enterprises that have been 
beneficial to the town. He has erected a handsome two-story residence of 
logs, where he makes his home, and which is one of the especially attractive 
places of the town. His work in contracting and building has prospered and 
he has erected a number of very attractive homes in Alderpoint, while not 
neglecting his business elsewhere. He is very influential politically and takes 
an active part in the affairs of his party, he being a stanch Republican. He 
is now serving as deputy sheriff of Humboldt county, having received his 
appointment under Sheriff Redmond of Eureka. In all matters of local or 
county import, Mr. Thompson is ever in the lead, and his hearty support may 
always be counted' upon for any movement which stands for progress and 
upbuilding. 

Mr. Thompson is a native of Missouri, born in St. Clair county, June 30, 
1857, the son of John and Mary Ann (Nelson) Thompson. Both his parents 
were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared, educated and married. 
After their marriage they removed to Iowa and later to Missouri, where they 
were engaged in farming, being very prosperous. In 1860 they crossed the 
plains with ox teams and arriving in California they located near Sacramento 
City. Their trip across the plains was made by way of the Salt Lake route 
and occupied four months. In 1861 the family again moved, this time settling 
on McDermott's prairie, at the confluence of the Van Dusen and Eel rivers, 
in Humboldt county. There Craig R. grew to young manhood, he being but 
a babe of four years when the family came to Humboldt county, and since 
that time this has been his home, although he has spent some time in Oregon, 
Idaho, and other parts of California. His father owned a large ranch near 



• HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 695 

Boise, Idaho, and another near Oregon City, Ore., and for a number of years 
he was employed on one or the other of these properties. From Oregon he 
went into Lake county, Cal., and later on to Ventura county. In 1870 he 
returned to Humboldt county and located near Rohnerville, where he farmed 
for a time and also engaged in stock raising. There were eight children in 
his parents' family, of which he was the sixth born. They are : Hugh J., who 
resides with his brother, Craig; Martin, who died recently at the age of sixty- 
two years, in Humboldt county; Margaret J., deceased, but was the wife 
of D. E. McKee, of Mendocino county, and the mother of nine children; John 
F., engaged in the barber business in Alderpoint ; Howard, a rancher at Alder- 
point; Craig Rickey, subject of this sketch ; Robert, a rancher in Potter valley, 
Mendocino county, is married and has three children ; Abraham Lincoln, 
residing in Alderpoint. Both parents are deceased, having passed away in 
Potter valley, Mendocino county, the father at the age of eighty-seven and 
the mother at eighty-two. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, who was Miss Sadie Anna Burgess before her 
marriage, were married in December, 1889, in Blocksburg. She was born 
in Douglas City, Trinity county, the daughter of George W. Burgess, of 
Blocksburg, who is also represented in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson 
have six children : Augustus, Edith, Gaston, Vina, Clara and Ellis, all of 
whom are still residing at home. j\Ir. Thompson came to Blocksburg in 1884 
and purchased a farm which he conducted for eight years, this property now 
being owned by George V\\ Burgess. In 1903 he came to Alderpoint and 
engaged in the contracting and building business. The family own two acres 
in Alderpoint where they reside, in addition to the farm near there. He is 
acknowledged to be one of the leading men of the county as well as of 
Alderpoint and vicinity, and is a man of more than ordinary worth, integrity 
of character and business judgment. 

ALBERT L. PATTON.— A son of one of the early settlers in Van Dusen 
township, Humboldt county, Cal., is Albert L. Patton, a deservedly popular 
man of more than usual worth. His father, Walter Milo Patton of Iowa, 
came to this district twenty-seven years ago. He was married in California 
to Sarah ^I. Cobble, a native of Ohio, and was the father of eight children. 
They made their home on the Rohrborough ranch in Humboldt county, which 
the father leased for several years and later became foreman of the same 
ranch, his death occurring in 1909. His son Walter is today foreman of the 
same ranch which his father formerly managed.. 

Albert L. Patton, the eldest son of this early settler in the county, was 
born at Scott's Valley, Lake count}^, Cal., September 28, 1875, his early years 
being spent in Round Valley, Cal., until he came with his parents to Hum- 
boldt county in 1889, where he makes his home today. Besides owning a 
ranch, ]\Ir. Patton attends well and faithfully to the duties of road overseer, 
his district extending from Poll Gates to within three miles of Blocksburg, 
including fourteen miles of mountain road, and it is the concensus of opinion 
that his are the best kept mountain roads in the county. Mr. Patton engages 
in general farming and stock-raising on his own ranch of eighty acres, besides 
eighty more which he rents from his mother, who is the present owner of 
the father's estate of two hundred forty acres, which still remains undivided. 
In 19C0 Air. Patton married Miss Cora Shields, who is a native of the state 
of Idaho but has spent most of her life in Humboldt county, whither she came 



696 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

with her parents when a child. A daughter and son have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Patton : Gladys and James. In his political views M^r. Patton is 
allied with the Republican party. He was elected constable of Van Dusen 
township, for a term of four years, entering upon the duties of that office 
January 4, 1915. Always interested in the cause of education he is serving 
as trustee of Alderpoint school district. 

JACOB M. KEES. — In 1850 there came west across the plains Andrew 
Kees, a carpenter and builder and a native of Pennsylvania, with his wife, 
' Zerelda (Fry) Kees, whom he had married in St. Louis, Mo., and their five 
children, of whom the youngest was Jacob Kees, who had been born in St. 
Louis, December 2, 1848, and was to become one of the early settlers in 
Humboldt county, Cal. 

The family of Mr. Andrew Kees settled in Albany, Ore., in the Willamette 
valley, in the autumn of 1850. In 1860 they removed to Walla Walla, Wash., 
and there the son Jacob attended the public schools and later Whitman 
Seminary. The mother died in Oregon at the age of forty ; the father married 
a second time, having two children by his second wife. He is now deceased, 
his death having occurred in Oregon. 

The father was a stockman, keeping about five hundred head of cattle, 
and the son Jacob started out for himself in the cattle business, doing fairly 
M'ell, though he suffered severely in the panic of 1870, when he was obliged 
to sell his cattle at ten dollars per head, receiving the money in greenbacks 
which were at that time worth only sixty cents on the dollar. He then took 
up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in Umatilla county. Ore., and a 
preemption of one hvindred sixty acres adjoining and devoted his time to 
farming, which he continued for a number of years. While living in Oregon 
he ran a threshing machine of twelve horse-power for fourteen years ; and it 
was in Oregon, as a grain farmer, that he made most of his money. 

Sixteen years ago Jacob Kees sold one and one-half sections of land in 
Oregon and removed to Humboldt county, Cal., mainly on account of his 
health. He came to Blocksburg, Cal., driving a team of horses, with his family 
and effects, overland by wagon. Here in Humboldt county he was burned 
out seven years ago, everything he owned being swept away by fire, he having 
no insurance. At present he owns a general purpose ranch of one hundred 
twenty-five acres well located on Larabee creek, a half mile north of Blocks- 
burg, in Humboldt county, which he has improved and named Maple Dale 
Farm. Here he has dwelt for a number of years, being an enthusiastic booster 
of the county, where he is a member of the Blocksburg Farm Center 'and for 
four years held the office of Justice of the Peace. Mr. Kees has demonstrated 
the fact that both tobacco and hops of the first quality can be successfully 
raised in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Kees' wife was Miss Mary Frances Galloway, born in Omega, 
Nevada county, Cal., the daughter of James Galloway of Ohio, who came to 
California during the mining excitement of 1852, and Harriet (Schooling) 
Galloway of Missouri, who, after the death of her father, Joseph Schooling, 
in Adissouri, came overland to Grass Valley, Cal., with her mother, whose 
maiden name was Margaret Wilson. Mrs. Kees was raised in Oregon and 
lived in Yamhill county when she married Mr. Kees, and they have had three 
children, two living and one deceased : Lelah D., who married Dr. Stephen 
Fleming of San Francisco and has two children, Marion and Lelah Rose ; and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 697 

Olive, who married George AV. Cox, a rancher of Blocksburg, and has one 
child, Laura May. 

WILLIAM O. PERRY. — Descended from early pioneer families, and 
himself an early pioneer of California, William O. Perry is one of the best 
known of Humboldt county ranchers, and one of the most highly respected. 
He is a native of Sonora, Tuolumne county, Cal., born February 28, 1855. 
His father, Stephen B. Perry, was a native of St. Louis, ]\Io., and his mother 
was Margaretta L. Sutton, of Illinois. After his marriage the father started 
from Peoria, 111., in 1852 and came across the plains to California with ox 
teams, locating in the mines of Tuolumne county. Later they removed to 
Sacramento county, where the father followed ranching for a number of 
years. After a time they again moved, this time going into Humboldt county, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father passing away at 
the age of fifty-three years, and the mother living to be sixty-three. There 
were seven children in their family, of whom the subject of this sketch was 
the second born. They are all well known in California, and especially in 
Humboldt county, where they were reared and educated. They are : Viola, 
deceased, who was the wife of E. J. Robertson, of San Francisco ; William 
O. ; George O., attorney at law, in San Francisco ; Ella, now the wife of 
L. H. A'Vheat, residing at McCanns mill, Humboldt county; Alva, now the 
wife of D. F. Noonan, residing in Oakland; Ethel, Mrs. Jensen, residing at 
Shively ; Ida, the wife of George G. Curless, manager of the Z. Russ & Son 
Company's ranch at Blocksburg. 

When William O. Perry was a boy of eighteen years he was engaged 
as mail carrier and delivered the mails across the mountain trails long before 
there were any wagon roads or regular traffic, the country through which 
he rode being wild and dangerous. He met and married Flora Curless, the 
daughter of Biar Curless, a California pioneer, who came to Blocksburg in 
1869 and died there at the age of seventy-seven years, and whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this edition. After his marriage Mr. Perry engaged 
in ranching, paying particular attention to the raising of sheep and cattle, 
having as many as fifteen hundred head of sheep and one hundred head of 
cattle at one time. He was exceptionally successful, but wishing a change 
of location he disposed of all his interests and removed to New Mexico, but 
he returned to Humboldt county at the end of eighteen months and has been 
more than content here since. He now owns a handsome property on the 
road between Alderpoint and Blocksburg, which he has improved and keeps 
in splendid condition. Fie homesteaded this property in 1890, and also bought 
land adjoining. 

Mr. and Mrs. Perry have four children, all natives of Humboldt county, 
where they have been reared and educated. They are: William O., Jr., a 
stock-buyer, residing at Ferndale and married to Miss Ethel B. McRae, and 
the father of two children ; Glenn and Everett ; Clara, now Mrs. E. O. White, 
of Trinity county, and the mother of four children : Beulah, Lois, Wilbur 
and Helen ; Albert, a stockman of Humboldt county ; and Flora L., residing 
at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Perry have many relatives in Humboldt county, 
Mrs. Perry being a member of the Curless family, which runs through four 
generations in this section, and is well known throughout the county. In 
his political affiliations Mr. Perry is a Democrat and takes an active interest 
in all that pertains to the welfare of the community, being well informed and 



698 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a judicious and clear-headed thinker, giving his support to the men and meas- 
ures that in his opinion are best fitted for pubUc service. 

ROBERT O. DICKSON.— Mr. Dickson is prominently identified with 
the banking interests of Loleta, being president of the Bank of Loleta, also 
postmaster, which office he has held for twenty years, having served since 
1894. He was born in Colchester county. Nova Scotia, August 15, 1867. 
When only thirteen years old his parents died, and having a brother in Hum- 
boldt county he was desirous of joining him and accordingly set out for the 
west, arriving in Humboldt county in 1882, where he attended the Phelps 
Academy. He then lived on the ranch belonging to C. C. Dickson, but when 
twenty years of age he started out for himself and his first employment was 
as clerk in the store of the Pacific Lumber Company, at Scotia, where he 
remained three years. He was then offered the position of manager of the 
store belonging to John Vance at Mad river, where he remained for two 
years, then going to Loleta. Here he purchased a half interest in the store 
owned by a relative, W. F. Dickson, who had operated the store since 1888, 
and the firm became known as Dickson & Dickson. This was the first mer- 
chandise store to be opened in Loleta, and at the time of purchase he assumed 
the active management of the business. In 1910 he was among the men who 
opened the Bank of Loleta, the first and only bank in the town, organized 
with a capital of $25,000. The present board of directors is as follows : R. O. 
Dickson, president; W. F. Dickson, vice-president; E. E. Hill, cashier; FI. C. 
Hansen and John Hoist. Mr. Dickson is still interested in the general mer- 
chandise business and also is postmaster. He owns ten acres of land in 
Porterville, Tulare county, planted to orange trees and is the owner of a 
dairy farm in Oregon, consisting of three hundred twenty acres of valuable 
land. He is a charter member of the Odd Fellows, is a member of the Wood- 
men of the World, in which lodge he has passed all the chairs. He favors 
the principles of the Republican party, and enters actively into all matters 
pertaining to the good of the community. He is a citizen of whom Loleta 
is proud and is one of her leading men. 

Mr. Dickson was united in marriage with Margaret Gibson, a native of 
Hydesville, Humboldt county, Cal., their marriage taking place November 
26, 1899. One child has blessed their union, Catherine. 

BIAR CURLESS. — Prominent among the early pioneers of Humboldt 
county, and a man who for more than forty years resided on his ranch near 
the present town of Blocksburg, and was especially well known and highly 
esteemed in that part of the county, was the late Biar Curless, whose death 
September 3, 1911, came as a great shock to his many friends. He came 
to Humboldt county in September, 1869, and homesteaded the place at Blocks- 
burg which was thereafter his home. He earned the unique distinction of 
having crossed the plains three times in as many years, but finding no place 
where he desired so much to reside as in California. During his entire life- 
time Mr. Curless took great pride in his farm and surroundings and also 
was equally interested in the affairs of the community, making the concerns 
of the public weal his personal interest. 

Mr. Curless was a native of Indiana, born January 20, 1834. On reaching 
man's estate he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where in 1855 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Lovina D. Shaw. Four years later, in 1859, he and his family 
started across the plains to California, driving cattle and other stock before 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 699 

them. The trip was made via the Salt Lake route, and after reaching the 
coast region the party turned down the valley to Los Angeles. So far they 
had not found what they felt they wanted, and so, in January, 1861, they 
again started across the plains, this time by way of the southern route, with 
Texas as their objective point. Hearing on their way of the fall of Fort 
Sumter and the breaking out of the Civil war, they abandoned their project, 
and turning northward, eventually reached Omaha, Neb. A week later they 
again turned westward, making their third trip across the great plains, and 
on their arrival in California they settled in Placerville, where they continued 
to reside for nine years. They then came into Humboldt county, taking up 
a homestead on September 26, 1869, near what is now Blocksburg, and on 
which Mr. Curless resided at the time of his death, fort3^-two years later. 

Mr. and Mrs. Curless became the parents of seven children. They are : 
Mrs. Flora Perry and "Talburt Curless, of Blocksburg; Albert Curless, of 
Fruitland ; Paul Curless, of Mendocino county ; George G. Curless, of Blocks- 
burg ; Mrs. Rose Langlin, of Fortuna ; and Henry Curless, of San Bernardino 
county. 

The widow, Mrs. Lovina Curless, made her home with her son, George 
Curless, who then resided in Eureka, after the death of her husband ; and it 
was there that she passed away, February 4, 1912. She was born in New 
York, October 10, 1836, and was past seventy-six years of age at the time 
of her death. She was married to Biar Curless, September 11, 1855, and from 
that time until the time of his death she shared the fortunes of her energetic 
husband, crossing the plains with him three times, in 1859, 1860 and 1861, 
and being in every sense a true helpmeet in the days of the pioneer life. She 
was a woman of ability and worth and is remembered by many warm friends. 

CHARLES W. SEFFENS.— Prominently identified with the lumbering 
interests of Humboldt county will be found Mr. SefTens, vice-president of the 
Eel River Valley Lumber Company, of Fortuna. He is one of California's 
native sons, having been born in Dutch Flat, Placer county, October 3, 1867, 
and removed with his parents when a child to San Jose. He attended the 
public schools of San Jose and San Francisco, starting out in life for himself 
as a clerk in a grocery store in San Jose, where his parents had purchased 
a ranch. While attending school he found employment, during the summer 
months, on the neighboring ranches, and when eighteen years of age he 
entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railway, remaining with the rail- 
road for seven years, working up from fireman to engineer. In 1892 he first 
came to Humboldt count}^ and found employment as bookkeeper and cashier 
for the Eel River Valley Lumber Company, and in 1901 he was made manager 
of the company, which position he still holds. The Eel River Valley Lumber 
Company was established in 1884 by E. J. Dodge and has been in operation 
for over thirty years. Mr. Sefifens has also been vice-president of the com- 
pany for a number of years. He has also been clerk of the school board of 
Fortuna for the last twelve years ; is financially interested in Porter & Hansen 
Company, undertakers, in Eureka, and is a member of the Fortuna Lodge, 
N. S. G. W. ; also the Eureka Lodge of Elks. He is a man of high standing 
and influence in the county and his success is due entirely to his own per- 
severing efiforts. 

Mr. Sefifens' father, Charles Sefifens, was raised in Ohio and while there 
followed the trade of stone mason, but in 1848 he joined the historic band of 



700 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Argonauts in their terrible journey, filled with hardships, across the plains 
to California in search of gold. He located first at Dutch Flat and engaged 
in mining, and also built a hotel in the vicinity. Two years later he re- 
turned to Ohio, and, accompanied by his wife, returned to California via the 
Isthmus of Panama, locating in Dutch Flat, where they remained until their 
removal to San Jose in 1868 ; he died in 1872. Mrs. Sefifens was the first white 
woman to take up residence at Dutch Flat, Placer county. 

JAMES CAROTHERS.— Living quietly on his little farm of forty-three 
acres on the state highway, on the Eel river, about four miles south of Dyer- 
ville, is James Carothers, one of the earliest of California pioneers, having 
crossed the plains with his father, Thomas B. Carothers, in 1853 and settled 
in Petaluma, when he was but four years of age. His mother had died at 
their home near Danville, 111., and the little lad later lived with an uncle 
and aunt at Petaluma until he was thirteen years of age, attending school 
there. Mr. Carothers has been a resident of Humboldt county for nearly fifty 
years and many are the friends who have known him all their lives. He 
finds his greatest enjoyment in performing on the old-fashioned accordion 
and is especially popular as a musician for impromptu dances and harvest 
festivals, and other neighborhood afifairs where dancing is a favorite amuse- 
ment. His property, lying as it does on the state highway, is very valuable, 
especially as it is beautifully located and heavily timbered, save for a few 
acres where he raises vegetables and fruit. In the vicinity of his home he 
is familiarly known as "Jimmie" Carothers, and his kindheartedness and con- 
siderate friendliness have endeared him to all who know him, and their 
name is legion. His residence is a quaint little house barely perceptible from 
the road, and here he dwells apart, being a living example of Bolton Hall's 
"Three Acres and Independence." 

Mr. Carothers was born near Danville, 111., November 26, 1849, the son 
of Thomas B. and Susan (Morton) Carothers, his father being a native of 
Ohio, born in Brown county in 1821, and his mother a native of A'Visconsin. 
The father never remarried after the death of his young wife, and there was 
a close bond of companionship between him and this only son. In 1868, when 
he was nineteen years of age, young Mr. Carothers came to Humboldt county, 
arriving in Rohnerville on June 10. Ten years later, in 1878, when the land 
was opened up for settlement, he took up a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, of which his present ranch is a part. He proved up on this 
property and later sold off parcels of it until he now has only forty-three 
acres left. In addition to this Mr. Carothers is one of the heirs to a ranch 
of one hundred sixty acres of splendid land near Terre Haute, Ind., which 
was the estate of an uncle, now deceased. He is also his father's sole heir 
and considerable cash came to him from his father's estate. The elder 
Carothers took up a homestead, a part of which is at this time owned by 
Louis M. Burnell, an attorney of Eureka, which "Jimmie" sold after his 
father's death. Three acres of his home place he devotes to the cultivation 
of fruit, principally apples, and various garden vegetables, the remainder being 
heavily timbered with redwood. Mr. Carothers is esteemed as one of the 
real pioneers of the community, a man who has retained amid the hurry of 
modern civilization the simplicity and straightforwardness of a day gone by, 
living his life in quiet peacefulness amid the beauty of his surroundings. 




'^cAX^^'n^y^oLA^T!^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 703 

WALTER MERTON CHURCH.— A native of Humboldt county, Cali- 
fornia, having been born within its generous confines considerably more than 
half a century ago, and through all the years of his manhood having been a 
resident of this same county, and actively engaged in business enterprises 
which have tended to develop its resources and promote its financial standing, 
Walter Merton Church may well claim the honored title of California pioneer, 
while his county and state may well be proud of his record and of achieve- 
ments in his chosen fields of endeavor. ]\Ir. Church, now in the prime of 
life, is one of the substantial members of society in his community, and his 
influence is always exerted for progress and social betterment. For more 
than thirty years he has been a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, 
having passed through all the chairs. For twenty years he has been an 
equally influential member of the AVoodmen of the AVorld, while for an equal 
period of years he has been a Mason of Royal Arch degree. In business and 
social circles Mr. Church is also well known, and in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, where, with his family, he is a member, he is actively associated 
with the church work. 

The father of Walter Merton Church was Lemuel Church, who was also 
well and favorably known in Ferndale and throughout Humboldt county 
generally, he having been a resident of that section for over a half century. 
Mr. Church, St., was a native of Rhode Island, born in August, 1827. During 
his younger years he followed the trade of cabinet-maker in his native state, 
but finally enlisted on a merchantman and for many years followed the 
fortunes of the sea, making many long voyages, and at one time being on 
the water for twenty-seven months. At another time he had an exciting 
voyage on a whaling vessel in northern waters. After his marriage the roving 
life of the sailor lost its charm for him and he settled for a brief time in Rhode 
Island, later moving to Humboldt county, Cal. Here he took up land at 
Grizzly Bluff and engaged in farming and stock-raising. The grain-raising 
industry was then fast growing in importance, and he purchased a threshing 
machine, which he and his son operated for a number of years, and which was 
always in great demand. Dairy farming after a time, however, claimed his 
entire attention and he continued to reside on the home place until the time 
of his death, April 27, 1897. jNIr. Church, Sr., was an exceedingly active and 
industrious man throughout his entire life, and was esteemed as one of the 
successful and enterprising men of his community, where he had many friends 
and admirers. 

Walter Merton Church was born April 27, 1859, soon after the family 
located at Grizzly Bluff. After completing the public schools there, he 
attended the Eureka Seminary, finishing there in 1879 and, returning to the 
farm, assumed his share of the labor and responsibility under the direction 
of his father, for several years, the farm and the operation of the threshing- 
machine completely filling the time of both father and son. May 27, 1891, 
young Mr. Church was married to Miss Kate Newman, and started out in 
life for himself. Mrs. Church was the daughter of A. J. Newman, who was 
engaged in the hardware business in St. Helena, Napa county, the daughter 
being a teacher in the public schools there. 

In his home, as well as in matters of business, Mr. Church has been 
crowned with success. His vvife is a charming woman of education and 
culture. She is a native of Des Moines, Iowa, born February 21, 1859, and 



704 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

came to California with her parents when but a young girl. The family 
settled in St. Helena, where she was married to Mr. Church. They became 
the parents of two children: Joseph Newman and Mary Rebecca. ]\Irs. 
Church died at Grizzly Bluff, May 16, 1906. 

Shortly after his marriage Mr. Church rented his father's place of one 
hundred sixty acres, at Grizzly Bluff, and engaged in farming and dairying. 
Mrs. Church was a helpmeet to her husband in the truest sense of the word, 
aiding materially in the establishment of the new home. 

When the creameries were built at Grizzly Bluff and on Eel river, Mr. 
Church became financially interested in them. He remained on the home 
place of one hundred acres at Grizzly Bluff, which he still owns but leases. 
In March, 1908, he engaged exclusively in the creamery business, taking 
charge of the Eel River Creamery for the Grizzly Bluff Creamery Company, 
and of which he is still manager. Another of his enterprises was a grist mill 
at Grizzly Bluff, buih by his father, and which the son operated for a number 
of years. 

' BURR PEYTON McCONNAHA.— Among the many young' business 
men who are making Humboldt county a center of wealth-producing activi- 
ties, and one whose great number of such activities, nurtured by his hand 
and fostered by the skill with which he does everything that he undertakes, 
makes him of especial prominence in his community, is Burr Peyton Mc- 
Coniiaha. This rising young man (in reality he has already "risen," but as 
he is not yet by any means through with his progress upward the present 
participle is necessarily used in connection with him) has done many things 
for the good of his county and state, in the way of developing natural re- 
sources and fostering natural industries, and there are yet many more which 
he is planning to do. Quite naturally he is making a name for himself, and 
much wealth, but these are but the just reward of such service as he is 
rendering, and for all that is diverted into hia own coffers, an appreciable 
amount goes into the purse of his many employes, and out into the general 
circulation through many natural channels of distribution. For the indus- 
tries with which Mr. McConnaha are most intimately associated are those 
which make raw material into finished product, and which create activity 
and wealth where before there were neither. 

A native son of California, Burr Peyton McConnaha was born in Areata, 
Humboldt county, July 3, 1870. He attended the public schools here for a 
short time, and when sixteen years of age started out for himself. For a few 
years he engaged in teaming and hauling in and around Areata, and then 
went to work in a shingle mill as a packer. In 1902 he made his first inde- 
pendent business venture, owning and operating a stage line from Trinidad 
to Requa City. He was successful in this venture and after a few years he 
extended his interests by the purchase of a livery business in Trinidad, 
operating this in connection with the stage line. This livery business, 
formerly the property of John Flaherty, proved a profitable investment, and 
he remained in active management thereof up to 1909, when other interests 
demanded his attention, and he placed it in the charge of a paid manager. 

It was during this year (1909) that Mr. McConnaha first became actively 
engaged in farming. In connection with his brother, Clarence J. McConnaha, 
he purchased a farm consisting of three hundred fourteen acres at Martin's 
Ferry, on the Klamath river, and engaged in stock-raising, and later in general 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 705 

farming and dairying. One hundred acres of this ranch have now been 
brought under a high state of cultivation, and an experiment in the extensive 
culture of v\^alnuts is now being tried out there. In 1912 two hundred walnut 
trees were planted, and the result is being watched with much interest by 
orchardists in this section of the state. The brothers also own and operate 
a sawmill in this same region, while in Trinidad they built, in 1910, a shingle 
mill which is one of the most modern and up-to-date mills in the county. In 
connection with the shingle mill they also own and operate an aerial cable 
line which runs from the mill into the woods. 

Mr. McConnaha is also in partnership with this same brother (Clarence 
J.) in several other undertakings, prominent among which may b.e mentioned 
a general merchandise store in Trinidad, which since 1909 has been known 
as the McConnaha Brothers Company, and which is one of the largest, most 
prosperous and well stocked houses of its kind in the county. These brothers 
are also associated in the livery business which Mr. McConnaha has owned 
for so many years, and in the stage lines which are operated in connection 
with it. Since the advent of the automobile as the most popular stage coach, 
Mr. McConnaha has caught the spirit of the times and with his usual enter- 
prise has equipped his line with four high-powered Pierce-Arrow autos, three 
auto trucks and three Ford cars. The routes are from Trinidad to Crescent 
City, seventy-five miles, and from Trinidad to Orleans Bar, eighty miles, 
being both a passenger and mail route. The livery stable has been remodeled 
into a garage with modern equipment for the care of motor cars, and is a 
boon to automobilists. In the division of the labor B. P. McConnaha has 
entire supervision of all the outside interests, including farms, general real 
estate investments, lumbering interests, cable line, and the purchasing of 
material and supplies of logs for sawmill and shingle mill, while the younger 
brother attends to the inside interests of the partnership. 

Since taking up his residence permanently in Trinidad, Mr. McConnaha 
has been identified with all matters of civic concern, and is a power in the 
community. He stands at all times for social uplift and for municipal im- 
provements of a substantial character and permanent worth, and all legisla- 
tion which tends to place business on a firm footing. He is a Democrat, and 
has been for years keenly interested in politics and a faithful supporter of the 
policies of his party. He is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias of 
Blue Lake ; he is a member of the board of trustees of the city of Trinidad, 
and is also the city treasurer. 

The marriage of Mr. McConnaha to Miss Grace Dell Pinkham occurred 
in Areata, May 8, 1902. Mrs. McConnaha is a native of Humboldt county, 
born in Areata. Their home is one of the delightful residences of Trinidad, 
where Mr. McConnaha is recognized as one of the most successful young 
business men. He is progressive, industrious and enterprising, and his native 
county does well to do him honor. 

FRANK W. BELCHER.— The foremost fire insurance man in Eureka, 
in which enterprise he has but followed in the footsteps of his father, is 
Frank W. Belcher, to whom the terms efficient, honest, popular, successful 
are frequently and justly applied by his fellow citizens. He is a native of 
Eureka, and has spent his entire lifetime here, being variously engaged in 
business, and always successful and highly esteemed. He is not only popular 
in a business way, but is also prominent in local musical, church, and in social 
circles. 



.706 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Belcher was born in Eureka, March 30, 1872, his father, Peter 
Belcher, being one of the Humboldt county pioneers, and for many years a 
prominent resident of Eureka. The young Mr. Belcher received his education 
in his native city, attending grammar and high school, from which he was 
duly graduated and entered the old Eureka Academy, and finally the busi- 
ness college, to complete his education, after which he entered his father's 
office and there learned the rudiments of the fire insurance business, and also 
became an expert accountant. Later he became assistant cashier of the Sav- 
ings Bank of Humboldt county, which position he held for ten years with 
much credit to himself. 

Peter Belcher is the pioneer fire insurance man of Eureka, and during 
his long term of years in this business he built up a large and profitable 
patronage, at one time representing twenty-seven fire insurance companies, 
besides several life insurance and bonding concerns. He sold his interests to 
Porter & Brooks in 1906, and his son, the subject of this sketch, botight the 
business of this firm in 1911, and has since that time conducted it along the 
lines that his father found so profitable. Among his principal fire insurance 
companies are the Fireman's Fund of San Francisco, the Pennsylvania of 
Philadelphia; North British Mercantile, of London; Atlas Insurance Com- 
pany, of London ; Aetna Fire Insurance, of Hartford, Conn. ; Springfield, of 
Springfield, Mass. ; Hartford, of Hartford, Conn. ; Phoenix, of Hartford, Conn. ; 
and the Scottish Union National, of Scotland. In life insurance he repre- 
sents the Provident Life and Trust Company ; in marine insurance, the 
Fireman's Fund ; in accident insurance, the Travelers of Hartford, and the 
Standard of Detroit; and in bonding companies he has the Aetna Liability 
Company. In addition to his extensive insurance business he also makes 
loans on various securities at the lowest rates of interest. 

For many years Mr. Belcher was one of the leading factors in the 
musical life of Eureka. He possesses a beautiful high baritone voice, and 
sang in the Episcopal Church choir, being a member of that denomination 
and one of the vestrymen. He is also an influential member of the Sequoia 
Musical Club and of the Choral Club of Eureka. 

In fraternal circles Mr. Belcher is also more than ordinarily prominent. 
He is an influential member of the Masons, Elks, and Eastern Star. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican, and is keenly alive to the welfare of the city, sup- 
porting all that tends toward civic progress and social and municipal better- 
ment. Mr. Belcher is possessed of a pleasing personality, and the ability to 
make and hold his friends who are legion. He is a genuine booster for his 
home city, and has done much for its development and improvement. 

ISAAC BERTI. — Due credit should be given to young men who come 
to this country from distant lands — not only different in language but in 
customs and ways of doing business and carrying on industries, and who 
despite this handicap, make a success of their chosen callings. Such a man 
is Isaac Berti, who was born in Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Octo- 
ber 17, 1869, the son of Alexander and Maria Bruga, who were farming 
people in the Alps region. The father died April 1, 1910, aged seventy-four, 
while the mother's death occurred in 1880, when only forty years of age. 
Of their nine children, six are living, all being in Ticino except our subject 
and a brother Gus, who also lives in Humboldt county. 

Isaac was brought up on the farm and received his education in the 




c2k2^^c^ ^:::^4/Z^'^^^;^^^:^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 709 

public schools. From a lad he learned farming and dairying. He had at 
various times heard good reports fromi California of better wages and condi- 
tions, so when eighteen years of age he concluded to come to California. 
On December 28, 1887, he left his home and kindred and friends, for Havre, 
France, where he took the steamer "Normandie" to New York City, and 
thence to San Francisco, arriving January 20, 1888. He came on to Eureka 
immediately and at once found employment working at dairying at Fern- 
dale and later on Bear River ridge. He became foreman of the West Point 
ranch at Capetown, a position he filled acceptably for four years, and from 
there came to Petrolia, in September, 1907, when he leased his present place, 
the Willow Glenn ranch of 708 acres, on the north fork of the Mattole river, 
about one and one-quarter miles above Petrolia, which he is devoting to 
general farming and stock-raising, making a specialty of dairying. His 
herd of sixty milch cows is of high-grade Durham stock, and has been 
carefully selected for quality as well as quantity of milk. He has a gas 
engine which furnishes the power to run his separator and churn in his 
creamery; the butter is made into squares and also packed in kegs, and is 
shipped to Eureka and San Francisco, under the brand, "Willow Glenn 
Creamery Butter," and has become well known in the Eureka and San 
Francisco markets for the sweetness and excellency of its quality. Aside 
from dairying he is also raising cattle and hogs, and has made a decided 
success of his farming operations. 

Mr. Berti was married in Ferndale April 1, 1904, being united with Miss 
Sophia Biasco, who was also born in Lodrino, Switzerland. She is the 
daughter of Isaac and Lucia (Ambrosini) Biasco. The father was a painter 
and decorator and spent many years in Paris, France, working at his trade, 
in which he excelled. During these years he also owned a farm in Lodrino, 
where the family resided ; he died in 1906 ; the mother is still living ; she was 
the mother of two children, Mrs. Sophia Berti, and Alfred, who is postmas- 
ter, and also farming, in the old home place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Berti have four children : Charles H., Mary L., Elsie L., 
and Alexander Isaac. Politically Mr. Berti is a Republican. He is public- 
spirited and liberal, and is well and favorably known as a man who is always 
ready to help any enterprise or movement that has for its aim the upbuild- 
ing of the community or the betterment of its citizens. 

JOHN WELLINGTON KEMP.— Interest in California aroused through 
the discovery of gold proved the cause of the migration hither of John Wel- 
lington Kemp, who was born at j\It. Holly, Rutland county, Vt., March 30, 
1831, and came via the Isthmus to California at the age of twenty years. 
Like many of the newcomers of that period he tried his luck in the mines. 
During 1851 he had considerable experience (little of it profitable, however) 
in the mines at Mud Springs, El Dorado county. The mines of that section 
of the state engaged his attention for several years. During 1854 he came 
to Trinity county and mined on Oregon Gulch near Weaverville. Eventually 
selling out his mining interests, he bought cattle in Sacramento county and 
drove the herd over the mountains to Humboldt county. At the time of his 
arrival in 1857 there were few white settlers and they were greatly hampered 
in their work by the depredations of hostile Indians. Nor was he more 
fortunate than they, for Indian raids caused him the loss of practically his 
entire herd of cattle. Later on, with the cessation of hostilities, he settled 



710 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

at Grizzly Bluff and took up dairying and general farming. Not only was he 
a pioneer dairyman of the Eel river valley, but in addition he was one of th^ 
first to develop the possibilities of the industry and engaged as manager of 
the Grizzly Bluff creamery. The resources of the land and their development 
owed much to his optimistic identification with their early history. 

On leaving the farm during the early 70s Air. Kemp came to Ferndale 
and embarked in the butcher's trade, which he followed for ten years, mean- 
while gaining the patronage of all the people in his section of the county. 
After selling out the meat business he engaged for two years in driving a 
stage between Ferndale and Eureka. To his efforts was due much of the 
clearing of the land around Ferndale, for he labored tirelessly in cutting down 
the forest trees, getting out the stumps, leveling the land and preparing it 
for cultivation. Meanwhile he had become the owner of a ranch at Wadding- 
ton and to this property he removed, clearing and improving it and devoting 
it to the dairy business. For ten years he devoted himself assiduously to 
the cultivation of the tract of one hundred acres and meantime he was suc- 
cessful in enhancing its value through his wise supervision. As a pioneer 
dairyman of the valley beginning away back in 1859, he. was more successful 
than many. Care in the choice of cows, the care of the milk, the churning 
of the cream and the marketing of the butter in those early days (which was 
packed in kegs and carried over the mountains to Weaverville) contributed 
to his prestige as a skilled and scientific butter-maker and dairyman. Eventu- 
ally he sold his Grizzly Bluff ranch to his oldest son, Clement L., who now 
operates the property with continued success. 

Various organizations have had the benefit of the active association of 
Mr. Kemp. For ten years, under Sheriffs Bull and Brown, he served as a 
deputy sheriff and constable, and in that time he proved himself fearless in 
the administration of the law and equal to any emergency that might arise. 
On the organization of the Pioneer Society he became one of its first members 
and he was also one of the early members of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & 
A. M., in Humboldt county. His family consists of his wife, x\roline Nelson 
(Hatch) Kemp and the following children : Lillian, wife of Frank Matthews ; 
Mrs. Elmira Runnell ; Daisy, a teacher in Humboldt county; Clement L., a 
rancher; Mrs. Josephine McAllister, Charles and John, all residents of Hum- 
boldt county. Mrs. Kemp was born in Fall River, Mass., and came to Cali- 
fornia in 1859, joining in Humboldt county her father. Cutler Hatch, a 
forty-niner. In his native Massachusetts Cutler Hatch was born at Brook- 
field and had learned the trade of woolen manufacturer and had been superin- 
tendent of a mill at Fall River until the lure of gold led him to leave his home 
in the fall of 1849. Coming via the Horn, he landed in San Francisco in 
February, 1850, and at once began to mine. In company with Thomas Dix, 
Joseph Russ and Slaughter Robinson he came to Humboldt county in 1852 
and took up land near Grizzly Bluff on Eel river. For years he lived on the 
same place, where he was joined by his family in 1859. When old age forced 
him to relinquish arduous toil he sold the property and removed to Ferndale, 
where he died at eighty-one years. In politics he was a Republican and for 
some years served as justice of the peace and also one term as associate 
judge of Humboldt county. In religion he was identified with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Hannah B. Gunn 
and was born at Wendell, Mass., died in Ferndale at the age of eighty-six. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 711 

Of their eight children only two came to California, namely : x\roline, wife 
of John Wellington Kemp, of Ferndale ; and Hiram H. Hatch, who was the 
Avell-known hardware merchant of Ferndale, until his death in 1910. He was 
one of the pioneer hardware merchants in Eel river valley, starting with a 
wagon through the county, carrying also samples of agricultural implements. 
Later he built a store in Ferndale and began with a small stock, which in 
time grew to large proportions. Since his death ]Mrs. Kemp is the owner of 
the store and is continuing the business under the firm name of The Hatch 
Hardware Company, being assisted by her son, John E. Kemp, and they are 
conducting the business on the same line as her brother, the late H. H. Hatch. 

WALTER W. PATTON.— The foreman of the Rohrborough stock 
ranch, one of the largest cattle and stock ranches in southern Humboldt 
county, Cal., is A\'alter AV. Patton, an industrious' and successful young man 
and one well liked in the community where he lives. This ranch, which is 
owned by J. S. Rohrborough of Covelo, consists of seven thousand acres upon 
which about three hundred head of cattle and a flock of two thousand sheep 
are raised. 

Air. Patton comes to this work with peculiar fitness, since his father was 
formerly the foreman of the same ranch which his son today manages so 
efficiently. AA'alter Alilo Patton, the father, was a native of Iowa and a 
pioneer settler in Van Dusen township, to which he came twenty-seven years 
ago. He was married in California, his wife being Sarah M. Cobble, a native 
of Ohio, and they became the parents of eight children : A'iola, now the 
wife of J. E. Lownes of Ukiah ; Albert L., a road overseer and owner of an 
eighty-acre ranch in Van Dusen township on the Blocksburg and Alderpoint 
road ; Etta, who married Thomas Murphy, the owner of a ranch near Blocks- 
burg ; Roy, who resides at Alderpoint and married Lulu Kindred ; AValter W., 
the subject of this sketch, born July 9, 1882, at Covelo, Mendocino county; 
Lizzie, the widow of Frank Stansberry, and living at Ukiah ; Dotty, now 
the wife of Philander Shields, residing at Ukiah ; and Inez, who died at the 
age of seventeen. At the time of his death, in July, 1909, at the age of sixty- 
six years, the father was the owner of two hundred forty acres, still undivided 
and held by his widow who makes her home with her son Walter. 

AA'alter W. Patton was brought up on the ranch he now manages, receiv- 
ing his education in the public schools of the district. From a lad he rode 
the range and became accustomed to caring for horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. 
So, on the death of his father, he was selected as foreman. He was married 
in Blocksburg, February 26, 1904, being united with Miss Maybelle Kneeland, 
born at Blocksburg, daughter of George and Ella (AVilson) Kneeland, born 
in Boston, Mass., and Griggsville, 111., respectively. The father came across 
the plains in the early days, and returning was married in Illinois, coming 
back to California and engaging in stock-raising in the vicinity of Blocksburg 
until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Patton have three children : R. Simeon, Fay 
Marline and Blanche lola. In his active and industrious life Air. Patton's 
wife is proving herself an efficient helpmeet toward the success and popularity 
of her husband in the community where they have made their home. 

ERNEST M. DURNFORD.— From faraway Nova Scotia, with its cool 
climate, long twilights and pleasant English manners, to the rugged, un- 
settled portions of northern California is a long journey, as well with regard 
to the difference in life and custom_s as to distance and time taken in traveling. 



712 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

E. . M. Durnford, a well known and highly respected citizen and official at 
Blocksburg, Cal., is of Nova Scotia birth, his father, Robert Durnford, having 
been an Englishman engaged in farming there, where he married Margaret 
Keleher. The father died when his son was only seven years old, the boy 
having been born March 7, 1861. The mother with her four children (W. T. 
Durnford, now in business in San Francisco; E. M. ; John K., in business in 
Eureka, Cal. ; and Robert F., a stage driver living at Blocksburg) came to 
California in 1869 and settled in Eureka. 

The life of E. M. Durnford is what may be called that of a self-made 
man. His education was received in the public schools in the neighborhood 
of his early home in California, and since the age of eleven years he has made 
his own way in the world, his first employment being with the lumber com- 
pany of Joe Arbuckle at Areata, Cal. At the age of eighteen he began to 
drive the stage from Hydesville to Blocksburg at a date when there were 
no trains or street car conveniences in the district, and he has followed this 
occupation for a period of eighteen years, having been employed in this 
capacity by BuUard & Sweasey, J. L. Sanderson & Co., and Miller Brothers. 
For sixteen years he has held the office of constable in and for Van Dusen 
township, Humboldt county, and he has been for the last eighteen years road 
overseer on the county road from Blocksburg to Mill Creek, in both of which 
offices his practical commonsense and steadfastness of purpose aid much in 
his success. In his political interests he upholds the Republican party, and 
is a man well liked and greatly respected in the community where he resides. 

The marriage of Mr. Durnford with Miss Clara Lovell took place in 
Blocksburg. Mrs. Durnford was born in Covelo, the daughter of H. S. 
Lovell, a pioneer undertaker of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Durnford have had 
seven children : Ernest A., a bridge builder residing at Alderpoint, his wife 
having been a Miss Kindred ; Leona, the wife of K. C. Kilburn, an electrician 
of Eureka; Margaret, who married J. L. Flora, a farmer in Blocksburg, and 
has one child, Gerald ; Lucile and James L. reside with their parents ; Dorris, 
who died in September, 1914, at the age of eleven years ; and Lovell, who 
also lives at home. 

LEW V. SMITH. — Of those men whose duties bring them into daily 
contact with many business people of Eureka, Lew V. Smith is probably 
one of the best known, and though his residence in the city has covered com- 
paratively few years he has a wide acquaintance and a steadily growing list 
of friends. Mr. Smith is manager at that point for the Western Union Tele- 
graph Company, and it is notable that he has been with that company from 
the time he commenced work, as a messenger boy, at the age of fourteen 
years. His promotions have been won by efficient service, and all who have 
been brought in contact with him in business relations will testify that they 
have been deserved. As telegraph operator and manager he has been sta- 
tioned at various places in the west and southwest, gaining a diversified 
experience. 

Mr. Smith is a native of Massachusetts, born February 7, 1885, at Wor- 
cester, son of George Smith, who was a printer by occupation. The father 
is now deceased. The boy had the excellent public school advantages afforded 
in the east, and pursued his studies into the high school, obtaining a sub- 
stantial foundation for his lifework. When fourteen he went west, to Colo- 
rado, and began work at Colorado Springs, that state, as messenger boy at 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 715 

the Western Union office. In his spare time he studied telegraphy and before 
long was given work as an operator. His first position as manager was at 
Manitou, Colo., and he was only eighteen years old at the time. After a little 
over a year at that location he was sent to Texas, doing a year's work at 
Amarillo, after which he became manager at AVichita Falls, that state, for a 
short time. When twenty-one 3'^ears old he was placed in the Denver office, 
from there was transferred to Lead, S. Dak., in 1906, as manager, and re- 
mained at that point for a year and a half. Thence he changed to Sheridan, 
Wyo., as manager, and was also at Santa Cruz, Cal., for a year and a half 
before coming to Eureka, in 1911. He has been manager of the office here 
since, with such thorough satisfaction to its patrons that he is considered 
efficiency itself in his line. Mr. Smith's exceptional ability and devotion to 
all the duties intrusted to him have received substantial recognition from his 
company, and his manifest intelligence has made him a valuable representa- 
tive, emergencies and extra responsibilities developing his best qualities. At 
Eureka, which is a center for many important business operations, the expert 
service he has given, combined with a capacity for doing things at the most 
favorable time, has brought him a well-merited popularity among all his 
associates. He is no less respected among personal friends and acquaintances, 
his high character expressing itself in good citizenship and the most cordial 
relations with all who come in contact with him. The office is at No. 335 
E street. 

Mr. Smith was married to Miss Ella Duncan, of Colorado Springs, Colo., 
and they have two children, Harold and Warren. They reside at No. 1152 
Myrtle avenue. 

JOHN WILLIAM COPPINI.— Though a native of Switzerland, John 
Coppini has been connected with the progress of California since 1885, hav- 
ing in that period of time seen great changes and improvements in the new 
and rapidly growing state. For the year 1885, which is only a recent date 
in the histories of other states of the Union, constitutes a part of the earlier 
history of California, where many towns have sprung up and the older ones 
advanced materially since that date, and where regions that were then wheat 
fields and poppy fields have now become beautiful and prosperous cities. 

Coming from a European country famed for its beauty and romantic 
scenery, Mr. Coppini brings with him to America memories of snowy moun- 
tains, blue lakes and hillside pastures of the Alps region, where his birth 
occurred in Campo, Canton Ticino, May 27, 1868, his father, William Cop- 
pini, being a farmer and dairyman of that country. The son received his 
education in the public schools of his native land until reaching the age of 
sixteen, at which time he determined to try his fortune in California, of which 
place he had read and heard many good reports since many of his country- 
men had come hither to make their homes and to carry on the occupation of 
shepherd and dairyman which they had learned in boyhood in their native 
land. So Mr. Coppini started out for himself alone, coming to San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., when only a boy, in October, 1885, going also to Santa Cruz and 
to Davenport Landing, Cal., the same county, where for four years he was 
employed on a dairy farm. Then, hearing of Humboldt county as offering 
better opportunities fbr working men, he set out for that part of the state, 
arriving there in August, 1889. For four years he was employed in dairies 
at Point Kenyon and other places, his marriage occurring in Ferndale, the 



716 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

same county, in 1894, and uniting liim with Miss Augusta Friesman, a native 
of Butte county, Cal., and daughter of John Friesman, who was born in 
Germany and became one of the pioneers of California. After his marriage, 
he started in business independently, renting a ranch of one hundred acres 
where he carried on the business of dairying ; but the low price of butter, 
which then sold for only ten cents a pound, put him out of business, leaving 
him in debt likewise. For a while thereafter, Mr. Coppini was employed by 
others, but in 1896 came to the Island on the Salt river, where he rented the 
Merchant ranch of forty acres and applied himself to independent dairy work 
once more, continuing there for six years, at the end of that time purchasing 
his present place of thirty acres of bottom land situated on the Ferndale 
road, where he is engaged in the dairy business, having stocked his place 
with fine fullblooded Jersey cows and two bulls of the same breed, being 
now the owner of some of the finest thoroughbred Jersey stock in the county, 
and well known as a breeder of fullblooded cattle of this stock, besides 
raising hay, clover, carrots and beets upon his land. 

Prominent in the Dairymen's Association and the Jersey Breeders' Asso- 
ciations of both Humboldt county and California, he was active in bringing 
about the defeat of the grading butter bill, and as a director in the Ferndale 
Cow Testing Association, having also contributed articles on the subject of 
the dairy industry to local papers and journals. Progressive in spirit and 
active in many ways that tend to the betterment of the locality where he has 
chosen to make his home, Mr. Coppini is an Independent in politics, and 
among fraternal circles holds membership in the Druids, the Knights of 
Columbus, the Woodmen of the World, and with his wife in the Women 
of Woodcraft. They are the parents of five children, namely : Agnes, who 
is now bookkeeper for the Central Creamery Company ; Josephine, who 
attends the Areata Normal School ; Edith, a pupil at the Ferndale high 
school; Mabel; and Leo William. 

FRED B. BARNUM. — Versatile ability is generally regarded as a for- 
tunate acquisition, and so it is when each accomplishment is thoroughlj^ 
mastered and made to redound to the will of its possessor, as is true in the 
case of Mr. Barnum. In any one of the activities in wjhich he is interested 
he might well be content to confine his energies, and at the same time make 
a financial success, but such is his ambition that he cannot be circumscribed 
or confined to one line of business. Besides being interested in the real estate 
business, which included the laying out of large tracts of land in close prox- 
imity to Eureka, he is also a stockholder and a director in the Humboldt 
Times, and recently he was appointed secretary of the board of harbor com- 
missioners at the Port of Eureka. 

It is fitting that all of the successes and honors that have fallen to Mr. 
Barnum should have been his portion, for as a native of Eureka he always 
has her best interests at heart and has lost no opportunity to demonstrate 
that fact. He was born here February 17, 1873, the son of Gorham New- 
berry Barnum, who was born in New York state, Avhere he was early in 
life deprived of his father by death. Subsequently the mother became the 
wife of A. L. Pardee, and it was following this that the family came to Cali- 
fornia, the voyage being made by way of Panama. The party reached Cali- 
fornia without any incidents worth}^ of special mention, finally reaching 
Humboldt county, and in the same year, 1851, locating in Areata. Here Mr. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 717 

Pardee attempted to settle down to ranching, but the Indians were exceed- 
ingly troublesome and much of his time and strength were devoted to sub- 
duing the foe and making a safe abiding place for his family. When he was 
sixteen years old, Gorham N. Barnum went with a pack train in the capacity 
of bell boy, and from this humble position he rose to be captain of a mule 
train of his own, packing between Areata and the Indian reservation at 
Hoopa, in the service of the government. Altogether he followed packing 
for many years, first as just related, and later in Eureka, and finally he re- 
tired from business entirely, now making his home in San Diego. His 
wife was in maidenhood Laurana Moore, a native of Missouri, who came with 
her parents across the plains about the year 1857. Her father, Rufus Moore, 
settled in Areata, but while in Siskiyou county attending to his mining inter- 
ests he was killed by the Indians. After his death his widow became the 
wife of James Coulter and now resides in Eureka, at the age of eighty-three. 

Six children were' born of the marriage of Gorham N. and Laurana 
(Aloore) Barnum, three of whom are living, and of these Fred B. Barnum 
is next to the oldest. Eureka has been his life-time home. After com- 
pleting, his studies in the public schools he took a course in Phelps' Acad- 
emy, after which he set about in earnest looking for an opportunity to make 
practical application of his knowledge. The first opening that presented 
itself was with the Eel River and Eureka Railroad Company, as freight 
clerk and relief agent, a position which he accepted and filled with efficiency 
for four years. Following this he filled a similar position with the Pacific 
Coast Steamship Company in Eureka, and this also he filled for four years. 
Having confidence in his ability to undertake and manage a business of his 
own, he opened a stationery and news stand on F street under the firm name 
of Nichols & Barnum, a business which was continued profitably and amic- 
ably for nine years, the business and good will then being sold to F. O. Moll. 

Since 1908 Mr. Barnum has been engaged in the real estate and insur- 
ance business in Eureka, a business which is proving profitable beyond his 
expectations. Among the undertakings with which he has had to do may be 
mentioned the Argyle Park addition to Eureka, which he laid out, financed 
and sold off, a large venture, but one which he was thoroughly competent to 
handle successfully. He also owns another tract which he intends to dispose 
of in the same way at some future time. In addition to the real estate busi- 
ness he is a stockholder and a director in the Humboldt Times, a news organ 
of the highest repute in Eureka. A crowning honor came to Mr. Barnum in 
June, 1913, when he was appointed by the harbor commissioners of the 
Port of Eureka as secretary of the board, a position which his many splendid 
qualities adequately qualify him to fill with satisfaction. 

]Mr. Barnum and his family occupy a fine residence at No. 1436 C street. 
Eureka, which he erected and which is presided over by his wife, whom he 
married in this city and who before her marriage was Miss Jessie Dickson, 
a native of San Francisco. Three children have been born to them, Charles, 
Fred and Lorene. 

In 1894 Mr. Barnum became a member of the Eureka fire department, 
being attached to Company No. 2, and later he became foreman of it. Other 
honors came to him in 1902 when he was elected chief of the city fire depart- 
ment, an office which he filled for two terms. He retired as chief but still 
continued with the company in the ranks, and for the past seven years he 



718 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

has served as treasurer of the department. Fraternal affairs have also 
claimed a portion of Mr. Barnum's time and thought. He was made a Mason 
in Flumboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and he is also a member of Hum- 
boldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., Islam 
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco, as well as Oakland Consistory. 
Mrs. Barnum is identified with the affiliated order of Eastern Star, being a 
member of Camilla Chapter, and she is also a member of the Native Daugh- 
ters of the Golden West. In addition to the lodge affiliations above enumer- 
ated Mr. Barnum is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , I. O. O. F., and 
in his political views is progressive in the best sense of that word, standing 
ready and anxious to support any candidate whose interests are coeval with 
those of the citizens in general. Mr. Barnum is still a young man, with a 
record of splendid accomplishments, and it is only safe and just to predict an 
ecjually brilliant future for the years that are before him. 

GEORGE ADELBERT KELLOGG.— Among the business men who 
have "done things" to bring reputation to Humboldt county, George A. Kel- 
logg has a distinct place of honor for the reason that he has throughout his 
entire business career occupied public or quasi-public positions, and in each 
of them has shown those qualities of capacity and reliability that have earned 
him the respect and esteem of the community. Mr. Kellogg has passed most 
of his life in California, and since 1870 has been a resident of Humboldt 
county. His participation in its development has not been confined to his 
work as a business man, for he has the honor of being the first auditor of 
the county, and has been the secretary of the oldest commercial organization 
of the county continuously since January, 1896, and he has filled other posi- 
tions with the same efficiency which makes him so valuable in his present 
associations. 

Eli Davenport Kellogg, father of the subject of this sketch, was born 
September 21, 1826, at Lansingburg, near Troy, N. Y. ; and was left an 
orphan at an early age. Going to Philadelphia, he there learned the trade of 
shoemaker, but soon decided to go further west. In 1846 he moved to Illinois, 
settling in Boone county, about seventy-five miles west of Chicago. There 
he rented land and followed farming until 1859, in which year he brought his 
family to California. They made the trip across the plains, and settled in 
Trinity county, where Mr. Kellogg again engaged in farming. In 1870 
he moved to Rohnerville, Humboldt county, Cal., and bought an interest in a 
saw and grist mill, of which he was manager for several years. Disposing of 
his interest in this establishment in 1882, he moved to Lincoln county, Wash- 
ington, where he invested in some railroad land, meanwhile acting as timber 
inspector for the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was then being built 
through the Spokane country. 

Returning to Humboldt in 1884, he became the first station agent of 
the Eel River & Eureka Railroad (now the Northwestern Pacific) at For- 
tuna, which position he held until the fall of 1888, when he was elected As- 
semblyman to represent the southern district of Humboldt in the state legis- 
lature. At the expiration of his term of office he returned to his land in 
Washington and again resumed agricultural work. When he felt that his ad- 
vancing age made it necessary for him to give up farming, he sold his prop- 
erty and returned to Humboldt county in 1902, locating at Eureka, where he 
has since made his permanent home. By his able management of his busi- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 719 

ness affairs and noteworthy public service Mr. Kellogg made a name for him- 
self in Humboldt county. He held many minor public positions, filling them 
with a credit to himself and benefit to the public ; and was always a faithful 
worker for any cause that would advance the interests of the community in 
which he resided. 

On Christmas day of the year 1848 Mr. Kellogg was married to Miss 
Margaret Jane Passage, who, like himself, was a native of New York state, 
having been born in Genesee county on November 28, 1831. Her family 
was among the early settlers of the state and was well and favorably known 
there. To Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg were born four children : Jay A., who 
was engaged in the real estate business in Seattle, Wash., until his death in 
1910; George A., the subject of this sketch; Edward L., a business man and 
oyster farmer of Seattle, and Olive May, at home. 

George A. Kellogg was born at Bonus Prairie, Boone county, Illinois, on 
Alarch 24, 1853. With his father and family he came to Trinity county, Cal., 
in 1859, and in 1860 they settled in Hay Fork valley, where he received his 
early education in the public schools. Coming to Humboldt county in 1870, 
he passed the succeeding year at St. Joseph's College near Rohnerville. In 
1873, when he was in his twentieth year, he began teaching in the district 
schools here, and followed the profession for about eight and one-half years, 
the last four as principal of the Rohnerville schools. In 1882 he was elected 
auditor and recorder of Humboldt county, the first incumbent of that office 
(its duties having been previously performed by the county clerk), and his 
services were so acceptable that he was retained in that position for four 
successive terms of two years each. After his retirement from office in 
February, 1891, in recognition of his qualifications for statistical and form 
work he was engaged by the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce to prepare 
and publish a pamphlet covering the productions and exports of the county, 
which was the first work of the kind undertaken by the Chamber. Mr. Kel- 
logg acted as secretary while engaged in this work, which was completed in 
the last three months of 1891. 

In January, 1892, he became bookkeeper and office manager for John 
Vance, who was then seriously ill. And after the death of the latter in the 
following month, Mr. Kellogg assisted in closing the extensive Vance estate, 
continuing in this employ until May, 1894. 

In January, 1896, he was chosen secretary of the Humboldt Chamber 
of Commerce, which position he has ever since filled. And as such official 
he has taken a prominent part in all the activities of the Chamber, in many 
of which his services were invaluable. Mr. Kellogg is notable for his ability 
and accuracy in statistical work, and his fame in this direction is not confined 
to the limits of his home county. The great number of years he has been in 
this work has enabled him to gather up facts and figures along almost all 
lines of interest in county business and affairs, and he is generally regarded 
as an encyclopedia in these matters, open and free to all inquirers. 

In 1897 he assisted in the organization of the Shingle Manufacturers' 
Association of HumboldJ; county, becoming its first and only secretary and 
manager. This association was very successful, and brought the shingle 
business of the county out of the slough of despond where it was languishing, 
placing it on a firm and substantial basis. In 1903 the association was reor- 
ganized as the Pacific Redwood Shingle Company, Mr. Kellogg continuing 



720 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

as secretary and manager. The business was continued with the same un- 
varying success, and by 1907 the yearly output of shingles in this county 
was more than double what it was when the association began, with much 
more profitable and stable prices. In that year the legislature of this state 
passed the "Cartwright Act," a rather drastic anti-trust law, and after a 
thorough investigation the consensus of legal opinion being that the opera- 
tions of the company were in conflict with some of the provisions of the law, 
it was decided in January, 1908, to go out of business; and thereafter the 
activities of the company were confined to disposing of the large stock of 
shingles accumulated in its drying yards at Stockton, Cal. This accom- 
plished, the company was disincorporated in October, 1911. In conducting 
the affairs of these two companies, Mr. Kellogg was associated with the 
leading business men of the county — men of such high standing and unim- 
peachable business and moral character that their confidence is a compli- 
ment of certain quality. They appreciate thoroughly the part j\Ir. Kellogg 
played in the advancement and development of the enterprise, and having 
had every opportunity to observe his career, their good-will and esteem are 
the best evidences of how thoroughly they have approved of him in all his 
relations to the community. 

On December 31, 1877, Mr. Kellogg was married to Miss De Ette Felt, 
daughter of Dr. T. D. Felt, of Rohnerville. Three children have been born of 
this marriage : Georgia D., Adelbert D., and Pearl E., the last named having 
been married in September, 1912, to Ernest W. Pierce. 

Mr. Kellogg has always been active in local politics as a member of the 
Republican party, whose interests he has promoted whenever possible. In 
fraternal connections he is an Odd Fellow and an Elk, being a member of 
Eel River Lodge No. 210, I. O. O. F., of Mt. Zion Encampment No. 27, 
I. O. O. F., of Rohnerville Rebekah Lodge No. 81, I. O. O. F., of the Veteran 
Odd Fellows Association of Humboldt county, and also of Eureka Lodge No. 
652. B. P. O. E. 

DUNCAN CAMPBELL.— Descended from a good old Highland Scotch 
family, and himself a native of Canada, Duncan Campbell is yet a pioneer of 
California and of Humboldt county, having come west and settled here in 
1879. Since that time he has been engaged principally in the lumber business, 
and is a thorough woodsman. At the present time his home is in Blue Lake, 
where his family resides in one of the handsomest homes in the thrifty little 
city. Mr. Campbell himself is in charge of the work of felling trees in the 
various camps of the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, and has held this 
responsible position for the past nine years. 

Mr. Campbell was born near Guelph, Wellington county, Ontario, Canada, 
April 15, 1859, and he received his education in the local schools. His parents 
removed to North Carolina when the son was but thirteen years of age and 
his teens were passed in Guilford county, that state. Here also he attended 
school, and worked on the farm with his father. For four years father and 
son farmed together, and in 1879 the family decided to make a trip west to 
establish a permanent home in California. They came to Humboldt county, 
rented a tract of land and farmed together for a year. At the end of that 
time Mr. Campbell, Sr., had decided that he did not care to make his home in 
California and returned to North Carolina in 1881. The son, however, liked 
the west and determined to remain. That vear he worked for Bill Carson 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 721 

in the woods, remaining in his employ for two seasons. On May 24, 1883, he 
accepted a position with the Chandler, Graham and Jackson Company, at 
Blue Lake. At first he worked in the woods, chopping and felling trees, re- 
maining in this department for eight years. In 1905 he took charge of this 
department of the work for this company in all their lumber camps, and since 
that time has occupied this position. In the number of years that he has 
been employed by this company Mr. Campbell has proved himself to be an 
able and trusted employe. He is well liked by his associates and especially 
by the men who work under his direct supervision. 

Aside from his business associations 'Sir. Campbell has many friends. 
He is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77, 1. O. O. F., at Eureka, the Knights 
of Pythias at Blue Lake and of the Eagles in Eureka. He is a Republican in 
politics but has never been especially active in political affairs. 

The marriage of IMr, Campbell took place in Areata, September 26, 1888, 
uniting him with Miss Cloe L. Dodge, a native of California, born in Hum- 
boldt county, February 9, 1869. Mrs. Campbell is the mother of three chil- 
dren, namely : Laura Louise, George M., and Donald. 

The father of ^Ir. Campbell w^as a native of Scotland, having been born 
in the Highland district in 1817. He was Robert Campbell, and came to 
Canada with his parents when he was very young. For a time he attended 
the public schools of his district, but gave this up at an early age to engage 
in farming with his father. In 1872 he removed to North Carolina, locating 
in Guilford county, and again following the occupation of farming. After 
his trip into the west and his brief residence in California he returned to 
North Carolina, where he resided until the time of his death, in 1885, living 
during this time on the old home place in Guilford county. His wife, and the 
mother of the present prominent citizen of Blue Lake, was Alatilda Tarswell, 
a native of England. She came to Canada with her parents when she was a 
young girl, and there met and married Robert Campbell. 

HERBERT W. HAMILTON.— In the comparatively brief period of 
his residence at Eureka, Herbert W. Hamilton has done as much as any one 
citizen of this wide-awake place to advance her to a foremost position among 
the progressive coast cities. He settled here twelve years ago, and has 
extensive lumber interests in the vicinity. Though he cannot be classed 
among her old residents he is entitled to be ranked with the most public-spir- 
ited men who have chosen this point for their headquarters, for he has given 
reliable proof of his interest, in his willingness to cooperate with all who have 
the welfare of the town at heart. His ability in the management of his own 
affairs is sufficient promise of what might be expected of him in any under- 
taking; and he has not disappointed the confidence of those who have called 
upon him for services of various kinds. His removal to the city was an 
acquisition to its citizenship in every respect. 

^Ir. Hamilton's father, W. C. Hamilton, was also a successful lumberman. 
He was a native of Lyme, N. H., and in 1855 moved to Wisconsin, where he 
acquired extensive lumbet interests, becoming a member of the Hamilton- 
Merryman Company at IMarinette, where he did business the rest of his life. 
He died in 1899. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary T. Weed, was 
born at ^Marion, Conn., and they were the parents of six children. Herbert 
\A'. Hamilton is the only one of the family living in California. Born July 
27, 1866, at Fond du Lac, AMs., he obtained his early education in his native 



722 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

state, attending public school. At the age of eighteen years he entered Phillips 
Academy, at Andover, A'lass., and was a student for three years at that insti' 
tution of acknowledged excellence. For the two years following he was 
clerk in a bank at Antigo, Wis. He was then sent west to Leadville, Colo., 
where he represented the Hamilton-Merryman interests in the White Cap 
Mining Company for a period of four years. Returning to Wisconsin, he 
became interested in the manufacture of paper at Marinette and remained 
there until his removal to Arizona, where he engaged in ranching for six 
years before he came to California, twelve years ago. He has since been 
established at Eureka, his principal business interests being in connection 
with the Hamilton Land & Lumber Company, of which he is vice president, 
and with the Holmes Eureka Lumber Company, of which he is a director. 
Both are Eureka organizations, and the former has extensive holdings of 
timber lands in this region. 

Mr. Hamilton's friendly interest in the city of his adoption has been 
manifested in many practical ways. The magnificent residence property at 
No. 2526 J street which he built and occupies with his family shows how 
sincere his liking is, and the many social attachments he has formed are 
evidence that he has found congenial companions as well as attractive sur- 
roundings. Moreover, he has participated heartily in various local movements 
since he became acquainted in the city, chief among which may be men- 
tioned the Chautauqua. 

Mr. Hamilton married Miss Ida A. Matteson, of Eureka, Wis., whose 
intelligence and social qualities make their home an attractive center in the 
life of the community. They have four children : Staar A., IMary Esther, 
Francis D. and Mabel. 

DILLON D. PEACOCK.— A representative of that large class of 
American mechanics and workmen who by sheer force of superiority of mind, 
intellect and ingenuity, coupled with patient industry, have put America fore- 
inost among nations in providing human luxuries and necessities, is Dillon 
D. Peacock, a self-made man in the truest sense of the word. He began to 
be self-supporting when he was fourteen years of age, and since that time 
has forged steadily ahead, never shirking a responsibility and never faltering 
in the faithful execution of a trust. The disadvantages which curtailed his 
educational progress and thrust him thus early upon an uncaring world 
have seemed not to be such serious handicaps after all, for he has turned 
thern rather to his good through the splendid development of his character 
and mind. At an early age he commenced to work for the Chicago, Milwaukee 
& St. Paul Railway, and soon was placed in charge of the water supply in 
the southern Minnesota division, where he made a decidedly satisfac- 
tory record. Since coming to California he has been engaged principally in 
mechanical engineering and construction, in both of which lines he is 
especially proficient. He owns two threshing separators and has been en- 
gaged in threshing all over the Eel river valley, being one of the best known 
men in this line in all of Humboldt county. He is well and favorably known 
among the grain men and also among the creamery men, he having installed 
the machinery in many of the leading creameries of the county. He is also 
an authority on the building and construction of evaporators and dryers 
for casein, a valuable by-product of the creameries. He built the first evapora- 
tor ever used in Humboldt county, and is now regularly connected with the 







\^eLo^^eJhe.^t^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 725 

Grizzly Bluff Creamery Company as head machinist. i\Ir. Peacock makes 
his headquarters at present in AVaddington, where he conducts a machine 
shop in addition to his other interests. 

A native of New York state, [Mr. Peacock was born in North Elba, Essex 
county, June 10, 1860, the son of Joseph and Typhena (Osgood) Peacock. 
The father was in delicate health, and there was a large family of seven 
children, three daughters and four sons, Dillon D. being the sixth born. For 
a few years he was allowed to attend school, but family conditions were such 
that at fourteen he stopped school permanently and went to work. His 
first teacher was former Governor Markham, of California, and Mr. Peacock 
recalls many interesting incidents in connection with the early life of this 
distinguished man. In 1866 young Peacock came west to Minnesota and 
grew to manhood in Sherburn, Martin- county. There he commenced to 
work for the railroad company, for five years being in the employ of the 
Chicago, [Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway as tank man. Eventually, however, 
he determined to continue his journey to the westward, and on December 17, 
1883, left [Minnesota for California, arriving in San Francisco on December 
24, and from there going to Table Bluff. For a time he was employed by 
Mike Fitzsimmons and later chopped wood in the redwood forests until the 
fall of 1884, when he became interested in the threshing business, and has so 
continued since, having owned and operated a threshing outfit for more than 
twenty years. He owns two Case separators and a Rice engine, and during 
each season threshes from fifty thousand to seventy-five thousand bushels of 
grain. His record for the largest yield per acre threshed is one hundred 
forty bushels of barley to an acre. 

The marriage of Mr. Peacock occurred in 1890, uniting him with Miss 
Annie Clegg. Of their union were born three children, two daughters and a 
son. Edith is the wife of Stanley Gow, of Eureka; Ella is Mrs. E. A. Sims, 
of Ferndale, and the mother of one child, Leona ; and George is with his 
father. 

Quite aside from his business popularity Mr. Peacock is an influential 
figure in fraternal circles of the county. He is a veteran Odd Fellow and a 
member of the Ferndale lodge and also of the Encampment. He has been 
through all the chairs of the Odd Fellows, and has taken twelve degrees in 
that order. He belongs to the Rebekahs and takes an active part in all the 
affairs of these organizations. Another order with which he is afffliated and 
in which he takes a prominent part is the Knights of Pythias. 

During his long residence in Humboldt county Mr. Peacock has invested 
in real estate and now owns property at Waddington. In his home in Wad- 
dington he has many interesting relics, he being especially interested in fire- 
arms, of which he owns a very valuable and unique collection. There are 
guns and pistols of practically every period, among them some of great age 
and obsolete types, and others of strictly modern make, with the latest devices 
and attachments. Mr. Peacock is especially popular with the patrons of his 
business and also with the creamery men of the valley. He is progressive 
and up to date in his views on public questions and is always in favor of 
progressive movements along the lines that make for the future welfare of 
the general public. He has given his children good educational advantages, 
and with them he is at all times a great favorite. He is an advocate of the 
"simple life," enjoying the wholesome pleasures and quiet joys of the life 



726 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

which surrounds him, but nevertheless living a very useful and profitable life, 
filled with good deeds and true intents and purposes. 

FRED A. HARRINGTON.— The Punta Gorda lighthouse, eleven miles 
south of Cape Mendocino, on the Humboldt county coast, has been in charge 
of Fred A. Harrington since the station was established. May 15, 1911. His 
efficiency is hardly to be wondered at, as he has been familiar with the work 
and its responsibilities from boyhood, his father, Fred L. Harrington, being 
the third oldest man in the lighthouse service in the California district. No. 
18. His earliest ancestors were sailors, out of the port of Boston, owned 
packets, and were associated with historical events as well as business activ- 
ities in the colonial period. Mr. Harrington's great-grandfather came to 
America in the early part of the eighteenth century, and fought in the Revo- 
lutionary war. 

Benjamin Harrington, grandfather of Fred A. Harrington, was born in 
Vermont, and brought his family to California in 1852, settling at San Fran- 
cisco. Fie was a stonemason and did construction work for the government, 
at Fort Winfield Scott and on Alcatraz Island. 

Fred L. Harrington was born in Massachusetts, and was but a child when 
the family settled in California. When a youth he entered the navy, at the 
Mare Island yard, but bought his discharge from that branch of the service 
to join the army when the Civil war broke out and served faithfully to the 
close of the struggle. Returning to civil life after the end of the war, he was 
variously engaged until he went into the lighthouse service in 1882, taking 
the Cape Mendocino station for a few years. In 1885 he became first assist- 
ant at Point Montara, transferring from there to Piedras Blancos in 1886, 
and in 1888 to Trinidad, when promoted to keeper. He has been there con- 
tinuously since, and though seventy-one years of age (1914) is still filling 
the position with his customary care and punctilious attention to his duties. 
Mr. Harrington married Miss Josephine Evans, daughter of George W. 
Evans, a pioneer veterinary surgeon of San Francisco, who came to that city 
in 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have four children. 

Born January 1, 1877, at San Francisco, Fred A. Harrington is the -eldest 
child of his parents. Much of his boyhood and youth were passed at Cape 
Mendocino and Trinidad, and he completed the course at the grammar school 
of the latter place, graduating therefrom. For two years during his man- 
hood he was employed in the Emporium, at San Francisco, in 1898 returning 
to Trinidad and taking the position of second assistant at the lighthouse there 
under his father. He resigned after a year and went to Fresno, where he was 
in the employ of the Griffen & Skelly Packing Company, packers of raisins 
and fruits, remaining with that concern two years, during which time he be- 
came foreman. He gave up this work to reenter the lighthouse service, being- 
assigned to Fort Point, where he began his duties August 15, 190O, and stayed 
for eight months. He was next appointed first assistant on Alcatraz Island, 
transferred to the Point Reyes . station in 1903, and in 1905 to Table Blufif, 
Humboldt county, where he was first assistant until he assumed his present 
position, in 1911. The Harringtons are well known in their district and have 
the reputation of being thoroughly intelligent and trustworthy, the kind of 
public servants whose vigilance and fidelity are the foundations upon which 
the efficiency of the whole scheme of protection for shipping rests. 

Mr. Harrington has two assistants, A. M. Speelman and AV. P. Holmes. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 727 

The station is No. 84 of District No. 18, and is located one mile southeast of 
the point, in latitude forty degrees, fifteen minutes north, longitude one hun- 
dred twenty-four degrees, twenty-one minutes west. It has a light and a 
fog signal, the former being white, seventy-five feet above mean high water, 
giving a series of two flashes every fifteen seconds ; the incandescent oil 
vapor-lamp is of thirty-seven thousand candle power. The fog signal is a 
first-class air siren, giving a blast of two seconds' duration and is then silent 
for thirteen seconds. 

In 1903 Mr. Harrington married Miss Edna M. Hunter, who is about as 
familiar with the lighthouse service as her husband, her father, Pascal M. 
Hunter, having long been a keeper. He died at the Punta Gorda station 
April 6, 1912, after many years of faithful work. Mrs. Harrington shares the 
high esteem in which her husband is held by his superiors and by all who 
known him. They have, two children, Jesse V. (now twelve years old) 
and Donald L. (eight years old). Mr. Harrington is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias lodge at Petrolia. 

^GEORGE ROBERT GEORGESON.— Eureka and indeed all of Hum- 
boldt county may be congratulated upon such citizens as _Mr. Georgeson. 
In the course of a remarkable career as a real estate operator he has not only 
forged his way to a leading position among his fellow men as his ability and 
force of character have won recognition, but his activities have been so indis- 
putably helpful in the development of local interests that his initiative and 
influence are regarded as invaluable in the promotion of any enterprise. His 
achievements mean more than the broadening of his own operations or the 
outlet of his own increasing capital. They are vitally important to the wealth 
and progress of the whole community. 

Mr. Georgeson is a native of Scotland, born November 29, 1865, at 
Burnside, in the Shetland Islands. His. father, John Georgeson, was also born 
there, and when a youth of fourteen years went to sea. Later he tried his 
fortune in the gold fields of Australia, where he accumulated a competency,, 
after which he returned to Scotland and established himself in business as a 
merchant, carrying on business into his old age. He was born about 1840, 
and his wife, Catherine (Watt), was a few years his junior. They had a 
family of twelve children. 

George Robert Georgeson had ordinar)^ school advantages, attending 
until he was sixteen years old. Then he started out to earn his own living. 
He engaged in the shipping of shellfish to London, on his own account, and 
by the time he had followed that business two years had saved enough to take 
him to America. Meantime, being ambitious, he had continued his studies at 
night school, appreciating the value of education. He came to this country 
in April, 1883, and settled at once in California, though he was so short of 
funds that he arrived at Eureka, Humboldt county, thirty dollars in debt be- 
cause of the expensive railroad journey from coast to coast. During the next 
few years he held clerical positions in various stores in the town. In 1892 
he commenced on his own account, opening a real estate and insurance ofifice, 
and from that foundation has developed one of the most important businesses 
of the kind in the county. He has done a large general insurance business, 
and at various times has had other interests, but his time now is devoted 
principally to his real estate transactions, which, have reached such magni- 
tude that he is regarded as one of the authorities in his line on land and 



728 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

general property A'alues in. this region. He deals extensively in city, country 
and timber lands, has negotiated some important deals in redwood timber, 
and has accumulated a vast amount of improved city real estate, his holdings 
at Eureka including the "Grand Hotel" property. He purchased the latter in 
October, 1902, and vvdth his customary foresight began to lay plans for 
placing it on a profitable basis, building the hotel and owning a half-interest 
in it for some years, eventually becoming sole owner. The site covers half a 
block near the commercial center of Eureka. Another of his properties, the 
Georgeson building, which he erected in 1903-04, is desirably located at the 
corner of Fourth and E streets, and is a substantial four-story structure, the 
first four-story building to be put up in Humboldt county. It has solid eight- 
inch plank walls. It is of modern construction and conveniently arranged, 
being provided with elevators and other appointments for the comfort of 
tenants, and is devoted entirely to stores and offices. 

Though Mr. Georgeson has handled so many large real estate deals he 
has made his fortune in the business as an investor, not in speculation. His 
judgment and appreciation of values are best understood in the light of this 
statement, as he made a remarkable success in his principal line, acquiring 
a large capital within a few years. As he accumulated means he became in- 
terested in other enterprises, and he has been able to assist many promising 
ventures to substantial footing. In fact, his broadness and the liberality of his 
opinions have been the means of gaining favor and encouragement for a 
number of ventures deserving of support, and if he has prospered thereby he 
has also enabled them to make headway which might have been impossible 
otherwise. His unselfish spirit and thorough honesty have gained him the 
approval of the best element in the community. He was one of the origin- 
ators of the Eureka Land and Home Building Association, of which he is 
half-owner, and he was one of the earliest promoters of the Humboldt Pro- 
motion and Development Committee, his familiarity with land and land 
values, and the possibilities of various locations, being of inestimable value 
to both these concerns. 

A year after he engaged in business for himself Mr. Georgeson took the 
position of agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company at Eureka and 
superintendent of the company's afi^airs in Humboldt county, and in 1896 
he became ticket-agent for the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, continuing 
to serve in both capacities until a few years ago, when he relinquished the 
duties because of the pressure of his increasing private afifairs. 

Mr. Georgeson has been active in public affairs in his city and county 
for a number of years, and has taken advantage of the opportunities his own 
business has opened to him for serving his fellow citizens from time to time. 
In the course of his real estate operations and building he has been able to 
influence the trend of development in the town especially, and his wisdom 
has been recognized in many plans directed b}'' his foresight and sincere 
desire to do the best for his community. He was especially interested in the 
establishment of the Carnegie Library, and was a member of the committee 
appointed to solicit the subscription of twenty thousand dollars from J\Ir. 
Carnegie. He has also served as one of the trustees of the chamber of com- 
merce. Socially he holds membership in a number of local organizations, be- 
longing to the Humboldt Club; to the Odd Fellows, Fortuna Lodge No. 221, 
and Mount Zion Encampment No. 27 ; and to the B. P. O. E. 




^1^ osA/^^yi^^ ^^^ 



^4rt^^^i'4^ d^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 731 

On July 9, 1892, Mr. Georgeson was married to Miss Alice W. Randall, 
who was born at Eureka, daughter of A. W. and Lydia F. Randall, and they 
have had a family of five children, one dying in infancy. The survivors are : 
Lloyd W., who has graduated from the University of California and intends 
to take up the study of law ; Vira, now a student at the University of Cali- 
fornia ; Clair Jean, and Roberta. 

RICHARD SWEASEY. — It would be difficult and perhaps impossible to 
name any enterprise of civic value that has lacked the cordial cooperation of 
Richard Sweasey, whose personal history has been associated closely with 
the material growth of Eureka. A resident of Humboldt county from the age 
of thirteen years, he has witnessed the slow but steady advancement of the 
past half century or more and has been a helpful factor in community devel- 
opment. Varied have been the business enterprises receiving his practical 
assistance and sagacious support, including within their scope steamship 
building, mercantile pursuits, agriculture, dairying, banking, and, indeed, 
every form of industry that goes toward the upbuilding of the coast country. 
Although a native of Indiana, born on Christmas day of 1843, he is practically 
a Californian in all else but birth. His ideals are those of the west, his inter- 
ests are centered in this section of the country, and all of the associations 
from childhood bind him to the community of his present residence. The 
family has been identified with the Pacific coast ever since the discover}'- of 
gold. His parents, Hon. W. J. and Esther (Croucher) Sweasey, were natives 
of England and spent their early married life in Indiana, but the mining ex- 
citement brought the father across the plains in 1850 and in 1852 he served 
as a member of the California state legislature as a representative from San 
Francisco county. After his removal to Humboldt county in 1856 he repre- 
sented this county as a member of the state constitutional convention. For 
a number of terms he served as county supervisor from the Eureka district 
and until his death he continued to be active in public affairs. Surviving him 
are two sons and a daughter, Thomas W., Richard, and Mrs. Henry Axton. 

The mercantile business at Eureka, the management of the farm near 
Hydesville, the building of a number of sailing vessels and all the other lines 
of development work that engrossed the attention of the elder Sweasey en- 
listed the intelligent assistance of the son Richard, who has been a progressive 
promoter of local advancement ever since the eventful year of 1856, when, 
with his father and about five other families, he came overland from San 
Francisco via Healdsburg. The oldest son, Thomas, went ahead and guided 
them through the mountains over much the same route now followed by the 
overland trail until they came to near the present site of Fort Seward on Eel 
river. There a raft was built from redwood logs on which they ferried the 
river. After this on their way down they forded the river many times until 
they arrived at Eagle Prairie, the present site of Rio Dell. This was the first 
white settlement after leaving Healdsburg, and from it they blazed the trail 
into Humboldt county from the south, the father bringing the first wagons 
that came over the mountains into Humboldt county. Much of Mr. Sweasey's 
life has been given to ship-building and he still acts as president of the 
Humboldt Steamship Company. Aside from launching several sailing ves- 
sels, he assisted his father in the building of the steamer Humboldt, and man- 
aged the vessel for twenty-one years. The second steamer Humboldt, which 
now runs between Seattle and Alaskan ports, was also built by them. Doubt- 

26 



7Z2 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

less no work done by Richard Sweasey has been of greater importance to the 
permanent welfare of Humboldt county than his development with eight 
others and the building of the Eel River and Eureka Railroad. The Sweaseys 
were also among the founders and original stockholders of the Humboldt 
County Bank, the first bank in the county. 

Richard Sweasey has been active in the improvement of the agricultural 
interests of Humboldt county, in the development of the Sweasey Dairy Farm 
of three hundred acres two miles east of Eureka, where he owns and main- 
tains a herd of blooded Guernsey milch cows, one hundred and twenty-five in 
all, of which at present seventy-five form the dairy. The original stock, 
brought in by him from Wisconsin and New Jersey, had the distinction of 
being the first Guernsey cows in the entire county and they proved popular 
from the first, both on account of their large size and also by reason of being 
valuable milk and butter producers. Had Mr. Sweasey no other work to his 
credit besides the building up of the dairy ranch, he might well be regarded as 
one of the most progressive and helpful citizens of his county, but the dairy 
business has been only one of his many important undertakings. In company 
with H. L. Ricks he installed the original water system in Eureka, which they 
afterwards sold to Thomas Baird and which is now owned by the city. In this 
city he also owns a livery stable. Besides being a member of the city council 
for a number of years he served as the first city treasurer under the city 
charter. For three terms he served as chairman of the board of supervisors 
and during that time the corner-stone of the county court-house was laid with 
appropriate ceremonies. 

On the evening of the organization of the Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. 
O. F., Mr. Sweasey was initiated into the order, besides which he is a life 
member of the Pioneer Society, the Humboldt Club and the Elks. His mar- 
riage united him with Annie M. Wilson, a native of the state of Maine, and 
a daughter of George D. Wilson, a pioneer of 1853 in LIumboldt county. Both 
Mrs. Sweasey and her father were interested in religious work from early 
years and she has been a generous contributor to the erection of two houses 
of worship in this city. Born of their marriage were three children, two of 
whom are living. The daughter, Lena G., married Harold B. Gross, M. D., a 
leading physician of Eureka. The son, Frank R. Sweasey, is a rising attorney 
in San Francisco. 

W. E. WASMUTH. — One of the up-to-date industrial establishments in 
which Eureka and Humboldt county take just pride is the Humboldt Laundry, 
at the head of which is W. E. Wasmuth, of Eureka, who has one brother and 
one sister interested with him in its ownership and operation. The laundry 
has the reputation of being one of the largest as well as most excellently 
equipped on the Pacific coast, supplying employment to a number of opera- 
tives and convenient service to a large circle of patrons. For modern appoint- 
ments, cleanliness and expert work it has no rival among plants of its size, 
and few superior anywhere. Mr. Wasmuth has built up the large business 
from a modest start to pretentious proportions. 

The name of Wasmuth has been identified with this section from the 
days when Humboldt formed a part of old Klamath county, P. W. AVasmuth, 
father of W. E. Wasmuth, having been one of the very earliest settlers in 
this region. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden, of German parentage, during 
war times, and came to the United States in 1852, the same year settling at 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY . 733 

Martin's Ferry, Klamath county, where he engaged for a time in placer gold 
mining. Having prospered and accumulated some capital, he moved to 
Orleans, then in Klamath county (now^ Humboldt), and engaged in business 
as a storekeeper. He was a man of strong character and influential among 
his fellow citizens, and having been well educated (he had studied for the 
ministry) he was an available candidate for offices requiring such training 
which many lacked. Before the division of the county he served as county 
clerk and county treasurer, doing efficient work in both capacities. He built 
a mill which he owned in partnership with "Jim" Graham and the late T. M. 
Brown, former sheriff of the county. Mr. AVasmuth married Rosa Behr, 
who was born in Alsace, then a French province, and six children were born 
to this union : P. W. (1st), who died in infancy ; AV. E., Rosa A., P. W. (2nd), 
Ida E. and Charles F. The rnother died when her son W. E. Wasmuth was 
fourteen years old. 

\A\ E. A\'asniuth was born in Humboldt county, August 29, 1874, and 
in 1883, when a boy of nine years, accompanied his parents to Areata. At 
that time he began working on a ranch in this county. AA^'hen fourteen years 
old he entered the employ of his uncle, J. H. Bloemer, who established the 
Union Laundry at Areata and is still running it, and he has continued in 
that line of work ever since. Coming to Eureka, he worked in a laundry here 
for a time, until he went to Crescent City to undertake business on his own 
account, renting the premises in which he conducted the Crescent City Steam 
Laundry, of which he made a decided success. Following this venture he 
became an employe in the Palace Hotel Laundry, San Francisco, where he 
soon attained the position of foreman, also acting in that capacity at the 
Eureka Laundry, in these connections learning the details of the business 
thoroughly, particularly the- commercial and executive end of the work. 

Returning to Humboldt county on a vacation, ^Ir. AA'asmuth saw an 
opening in the line he desired, buying out the Jackson Store Laundry, which 
he removed to its present location. As his prosperity enabled him, and as he 
has felt competent to undertake more responsibility, Mr. AA/'asmuth has 
bought out other laundries, three in all, and the large frame building at the 
corner of Sixth and C streets. Eureka, was built as the increase of business 
demanded larger quarters. It is sixty by one hundred ten feet, two stories 
in height, and equipped with all the modern machinery for turning out first- 
class laundry work known to the trade. It is fitted with a twenty-five-horse- 
power engine, electricity, centrifugal wringers, starcher, dryers, steam presses 
for flannel garments, collar machine, etc., the investment in building and 
machinery amounting to twenty-five thousand dollars. No pains have been 
spared to make the equipment most efficient, and the competent system 
adopted in the operating department is well supplemented with the business- 
like methods of the office and outside arrangements, all of which coordinate 
to an unusual degree. Every employe is expected to be an expert, and to be 
retained in this establishment is a sufficient recommendation of capability. 
The plant is light, airy and very attractive in its spotlessness. Mr. AA/'as- 
muth's brother and sister work with him, and to this cooperation no doubt 
may be attributed the remarkable smoothness of operation which character- 
izes every branch of the work. At present the working force consists of 
cwenty-eight people, and two teams are employed, and during the busier sea- 
sons as many as forty-five hands are employed, besides two teams and three 
wagons. 



734 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Such a record entitles the Wasmuths to recognition among the pro- 
gressive business people of the community, where they have not only found 
their own opportunities, but have become a large factor in the activities of 
the city. Personally, they are citizens of the highest character, worthy de- 
scendants of an honored early settler of this region and keeping the name 
alive in the most creditable associations. 

Mr. W. E. Wasmuth was married in Eureka to Miss Nellie Freeman, 
who was born in Lake county, Cal., and they have had a family of four 
children: Ruth, William, Charles and Marie. Mr. Wasmuth built his 
residence at No. 1422 B street in 1906, and he also owns a two-hundred-acre 
ranch on Lawrence creek, where he expects to make a specialty of the breed- 
ing of thoroughbred Poland-China hogs. Socially he holds membership in the 
Native Sons of the Golden West and in the B. P. O. E. 

THOMAS KEMPER CARR.— The county auditor of Humboldt county 
was born at Hay Fork, Trinity county, Cal., May 15, 1860, and is a son of the 
late John Carr, a pioneer of about 1850, and Delilah Carr, who came to the 
state in 1852. Frontier life in all of its aspects became familiar to the family. 
The country was sparsely settled, neighbors few, ranches destitute of im- 
provements, and the conditions paralleling those of all outposts of civiliza- 
tion. The schools of Eureka were perhaps better than might have been 
expected of a period so early in the county's development. When Mr. Carr 
completed the grammar grade he had finished the course of study that now 
comprises the second year of high school and definitely in his mind there 
had been planted a desire for additional knowledge, a sense of proportions 
and a realization of the need of accuracy in every business pursuit. The 
mental equipment with which he left the grammar school was perhaps little 
inferior to that of boasted graduates of higher institutions of learning today, 
but with a modest appreciation of his own limitations he endeavored through 
the following years to acquire additional information in every line of thought 
and activity. Educated to a love of country and an affectionate devotion to 
his commonwealth, he served for seven years as a member of the National 
Guard of California, being in what is now the Naval Reserve. Military ser- 
vice, however, was not his only means of proving his patriotism, for in 
addition he has been a promoter of the common good, an upbuilder of 
worthy enterprises and a believer in the great ultimate destiny of county and 
state. Such citizens form the bone and sinew of local advancement and 
are at the basis of our national progress. 

After leaving school Thomas Kemper Carr was employed as tallyman 
on vessels and in the sawmills of Eureka, besides which for twenty-one years, 
during a part of each year, he was employed as deputy in county ofhces. 
For parts of two years he served as deputy auditor and recorder under 
County Auditor Kellogg; for seven years he engaged, at times, as deputy 
under County Assessor Wallace ; for ten years he was deputy under County 
Tax Collector Crichton ; for one year he acted as deputy under County Clerk 
Flaw, and during parts of other years he was deputy assessor under Connick 
and Bell. The first steady employment in county work came to him under 
County Auditor Howatt, with whom he remained for four years, giving such 
acceptable and efficient service that in November, 1910, he was chosen for the 
office of auditor and was again elected as auditor in November, 1914. A total 
of about twenty-eight years (only seven of which, however, have been full 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 737 

time) indicates the nature of his services to the county. While he is a 
Republican, he is not a partisan and numbers many friends in the ranks of 
the local Democracy. While he has been giving the best of himself, his 
fullest energies and most exacting accuracy to details of office, others have 
grown prosperous in business or on farms and now stand high in financial 
circles. Such, however, has not been his fortunate fate. The county has 
taken of his strength and greatest mental and physical efforts, giving nothing 
in return but a living, so that like the majority of county officials the world 
over he has little of permanent benefit to show for the laborious toil and 
exacting duties of a county office. His reputation for accuracy has followed 
him from one office to another. In his seven years of service as deputy audi- 
tor and auditor, his work has been absolutely correct, as experts have testi- 
fied and so the reports have been made to every grand jury for the last seven 
years. The duties of auditor are varied and at times complicated. His 
experience has given hirh the opportunity to become one of the best-posted 
men in county afifairs in Humboldt county and, while familiar with every 
office, he gives it as his opinion that the office of auditor is one of the most 
difficult to fill. 

The Carr family is of Irish lineage and was established in America two 
generations ago by the parents of John Carr, who took him from Ireland to 
Canada when he was two years of age. Later he came to the States. The 
discovery of gold caused him to drift to California, where he met and married 
Delilah Turner, a native of New Jersey. Fraternally Thomas K. Carr is 
connected with the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Eagles, the Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Ro5^al Neighbors, a branch of the Woodmen. 
In addition he is identified with the subordinate lodge and Encampment 
branch of Odd Fellows, as well as the Canton branch and Rebekah branch, 
and has passed through most of the chairs in the order with the exception of 
those in the Rebekah branch. The Humboldt Club has his name enrolled 
among its members. While not directly connected with any religious organ- 
ization, he is in sympathy with the doctrines of the Baptist Church. His 
first marriage took place March 19, 1883, and united him with Mary G. Nick- 
erson, daughter of W. H. Nickerson, of Fairhaven. May 25, 1911, he was 
united in marriage with Mrs. Florence A. Bast, daughter of Jeremiah Dough- 
erty, of Rohnerville, Humboldt county, and the widow of George Bast, by 
whom she has two children, Mildred Bast and George AVilbur Bast. By his 
first marriage Mr. Carr is the father of four children, namely : Llovd Vernon 
Carr, who married Alida Crocker ; Hazel G., now Mrs. Joseph M. Flinman ; 
Elizabeth DeEtte, now I\Irs. E. B. Sandelands ; and Nell Elise, who married 
John Brubaker, of Salt Lake. 

CHARLES R. SMITH.— The variety of occupations which Flumboldt 
county offers to the enterprising and thrifty, combined with her remarkable 
climatic features, has attracted a sturdy class of agriculturists and those con- 
templating the purchase and development of farm lands, for they not only 
have the prospects of success in raising crops, but the assurance of a good 
market where other industries are profitably prosecuted. The adaptability 
of southeastern Humboldt county, and particularly the Eel river district, for 
fruit growing, is becoming known through the results which those who have 
attempted fruit raising have attained, and none has done more in the way 
of affording practical examples of her possibilities in this line than Charles 



738 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

R. Smith, of Alderpoint. A Wisconsin man, of German extraction, he came 
here some twenty odd years ago, and in 1895 took up a homestead which now 
forms part of his valuable ranch of five hundred fifty acres. Now he is 
reckoned among the substantial, well-to-do farmers of his section, having by 
his own exertions acquired a good property and made excellent headway in 
his farming operations. 

Mr. Smith was born July 26, 1861, near Oshkosh, Wis., son of Henry 
and Harriet (Hales) Smith, the father a native of Germany, the mother of 
England. They were married in Wisconsin, and Henry Smith is now living 
in Sacramento at the age of eighty-four years. He followed the trade of 
mason and brickla3^er besides farming in his active years. C. R. Smith is 
the eldest of the four children born to his parents. His childhood and youth 
were passed in his native state, and from an early age he was familiar with 
work in the timber regions, a training which has proved very valuable in the 
improvement of his present property. For twelve months he was employed 
in the woods near Waupaca, Wis., as chopper, logger and teamster. Upon 
his removal west he located first in Montana, for two years working as a 
market gardener at Boulder, that state. In 1892 he came to Humboldt county, 
Cal., and for a time was at Hydesville, in 1895 taking up a homestead of one 
hundred sixty acres, now included in his five hundred fifty-acre ranch 
situated a mile southeast of Alderpoint, in southern Humboldt county. Mr. 
Smith has given all his time to the improvement of this ranch, but it is his 
accomplishments in the line of fruit raising which are most notable and of 
particular importance to the locality. He has cleared a tract of twelve acres, 
which he has planted to various kiiids of fruits, peaches, apples, walnuts, 
cherries, almonds and a number of fig trees, as well as grapes. His trees are 
from one to seven years old, and his apple trees in bearing are remarkably 
thrifty, but it is his peach crop that deserves particular mention. In fact, he 
has the reputation of producing the finest peaches in northern California, 
Elbertas, which show exceptional qualities as to size, color and flavor. There 
is a demand for all he can supply. 

Mr. Smith has erected suitable barns and other outbuildings on his farm, 
and there is also a comfortable dwelling, which he intends to replace with a 
modern structure before long. In the year 1911 he built a cottage at Aider- 
point, the first house completed at that place, and also a commodious livery 
barn, which he rents for that purpose. 

In all his enterprises Mr. Smith has had the competent cooperation of 
his wife, who has proved her capability in many ways. June 15, 1911, he 
married Miss Ellen Mathison, who was born at Fortuna, Humboldt county, 
the eldest of the eight children born to her parents, Nis and Mary (Petersen) 
Mathison, born in Slesvig, Germany. They came to California before their 
marriage and were united in Sonoma county about 1874. Later they came to 
Humboldt county and in the fall of 1875 came to Blocksburg, where they 
became farmers and where Mr. Mathison died. Fie helped to build the over- 
land road. The mother resides near Alderpoint with her son Fred. In the 
neighborhood of Fort Seward Mrs. Smith located a homestead upon which 
she proved up, and also took up a timber claim, owning both as the result 
of her own efiforts. A woman of excellent personal qualities and kindly dis- 
position, she has not only been a helpmate in the best sense of the word to 
her husband, but a good neighbor and friend to all with whom she has been 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 739 

brought into contact. By his former marriage, which took place in Wiscon- 
sin, Mr. Smith had two children : Walter F., an experienced horticulturist, 
who engaged in ranching near Alderpoint ; and Hattie E., Mrs. Greene, whose 
husband is bookkeeper and cashier at the Sacramento office of M. P. Fuller 
& Co. 

JAMES WILLIAM HENDERSON.— For forty-five years Eureka num- 
bered among her residents the late James AA'illiam Henderson, who settled 
here in 1865, after sixteen years of the experiences and adventure which fell to 
the lot of those who braved the dangers of life in the uncivilized days 
of the west. When he settled down to business he proved himself as capable 
and courageous as in the more spectacular activities of his earh^ life, so much 
so that for years no one challenged his title as the leading citizen of Humboldt 
county. JNIr. Henderson had been impressed with the attractions and advan- 
tages of Eureka some years before he came to make his home in the city, 
and from the time he took up his residence here until his death was one of its 
most zealous spirits, putting his own means into city and county property 
and doing his utmost to develop local resources. His own investments being 
so heavy, it was but natural he should desire to promote the improvements 
necessary to insure the stability of their values, but his enterprises to that 
end always benefited others as well, and he never kept on the safe side of 
the market himself by lack of respect for the rights of others. He operated 
extensively in real estate, was one of the organizers of the first bank in the 
county, had other banking interests later, took a hand in the development of 
the oil lands in the county, and for ten years before his death conducted the 
Humboldt Bay Woolen ]\Iills, a manufacturing plant which has afforded 
profitable occupation for a number of industrial workers. It would be diffi- 
cult to summarize his work, however, as his capital and energy flowed into 
many channels, carrying good indirectly as well as directly, so that it would 
be hard to tell where his influence ended. 

J\lr. Henderson was of Scotch ancestry, his early antecedents moving 
from their native country to the North of Ireland to escape religious perse- 
cution. John Henderson, his grandfather, emigrated from the North of Ire- 
land to America, and his father, Edward Henderson, was born in New York 
state and passed all his life there. By occupation a farmer, he made a good 
living for himself and family and was a well respected man in his neighbor- 
hood. He was an active member of the Episcopal Church and took consid- 
erable part in such work. Politically he was originally a Whig, later a Dem- 
ocrat, and he entered heartily into party work in his state, taking keen en- 
joyment in the campaigns. Mr. Henderson married Martha Jopson, a native 
of AYales, and they became the parents of six children. Mr. Henderson died 
when about seventy-five years old, his wife living to be ninety. She, too, 
was a devout member of the Episcopal Church. 

James William Henderson, the eldest child of the family, was born on 
a farm in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., June 9, 1828, and. he received his educa- 
tion in the local public schools and at Potsdam Academy, in his native county. 
His early life was spent on the farm, and he was the first of the family to 
leave home, having started for the west in the spring of 1849. The lure of 
the mines was irresistible, and he set out to make the trip overland. Reach- 
ing Council Bluffs, Iowa, he went north from there and spent the summer in 
Minnesota. In the fall he went down the Mississippi river, stopping at St. 



740 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Louis, where the first railroad convention held in the west was then in session, 
endeavoring to devise ways and means of constructing a railroad to the far 
west. The principal speakers were Daniel Webster and Stephen A. Doug- 
las, and Mr. Henderson stayed over for the privilege of hearing their argu- 
ments. Then he proceeded down the river to New Orleans, where he bought 
a ticket to San Francisco via Panama, the fare being one hundred eighty dol- 
lars. He reached his destination in February, 1850, without available funds, 
and his first experience was typical of the times. A young man he had met 
during the ocean voyage loaned him thirty-five dollars and they went together 
to the Middle Fork of the American river, where they were quite successful 
in their search for gold on the Spanish bar. It was not long before Mr. 
Henderson was able to repay the thirty-five dollars, and he and his "friend in 
need" were congenial companions. In the winter of 1850, Mr. Henderson 
returned to San Francisco, remaining until spring, when he made a trip 
by steamer to Portland, Oregon, to buy produce for shipment to San 
Francisco. Upon his return he bought an assortment of merchandise at 
auction and shipped it to Portland. Then for a time he was at the mines on 
the Feather river, but did not do well there, and went back to San Francisco 
for the winter. In the spring he went to the Spanish bar again, and much 
to his satisfaction had better success than before, buying a claim for six 
hundred dollars which he sold for eight hundred after taking out ten thousand 
dollars worth of gold. This was his last mining venture. In 1852 he made a 
trip back east, visiting his old home in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and after 
spending a few weeks there went out to Illinois and Iowa, where he bought 
a band of horses which he drove across the plains. This undertaking turned 
out very profitably, as he was able to sell at an average price of eight hun- 
dred dollars a team, the horses having cost him one hundred dollars apiece. 
The result was so encouraging that he went east again in 1853, this time 
purchasing both horses and cattle, which he drove across the plains and kept 
near Sacramento for a year before selling them. In 1855 he made another 
trip, to Missouri, where he bought one hundred mules which he succeeded in 
getting to the coast country without serious accident or loss, keeping them for 
a year near Stockton, vmtil they were in such fine condition that he obtained 
top prices for them. 

By this time Mr. Henderson had concluded to go into the stage busi- 
ness, and in the fall of 1857 he established himself at Petaluma for that pur- 
pose. He carried on an extensive business from that point for six years, hav- 
ing the first overland stage line in northern California. Although he did not 
drive, he had to take the responsibility for all the losses, which were som.e- 
times considerable, highway robberies being frequent in those days and the 
Indians to be reckoned with ; one night they killed ten of the horses and 
burned a large supply of his hay. Besides the above business, Mr. Hender- 
son had the contract for carrying the overland mail between San Francisco 
and Weaverville, Trinity county, a distance of four hundred miles, part of 
which had to be made on horseback. While at Petaluma he also engaged 
to some extent in the stock business and ran a livery in partnership with Mat 
Doyle. He first visited Eureka in 1860 on some matters pertaining to his 
mail contract, and the impression he gained then was so pleasing that when 
he disposed of his stage line he decided upon this place for his home, settling 
here in 1865. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 741 

Mr. Henderson began to deal in land about the time of his removal to 
Eureka, and for many years he held the record as the largest individual 
dealer in real estate in the county. He acquired fifteen thousand acres of sup- 
posedly valuable agricultural land, and at the same time bought large tracts 
of timberland, on which he realized handsomely, paying a dollar and a quar- 
ter an acre for it, and selling at five dollars. He owned different tracts from 
time to time, buying and selling, and in 1890 disposed of five thousand acres 
at twenty-five dollars an acre. He retained a ranch of ten thousand acres, 
which he leased, and several smaller tracts of land. 

In the southern part of Humboldt county are valuable oil lands, and Mr. 
Henderson early interested himself in their development, which he found 
quite different from his anticipations. In 1874 Thomas Scott, the Phila- 
delphia capitalist, sent him seventy-five thousand dollars for investment in 
these lands, and he set about placing it to the best advantage. But although 
there were plenty of areas where oil seeped from the ground profusely, 
boring did not produce sufficient quantities for commercial purposes. Mr. 
Henderson prospected in 1875, with no results which justified continuing 
operations, 3^et it is almost certain that some way may be devised to obtain 
the oil, and the heirs to the land, in selling it ofif, have reserved the oil rights 
in the deeds. 

In 1873 Mr. Henderson was one of the organizers of the Humboldt 
County Bank, the first institution of the kind in the county, and in 1880 
was elected president, holding the position continuously for over twenty 
years, until January 20, 1904. At the meeting of the directors on that day 
they presented Mr. Henderson a loving cup inscribed, "Presented to J- W. 
Henderson by the directors of Humboldt County Bank as a token of esteem, 
January 20, 1904." It was accompanied by a set of resolutions praising his 
services to the bank and showing their appreciation of his high personal 
character. Meantime, in the year 1893, he had taken a prominent part in 
establishing the Home Savings Bank of Eureka, took an influential part in 
the direction of its affairs, and in 1901 became president, serving until 1903. 
In 1900 he founded the Humboldt Bay Woolen Mills Company, and person- 
ally looked after all the details of construction and equipment, going east to 
purchase the machinery, and sparing no pains to make the plant a model 
industrial institution. He was president of the company from the time of 
its formation, and its conduct constituted the chief interest of his later years. 
His death occurred July 13, 1910. 

The only public office which Mr. Henderson held was that of registrar 
of the United States land office, in which he served for one term, in 1868. 
However, he had his father's taste for politics, was a Republican from the 
time of the Civil war, and for many years never missed a county or a state 
convention of his party. In 1878 he joined the Masonic fraternity, becoming 
a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and he subsequently was 
received into Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. ]\I. 

Mr. Henderson's share in the opening up of Humboldt county to trade 
and commerce, the life of usefulness he chose among his fellow citizens, and 
the honorable example he left to posterity, will endear him in the memory 
of every resident of this section who knows anything of his life work and 
ambitions. They were unselfish ambitions, for he was broad-minded and 
liberal, and the success of his personal enterprises was due solely to wise 



742 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

management and almost infallible judgment, combined with indefatigable 
attention to details and untiring perseverance in the prosecution of his under- 
takings. He lived to see his dreams realized, for his residence in Eureka 
extended from pioneer days to modern times, and few men are permitted 
to have more than a vision of the results of their endeavors. Those who build 
for the future must do so on faith — must have the imagination which stimu- 
lates them to efifort without hoping to share the rewards. 

Mrs. Henderson, whose maiden name was Amelia Josephine Youle, was 
a native of New York City, and came to California in 1859 with her father, 
Adam Youle. They were married in 1860, and to this union were born seven 
children, five sons and two daughters, three of whom died in childhood ; 
Edward William died in his twenty-fifth year ; Ida is the wife of Ernest 
Sevier, an attorney, of Eureka; Alice is a resident of Cloverdale ; George Y., 
also living in that city, manages the estate and is a director in the Humboldt 
National Bank, besides being extensively engaged in general farming and 
stock-ranching. He is also constructing an extensive irrigation system at 
Xenia, Trinity county, taking water from the headwaters of Dobbyn's creek, 
sufficient to irrigate a large area. 

GIUSEPPE FERRARA.— Known throughout his section of the state 
as the "Salmon King of Humboldt count)^" Giuseppe Ferrara is today one 
of the wealthy and respected citizens of Eureka, and a splendid example 
of the possibilities offered to the industrious young man by the West. He 
is now a widower, and resides on Washington street where he has made his 
home for thirty-three years. He has lived in Humboldt county for thirty- 
seven years and has been extensively engaged in the fish industry in Eureka, 
fishing for salmon and other fish in the Eel river, Humboldt Bay and in the 
Pacific ocean, and also buying from the fishermen ; he has sold to the retail 
trade in Eureka but his principal wholesale markets have been San Francisco, 
Sacramento, and other large cities of California. Mr. Ferrara is the pioneer 
in the fish industry in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Ferrara was born in Sicily, Italy, where his father, Peter Ferrara, 
was a fisherman and fish-dealer, taking cargoes of fish to Rome, Genoa, Venice, 
and other Italian cities, where they were sold both at retail and wholesale. 
The father also owned a vineyard where he made wines, shipped and sold 
his product in the various Italian cities. The young Giuseppe was only eight 
years of age when he first went to Rome with his father to assist in the care 
of the extensive shipping and commission business which he maintained 
there. He remained in Rome but a short time, but acquired much valuable 
information and experience regarding the conduct of the business during 
that time, being intimately connected with his father's diversified enterprises. 
He grew to maturity on his father's farm, where the family resided in peace 
and prosperity, but in order to escape the arduous military service which his 
native country exacted of her young men, he determined to come to America. 
Accordingly in 1870 he set sail, and landed at Boston, whence he proceeded to 
Philadelphia, where for about two years he was employed in a gas pipe fac- 
tory. Later he went to Chicago and engaged in making white lead for paint, 
remaining there about two months. He then went to San Francisco, by way 
of New York and the Isthmus of Panama, reaching his destination in the 
spring of 1873. For two years he was engaged in fishing in the Sacramento 
river, and in 1876 he came to Eureka, where he has since made his home. He 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 743 

immediately engaged in fishing in the Eel river, and has continued to follow 
this occupation since that time, meeting with success, and accumulating a 
fortune from the fruits of his industry. 

Mr. Ferrara's marriage took place in Eureka, in 1876, uniting him with 
Miss Henrietta Hammitt, a native of Oregon but now deceased. She became 
the mother of four children: Jelorma, who died when two .years of age; 
Peter Elwood, of Eureka, a fish dealer and commission merchant who has 
succeeded to his father's business, and who is one of the most promising young 
men of the community today, and whose sketch also appears in this work ; 
Henrietta, the wife of Charles Perrona, of Eureka ; and Albert Frank, a fish- 
erman on the Klamath river, residing in Eureka. 

During his long residence at Eureka Mr. Ferrara has assisted materially 
in the upbuilding and development of the fish industry. Through his whole- 
sale enterprises he has handled much of the product of the small fishermen 
of the region, and so has kept alive the independent fisherman. His business 
has grown to large proportions. 

]\Ir. Ferrara, like all native Italians, retains a large place in his affections 
for his mother country, and he collected an extensive fund for Malta sufferers, 
contributing largely thereto himself, during the late disastrous earthqtiakes 
and famine there. He is now seventy-three years of age, but is still hale and 
hearty, and is keenly interested in the events of the day. 

OTTO DOCILI. — The province of Brescia, in Italy, has sent many of 
her sons to make for themselves a home in California, whither they have been 
attracted, many of them, by the good reports of their countrymen returning 
from California to visit their native land. Among these newcomers from a 
foreign land should be mentioned Otto Docili, an enterprising young dairy- 
man of Grizzly Blufifs, Cal., who is making a success of his chosen work in 
this country. 

Born in the city of Brescia, Italy, December 22, 1880, Otto Docili was the 
son of Louis Docili, a farmer of that country, and grew up on his father's 
farm at ]\Iura, in the province of Brescia, remaining at home until his removal 
to California in 1908. Leaving his wife in Italy, he set sail for America, and 
arriving at San Jose, Cal., on ]\Iarch 6, of that year, he went to work the same 
day at Loran Station, in Santa Clara county, three months later removing 
to Modesto, Cal., where he found employment on a dairy. On March 6, 1909, 
he was employed by George Thompson, at Loleta, in Humboldt county, 
remaining with him three years, at the end of which time his family joined 
him and he went to work for Joseph Bonomini, who was in th-e dairying 
business, returning, however, to the employ of Mr. Thompson at a later date, 
after which he worked for a time for Wilson Elliot. It is much to the credit 
of Mr. Docili to state that all these changes Avere made by him without the 
loss of a day's time. Finally determining, however, to go into business for 
himself, in February, 1913, he leased a dairy ranch in Ryan's slough, near 
Eureka, where he engaged in the dairy business, independently, at the Bel- 
mont dairy, as he named his place, also running a milk delivery route in 
Eureka. Selling his lease and route in December of the next year, the fol- 
lowing January he leased his present place at Grizzly Bluft's, a ranch consisting 
of one hundred twenty acres of good meadow and farm land, where he has a 
herd of fifty cows for which he raises his own hay and green feed. 

In" his political interests Mr. Docili is a Republican, and he is known 



744 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

fraternally in Eureka as a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. At Mura, 
Italy, in 1904, Mr. Docili married Aliss Ottilia Pilotti, and they are the parents 
of four children : Emma, Arthur, Flora and Lina. 

ISAAC MATSON.— A native of Finland, although of Swedish ancestry, 
and an earnest admirer of the land of his forebears, Isaac Matson is never- 
theless a loyal citizen of the United States, and one of the most worthy of 
California's adopted sons. Not only is he a skilled ship-carpenter, but is 
also a builder of mills, bridges and wharves, and in this line is said to have 
no superior in Humboldt county. Executive ability and initiative are promi- 
nent qualifications, and he is exceptionally capable in the handling of large 
numbers of workmen. He now owns a splendid place in Pepperwood Bot- 
toms, containing about twenty-three acres of rich, fertile land, which he has 
under a high state of cultivation. 

Mr. Matson was born near A'Vasa, Finland, November 1, 1865. He 
worked in the ship yards at Helsingfors and at sixteen years of age was a 
full-fledged ship-carpenter. He became acquainted with Capt. E. Aslakson, 
of the Norwegian bark Sunshine, and sailed as his ship-carpenter for a year. 
He left this vessel at Philadelphia and later shipped as second carpenter on the 
American full-rigged sailor Plagerstown, on which he sailed around the Horn, 
arriving in San Francisco March 10, 1883. Soon afterward he went up to 
Mendocino county and at Whitesboro worked as a lumberman for a year or 
more. He then went with his employer, L. E. AA^ite, to Greenwood, Mendo- 
cino county, and was there engaged in mill work, bridge construction, railroad 
and wharf building for about six years. Among other work that he accom- 
plished during that time wa=" the building of the wharf at Greenwood, which 
was a dififi'^ult task, well and successfully completed within a given time. 
About this time he became acquainted with Cal. Stewart, and while in his 
employ built three wharves at Bear Harbor and also constructed ten miles 
of railroad. Altogether he was in the employ of Mr. Stewart for sixteen 
years, from 1888 until 1904. 

The marriage of Mr. Matson occurred at Bear Harbor, uniting him with 
Miss Bertha Hawley, a native of California, born and reared in Humboldt 
county. They have seven children living — two, twin daughters, having died 
when fourteen months old. The living children are : Grover Cleveland, Lillie 
Queen, Alice F^elen, Irene, Lloyd, Eleanor and Leonard. After his marriage 
Mr. Matson bought a place of five hundred forty acres at the head of Bull 
creek, which he ran as a stock ranch for three years. Later he sold this 
property and came to Pepperwood, where he has since resided, his ranch 
comprising over forty-four acres, devoted to diversified farming and fruit 
raising. 

Mr. Matson is a Republican in his political affiliations, and among other 
offices has served as election judge. He is keenly interested in educational 
affairs, and has helped to establish the Eleanor school district, of which he 
is a trustee. 

HON. JONATHAN CLARK, M. D.— Vigorous in mind and body, clear- 
headed and the possessor of unlimited energy and sound judgment, the late 
Hon. Jonathan Clark, M. D., a pioneer physician, contributed his full share 
towards developing the resources of Humboldt county, and was justly styled 
one of the fathers of Eureka. A native of Crawfordsville, Ind., he was born 
February 26, 1826, of patriotic ancestry, being a lineal descendant of Abram 




9;^eju^>^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 747 

Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. At the age of 
fifteen years Jonathan Clark went to Iowa, where he completed his early- 
education, and after taking a course in medicine received the degree of M. D. 
Coming overland to the Pacific coast in 1849, he arrived in California in No- 
vember of that year, and the following four months were successfully engaged 
in mining. Subsequently taking passage on the brig Reindeer, he arrived 
at Humboldt Bay June 16, 1850, and immediately began the practice of his 
profession. Skilful and practical, he gained a wade reputation as a physician 
and surgeon; and November 1, 1853, was appointed acting assistant surgeon 
in the United States army. Dr. Clark, under the command of Col. R. C. 
Buchanan, of the Fourth United States Infantry, was assigned to duty at 
Fort Humboldt, which was located about two miles from Eureka, in what 
was then called Bucksport, and where he afterwards owned a large part of 
the land. While at the fort Dr. Clark had for one of his patients Lieut. U. S. 
Grant. Favorable mention of Dr. Clark is made by General Grant in his 
memoirs. June 6, 1863, Dr. Clark was commissioned surgeon of the First 
Battalion of Mountaineers, California Volunteers, and served under Lieut. 
Col. S. G. Whipple during the Indian wars of 1863, 1864 and 1865, stationed 
at Fort Gaston, on the Hoopa Reservation. 

Resuming his professional duties in Eureka at the close of the war. Dr. 
Clark continued in active practice until 1870, when he retired, his large real 
estate holdings and his other business affairs demanding his entire time and 
attention. In 1872 he laid out Clark's addition to Eureka, which consists 
of twenty-four blocks in one of the finest residence parts of the city, selling 
much cheaper to homeseekers and actual settlers than to speculators. As 
an enlargement to this addition, he subsequently platted and laid out forty- 
two blocks. He afterward laid out a second enlargement, platting fifty-nine 
blocks, or two hundred forty acres in all. Before he had sold any, however, 
his death occurred and his estate has since been managed by his son, William 
S. Clark, of whom a sketch may be found on another page of this volume. 

Prominent and active in the management of public affairs, Mr. Clark 
never shirked official responsibilities, but served his fellow townsmen in 
many capacities with ability and loyal fidelity. He was the first postmaster on 
Humboldt Bay, being appointed to the position in 1851, and was also the 
first notary public. In 1855 he was elected a member of the Eureka board of 
supervisors, and reelected for a second term. In 1857 he was appointed 
county treasurer. In 1874 he was chosen a member of the common council 
of Eureka, and reelected in 1876. The same year he was elected to the gen- 
eral assembly, representing Humboldt county, and introduced several bills 
of importance and served on various committees. Among the bills which he 
introduced were the following: One for completing the Kneeland Prairie 
and Round Valley wagon road ; for completing the coast wagon road, lead- 
ing from Ferndale to the county line, via Petrolia ; and one authorizing the 
construction of the Grizzly Bluff and Camp Grant wagon road. He was 
likewise the author of the Humboldt county road law and amended the 
Klamath county disbursement bill so as to secure an adjustment of the affairs 
of that county. He was also the author of the Humboldt county hospital law, 
and procured an amendment to the act incorporating the city of Eureka. He 
introduced into the house a joint resolution asking for a mail route from 
Eureka by way of Ferndale to Mendocino county. He served on the state 



748 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

hospital committee ; the committee of public morals ; of commerce and navi- 
g-ation ; and was a member of the centennial committee. As a representative, 
Dr. Clark was active, cautious and untiring in his exertions to guard the inter- 
ests of his constituents, his term of service being eminently successful and 
highly satisfactory to the people of the county. Elected mayor of Eureka in 
1878, he served for a term of two years, but declined a renomination to the 
ofifice. In politics he was a stanch Republican. He was of a commanding 
appearance, being five feet eleven inches in height, and weighing one hundred 
ninety pounds. He died in San Erancisco March 29, 1884, his death being a 
cause of deep regret to the town and county in which he had so long resided, 
and with whose, highest interests he had been so prominently identified. 

Dr. Clark married, in November, 1855, Maria S^yan, who was born in 
County Tipperary, Ireland, January 3, 1821, a daughter of Joseph Ryan and 
a sister of the late James T. Ryan. Joseph Ryan emigrated from the Emerald 
Isle to New Brunswick with his family during the '30s, locating first in 
Stanley, and then living for a while in St. John. Removing from that city 
to Boston, Mass., he carried on a profitable business as a builder and con- 
tractor for many years, living there until his death at the age of three score 
and ten years. Of his family of nine children, Mrs. Clark is the only survivor. 
Arriving in Eureka July 12, 1854, Miss Ryan soon afterwards formed the 
acquaintance of the active and highly esteemed young physician, Dr. Clark, 
whom she afterward married. In the beautiful home erected by the doctor 
Mrs. Clark still resides. The home grounds, which are among the most at- 
tractive in the city, cover four blocks. Dr. and Mrs. Clark became the parents 
of two children, namely : Eliza, who cares most tenderly for her aged mother ; 
and William S., manager of the paternal estate. 

CHARLES SPENCER FAY.— California has always been proud of her 
stanch, sturdy native sons, and prominent among them is Charles S. Eay, 
who was born in Eureka, Humboldt county, September 7, 1875. When but 
a baby his parents moved to Bayside and here he received his early training 
and education, attending the public schools of Bayside until fifteen years of 
age, when he left school to enter the farming business with his father. His 
father died when he was a youiig man, so his broad shoulders were well 
fitted to take up the burden thrust upon them. He first engaged in quarry- 
ing in the hills above Bayside but remained there only a short time, going 
north to Chehalis county, Washington, where he located in the town of 
Eloquiam, and followed different lines of work for one year, but on account 
of the death of his father he returned to Humboldt county and took charge 
of the farming business on the home place. His mother, now Mrs. Margaret 
Nicholson, was a pioneer of Humboldt and makes her home with her son, 
Charles 'S. The ranch contained forty-seven acres of good bottom land, all 
improved and well adapted to dairying and he settled down to the life of an 
energetic farmer, and on this ranch he has become one of the successful 
young men of the community, always alert for improved methods and equip- 
ment, and striving to make the place homelike for his mother. He is a mem- 
ber of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, Areata, I. O. O. E., and of the Encampment 
and Canton of Odd Fellows, and also of the Rebekahs. He has always been 
active in all movements for the upbuilding of the community, and is well 
liked and highly respected. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 749 

ALEXANDER JOHANSON.— Tracing his lineage back through the 
years in Sweden, of which country he is a native, Alexander Johanson finds 
among his forbears many men of more than ordinary quahties of mind and 
heart, men who took high rank in the affairs of their country as sailors, sol- 
diers, and financiers. His own father was an officer in the Swedish navy, 
and saw many years of service under the flag of his native land. Mr. 
Johanson himself embodies the finest and best of the qualities that have 
distinguished' his ancestors, and has also acquired the most sterling virtues 
of the land of his adoption. He has strength of mind and body, intellect, tenac- 
ity of purpose, industry and enterprise, and these qualities have carried him 
through many difficult situations, and over many serious reverses and disap- 
pointments in business. The first ranch which he purchased in the Eel 
river valley, using money that he had saved little by little from his wages as a 
farm hand, was washed away by that treacherous stream, at present only 
seven acres of the original sixty-two remaining, and these will go within a 
year or two. This property was highly improved, with family orchards, a 
comfortable residence, barns and other out-buildings, and had been pur- 
chased for a permanent home. The loss was severe, but the courage of the 
man was not destroyed, and he has since retrieved his success, now owning 
two splendid ranches in the vicinity, with fine herds of cattle and milch cows. 
. Mr. Johanson was born in Smaaland, Sweden, March 26, 1860, the son of 
Johan August Nilson Nordstrom and Sophia (Ryberg) Nordstrom, both of 
whom are still living in Smaaland, at the age of almost eighty years. There 
were ten children in their family, of whom Alexander was the third born. 
Of the others, one died in infancy, the rest growing to maturity, and scat- 
tering over three countries to find their homes. Two of the brothers live in 
Germany, one in Sweden, while two brothers and three sisters reside in the 
United States, two of the sisters making their homes in Chicago, and one in 
Oregon, while the brothers are both living in California. Alex. Johanson 
passed the days of his childhood at the family home in Smaaland, attending 
the public schools until he was sixteen years of age. He then went to Schleswig, 
Germany, where he found employment for several years. While there he met 
with an accident which seriously injured his right knee, and which has been 
a decided handicap throughout the succeeding years. He was then obliged 
to give up his position, and, on the advice of physicians, learned shoemaking, 
as that trade could be followed without further injury to the injured limb. 
He served an apprenticeship of three and a half years at this trade and be- 
came a skilled workman, remaining during this time in Schleswig. In 1884 
he determined to come to America, and on May 28th of that year he set sail 
from Hamburg to New York, and thence came by rail directly to San Fran- 
cisco. He again took boat from San Francisco to Eureka, and later located at 
Ferndale, where he was employed by M. P. Meng, boot and shoe dealer at 
that place, remaining in this connection for three and a half years. The 
marriage of ]\Ir. Johanson took place at Ferndale, in November, 1886, and 
united him with Aliss Meta Jensen, a native of Schleswig, Germany, who 
had come to America in 1885. In 1888 Mr. Johanson went into the Bear 
Ridge country and entered the employ of Thomas Hansen in order to learn 
dairy farming. The following year he came back to the Eel river country and 
rented the Crowley ranch of forty acres, just east of Ferndale. For twelve 
years he continued to rent, and in 1901 he purchased his first ranch property 



750 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

at Pleasant Point, this being the place that was washed away by the high 
waters of the Eel river. He also purchased a ranch of one hundred eighty- 
four acres on Cannibal Island, four miles west of Loleta, which he has always 
rented out. His present place, consisting of forty acres near Waddington, he 
purchased four years ago, and has since made his home there. The property 
is in a high state of cultivation, and is one of the attractive ranches of the 
district. Mr. Johanson milks a herd of twenty-six cows at the present time, 
and is also engaged in diversified farming. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Johanson, as well as their children, are well and 
favorably known in their part of the ccjunty. There are five children in the 
family, three boys and two girls, all natives of this county, where they have 
been reared and educated, and where they have a host of warm friends. Of 
these the eldest, Mary Sophia, is a graduate of the Ferndale Business College, 
and is now residing at home with her parents ; August P. is a dairy rancher 
at Grizzly Bluff ; Alma is a graduate of the Normal school at Areata, class of 
1914; while Clarence and Harry are still in public school. Mr. and Mrs. 
Johanson are both faithful members of the Lutheran church, in Avhich they 
were reared and confirmed in the mother country. In his political views Mr. 
Johanson is a Republican, and is always keenly interested in the issues of 
the day, especially when they in any way directly affect the welfare and 
progress of his home community. He is progressive and wide-awake and is 
always ready to support an}-' movement for the betterment of the community 
and general public. 

OLIVER SWANSON was born near Engelholm, Skaane, Sweden, June 
26, 1849, and there he spent the years of his boyhood upon his father's farm 
until 1871, Avhen he came to the United States. AVhile the transcontinental 
railroad had been completed some time before, the system was still far from 
perfect and he spent two weeks between New York City and San Francisco. 
Arriving at San Jose, in the Santa Clara valley, he found employment with 
a threshing machine crew and folloAved the outfit into dififerent parts of the 
valley. In a short time, however, the threshing had been completed and he 
left the valley, returned to San Francisco, took passage on a boat that landed 
him at Crescent City, Del Norte county, after six days of buffeting with a 
storm. It had been his intention to locate near Eureka and so he walked 
the one hundred miles between the two towns. The trip was one of great 
hardship. No roads had been laid out and a stranger experienced the greatest 
difficulty in traveling from one point to another through a rough, unpopulated 
country, but finally Mr. Swanson reached his destination. Soon he found 
work on a farm near the Eel river. Carefully hoarding his earnings, he was 
able in a few years to rent land and engage in the raising of grain and 
potatoes, an undertaking at first including a quarter section, but later limited 
to eighty acres. 

On leaving the farm Mr. Swanson found employment in the Hookton 
warehouse in Humboldt county. When Fields Landing had only two houses 
he went to the new town, where for four and one-half years he held the agency 
for the Eel River & Eureka Railroad, besides operating a hotel and carrying- 
on a general store. In 1904 he became proprietor of the South Park Hotel 
in Eureka and in 1909 he helped to build the new race track, which he operated 
under a lease until 1914, when he sold his South Park interests. Since that 
time he has engaged in farming one hundred sixty acres on Table Bluflf, thus 




(i/J^^yi>-CAJ s^^zxJ-z>c.<.z^ 



-^-z.-\_^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 753 

returning- to the business in which he first engaged upon coming to the Eel 
river section. He thoroughly enjoys his work, for he loves to see things 
grow. In politics he voted with the Democratic party, but his participation 
does not include candidacy for local offices. June 26, 1876, he was united 
in marriage with ]\Iiss Sarah J. Tierney, who died in Eureka in 1909. Two 
of their children, John S. and Oliver D., likewise have passed away. There 
now survive two daughters and one son, namely : Marie J., wife of Louis 
Buhall ; Pura Jane, wife of F. ^^^ Se}'mour ; and Charles F. Swanson, 'M. D., a 
practicing physician in Milford, Utah. 

CHRISTIAN SCHRODER.— The honor of being a passenger on the 
first train that crossed the continent to California belongs to Christian Schro- 
der, who dates his identification with the west from the year 1869 and who 
since 1876 has made his home in Humboldt county. Like many of the men 
from his native land of Denmark he became a sailor in youth and visited the 
principal ports of the Avorld during the years of his life on the high seas. 
Inured to hardships and privations in the discharge of his duties as a sailor, 
he was well qualified to endure the trying experiences incident to army life, 
and his service in the Civil war, beginning in 1861 and continuing until after 
the fall of Richmond, reflected credit upon himself and upon Company B, 
Forty-third Illinois Infantry, in which he served throughout the entire war. 
After his arrival in San Francisco he found employment in the liquor busi- 
ness and followed the same line of work for many 3-ears after coming to 
Eureka in 1876. During 1895 he moved across the bay to Samoa and built the 
residence now occupied by himself and family. 

For a number of years Mr. Schroder kept a record of all the vessels com- 
ing into Humboldt bay and he has always taken an active part in the shipping 
interests, one of his specialties having been the chartering of a tugboat and 
the conveying of parties to the deep-sea fishing headquarters oflf Cape Mendo- 
cino. His knowledge of the best places for fishing and his success in securing 
large catches have made him desired by fishing expeditions looking for a 
guide. Since coming to the county he has been a member of Col. Whipple 
Post, G. A. R. At St. Louis, Mo., in 1865, he married Miss Mary Inman, a 
native of Alabama. She was for fourteen years the postmaster at Samoa, a 
position now filled by their adopted daughter, Annie Hogan. In addition 
to this daughter they reared an adopted son, Fred Hogan, now filling a re- 
sponsible position as chief engineer of the steamer Tamalpais. 

FREDERICK H. HOLM.— Among the honored pioneer names of Hum- 
boldt county there is none more respected than that of Holm, the late Hans 
Peter Holm being one of the men who in an early day gave of his strength 
and manhood to carve a new state from the wilderness, and today his son and 
heir, Frederick H. Holm, is proving a worthy son of a splendid sire, and occu- 
pies a place of prominence in the community where he lives, the family home 
for many years being at Hydesville. Here Mr. Holm owns a fine farm of one 
hundred eighty-five acres on which he resides. He is prominent in the local 
afifairs of the city and county and is regarded as a man of unusual ability and 
power. 

A native of California, born in Eureka, Humboldt county, December 6, 
1886, the son of Hans Peter and Catherine (Petersen) Holm, young Mr. Holm 
has been reared and educated within the confines of this county and has 
passed practically his entire time here. His father was a native of Denmark, 



754 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

born April 10, 1841, and was a shoemaker by trade. He came to America when 
he was only twenty-one years of age, and after five months spent in New 
York and New Jersey, he came to California in the spring of 1864, locating 
for a time in Haywards, Alameda county. Later he came into Humboldt 
county and engaged in the sheep business with much success, his ranch 
being on the Mad river, and for twenty-five years he continued in this line, 
becoming one of the most prominent stockmen of the county, and amassing 
a large fortune. He also, during these years, bought the ranch near Hydes- 
ville which was his home place for so many years, and on which he was 
residing at the time of his death, August 11, 1914. The development of the 
county owes much to the enterprise and progress of this pioneer farmer, 
one of his achievements being the demonstration of the adaptability of this 
section for the raising of cherries. He planted three acres to this fruit, the 
first to be planted in the county, and sold the product of his orchard some- 
times for as much as seventeen cents per pound. He married Catherine 
Petersen, a native of Denmark, at Eureka, and of their union were born two 
children : Harry, who died in infancy, and Frederick H., the present honored 
citizen of Hydesville. The mother is still living at Hydesville, at the age of 
fifty-nine years. 

Frederick H. Holm passed his childhood on his father's farm, attending 
the public schools at Hydesville, and after graduation, taking a course at the 
Eureka Business College. He has been engaged in farming for the greater 
part of his life, and now has one of the most attractive places in the vicinity. 
He was married in Hydesville, September 28, 1911, to Miss Wilma Jewett, a 
native of Corning, Tehama county, the daughter of W. E. and Malvina rRice"! 
Jewett, born in Michigan and Ohio, respectively. Her parents farmed in 
Tehama county and in 1893 located at Cuddeback ; the mother died in Hydes- 
ville and the father resides with Mr. and Mrs. Holm. 

Mr. and Mrs. Holm have one child, a daughter, Lenore. They are well 
known in Hydesville where they have many friends and acquaintances. IMr. 
Holm is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of Hydesville Lodge 
No. 250, L O. O. F., and also of Hydesville Encampment No. 59, and has been 
through all the chairs of both orders^ His father was also a member of these 
orders and took a prominent part in their activities for many years. Both 
Mr. and M^rs. Holm are members of the Rebekahs and Mrs. Holm is a member 
of the Christian church of Hydesville. 

HIRAM HENRY.— In Humboldt county there will be found a large 
number of people of Canadian descent and among these families is the Henry 
family. Born at Magundy, York county, New Brunswick, April 17, 1858, 
Hiram Henry attended the public schools of the district. He is the son of 
Francis Henry who was also a native of New Brunswick, where he followed 
the business of farming and worked at logging during the winters. He moved 
with his family to Polk county, Minnesota, in 1873, and there engaged in 
farming, taking a homestead of one hundred sixty acres near East Grand 
Forks in the famous Red River valley of the north, but in 1876 he came to 
California and located at Bayside, Humboldt county, where he followed the 
lumber business, in which undertaking he was very successful, but at the 
time of his death, September 7, 1907, he had retired from all active labor, 
leaving the management of his affairs in the capable hands of his son Hiram. 
His wife was Phoebe Davis, likewise a native of New Brunswick, and there 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 755 

they were married, October 28, 1856, and Mrs. Francis Henry is still living 
on the ranch of her son Hiram. 

Hiram Henry remained in Minnesota when his parents came west, for 
one year following the lumber business, but in 1877 his father s^nt for him to 
come to Humboldt county, so he came forthwith. He was first employed in 
the woods logging for Frank Graham, but later he took up the stock-raising 
and farming business for himself, at first only leasing the land but later 
returned to the home place on the death of his father. Aside from ranching, 
he engaged in carpentering, at Bayside, and also in the buying and selling of 
horses, in which venture he was very successful. With his family he now 
resides on the old home place at Bayside. He is a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Foresters and the K. O. T. M. and in politics is a stanch 
Republican and is also a member of the Christian church. He was married 
in Sacramento, July, 1907, to Mrs. Margaret (Doyle) Anderson, a native of 
New Brunswick. Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Henry are highly esteemed citizens and 
are interested in all that tends to uplift the community. 

CALVIN HENRY REAVES.— A resident of California for forty years, 
and for much of that time located in Humboldt county, Calvin Henry Reaves 
is one of the best known of the pioneers, and is a highly respected and 
esteemed citizen of Blue Lake at the present time, having given up active 
business life within the past few years. Previous to that time he was en- 
gaged in farming and, at an earlier period, in the lumbering industry. He 
has seen Blue Lake grow from a wilderness into a thriving little city, and 
a place of importance in the county. 

Mr. Reaves is a native of Iowa, having been born near Davenport, Scott 
county, July 3, 1854. His father was William B. Reaves, a native of Indiana, 
born in 1817. He followed farming in Iowa and Illinois for the greater part 
of his life, and was thrifty and prosperous. He died at Independence, Kansas, 
in March, 1872. The mother was Elizabeth (Stafford) Reaves, a native of 
Pennsylvania, who was married in Scott county, Iowa, in 1847. She died 
on a farm in Iowa. She was the mother of five children, of whom Calvin 
was the fourth in order of birth. 

When Calvin H. Reaves was about ten years of age his father removed 
from their home at Davenport, Iowa, to Henderson county, 111., where he 
grew to young manhood. Here he attended the public schools in the Pleasant 
Valley district until he was sixteen, when his father again moved, this time 
going to Kansas, living in several different sections of the state. In 1872 the 
father died, and young Calvin was obliged to leave school and go to work. 
For a few years he was employed on the neighboring farms, in stock-raising 
and farming. It was in 1875 that he determined to seek his fortune in the 
larger field offered by California, and accordingly came west, arriving in San 
Francisco in March of that year. He went from there to Humboldt county, 
going first to Eureka, and later securing employment on a ranch on the Areata 
bottoms. Later he removed to Gold Bluff and for a time was in the employ 
of the Gold Bluff Mining Company, working in the mines. He continued 
with this company for two years, when the ownership changed and he returned 
to Blue Lake, which was then known as Scottsville. Here he accepted a 
position with Frank Graham, and went to work in the woods. In 1883 he was 
one of the carpenters who built the mill for the Graham, Chandler & Hender- 



756 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

son Company, and for twenty years Mr. Reaves remained in the* service of 
this company, being for the greater part of the time engaged in the woods, in 
the logging department. A few years ago he resigned his position and has 
since then been Hving quietly at his home in Blue Lake. 

■The marriage of Mr. Reaves took place at Blue Lake, September 18, 
1878, uniting him with Laura Lovina Merriman, a native of Missouri, born 
in Holt county, Decen?ber 23, 1856. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reaves are well 
known in Humboldt county, where they have many friends. Like her hus- 
band, Mrs. Reaves is a California pioneer. Her father was Samuel Merriman, 
a native of Ohio, born May 25, 1825. After attending school a few years he 
took up the tailor's trade and followed this line of work for the greater part 
of his residence in the east. In 1857 he came with his family across the 
plains to California, locating in the San Joaquin valley, twenty-two miles east 
of Stockton. Here he engaged in farming for a number of years. In 1865 
he removed to Healdsburg, Sonoma county, and again took up farming. Mr. 
Merriman had never farmed until he came to California, but his ability and 
industry supplied the lack of experience, and he was very prosperous. Later, 
in 1866, he moved with his family to Humboldt county, making the trip 
overland on horseback, nine days being consumed in the journey. Arrived 
here, he rented the Nixon ranch and engaged in farming. In 1869 he took 
up a squatter's claim in the Blue Lake district, consisting of one hundred 
sixty acres, and moved his family onto the property. • Here he built a com- 
fortable home, and lived with his family until the time of his death. He 
cleared and improved one hundred acres of the land, and proved up on the 
claim. From time to time he purchased other sections of land, and owned 
several hundred acres in and around Blue Lake at the time of his death, which 
occurred in October, 1897. Mr. Merriman was one of the early pioneers of 
the county, and a man who fully realized the splendid future of the county 
in every respect. He was highly esteemed in the community as a man of 
sterling qualities, industrious, progressive and reliable. His wife was Miss 
Nancy Courtney, a native of Pennsylvania, born October 22, 1820, and died 
at Blue Lake in October, 1892. She was the mother of ten children, and was 
the companion and true helpmeet of her husband. 

Although so much of the life of Mr. Reaves has been spent in the woods, 
he is well informed on all questions of the day, and is actively interested in 
all that pertains to the welfare of his home city. He is a Republican in 
politics, although he has never been actively a participant in the affairs of 
his party. He is progressive and wide awake to all that concerns the good 
of the city, and his influence is always found on the side of social betterment 
and municipal upbuilding. 

JEREMIAH DALE. — A pioneer of California, who came to this state in 
1854 with only fifty cents in his pockets, and who is now the owner of a 
ranch of three hundred fifteen acres in Humboldt county, Jeremiah Dale may 
be said to have achieved more than ordinary success in his long and energetic 
life. Born in Clarion county. Pa., August 20, 1834, he was the son of Daniel 
and Elizabeth (Evans) Dale, the father having been born in Pennsylvania 
in 1806 and died in 1850. The first sixteen years of the life of Jeremiah Dale 
were spent upon the farm of his father, who was both farmer and miller. Four 
years after his father's death, the son made the trip to California, coming 




(ye»o^^ (<^<l»^ea^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 759 

by way of the Isthmus of Panama and securing work in the mines at Prairie 
City, on the American river, at Rough and Ready on Deer creek, and then 
at Iowa Hill, Placer county. He accumulated what seemed to him a small 
fortune and which enabled him to return to Pennsylvania, in 1858, where he 
married Sarah Callihan, a native of Clarion county. Pa., and the daughter of 
George and Rebecca (Bostaff) Callihan. During the Civil war the couple 
made their home in Virginia, where Mr. Dale acted as a home guard, espous- 
ing the Union cause. 

In 1864, ten years after his first visit to California, Mr. Dale returned to 
this state, where he engaged in gold mining in Nevada county for four years 
and in 1868 settled in Humboldt county. Here he purchased his present 
large ranch and engaged in farming, stock-raising and dairying, meeting with 
great success from the first, his farm being one of the most fertile and valu- 
able in this section. About the year 1890 he leased his ranch, and retired from 
active life, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. M. N. Weber of 
Rohnerville. 

Mr. Dale is the father of four children, namely: Lola, wife of M. N. 
A¥eber, a retired business man of Rohnerville, who was born in Germany 
January 28, 1831, and came to California in 1852, where he became wealthy 
by dealing in real estate (he died December 24, 1914) ; Florence, widow of 
Samuel M. Douglas, of Eugene, Ore. ; Harvey, a resident of Healdsburg, Cal. ; 
and Annie, wife of Jonathan F. Robertson, a prosperous farmer and dairyman 
of Hydesville, who was in early years employed upon the extensive ranch 
of Jeremiah Dale in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Dale was made a Mason in Mount Carmen Lodge, F. & A. M., at 
Red Dog, afterward affiliating with Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., 
of Fortuna. He is a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., Eureka, 
and of Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., as well as Islam Temple, A. A. O. 
N. M. S., San Francisco, and has also taken the Maltese degree in Masonry. 

During his many years of residence in Humboldt county Mr. Dale has 
been known as a man of the best business judgment and honor, who always 
has at heart the welfare of the community where he lives. The success which 
his hard-working life has achieved is well earned and he has the honor of 
being one of the upbuilders of Humboldt county. 

RALPH BIASCA. — Although born in Switzerland, in the town of Lod- 
rino. Canton Ticino, December 24, 1871, the son of Paolino Biasca, a farmer 
and dairyman who owned his ranch in the Alps and was engaged in the 
manufacture of butter and cheese and is still living on the home farm with 
his wife, Margareta Biasca, the son, Ralph Biasca, is an enterprising and pro- 
gressive dairyman and stockraiser in Humboldt county, Cal., having lived 
in this state since the year 1892. 

One of a family of seven sons and daughters, of whom six are now living, 
Ralph Biasca was brought up on his father's farm, where he learned all about 
butter and cheese making, and received his schooling in the local public 
schools. In 1892 he came to California, where his brother Moses is now 
also located, being a dairyman near Ferndale, in which town his sisters Anna 
and Victoria also reside, the former being the wife of Henry Biasca, the 
latter the wife of Frank Ambrosini, the other sisters remaining in Ticino, 
where Amelia is now the wife of Giuseppe Bruga, and Julia rnakes her home 



760 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

with her parents. Ralph Biasca's first employment after coming to Cali- 
fornia was at a dairy near Vallejo, Solano county, and there he remained 
six years, in 1899 removing to Humboldt county and working at a dairy in 
the vicinity of Ferndale for several years, after which, determining to go 
into business for himself, he rented a dairy ranch at Areata with Victor 
AmbiOsini as partner, and continued there for two years, with a herd of 
forty-five cows. Having dissolved his partnership and sold out his interest, 
in 1905 Mr. Biasca bought his present place of twenty acres and there now 
carries on the same line of work, at a later date purchasing a thirty-one acre 
ranch in and adjoining Ferndale on the north, which he leases for dairy pur- 
poses. He also leases forty acres adjacent to his home ranch, which gives 
him a dairy of sixty acres, where he has a fine herd of twenty cows, and also 
engages in raising barley and other grain. On six hundred acres which he 
has likewise leased on Francis Creek, one mile south of Ferndale, he carries 
on stockraising with the success which has attended his ventures from the 
first. He believes in land as an investment of the best kind, and by his 
efiforts has now become independent in his chosen line of occupation. He 
was an original stockholder in the Valley Flower Creamery Company. He 
is known in political circles as an active Republican, while fraternally he is a 
member of the Druids. 

The marriage of Mr. Biasca took place in Areata, uniting him with Miss 
Linda Bruga, like himself a native of Lodrino, her father being Giuseppe 
Bruga, a farmer in Ticino until his death. Since 1894 her brother, Frank 
Bruga, has been a resident of California. 

RICHARD MILES PARSONS.— Born near Monroe City, Monroe 
county. Mo., October 26, 1848, Richard Miles Parsons came to California in 
1872, locating in Mendocino county, near Hopland. Soon afterward, in part- 
nership with his brother, Thomas S. Parsons, he bought a stock ranch which 
they successfully ran for four years. At the end of that time R. M. Parsons 
bought the interest of his brother and engaged in farming and stock-raising 
as an independent venture, residing here for many years and making a decided 
financial success of the undertaking. After disposing of his ranch and stock 
he came to Humboldt county in 1888, and in 1896 he purchased the drug store 
of J. N. Shibles, in Hydesville, and since then he has been conducting this 
business for himself. He is a man of strictly temperate habits, never touching 
either liquor or tobacco, and the business that he conducts partakes of the 
same spirit of straightforwardness and attention to detail, with an elimina- 
tion of all that is not clean, fair and profitable. The stock is kept fresh and 
up-to-date, and every attention is given to meeting the needs of the customer. 
Mr. Parsons also has a multitude of other interests, in all of which he brings 
to bear the same sterling business principles. He is serving his fifth term 
as notary public, and he also deals in real estate and insurance, being especially 
interested in the buying and selling of farm lands around Hydesville and 
of city property. 

Mr. Parsons is the son of Clement Parsons, a native of Maryland, who 
removed with his parents to Kentucky when he was but five years of age, 
they locating near Lebanon. There he grew to maturity, and was married 
to Miss Eliza Blandford, who became the mother of his children, eleven in 
number, and all of them grew to maturity save one, Sylvester, who was 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 761 

accidentally killed in childhood. R. M., the subject of this article, is the 
youngest of the family, and is one of three living at this time. The father 
was a farmer, and was for many j^ears engaged in buying horses and mules 
for the New Orleans market. He died in Missouri in 1865 at the age of 
seventy-two years. The mother was born in 1800, and after the death of 
her husband she came to California, where she died in 1878. 

Mr. Parsons has been twice married. The first time when he was engaged 
in farming near Hopland, the bride being Mrs. Martha A. Moore, a native 
of Missouri. She bore her husband four children, and after a lingering illness 
of two years, she died in Hydesville, when the youngest child was eleven 
years of age. The children are all natives of California and are well and 
favorably known in Humboldt county, where they were reared and educated. 
They are : Zelma, now the wife of G. F. Baker, a dentist residing in Idaho, 
where he is president of the state dental board ; James, a student in the 
medical department of the University of Kentucky, at Louisville, Ky., and 
also a graduate of the pharmacy school of the University of California, and 
a licensed pharmacist ; Mable, the wife of R. T. Bryant, a farmer, of Alton ; 
and Ellis, a pharmacist at Crescent City, and a graduate of the school of 
pharmacy of the Affiliated Colleges of San Francisco. The second marriage 
of Mr. Parsons was solemnized on April 9, 1911, uniting him with Mrs. Jennie 
V. Murphy, of Hydesville. 

Mr. Parsons has always taken an active interest in all that pertains to 
the progress of his city and county. He is especially interested in education 
and has given the members of his family a thorough education, sending them 
to the higher educational institutions of the state and in the east. They are 
all scholarly and more than ordinarily intelligent and their father takes a 
justifiable pride in their achievements. Mr. Parsons has built his business 
on a solid basis and has always avoided speculations of every sort. He is 
strictly honest and gives and demands only the fairest of treatment in all 
business transactions. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, but has 
never taken a specially active part in the affairs of his party save as they 
involved local issues, although he is well informed on all the questions of 
the day, whether county, state or national. 

JONATHAN F. ROBERTSON.— Among the men who have achieved 
more than the average degree of success mention must be made of Jonathan 
F. Robertson, of Hydesville, one of the prominently successful farmers of 
that township and a man of splendid abilities and character. Mr. Robertson 
has always been a hard worker and the fruits of his industry are now to 
be seen in the fine farm of three hundred seventeen acres that is his home. 
The acreage is rented out, but the house and few surrounding acres are 
retained for a home place, and these form one of the most attractive spots 
in the vicinity, the greatest care being given to lawns, flowers, gardens, 
ornamental fences and buildings, all of which are in perfect condition and 
in architectural harmony. 

Mr. Robertson has lived on the Pacific coast for more than forty years, 
■having come to Oregon with his parents and brothers and sisters in 1873, 
when he w^as a lad of twelve years. He was born in Freelandville, Knox 
county, Ind., September 25, 1861, the son of Edward W. and Barbara J. 
(Crooks) Robertson, the former a native of Ohio, while the mother was born 



762 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in Indiana. The father Hved to be eighty years of age, while the mother 
died at the age of seventy-six. There were ten children in the family, con- 
sisting of nine sons and one daughter, and on their arrival in Oregon in 1873, 
the father located on a farm near Salem, being five miles from the capital, 
with a sight of the dome of the state house through the tree-tops. There 
he owned a- tract of four hundred acres, originally all heavily timbered, and 
this the father and sons cleared and improved, all working very hard. After 
a time they disposed of the farm and with the proceeds went to Turner, Ore., 
and bought a flour mill, Jonathan F. helping to run the mill. Later he came 
to Alton, Humboldt county, Cal., and entered the employ of Jeremiah Dale, 
who owned an extensive ranch at that place, and is well known as one of 
the finest of the pioneers of Humboldt county. Here young Robertson 
remained for four years, and in Hydesville, June 11, 1891, he was married 
to Miss Annie Dale, a native of You Bet, Nevada county, the daughter of 
Jeremiah Dale, who is one of the early California pioneers, having come by 
way of the Isthmus of Panama, in 1854, meeting with many hardships en 
route. He is a native of Clarion county, Pa., and the son of Daniel and Eliza- 
beth (Evans) Dale. After coming to California he engaged in mining with 
very good success, his accumulated earnings in four years appearing to him 
as a small fortune. He then returned to Pennsylvania and was there married 
to Sarah Callihan, a native of Clarion county. Pa., and the daughter of George 
and Rebecca (Bostaff) Callihan, both natives of Pennsylvania. During the 
Civil war they resided in Virginia, where Mr. Dale acted as a home guard, 
espousing the Union cause. Returning to California in 1864, he spent three 
years in the mines at Nevada City, and in 1867 came to Humboldt county, 
locating at his present ranch of three hundred fifteen acres near Rohnerville, 
where he has since made his home. In 1890 he leased the farm and since 
then has lived in quiet retirement, enjoying the fruits of his many years 
of industry. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Robertson came to Hydesville, where 
they rented the John Walker farm and engaged in farming and stock- 
raising ; after running the farm for a period of seven years, they purchased 
the place, and since then they have made valuable improvements. This prop- 
erty consists of three hundred seventy acres, and later Mr. Robertson also 
operated the Dale ranch at the same time, running both for ten years, meet- 
ing always with the greatest success. During his many years of residence 
in this vicinity he has won for himself a place in the hearts of the people, 
both personally and from a business point of view, his integrity and honesty 
being unquestioned. He is a member of the Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & 
A. M., and Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. In his political preferences 
he is a Republican, although he has never sought political honors for him- 
self, preferring to serve his county and state as a private citizen. He has 
always taken an active part in all local issues and is heartily in favor of any 
movement that tends for the upbuilding of the community and the state. 

Mrs. Robertson is a splendid helpmeet for her husband, and a woman 
of rare poise and ability. She is an artist of much merit and their home is 
beautified with paintings that are the result of her skill, and which would 
do credit to many an artist of acknowledged fame. Some time ago Mr. 
Robertson was the victim of a partial stroke of paralysis, due, no doubt, to 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 76^ 

early exposure and overwork, and since that time much of the responsibility 
for the management of the business has fallen upon the shoulders of the 
wife, but she has been more than equal to the task, and is making a success 
of all that she undertakes. She is exceptionally popular among her women 
friends and is well known in social circles in Hydesville. 

FRANK G. WILLIAMS.— The president of the Russ- Williams Banking 
Company of Ferndale was born at Weaverville, Trinity county, Cal., Sep- 
tember 15, 1861, and received a common school education in Humboldt 
county, together with a commercial course in Heald's Business College, San 
Francisco, where he was graduated in 1882. During young manhood he was 
a junior partner in the mercantile firm of Russ, Early & Williams, afterwards 
incorporated, at Ferndale and Bridgeville, and he still holds a directorship 
in the company, although no longer an active partner in the business. The 
organization of the Russ- Williams Banking Company, effected in November, 
1909, largely through his own capable efforts, has been of permanent benefit 
to the financial development of Ferndale and community. For the use of 
the business there is a capital stock of $25,000. The institution has had a 
steady growth under the efficient management of the following board of 
directors : Frank G. Williams, president ; William N. Russ, vice-president ; 
R. S. Feenaty, cashier ; G. R. Williams and George M. Brice. Since Ferndale 
has been organized as a town, a period of some twenty years, Mr. Williams 
has officiated in the position of town treasurer and has proved a worthy 
custodian of the village funds, as well as a progressive citizen in every respect, 
efficient in aiding measures for the advancement of the community and loyal 
to the section where the greater part of his life has been passed. Besides 
being a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, he is a member of 
Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., of which he is past master; Ferndale 
Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. ; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam 
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. 

Few residents of Humboldt county have been more fortunate in friends 
or more happy in family and business connections than was Hon. George 
Williams, father of Frank G. Williams and a native of Lancaster county. 
Pa., born March 29, 1822, being a son of Thomas Williams, of Welsh paren- 
tage. The family records show that Thomas Williams died in 1834 at the 
age of forty-five, while his wife, Elizabeth (Snodgrass) Williams, died in 
Ohio at the same age. Of their seven children, George was the third in order 
of birth. After the death of his father he accompanied his mother to Ohio, 
and when she passed away, five years afterward, he worked out as a farm 
hand. At the age of eighteen he learned the trade of baker, and while work- 
ing at the trade he studied medicine for three years, but did not secure his 
diploma because the gold excitement in California changed his plans. In 
1849 he went to Illinois and taught in a country school for three months. 
During the spring of 1850 he started overland for California, paying $100 for 
his passage and having besides the duty of driving an ox-team for members 
of the expedition. According to an agreement previously made with the 
owner of the team, he availed himself of the privilege of leaving the party 
at the Green river, at which time and place $50 of his money was refunded. 
With two of the party he walked the balance of the distance to California 
and arrived at Hangtown almost penniless. For ten months he worked in a 



764 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

bakery for $5 a day and board. Afterward he mined for perhaps one-half 
year. In the spring of 1852 he started a bakery at Weaverville, Trinity county, 
with a capital of $350, and for two years conducted the business, after which 
he worked as a butcher and then turned his attention to stock-raising, having 
a large ranch in Hay Fork valley, and running an express stage from the 
valley to Weaverville. As early as 1856 he drove a herd of cattle to Hum- 
boldt county and located on Bear river, but soon formed a partnership with 
Cyrus W. Morrison, whom he left in charge of the stock, himself returning 
to Weaverville for a period of ten years or more. During 1867 he permanently 
settled in Humboldt county and for years was one of the prominent men 
at Hydesville, where he operated a meat market. During three years of this 
time he served as a supervisor. In 1885 he removed to Ferndale and soon 
became a large property owner in this town. Twice he was elected an 
assemblyman in the state legislature. During 1863 he was provost-marshal 
for Trinity county. In 1857 he returned to Ohio and at Circleville married 
Miss Mary Anderson, who was born there January 28, 1838. They became 
the parents of five children, namely : Carrie, who married Hon. G. W. Hunter, 
judge of the superior court of Humboldt county;. Emma, wife of A. Hewett, 
of Winnebago, Minn. ; Frank G., of the Russ-Williams Banking Company 
of Ferndale ; Minnie, wife of W. F. Kausen, a business man of Ferndale ; and 
Charles Henry, who is engaged in business in Ferndale. 

The marriage of Frank G. Williams united him with Miss Georgia Russ. 
Mrs. Williams is a daughter of the late Hon. Joseph Russ, state senator from 
Humboldt county in 1878-80, and a member of the general assembly at the 
time of his death in 1886. During 1880 he was a delegate to the national 
Republican convention in Chicago. This pioneer of 1849 was born in Wash- 
ington, Lincoln county. Me., December 19, 1825, a.nd at the age of ten years 
moved with the family to Belmont, Waldo county. Me., whence at the age 
of twenty-one he went to Dartmouth, Mass., and two years later began team- 
ing and merchandising at Fall River. Returning to Maine he carried on 
a sawmill and grocery at Appleton for three years; March 15, 1850, he 
landed at San Francisco after a long voyage around Cape Horn. At White 
Oak Springs he had charge of a sawmill for two months and afterward he 
built a bridge across the American river. During the summer of 1850 he 
and a partner conducted an unsuccessful mercantile business at Volcano, 
Amador county. Next he drove a herd of cattle to the Yuba river and sold 
them at a fair profit, this being the foundation of his large prosperity of 
later years. During the fall of 1852 he drove a herd of cattle to Humboldt 
county and was one of the first white men to explore the Eel river valley. 
While here he took up a claim near Centerville. With Berry Adams he 
bought beef cattle in Sacramento and drove them to Eureka, opening a market 
there in the fall of 1853. Two years later he went to the Salmon river forks 
and opened a market. In the spring of 1857 he purchased beef cattle in 
Oregon, drove them to the banks of the Bear river and opened another 
butcher shop in Eureka. As early as 1870 he erected the sawmill of Russ 
& Co., which later became a business of enormous proportions. 

At the time of coming to the west Joseph Russ had not established 
domestic ties. December 17, 1854, he married Zipporah Patrick, who was 
born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Nehemiah Patrick, who crossed the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY J^65 

plains in 1852 and settled in Humboldt county during the next year. Mr. 
and Mrs. Russ became the parents of thirteen children, namely: Edward, 
James B., and Mary E., Mrs. James T. Robarts, all deceased ; Margaret C, 
who married Rev. Philip Coombe ; Ira A., of Eureka ; Annie J., who married 
B. F. Harville, of San Francisco ; William N., of Eureka, vice-president of 
the Russ-Williams Banking Company, of Ferndale ; Georgia, who is the 
wife of Frank G. Williams ; Edythe J., wife of Harry Connick, of San Fran- 
cisco ; Bertha and Joseph, Jr. ; and Winifred Estelle and Zipporah, both 
deceased. In their parentage both Mr. and Mrs. Williams were most for- 
tunate, for Hon. George Williams and Hon. Joseph Russ were men of remark- 
able mental powers, of the most devoted loyalty to their adopted common- 
wealth, keen in comprehension, sagacious in business, efficient in legislation 
and worthy of a high and permanent place in the annals of Humboldt county. 

MRS. ROSE CULLEN GYSELAAR.— By her success in the manage- 
ment of her affairs, Mrs. Rose Cullen Gyselaar has, since being left a widow, 
carved out a competency for herself, and is known as an energetic and pros- 
perous citizen of Eureka, Cal., where for over twenty years she has made her 
home at the corner of E and Thirteenth streets. Her husband, John H. 
Gyselaar, was born in Holland, in the city of Amsterdam, went to sea and 
came around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he secured employment for 
a time, after which he started in business for himself in that city, removing 
later to Eureka, where he became one of the early business men of the place. 
For some years he was bookkeeper for Peter Prince in the wholesale liquor 
business, whom he later bought out, continuing in the business until the 
time of his death. He was known as a liberal, open-hearted man, who spent 
his money freely and was kind to everyone, giving liberally to deserving enter- 
prises, to lodges, the city library and to the men in his employ. During the 
last six years of his life he was an invalid, and Mrs. Gyselaar had the entire 
care of him as well as of his business interests, his death occurring on October 
20, 1906. He was a member of several fraternal organizations, namely, the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, and in his political preference was a supporter 
of the Republican party. 

The marriage of Miss Rose Cullen with Mr. Gyselaar was celebrated in 
San Francisco in 1892. Mrs. Gyselaar is a native of Ireland, having been born 
at Dernyesnaar, County Cavan, the daughter of Charles and Bridget (A/[c- 
Govern) Cullen, who were farmers there, and whom she visited five years ago, 
since which time her father has died, though her mother is still living. Of 
the twelve children in the family, eleven are living, Mrs. Gyselaar being the 
sixth in order of birth. When only nine years of age she came to San Fran- 
cisco with her brother Frank, attending school in that city, and at the age 
of twelve years removing to Eureka, where the brother had located, her 
sister, now Mrs. Kate Gurty of San Francisco, accompanying her, and here 
her marriage with Mr. Gyselaar took place. After her husband's death she 
disposed of his business, and since has employed her time looking after her 
own investments and other interests. vShe is fond of Eureka, her adopted 
home, believing that there is no better place in the world as to climate or the 
achieving of success than Humboldt county, and she is well qualified to judge 
in this matter, since she has had the privilege of extensive travel in many 



766. HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

parts of the United States and the British Isles, as well as points of interest 
on the continent in Europe, on one occasion visiting- Oberammergau, where 
she witnessed the original rendition of the Passion Play. Her one daughter, 
Rose F. Gyselaar, who was educated in the public schools, the Los Angeles 
state normal school and at the Eureka business college, is, like her mother, 
a person of culture and ability, and was the companion of Mrs. Gyselaar upon 
many of her travels. Politically, Mrs. Gyselaar is a stanch Republican, and 
her religious associations are with St. Bernard's Catholic Church of Eureka. 
Like her husband, she is enterprising and is continually making liberal con- 
tributions to charities and deserving people, and her kindliness is much ap- 
preciated, she being much loved for her aid to those who have been less for- 
tunate. However, all her benevolence is carried on in a quiet and unostenta- 
tious manner. 

HENRY COX. — A resume of the careers which are contributing to the 
best interests of Humboldt county would be incomplete without due mention 
of the earnest efforts of Henry Cox, one of its oldest residents and at the 
present time successful merchants. For thirty-eight years he has been promi- 
nently identified with its growth, contributing his share toward building up 
its mercantile and industrial prestige. He has conducted his affairs so ener- 
getically and wisely that at the present time he is one of the large property 
owners in this part of the state. In addition to his interest in the general 
merchandising establishment of Henry Cox & Son, he owns the blacksmith 
shop, the Bridgeville Hotel, the livery stable. of the place, numerous residences 
and one hundred four acres of highly improved land, formerly known as part 
of the Barnum estate, and which he purchased in 1912. The store is well 
stocked with merchandise in demand by a cosmopolitan population, and 
father and son are meeting with merited success. 

Like many of the best residents of Humboldt county, Henry Cox was 
born at St. George, New Brunswick, April 20, 1852, and it was there his 
father, George Cox, during his lifetime a farmer and lumberman, lived and 
died. His mother, formerly Mary A. McDoal, also claimed New Brunswick 
as her place of birth and by her marriage with George Cox became the mother 
of seven sons and four daughters, of whom Henry was the fifth. He remained 
with his parents, working as woodman, until at the age of nineteen he decided 
that his future prospects lay remote from home surroundings, and his first 
independent means of livelihood was employment in the woods of Maine. 
Later he went to Minneapolis, Minn., and for two years found work in the 
lumber camps at the headwaters of the Mississippi. We next find him en- 
gaged in the silver quartz mine of Belleville, Nev., which he left seven months 
later, coming to Humboldt county in 1876 and working for various lumber 
companies around the bay. Afflicted with asthma, he was advised to go to 
the mountains and in order to restore his health he took up a homestead and 
timber claim on the south fork of the Eel river, near Garberville. He cleared 
the farm property of timber and brush and as the years passed instituted 
many improvements. Here Mr. Cox resided until his removal into Briceland, 
where he ran the Briceland hotel for a year. On taking up his residence at 
Hydesville, he became proprietor of a hotel at that place and conducted the 
same with profit until he became interested in Bridgeville property, where 
he removed in September, 1909. The seven children born to Henry and 
Maria Jane (Coffron) Cox are: Clara, the wife of Robert L. Thomas, for 



>Jl 




HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 769 

many years city engineer of Eureka; Minnie V., Mrs. Charles Driesbach, 
who makes her home in Bridg-eville ; George Henry is junior member of the 
firm of Henry Cox & Son, and of whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
volume; Gertrude E., Mrs. Martin Croghan, residing in Bridgeville ; Clarence 
William, who married Miss Halcyon Wigton, is assisting his father; Anita 
and Harold T. Mrs. Cox was a native of Wesley, Me., and came with her 
uncle, Ellis Cofifron, to California when she was eleven years of age (in 1877), 
and made her home in Eureka and Bayside until her marriage to Mr. Cox, 
October 24, 1881. She is the daughter of Thaddeus and Elvira (Elsmore) 
Coffron, natives of New Brunswick and Maine, respectively. The mother died 
in Wesley and the father still resides in Maine. 

JAMES D. HENRY BROWN.— It is difficult for the present generation 
to realize the marvelous changes that have taken place in California since the 
discovery of gold in 1849. Accustomed to rapid growth and stupendous 
development which ofttimes change a wilderness into a thriving city within 
so brief a period of time that one feels certain Aladdin and his fabled lamp 
must be near, yet this change carries to the mind of the young no adequate 
conception of that other and greater change which transformed the slopes 
of the Sierra Madres and the Coast range, not only from a wilderness in a 
purely physical sense, but which has altered the character of its civilization 
as well. This fact can only be comprehended by such men as James D. Henry 
Brown, who being one of the early pioneers, coming into the new gold fields 
when the rush was wild and the excitement keen, lived through such scenes 
as will never again be enacted on the continent of North America, and scarcely 
on the face of the globe. The life in the mining towns was wild and lawless ; 
adventurers and men of unrestrained passions, with only a lust for blood 
and gold, had rushed from all over the world into the placer mines. Fortunes 
were made and lost in a day and a night. Gambling was the lure on every 
hand ; vigilance committees often strove in vain to enforce law and order. 
In many parts of the state the Indians were hostile, skulking in the shadow 
of the woods while the farmer followed his plow or herdsman tended cattle, 
or again stealing upon the peaceful cabin in the woods where the wife and 
mother cared for her babes. 

It was through such scenes as these that Mr. Brown passed, being him- 
self in many a sharp engagement with the Indians, having his cattle driven 
off from the very shadow of his cabin, his barn burned, and the lives of him- 
self and family menaced. In his search for gold he penetrated the mountain 
regions, was overtaken with his party b}^ a severe snow storm, and out of a 
total of sixty only a handful escaped, they being forced to kill their pack mules 
for food, and make their way across the mountains on foot. Fire and flood 
swept over the place where he had erected his home and he was left desolate. 
Still, with the unfaltering courage of the pioneer, the builder of empires, he 
struggled on, and in the end wrested from the new land a home and a fortune, 
which he is today enjoying at his home in Areata. 

Born at Quincy, 111., January 8, 1830, the childhood of Mr. Brown was 
passed on his father's farm, and his education received in the public schools 
of his neighborhood and in Quincy. After completing school he assisted his 
father on the home place, and was later apprenticed to a blacksmith, spending 
four years in the mastery and practice of his trade. The restlessness of the 



770 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

age was in the air, however, and in 1850 he left home and joined a party 
bound for California. They crossed the plains with ox-teams, coming by 
way of Salt Lake City and the Mormon stations, down Carson river to the 
now famous Hangtown, leaving Quincy (111.), April 23, and arriving at 
riangtown, August 8. Remaining for a short time in that bustling mining 
center, Mr. Brown then went to the Cosumne river locality, where he en- 
gaged in placer mining for a few months. On January 23, 1851, he came into 
Humboldt county with a party of twenty-six. They landed at what is now 
Eureka, but at that time there was only one unfinished house to mark the 
site of the present city, this being owned by a man named Britt. It was 
raining and the party being without shelter, they paid the enterprising house- 
holder twenty-five cents each for the privilege of sleeping under his roof, on 
shavings spread on the floor. On the following day they chartered a scow 
and were taken across the bay to Areata (then Union Town), where they 
found lodgings with a man named Campbell, who owned four or five shanties. 
Here they remained for perhaps a week, when six of the party determined 
to move on to Big Bar, in Trinity county. They were able to purchase but 
one horse in Areata, and so the majority of the outfit must necessarily be 
packed in by the men themselves. Being one of the youngest members of 
the party, some forty pounds were allotted as the share of young Brown, and 
this he carried on his shoulders from Areata to Weaverville. Arriving in 
Weaverville, they engaged in mining for a short time, and on February 15th 
left that point and located on Salmon river, where they continued their search 
for gold. The weather was extremely bad, and they were finally forced to 
turn back to Trinity. A heavy snow storm overtook the party, which num- 
bered sixty in all, and all perished save a group of six men of which Mr. 
Brown was one. It was on this occasion that they were obliged to eat their 
pack-mules and carry their own outfits out of the mountains, suffering almost 
unbearable hardships on the trip. Arriving at Trinity, Mr. Brown remained 
there until September, 1851, at which time he went down to San Francisco, 
and from there set sail for South America, locating eventually in Greytown, 
Nicaragua, where he opened a hotel, which he successfully conducted for thir- 
teen months. 

There was no land like California to this young adventurer, however, and 
in 1853 he returned to San Francisco, going from there to Hangtown, where 
he again engaged in mining. Later that same year he went into Humboldt 
county and went to work in the lumber camps, where he soon opened a black- 
smith shop in Eureka. The following year he sold his interests there and 
removed to Kneeland Prairie, where, in partnership with Albert R. Hitchcock, 
he engaged in stock-raising and general farming. In 1859 he again moved, 
this time going to Elk river country, where he continued his occupation of 
farming and stock-raising. At this time the Indians were particularly trouble- 
some, and on several occasions marauding parties swept down on the set- 
tlers, driving off their cattle, destroying property and killing many un^ 
protected families. Men worked with their guns within reach of their hands, 
and slept with them beside their pillows. Mr. Brown was always foremost 
in the avenging party of white men who never failed to follow the trail of 
the savages and inflict deserved punishment, and although he was engaged 
in many a sharp skirmish, it is a noteworthy fact that he escaped without 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 771 

even a scratch. After a few years on the Elk river this restless pioneer sold 
his interests there, which then consisted of a fine ranch of two hundred ten 
acres, one hundred of which he had cleared and put under cultivation, and 
moved to Samoa, where he again followed the occupation of farming and 
stock-raising. Later he spent ten years in Oregon, locating on a farm at 
Jacksonville, after which he again returned to Humboldt county, settling on 
a ranch on Mad river, which he had purchased some time before. Here he 
erected a tiny log cabin and for forty years followed the life of a fisherman, 
sometimes leasing a part of his fishery to others, but generally keeping his 
entire preserve for himself. He has within recent years retired from all active 
occupations, and is living quietly in Areata, enjoying the fruits of years of 
honest toil. His wife, who was his companion on many of his wanderings, 
died several years ago, and he is now alone save for his children, several of 
whom are living in and around Areata. 

Mr. Brown is the type of man who is fast passing from the stage of 
action, and when once they have gone, there will never again, on this conti- 
nent, at least, be another generation like them. They are the product of an 
earlier civilization, their characters shaped by the conditions under which 
they lived and the hardships through which they passed. They are to be 
honored while they are yet with us, and deeply and reverently mourned when 
they are gone. 

FRANK J. CUMMINGS.— One of the well known educators of Cali- 
fornia, and one whose work has always been of an especially high order, is 
Frank J. Cummings, now of Ferndale, where he is engaged in farming. For 
many years, however, he was actively engaged in the profession of teaching, 
and has held positions of trust and influence in some of the largest schools 
of the state. Everywhere that he has taught he has made many friends, 
and his standing in the profession is exceptionally high. Since taking up 
farming he has met with much merited success, and has brought the same 
carefully trained mind to apply upon all farm questions that he formerly 
employed to solve the problems of the school room. 

Mr. Cummings is a native of California, having been born in Petrolia, 
Humboldt county, May 24, 1871. His father was Lewis J. Cummings, a 
native of Indiana, born February 21, 1832, and his mother was Elizabeth 
Miner, a native of Ohio, born June 16, 1841. In 1850 the father came to 
California in company with his father, Josiah Cummings, and a brother, 
Amos, driving a herd of cattle across the plains from Wisconsin, and locating 
near Placerville. They lost a large number of their cattle in crossing the 
plains through the raids of the Indians, who never lost an opportunity to 
kill and drive ofif their stock. Although bringing the herd of stock with them, 
they really came to California in search of gold, and accordingly they took 
up a claim and engaged in mining for two years, in which they were very 
successful. In 1852 Lewis J. Cummings returned to his home in Janesville, 
Rock county. Wis., going by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He made the 
trip across the Isthmus on foot, walking the distance in three days, and 
again taking passage to New Orleans, and thence up the Mississippi to Wis- 
consin. While there he was married to Elizabeth Miner. Mercantile pursuits 
occupied his attention until the call came from the anti-slavery men of 
Kansas to the people of the north to come and help make Kansas a free state. 



772 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

They responded and located on a farm in Linn county, Kans., and there Mr. 
Cummings took part in the struggle, which was bloody at times, but which 
resulted in bringing Kansas in as a free state. In the early '60s he again 
crossed the plains with ox-teams, bringing his wife and her brother, Cyrus 
Miner. They first went to Walla Walla, Wash., and after a year made their 
way to Marysville, Cal., where Mr. Cummings teamed for two years. He 
then came with pack mules over the mountains to Humboldt and took up a 
claim at Petrolia, which he cleared and improved and upon which he followed 
stock-raising until the time of his death in 1901. The mother is still living, 
making her home in Eureka with her daughter, Mrs. J. S. Burnell. 

The boyhood days of Frank J. Cummings were spent on the farm in 
Petrolia, where he attended the public schools and then attended the N. S. 
Phelps Academy, at Eureka, from which he was graduated in 1889, and that 
same year was given a certificate to teach in the public schools of the state. 
His first school was in Phillipsville, where he remained for three and a half 
years. Then followed a year and a half in the McDermott school district. 

It was in 1894 that Mr. Cummings first came to Ferndale and taught the 
Grant school on the island, remaining there three and a half years. In 1897 
he gave up teaching for a time and entered Stanford University, at Palo Alto, 
where he specialized in history and economics, being graduated in 1901. He 
then accepted a position in Fresno county, as principal of the grammar schools 
at Fowler, where he remained for a year, then returning to Humboldt county 
to accept the position of principal of the public schools of Fortuna, remaining 
for a year. Following this he went to Eureka, where he filled the position 
of teacher of history in the high school for five years, and for the two follow- 
ing years he taught history in the high school at Sacramento. The Union 
High School at Ferndale then secured his services as principal, and he re- 
turned to Humboldt county to make it his permanent home. Later he gave 
up teaching, and in the fall of 1911 he moved onto his present home place, 
where he is engaged in general farming and dairying, making a specialty of 
the latter. He has been very successful in this new enterprise, and has a 
fine line of registered Jersey stock, of which he is justly proud. 

Since becoming a farmer, Mr. Cummings has taken a great interest in 
all that pertains to the dairy business, and is an active factor in the Ferndale 
Cow Testing Association, and has been president of this organization for 
two years. He was one of the prominent organizers of the Humboldt County 
Dairymen's Association, and is secretary of the association at the present 
time. He is a director at large of the Humboldt County Farm Bureau which 
directs the activities of the farm adviser. 

Mr. Cummings is also popular in fraternal circles, being a member of 
Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., in Eureka, of which he is past grand. He 
was made a Mason in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., of which he is 
past master. Although a man of many activities, Mr. Cummings has been 
vitally interested in local questions of general welfare and has been a factor 
in securing many local improvements. He was instrumental in securing the 
rural free mail delivery service for the island, and has been associated with 
other similar public movements. He is a Republican in politics, and is the 
central committeeman from his district. 

The marriage of Mr. Cummings took place in Ferndale, November 16, 




J^W>^^^^^^<f cZ-^^^tycA Id^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 775 

1902, uniting him with Miss Christine Nissen, also a native of California, hav- 
ing been born in Humboldt county August 19, 1878, on Bear river ridge. She 
is the daughter of E. P. and Maria (Hynding) Nissen, well known Humboldt 
pioneers, having resided in this county for many years. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Cummings have been born four children, Loyd, ElUs, Keith and Merle, all 
attending the local schools. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Cummings enjoy the friendship of a wide circle of 
friends. Mr. Cummings has always been especially energetic and active, and 
is acknowledged as one of the leading men of the community in which he 
lives. He is up to date in all his farming methods, and is well informed on 
all the latest scientific phases of farm life and agriculture. His success has 
been pronounced, and is certainly deserved. 

MINNIE F. DUKES. — A woman who through her own exertions and 
good management has acquired valuable property which she manages per- 
sonall}^ directing all the work of her several places and not being afraid of 
hard labor or of working together with her employes on the farm, is Mrs. 
Minnie F. Dukes, a perfect type of the new woman, a strong moral character 
and a storage battery of energy. 

The maiden name of Mrs. Dukes was Cook, but upon her mother's second 
marriage she took the name of her stepfather, Thorington. She was born 
at St. Helena, Cal., and grew up near Lakeport, Lake county, in the same 
state. On March 29, 1892, she was married to Albert Dukes and has two 
children, Elizabeth E. and Cynthia M. In 1898 they located in Humboldt 
county, remaining two years at Metropolitan, when they came to Price creek, 
in Grizzly Bluff district, engaging in farming and stock-raising. Her mar- 
riage did not prove a happy one, her husband not providing for her, so she 
started out herself to bring order out of chaos. Despite the fact she started 
without a dollar she put her shoulder to the wheel and was not discouraged, 
but set about bravely and industriously to improve her property, adding to 
it by lucky speculations and wise management. In this way, entirely by her 
own efforts, she has now reached prosperity. At the time of her separation 
from her husband, in 1912, Mrs. Dukes bought his place of eight and one-half 
acres of the N. G. Dukes estate, to which he had fallen heir, and came into 
possession also of a one-quarter interest in eighty acres on Price creek of the 
same estate. To this she added twelve acres formerly known as the Delia 
Dukes Price place, besides which she has become the owner of seventy-nine 
acres of the Charlie Drake place which she bought from Albert Dukes, and a 
four-acre ranch with a nine-room residence and barns at Fortuna, Cal., known 
as the Bartlett place, and also five acres in Fairfield, Solano county. 

Besides being occupied with the management of her property, Mrs. 
Dukes has many and wide interests in the outside world. She is the lady 
who has been chosen to take charge of the Humboldt county exhibit of canned 
and preserved fruits at the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in 
1915, for which position she is unusually well qualified, since for the past 
five years she has served as sole judge of the canned fruit department of the 
Ferndale District Fair and has the highest recommendations signed by the 
Board of Directors of said fair, namely, C. T. Schriner, president ; J. A. John- 
son, S. Comisto, George M. Brice, H. C. Blum, W. B. Alford, M. L. Clausen 
and R. H. Smith, secretary. Mrs. Dukes is the first member of the Women's 
Board of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, Humboldt County Auxiliary; also 

28 



776 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the first woman to hold membership in the Humboldt County Farm Bureau. 
She is one of the three lady members of the Republican Central Committee 
of Humboldt county ; is a member of the Unity Circle, Women of Woodcraft, 
No. 173; the Court of Honor, and is a charter member of the Companions of 
Foresters No. 1084 at Ferndale. Her religious affiliations are with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, she being a member of the church of this 
denomination at Ferndale. 

JOHN EVERTS. — Though now well along in the eighties it is only a 
little more than a year ago that John Everts withdrew from active participa- 
tion in business matters to spend his days in retirement at Petrolia. He has 
been living in that vicinity for forty-five years, in California for fifty years, 
and his long life has spanned a wonderful era in the world's development. 
The growth of his adopted state, her emergence from primitive to modern 
conditions, would be an experience to fill any life. Yet he has seen more — the 
transformation of the world by the introduction of rapid transportation facili- 
ties and still more rapid means of communication has taken place in his day. 
Moreover, he may feel that he and his family have played more than a minor 
part in the realization of these wonders. For he comes of wonderful stock, 
his mental and physical vigor at the age of eighty-seven being quite typical 
of his family. Intellectual strength and force of character have combined 
with longevity to make a noted race, whose representatives in every genera- 
tion have been in the van of progress, commanding the unqualified respect 
of their contemporaries, and leaving to posterity unspoiled the traditions of 
a long line of honorable ancestors. 

The Everts family is of English blood, and after settling in England its 
members took their place among the leading men of the times. The late 
Senator Everts of Vermont was of this stock. The great-grandfather of John 
Everts came to this country from England, where his progenitors had long 
been among "those having authority," of aristocratic birth and high position. 
In the New World a number held office under the English government, and 
when the Revolution broke out they remained loyal to the mother country, 
hence they had to move north across the St. Lawrence into Canada or be 
court-martialed. Others of the family fought in the war on the Colonial side. 
Roswell Everts, grandfather of John Everts, was an army officer under the 
English government, and his son, Elisha Everts, father of John, lived and 
died in Ontario, Canada. He was considered the best farmer in all his 
section, owning a valuable property, fenced ofif into ten-acre tracts. Elisha 
Everts married Margaret M. Kelley, daughter of Maj. Gen. Martin Kelley, 
who fought in the British army during the Revolution ; he was of Irish 
origin. Fourteen children were born to EUsha and Margaret M. (Kelley) 
Everts, two dying in infancy, while eight sons and four daughters reached 
maturity. 

John Everts was born October 5, 1827, in the County of Dundas, On- 
tario, and the scenes of his earliest recollections are in Canada. His edu- 
cational advantages were poor because of the condition of the country at 
that time, but his home training was of the best and he had plenty of prac- 
tical experience, though agriculture during his boyhood was conducted 
very differently than now. He has cut grass with the old-fashioned sickles or 
reap hooks, and hay with the scythe ; cradled and bound grain by hand ; and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 777 

flailed hundreds of bushels of grain. The. changes in the cultivation of the 
soil which have taken place in his time have been so radical as to be 
almost unbelievable. When sixteen years of age the boy went to Rome, 
N. Y., where he entered the employ of Deacon Pierce, who had the contracts 
for putting in the locks on the Sugar river, necessary for the operation of the 
Erie canal. Giving evidence of aptitude for business, he was soon made gen- 
eral agent and intrusted with the purchase of all the supplies for Mr. Pierce's 
horses as well as other necessaries. After three 3'ears at Rome he returned 
to Canada, where he found a position as traveling salesman for Persons & 
McGee, hardware merchants and foundrymen at Merricksville, Ontario, for 
whom he spent two winters on the road. In 1864 he made up his mind to 
move to California and that year came to Yuba county, this state, with his 
wife and child, settling near Marysville. For two years he ran a threshing 
machine, and then for a' time turned his attention principally to the raising 
of turkeys, in which he was so successful that he cleared $5000. During this 
time he bought other flocks of turkeys and at all times had two thousand on 
hand. He drove a flock of turkeys from Marysville to Virginia City, Nev., 
where he disposed of them. In August, 1869, he came up over the mountains 
to Humboldt county and bought a preemption right on the Mattole river, 
and here in this district has since made his home. Though he had to work hard 
for years, and with varying success in the earlier period of his residence here, 
he kept at it, following the cattle business steadily, and meantime acquiring 
more land as his means permitted, until his holdings totaled sixteen hundred 
eighty-three acres. He carried on the dairy business, raised hogs and cattle 
extensively, and also raised large numbers of horses, principally Clydes- 
dales. So he continued, in spite of his advancing years, until October, 1913, 
when, having sold his farm, he moved into Petrolia, where he and his wife 
are enjoying the results of their strenuous life, in comfortable retirement. 
Though Mr. Everts was suffering from chills and fever when he moved 
hither from Yuba county he speedily recovered in this climate, and had 
excellent health until 1911, when a slight stroke of paralysis incapacited him 
temporarilv. His success as a stock raiser, in all branches, has been one of 
the factors which contributed to the development of that industry in the 
Mattole district, and has had a permanent effect in establishing a business 
now classed among the valuable resources of this part of Humboldt county. 
As a citizen Mr. Everts has clung to the high ideals of a worthy ancestry, 
and no resident of the valley is held in greater esteem. 

On March 19, 1861, Mr. Everts was married, near Kempville, Ontario, to 
Miss Margaret M. Miller, who was born near what is now Cardinal, Ontario, 
daughter of James and Elizabeth (Clements) Miller, who were the first to 
settle in that part of the province. Her ancestors lived along the St. Lawrence 
river, her father's people on the Canadian side, her mother's in New York ; 
the country from Ogdensburg to Waddington, N. Y., was an unsettled wil- 
derness when the Clements family settled there. They were of Scotch-Irish 
origin, the Millers of Irish extraction. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Everts settled down in the township of Matilda, in Dundas county, Ontario, 
on the north bank of the St. Lawrence, coming to California in 1864. Of the 
two children born to their union, the son died in infancy, while the daughter, 
Mary E., reached the age of eighteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Everts are ex- 



778 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tremely fond of children and several besides their own have been made mem- 
bers of their home circle. Frank Moore, whom they took into their family 
when he was a lad of fourteen, died of heart failure, dropping from his horse 
while crossing the river when bringing in beef cattle ; he was then twenty-one 
years of age. Jennie Olander, who is a daughter to them in every sense of the 
word and upon whom they look in that light, came to them when she was 
fourteen years old. She resided with them until her marriage to Richard L. 
Adams, and now makes her home near Petrolia. She has two children, C. 
Everts and Richard Lewis. 

Mr. and Mrs. Everts have always been identified with the devout Chris- 
tians of the community, and they are prominent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church at Petrolia, which Mr. Everts has served in the capacity 
of trustee and recently as a member of the building committee, during the 
construction of the attractive little house of worship just completed by the 
congregation. His duties have always been performed with the strictest 
regard for the wishes of his fellow members in the church, who are keenly 
appreciative of his unselfish devotion to their interests. 

AMBROSE NICHOLS FOSTER.— With the exception of the first nine 
years of his life, which were passed within the boundaries of Maine, Mr. 
Foster has always lived in California and naturally cherishes a deep loyalty 
for the institutions of his adopted commonwealth. Particularly has he been 
interested in the progress of Humboldt county and of Eureka, the center of 
his business enterprises, the chosen home of his mature years and the object 
of his patriotic devotion. Patriotism is an attribute inherited from a long line 
of American ancestors closely connected with the early history of Maine, 
where his maternal grandfather, William Holway, was one of the greatest 
shipbuilders of his day, attaining, indeed, a reputation in his line unsur- 
passed by any other builder along the entire Atlantic seaboard. The father 
of Mr. Foster was Albert Keene Foster, a native of Washington county, Me., 
and from childhood an expert in the trade of logging. As a young man he 
was very skilled with the axe and scarcely less capable in estimating the 
value of lumber or the amount of material contained in a certain acreage. 
During 1872 he made his first trip to California, returning to Maine a short 
time afterward. When he came west the second time he was accompanied 
by his family and established a home in Eureka, where he followed the trade 
of carpenter and builder. W^ith E. C. Mowry in 1885 he purchased the old 
Richardson planing mill on Third and B streets and there turned out the sash, 
doors, exterior and interior finishing, used in the building up of Eureka. 
Besides building the old academy in Eureka and other buildings of more or 
less note, he and his partner erected and owned the Grand hotel. Fraternally 
he was connected with the Knights of Pythias. For some years prior to his 
death in 1911 he had lived in retirement from active business cares; his wife 
bore the maiden name of Margaret Holway and is still living, rugged and 
well preserved, at the age of eighty-five. 

The only living child of Albert Keene and Margaret Foster is Ambrose 
Nichols Foster, who was born in AVashington county, 'Me., November 14, 
1867, and has lived in Humboldt county since 1876, receiving his education in 
local schools of Eureka and learning the trade of carpenter and lumberman 
vmder the oversight of his father in the mill and in the erection of houses. For 




..^^/tX^>d-&-l^ ^^'^IjtxdLeyT^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 781 

some time he engaged in the building business for himself, having among 
his most important contracts those for the Eagles building and the Carnegie 
library. Later he formed a partnership with James Willison under the title 
of the Willison & Foster Construction Company and this firm rose to promi- 
nence among the leading concerns of the kind in the entire state. Among 
their principal contracts in this county may be mentioned those for the build- 
ing of the county jail, Fern bridge across Eel river, the L. F. Puter residence 
(one of the finest in Eureka), the school at Hydesville and the Fort hotel at 
Fort Seward. In addition Mr. Foster drew the plans for the schools at 
Alton and Fieldbrook, for he is of superior ability in designing as well as in 
construction. In 1914 they dissolved partnership and Mr. Foster continued 
in the general contracting aiid building business in Humboldt county. He 
has just completed making and installing the hardwood booths and cases in 
the Humboldt county exhibit at the Panama-Pacific exposition at San Fran- 
cisco. In 1914 he also built a cabinet shop and planing mill on Fourth and A 
streets, Eureka, for the manufacturer of house finishing lumber, and among 
other jobs built the Minor theater and three stores for A'Ir. Minor in Areata 
and the Jerry Millay residence in Eureka. His fraternities, the Elks and 
Knights of Pythias, receive from him cordial cooperation in plans for the 
community welfare or philanthropic work. Through his marriage to ]\Iary 
F. Wood, a native of Humboldt county, he is the father of Mildred, A. Keene, 
Elizabeth, Clarissa S., Thaddeus, and Edward. Mrs. Foster is a daughter of 
Lewis K. and Clarissa Sidney (Hanna) Wood and has been a lifelong resident 
of Humboldt county, where her father held an eminent position by reason 
of having, with a comrade, been the first white man to discover Humboldt 
bay from the land side. That memorable event occurred December 20, 1849, 
during an expedition that had taken the party, of explorers across the moun- 
tains and through privations and hardships of a most formidable nature. For 
years Mr. Wood engaged in farming near Areata and much of his leisure was 
devoted to the writing of a pamphlet explaining the particulars in regard to 
the discovery of the bay, this task having been taken up by him in order 
that future generations might be fully informed concerning a discovery so 
important, marking, as it did, a new chapter in the annals of Humboldt 
county. 

CHRISTEN ESKESEN.— As the genial proprietor of the American 
Hotel at Ferndale, Humboldt county, Christen Eskesen is well known, not 
only throughout the county, but to the traveling public who come this way. 
Both he and his wife are pre-eminently fitted for host and hostess of a hotel 
and take great delight in making their guests comfortable. Mrs. Eskesen 
is an excellent cook, and her management of the dining room and kitchen 
is unexcelled, the table of the American Hotel being acknowledged to be 
one of the best in Humboldt county, with but few equals and no superiors. 

]\Ir. Eskesen is a Dane, born at Ballum, Schleswig-Holstein, then Den- 
mark, but now Germany, April 25, 1870. His father, Eske Eskesen. was a 
butcher at Ballum, where he is still residing. His mother, now deceased, was 
Christine Sorensen. The present honored citizen of Ferndale was the fifth 
in a family of nine children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, 
although but three are now living, these being Mr. Eskesen and the two 
youngest members of the family. Educated in the Danish schools, and con- 



782 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

firmed in the Lutheran church, Christen Eskesen worked on various farms in 
his native province until he was eighteen years of age, when he determined 
to seek his fortune in the lands across the sea. Accordingly, in 1888 he sailed 
for America, coming directly to Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., where an 
older brother, Hans Eskesen, was already located. Here he engaged as a 
farm hand, Avorking by the month at Hydesville for two years. He came to 
Ferndale in 1895 and conducted the Ferndale restaurant for several years, 
meeting with much success. 

In Ferndale, June 28, 1904, Mr. Eskesen was married to Miss Jennie 
Goble, a native of Rock Island, 111., and the daughter of Ephraim and Sarah 
(Hanner) Goble, born in Kentucky and West Virginia respectively. From 
Rock Island the family set out for the west in 1868 in an ox-team train of 
thirty-eight wagons, ending their journey in Humboldt county, where the 
father carried on farming. Both parents are now deceased. The Goble 
ancestry can be traced back to the historic Mayflower. 

It was in 1898 that Mr. Eskesen purchased the American Hotel, which 
he conducted alone up to the time of his marriage, and for the success which 
has since come to him he gives ample credit to his wife, for not only has 
the enterprise prospered, but today the hostelry ranks as one of the best in 
the entire county. Mr. Eskesen also has the agency for the Carnation auto- 
mobile and is very much interested in advancing the good roads movement. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Eskesen are exceptionally popular in Ferndale, where 
they occupy a prominent place in the general social and fraternal affairs of 
the town. Mr. Eskesen is a member of the Odd Fellows and together with 
his wife is also a member of the Rebekahs. Mr. Eskesen has been through 
every chair of the I. O. O. F. in Ferndale Lodge and is one of the most 
influential members. In Rebekah circles his wife is equally prominent, having 
been through all the chairs and also served as representative to the Grand 
Lodge on five difl:erent occasions. In civic and other local affairs both Mr. 
and Mrs. Eskesen always take a prominent part. They are progressive and 
wide-awake to all that pertains to the welfare of the town and are ever ready 
to work for those thing's which will advance the best interests of the com- 
munity. 

HON. HANS CHRISTIAN NELSON.— From his native land of Den- 
mark, a desire to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new 
world brought Matthias Nelson to California and to Humboldt county as 
early as 1874, but he did not at that time decide to remain permanently; on 
the other hand, after a considerable period of employment in the redwoods 
he returned to the old country and resumed the work in which he previously 
had been interested. During the residence in Tondern, Schleswig, Germany, 
of himself and wife, Annie M. (Bosen) Nelson, a son, Hans Christian, was 
born October 25, 1886. Two years later the family came to California and the 
elder Nelson again sought employment in Humboldt county, where he has 
since been a steady worker in logging camps and lumber mills. For 
some years he has made his home at Field's landing in this county. The son 
was given the best educational advantages his own indefatigable energy and 
determination, aided by the means of his parents, rendered possible, and after 
he had completed the studies of the Eureka high school he matriculated in 
Stanford University. During 1910 he was graduated from the pre-legal de- 
partment of the institution with the degree of A. B. and in 1912 he com- 



HISTORY OF HUAIBOLDT COUNTY 783 

pleted the studies of the law department, receiving the degree of Jurum 
Doctor. ^leanwhile he had been a leader in the Phi Beta Kappa and chair- 
man of the committee having charge of the movement tending toward student 
control and student self-government. During his last term of study he acted 
as an assistant in the law department and thus gained an experience of great 
value to him in later activities. 

The necessity for self-support had led Mr. Nelson, during vacations in 
Humboldt county, to seek employment in lumber camps and mills and in this 
way he was enabled to go through the university. Manual work in the forest 
of sempervirens of Humboldt county developed the thews of his muscles 
and trained him in a knowledge of nature, so that after his graduation he 
opened an office in Eureka and was well equipped mentally and physically 
for a life of professional success. From the very beginning of the progressive 
movement he has been in- sympathy with its principles. November 5, 1912, 
on the progressive Republican ticket he was elected to represent the second 
district in the fortieth state assembly. During his service as assemblyman 
he was chairman of the committee on public morals and a member of the 
following committees: Fish and game, insurance, judiciary, revision and 
printing, university, and revision of criminal procedure. In January, 1914, 
when A. AV. Hill was appointed district attorney upon the death of Kenneth 
Newett, Jr., Mr. Nelson was appointed deputy district attorney of Humboldt 
county. Upon Mr. Hill's reelection he was continued in office and is still 
giving his best efiforts. Since April, 1914, he has been serving as local referee 
and representative of the Industrial Accident Commission of California and 
as such his duties are to take testimony and adjust claims between employers 
and employes in the county. 

November 6, 1913, in Eureka, occurred the marriage of Mr. Nelson, 
uniting him with Miss Esther Jones, a native of Eureka, the daughter of 
Warren Jones, a pioneer business man of the city. AVell read in the law, 
vigorous in mind and young in years, Mr. Nelson faces a promising future, 
whether devoted to professional labors or to public service. As assembly- 
man he has gained a broader and more accurate view of state needs, while a 
growing practice is giving him an enlarged experience in legal technicalities. 
Through membership in the Press Club of San Francisco he is kept in touch 
with metropolitan society of journalistic circles, while the Humboldt Club 
enlarges his acquaintance among the people of his home county. In fraternal 
relations he is identified with the Masons of the blue lodge, chapter and 
Eastern Star, while in addition he is connected with the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and the Eureka Lodge of Elks. 

OLUF KARLSEN. — Varied and interesting experiences have been ac- 
corded Mr. Karlsen, in his life which has been spent in such widely separated 
regions as Norway, California and the Sandwich Islands, and by his talents 
and business activity he has made profitable use of every situation in life 
wherein he has been placed. 

Beginning life in far distant Norway, where his birth occurred in Chris- 
tiania, on September 23, 1856, Oluf Karlsen received his education in the 
public schools of the capital city of his native land, after which he was ap- 
prenticed to learn the trade of plasterer, at which he continued until 1880, 
when he made preparations to remove to the Sandwich Islands. At Chris- 



784 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tiania he took passage on the sailing vessel Beta for the voyage around Cape 
Horn, w^hich covered a period of three and one-half months. Arriving in the 
Sandwich Islands, he found employment on a sugar plantation, w^here he 
remained until 1882, when he came to San Francisco, going thence to Whites- 
boro, Alendocino county, Cal., in March, 1882, where he was employed in the 
Salmon Creek Lumber Company mills. In May of the same year he removed 
to Eureka,- Humboldt county, and was employed as gas-maker in the gas 
works, later becoming fireman on several different tugs on Humboldt bay. 
Removing to San Bernardino, Cal., in September, 1887, Mr. Karlsen con- 
tinued in the occupation of gas-maker for two months, later following the 
same line in San Diego, for a short time. Mr. Karlsen's life of faithful toil 
has been varied by two interesting and enjoyable visits to his native country 
of Norway, his first trip thither having been in the year 1888, October of which 
year saw his marriage in his home city of Christiania to Miss Julia Olsen, 
also a native of that city. Returning to Eureka with his bride, he established 
his home and has resided here ever since, continuing to be actively engaged 
in business. He was employed as fireman and oiler on the old steamer Hum- 
boldt and as fireman in different mills. Purchasing an interest in the Pioneer 
Fish Market on Second street. Eureka, he ran this business for seven years, 
in 1907 going into the hotel business with the purchase of the American Ex- 
change Hotel, at Eureka, since then continuing in the hotel business at No. 
322 First street, having become well known in his chosen business and popu- 
lar among the citizens of Eureka. His second trip to Norway took place in 
1914, at which time, being a member of the Norden Singing Society, he 
took part in the rendering of Songs of the North at the Jubilee Udstilling 
(Exposition) in Christiania, celebrating NorAvay's one hundred years of 
independence, this society also having sung in many other important cities 
in Norway. On this trip, from Portland to New York, they gave fifteen con- 
certs. In his California home, Mr. Karlsen was one of the organizers of the 
first singing society of Eureka, the Norden Singing Society, in which he has 
taken an active part ever since as a bass singer. He is a member of the 
Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., and was chairman of its board of trustees, 
until his resignation, for a period of five years, and during this time the 
Eureka Eagles' Home, one of the finest lodge buildings in the state, was 
completed. He is also a charter member of the Ancient Order of Foresters. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Karlsen have been born six children : Carl, Einar, Ralph : 
Myrtle, now Mrs. Rose of San Francisco ; Emma and Irene, all of whom, 
except Mrs. Rose, reside in Eureka, where their father is well and favorably 
known as one of the enterprising and liberal citizens. 

BENJAMIN FANEUIEL PORTER.— Tireless energy and a resolute 
spirit have enabled Mr. Porter to advance step by step from the time when, 
a lad of twelve ignorant of life and the world, he began to earn his own way 
by illy-paid, humble work, up to the present time, when he is efficiently dis- 
charging his duties as assistant general manager of the Northwestern Pacific 
Railroad, with headquarters at Eureka. To a large extent he may be denom- 
inated self-made, yet he owes much to the inheritance of splendid mental 
qualities from a long line of southern ancestors and to the heritage of the 
honorable and even eminent record of his father, an attorney, who for man}^ 
years served as a jurist on the supreme bench of Alabama, ^^'ithal that the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 785 

family was intellectually preeminent, in the days of their prestige the south 
was stinted in money and they suffered the handicap of poverty, so that 
Benjamin F., who was born at Tuscaloosa, Ala., April 15, 1842, was obliged 
by force of circumstances to become self-supporting at an age when schooling 
was desirable, and in November of 1854 he became connected with railroad- 
ing. In the following years he rose rapidly. After service as flagman for an 
engineering expedition he served as foreman of construction work on the 
Tennessee & Coosa River Railroad from February, 1860, to December, 1862, 
and was foreman of construction and conductor of work trains on the Mobile 
& Great Northern Railroad from January, 1862, until the close of the Civil war 
in the Confederate service, detailed into government transportation depart- 
ment, continuing after the close of the war. In 1865 Mr. Porter became 
assistant agent at Greenville, Ala., for the Mobile & Montgomery Railroad. 
From October, 1868, until December, 1869, he was superintendent of con- 
struction for the Selma & Gulf Railroad. From January, 1870, to December, 
1873, he was passenger conductor on various roads in Alabama and Mis- 
sissippi. 

After having been interested in other lines of business for a period of 
twelve years, in January, 1887, Air. Porter became superintendent of track- 
laying from Maricopa Junction to Phoenix, Ariz., on the main line of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad. In July of the same year he was promoted to be 
roadmaster, a position which he filled with the efficiency characteristic of 
him in every responsibility of business. From January, 1898, to December 1, 
1902, he was general superintendent of the same road. He then resigned to 
accept the position of general manager of the San Francisco & Northwestern 
Railroad at Eureka, the road having been taken over by the Santa Fe from the 
Eel River & Eureka Railroad. Later the interests of the Southern Pacific and 
Santa Fe on the northern coast were consolidated as the Northwestern Pacific 
and Mr. Porter became assistant general manager. January 1, 1915, on ac- 
count of age and physical infirmities, he was honorably relieved from service 
on a. pension, after a continuous service with the Southern Pacific and Santa 
Fe of twenty-eight years. During the last few years he has been very 
active in the building of the connecting link between Eureka and San Fran- 
cisco, and on October 23, 1914, the day the line was completed, he saw 
the fruits of his labors. Mr. Porter is a member of Humboldt Club. During 
the period of his residence in Arizona he was prominent in the Elks and the 
Masons of Commandery and Shrine degrees. By his marriage to Miss Mary 
E. Thomas, who was born in Mississippi but reared in Alabama, he has 
three sons, young men of recognized ability and high promise, viz. : Walter 
K., manager of the Porter-Hansen Undertaking Company at Eureka ; Ben- 
jamin F., Jr., now with the Bayside Lumber Company; and Joseph R., at 
present in the office of the United States Engineers at Eureka. 

EDWARD FOSTER PETTINGILL.— The trade of ship-joiner which 
A'Ir. Pettingill learned at the port of Machias in his native state of Maine, he 
followed for many years both in the east and the west, besides for a brief 
period with the Alaska Fur Company in Siberia. He came to California in 
1875 and found employment at his trade in San Francisco, from which city 
he came to Eureka in 1876 and a year later returned to San Francisco, where 
he followed ship-building until 1881. In that year he was with the Alaska 



786 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Fur Company on Behring and Copper island in the Russian possessions for 
about nine months, returning to San Francisco, and in the spring of 1882 
returned to Eureka, where he again secured a position in the ship-building 
yards of H. D. Bendixsen. With the exception of a period of employment 
in charge of the dry docks on an island in the Puget Sound he has continuously 
lived in Humboldt county. He devoted twenty-five years of steady work to 
the ship-building industry as foreman of the finishing department in the 
Bendixsen yards and at the expiration of that time turned his attention to the 
building of houses and to specializing in interior finishings. An unusual 
degree of skill has been manifest in all of his work and much that was done 
years ago still retains the substantial and satisfactory appearance of its first 
construction. After the first three months of the building of the Bank of 
Eureka he was given full charge of that important contract. Other important 
contracts were in connection with the Federal building and the residences of 
L. F. Puter, William Carson and David Evans. 

The marriage of A'lr. Pettingill united him with Miss Eloise Scott, who 
was born in Auburn, Cal., of an old Southern family. She was reared in Eureka 
and received an excellent education in private schools. Three children were 
born of the union, namely : Clarence S., deceased ; Russell Edward, who 
married Roberta Parks and lives in San Francisco ; and Allan D. Mrs. Pet- 
tingill is a daughter of the late D. Clinton Scott, the pioneer dentist of Eureka 
and a man of considerable prominence in the early history of the town. Having 
given his attention closely to occupative duties, Mr. Pettingill has had neither 
leisure nor inclination for political affairs, nor has he been interested in 
fraternal societies aside from being a member of Flumboldt Lodge No. 79, 
F. & A. M., of which he was master in 1901. 

HENRY FREDERICK HARBERS.— Actively associated with the 
creamery interests of Humboldt county for a number of years, Mr. Harbers 
is probably one of the best known men in the vicinity of Ferndale. He is of 
German birth, having been born in Oldenburg, Germany, September 22, 1858, 
and is the son of John B. Harbers, also a native of Oldenburg, Germany, who 
was engaged in the milling business. After attending the public schools for a 
number of years, Henry F. decided to come to America. Leaving Bremer- 
haven on a steamer for Baltimore, Md., he landed in May of 1875, and imme- 
diately proceeded to Henry county, Ohio, where he obtained employment on 
a farm, remaining for four years, then moving to Washington county, that 
state, where he continued to follow farming. Being desirous of visiting his 
parents and the scenes of his childhood in Germany he returned there in 
1880 and remained two years, returning to the States in 1882. He came direct 
to Humboldt county, Cal., where he had a brother, J. B. Harbers, at Ferndale, 
at which place he arrived in August, 1882, and engaged in farming and 
dairying for himself on the Hill ranch. This ranch he entered as a home- 
stead and improved it and also, in 1886, purchased his home place of twenty 
acres of highly cultivated land near Grizzly Bluff and continued in the dairy- 
ing business, still retaining his old homestead. Prior to 1891, before the 
creamery was built, the farmers had to make their own butter, but after the 
creamery was put into operation matters were greatly simplified for the 
farmers. In 1896 the Grizzly Bluff Creamery was destroyed by fire, but it 
was immediately rebuilt. Being offered the position of bookkeeper at the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 787 

creamery in 1904, Mr. Harbers accepted, but as at first the volume of busi- 
ness done by the creamery was not large enough to occupy all of his time, 
he still continued to manage his dairy. The business grew to such an extent, 
however, that in a few years his entire time was devoted to the creamery, 
and for th« past three years he has been secretary and manager of the Grizzly 
Bluff Creamery Association, which is now the oldest in operation in the 
county, the average output a year being 750,000 pounds of butter. It has 
grown from its modest beginning with a capital of $11,000 to its present pro- 
portions. 

Since 1886 ^Ir. Harbers has been a member of Ferndale Lodge No. 220, 
I. O. O. F., of which he is past grand master, and is a member of Humboldt 
County Veteran Odd Fellows Association. Politically he is a Democrat. 
He has always taken an active interest in educational matters, serving as a 
member of the board of trustees of Grizzly Bluff District for several terms, 
and is now a member of the board of trustees of the Ferndale Union High 
School, to which he devotes considerable time and his best efforts. In 1909 
he was one of the organizers of the Ferndale Cow Testing Association and 
was one of the original board of directors, and president of it one year. He 
is an active member of the Humboldt County Dairymen's Association. 

Mr. Harbers was married at Port Kenyon, November 19, 1890, being 
united with J\Iiss Matilda Blohm, a native of Washington county, Kan., and 
the daughter of Herman F. Blohm, a native of Oldenburg, Germany. J\Ir. 
Blohm was a veterinary surgeon for a number of years in Germany and in 
1870 he moved with his family to Kansas and then, in 1881, to 'Humboldt 
county, Cal., where he continued to follow his profession until 1897, when he 
removed to Santa Cruz county, where he now makes his home. 

Of the union of these two fine families there are five children. Otto Henry, 
Harry B., Raymond F., Leland G., and Henry R., the latter now deceased. 
I\Ir. Harbers is a progressive, public spirited citizen and a man well liked by 
all in the community in which he resides. 

MARTIN P. PETERSEN is the owner of one of the largest dairy 
ranches in the Eel river section and has devoted practically the whole of his 
life to the study of dairying and farming in general. He was born April 10, 
1861, near Tondern, Sleswick, Denmark, but later a part of the German Em- 
pire. He received his earlier educational training in the public schools of 
Germany, and when fifteen years of age began to work on farms in the neigh- 
borhood of his home. Having a brother, Christian, in Humboldt county, 
Cal., who had written glowing accounts of the opportunities here, he decided 
to come to America and join him. In July, 1878, he came direct to Humboldt 
county and located in Ferndale, where he found employment on the ranch of 
Jacob Rasmussen, remaining with him for two years. In 1880 he moved over 
to Bear river ridge, and for the following three years was employed on the 
ranches of the farmers there. Returning to Eel river valley, he entered the 
employ of Peter Nissen, but in 1884, desiring to go into business for himself, 
he leased a ranch from G. M. Robarts and actively engaged in dairying. This 
ranch consisted of one hundred acres of dairy land and Mr. Robarts furnished 
him the stock, milch cows at the time being valued at only $25 a head. During 
the five years that he leased the property he was quite successful, and hearing 
of fine land to be had in the district surrounding Loleta, he went there in 



788 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

1889 and again leased a ranch for a term of five years, but this venture proved 
a failure. He then returned to Eel River Island and purchased one hundred 
fifty acres of farm land, thirty acres being under cultivation. He set to 
work clearing the remainder and rendering it suitable for dairying pur- 
poses. In a few years he purchased one hundred ten acres adjoining the 
original property and at the present time this ranch of two hundred sixty 
acres, all bottom land, is one of the largest on the island and adjoins the new 
Fern bridge. It is well improved with suitable buildings erected by him. 
His dairy is installed with Sharpless milking machines. When Mr. Petersen 
first engaged in dairying he had only twenty-five head of cows and now he is 
the owner of a herd of ninety head of the finest milch cows in the county. 

Mr. Petersen was married in Ferndale in October, 1889, being united with 
Miss Bothilde Petersen, also a native of Sleswick, Denmark. She died in 
June, 1913, at the age of forty-six years. She was the mother of six chil- 
dren, as follows : Hans, Theresa, Annie, Petrea, Frode and Lille, all remain- 
ing under the paternal roof. Mr. Petersen is a member of the Dania Society, 
of which he is past officer, and a member of the Independent Order of For- 
esters of America, and he is also a member of the board of trustees for Salt 
River District. In national politics he favors the ideas of the Republican 
party, and he is also a devout member of the Danish Lutheran Church. His 
success is due to his own untiring and unceasing labors and his fine ranch 
stands as a fitting monument to his faithful perseverance. 

MRS. ARRABELLE HAZELWOOD FALOR.— A native of Kentucky, 
having been born on a farm near Greensburg, Green county, July 27, 1862, 
Mrs. Arrabelle Falor has been a resident of California since 1884, having 
located in Humboldt county in June of that year, and having since that 
time made this county her home. Since the death of her husband several 
years ago she has continued to live on the home place, and for a time managed 
it with much success. Recently she has leased the land, but continues to 
make the place her home. Living with her is her son, Leland. 

The girlhood of Mrs. Falor was spent in Kentucky, where she attended 
the public schools of her district. Her father having died when she was a 
child, she was raised by her grandparents on the Hazelwood side. She re- 
mained with them until she was twenty-one, and then came to California with 
her sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. John Dolson, and located with 
them in Areata, Humboldt county. For a time Mrs. Falor (then Miss Arra- 
belle Hazelwood) was the housekeeper on the old Falor ranch, and on March 
27, 1885, was married to Albert Allen Falor. 

Albert Allen Falor was born in Hoopa valley, Humboldt county, Cal., 
June 6, 1860, the son of Milo and Caroline Falor, both well known California 
pioneers, and for many years residents of Humboldt county. They came to 
Areata in an early day and purchased ninety acres of bottom land, upon 
which they engaged in dairying and farming. Here their son was reared, and 
here he received his education in the grammar schools, assisting his father 
on the farm in his spare time and during vacations. Their united efl^orts 
brought them success and father and son continued to manage the farm until 
the father's death, when the son took charge, continuing to conduct it along 
the lines that had been followed before. The property, which at the time of 
its purchase was unimproved and heavily timbered, is now under a high state 
of cultivation and is in splendid condition for farming. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 791 

Aside from his business interests and his success as a farmer Mr. Falor 
commanded the respect and confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens 
and was regarded as a man of ability and worth. In politics he was a Re- 
publican, but he was never actively associated with the affairs of his party. 

His death occurred at the home place, January 5, 1907. Since his death 
Mrs. Falor has resided on a ranch of ninety acres a mile north of AlHance, 
leasing the home ranch for a dairy. 

The parents of Mrs. Falor were well known in Kentucky. Her father, 
John Hazelwood, died in that state when Mrs. Falor was a very small child. 
Her mother, Clarissa Warren, was born in Green county, Ky., June 16, 1834. 
By her marriage to Mr. Hazelwood five children were born, four of whom are 
living at the present, three daughters and one son, Mrs. Falor being the 
second youngest. She is the mother of two children, Clarissa Bell, now Mrs. 
James B. Johnson, living in Fieldbrook, and Leland Lenore, residing with 
his mother. 

• The Falor family is one of the oldest and most highly esteemed pioneer 
families of Humboldt county. Both father and son were men of sterling 
character, industrious, energetic and trustworthy. They were important 
factors in the early development of the county and are remembered with 
greatest respect by those who knew them. 

EDWARD B. PETERSEN.— The dairying interests of Humboldt county 
are managed chiefly by men of Danish descent, they being farmers and dairy- 
men by instinct, and being industrious, their farms are models. Among these 
men of the Eel river valley Edward B. Petersen has established a fine dairy 
farm and it is indeed a model for all to copy. He was born near Rodkiobing, 
on the island of Langeland, Denmark, August 17, 1880, and there he attended 
the public schools of the district. His parents, Jens and Maria Petersen, came 
to America in the fall of 1892, and first located in the town of Union Grove, 
Racine county, AVis. There Edward attended school for a short time, familiar- 
izing himself with the English language. He then obtained employment on 
the neighboring ranches, doing general farm work, his first position being 
with John Clague, in whose employ he remained for two years. Later, in 
the fall of the year 1895, he decided to come to^ California in the hope of better- 
ing conditions, and settled in Marin county, where he again followed dairy- 
ing. In a short time, hearing of the wonderful opportunities in Humboldt 
county, he came to Eureka and was employed in the Excelsior mill, but seeing 
greater opportunities in the occupation of dairying he again returned to that 
branch of farming and was employed on the dairy ranch of John Nielsen, 
where he continued for six years. 

Having married about this time, he determined to engage in the business 
for himself, for this purpose renting forty acres of land. Subsequently he 
purchased the property, and this is now the home place, all under a high 
state of cultivation. He has made every modern improvement on the place, 
sparing no expense in making it one of the finest small ranches in the vicinity. 
He is a member of the Dania Lodge, A'V. O. W., at Ferndale, and is a stanch 
Progressive Republican, but has not entered actively into political affairs, 
preferring to devote his entire time and energies to his ranch. 

Mr. Petersen was united in marriage November 27, 1906, with Lillian 
Currey, a native daughter of California, having been born in Stockton, Cal., 



792 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Currey. Mr. Currey was born in 
County Donegal, Ireland, in February, 1836, and came with his parents to 
Philadelphia, Pa., where he learned the harnessmaker's trade. August 24, 
1861, he enlisted in Company A, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving in the 
Seven Days battle, and was taken prisoner at Hagerstown, Aid., and confined 
in Libby prison. Afterwards he was transferred to Belle Isle, where he was 
detained ten months. He was honorably discharged in 1863. In 1866 he 
came to Petaluma, Cal., remaining for a year, then lived in San Francisco 
until 1878, when he located at San Rafael. He married Margaret Thompson, 
a native of Scotland, by whom he had six children, Mrs. Petersen being the 
second youngest. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Petersen there are two chil- 
dren, Arleene Katherine and Edward Clifford. Mr. Petersen is an energetic, 
industrious young man, one whose success in business is due to his own 
unceasing and untiring labors. 

FREDERICK M. HELMKE.— As president and general manager of -the 
Helmke Mercantile Company, of Blocksburg, Frederick M. Helmke is one 
of the most influential men in this part of the county. He is a native of Cali- 
fornia and the son of one of the well known old pioneer families. For several 
years he has been owner of the Helmke Mercantile Company, and conducts 
a general merchandise business at Blocksburg and at Fort Seward ; for 
years he conducted a stage line which ran as an auxiliary to the larger cor- 
poration. Mr. Helmke commands confidence and respect wherever he is 
known, and is thoroughly familiar with every detail of his business and is 
also particularly well fitted by temperament and disposition for the manage- 
ment of large mercantile enterprises. In both his stores he maintains a high 
standard, both for quality and service, nothing but the best being offered for 
sale, and all transactions are absolutely "on the square." He is a man of 
great energy, a booster for the community as well as for his own business. 
The older residents are glad to find in him a strong resemblance to his late 
father, who for many years conducted the business. 

Mr. Helmke is a native of Sonoma county, born at Fisk's Mill, January 
2, 1870, the son of Martin Frederick and Arabella (Shone) Helmke. The 
father, who followed the sea from a boy, was a native of Germany and came 
to America when a young man. In 1851 he came around Cape Horn to San 
Francisco on a sailer and first drifted into the mines. Later he operated saw- 
mills at Timber Cove and Fisk's mill, then built the first sawmill on Green- 
wood creek, at the present site of L. E. White Lumber Company's plant at 
Greenwood, and shipped the lumber from Cuffey's cove. At the same time 
he purchased considerable land at Bell's Landing, now known as Westport. 
The financial depression of 1877 and 1878 caused him to suffer severe reverses, 
and in 1878 he came to Blocksburg and bought out the interests of Simon 
Sweet, who owned a general merchandise store. From 1878 to 1905 Mr. 
Helmke, Sr., conducted the business which bears the family name, in the 
latter year disposing of his interest to his son (who had been his partner since 
1898) and retired to Berkeley, where he died, June 9, 1909, at the age of 
seventy-nine years. He is well remembered throughout Humboldt county, 
and the greatest compliment that one of the older residents can pay to the 
present head of the Helmke Mercantile Company is to say that he is like his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 793 

father. The mother is a native of Wisconsin, descended from Welsh ancestry. 
She now makes her home in Santa Rosa. 

Frederick M. Helmke was eight years of age when his parents moved 
to Blocksburg, where he attended school until he was fourteen, then starting 
out in the world for himself. By hard labor at various kinds of work he 
earned enough to go through Heald's Business College, San Francisco, where 
he was graduated in 1889. When he left home at the age of fourteen his 
father gave him $25, and when he came back in 1897 he returned to his father 
the same identical $25 that he had received thirteen years before. At that 
time his father gave him a half interest in the mercantile business at Blocks- 
burg, and from then until 1905 they operated under the firm name of F. 
Helmke & Son. In 1905 the father retired, the son purchasing his interest 
and paying a handsome- price therefor, in remembrance of the gift of the 
interest in the business a few years previous, which had made this transaction 
possible. In 1911 the business was incorporated under the firm name of the 
Helmke Mercantile Company, with an authorized capital of $75,000, and an 
actually paid-in capital of $38,000. The branch business at Fort Seward was 
started in 1911, this being known as the Helmke Mercantile Company, Store 
No. 2. Both houses are doing a large and profitable business, and are selling 
an extensive line of general merchandise, handling practically everything 
needed in any community. 

For sixteen years, in addition to the mercantile business, the firm con- 
ducted an auxiliary enterprise in the nature of a stage line which operated 
from Harris to Carlotta, via Blocksburg, making daily trips, and conveying 
the mail as well as passengers. This business was one of great importance 
and kept Blocksburg in close touch with the surrounding towns. The Helmke 
Stage Line was abolished June 1, 1915, on account of the through mails being 
carried by the new railroad. 

The marriage of Mr. Helmke occurred in Oakland in 1894, uniting him 
with Miss Mina Janssen, a native of that city. Of their union have been born 
two children, namely Rae Frederick and Guy Martin. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Helmke have many friends in Blocksburg. Mr. Helmke takes an influential 
part in the fraternal life of the county, being a member of Eel River Lodge 
No. 147, F. & A. M., at Fortuna, and Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. He 
has rendered valuable service as a member of the school board at Blocksburg, 
and has served on the grand jury. He is a consistent Republican and a mem- 
ber of the executive committee of the county central committee. In all local 
affairs he is on the side of progress, standing for the general betterment and 
upbuilding of the community. 

PETER JOHANSEN. — An example of the opportunities afforded by 
Humboldt county to men of tireless energy and sagacious judgment is found 
in the successful activities of the vice-president of the First National Bank 
of Areata, a native of Germany, born May 21, 1868, and from 1887 a resident 
of the United States and of Humboldt county. Having no means with which 
to embark in any occupation demanding capital, .he leased a small tract of 
land and bought a few cows. Hampered by poverty, compelled to endure 
privations and hardships, in a strange country far from the scenes beloved 
of his youth, he took up the battle of life with resolution and industry. Little 
by little he began to be known as a farmer of intelligence and a German- 



794 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

American of splendid force of character. His resolute efforts to win inde- 
pendence brought him the confidence of associates and, in the end, the object 
of his early ambition. On a tract of forty acres near Ferndale he maintained 
a herd of twenty milch cows and managed the dairy so capably that it became 
the source of considerable profit. By degrees he increased his herd until he 
had eighty cows in the dairy. Meanwhile there came to him a keen knowledge 
of the needs of proper marketing of the products of the dair3^ Study of the 
matter caused him to found the Capital Creamery at Ferndale and in this he 
owned a one-half interest up to the time of removing to Areata. 

In the new location Mr. Johansen bought one hundred sixty acres of 
land and embarked in the dairy industry, which he continvied with profit for 
a number of years. Here as at Ferndale he became a recognized authority 
in the marketing of dairy products and in every phase of the industry which 
brought him financial success. As manager of the United Creameries at 
Areata he gave five years of faithful, efficient and satisfactory service to the 
creamery business at this point, a task for which previous experience well 
qualified him. More recently, however, he leased his dairy ranch, disposed 
of his herd of cows and his interest in the creamery. Upon the founding of 
the First National Bank of Areata he assisted in its incorporation, and since 
it was opened for business, in October, 1913, he has been vice-president and 
general manager, giving practically his entire time to the efficient oversight 
of a concern undoubtedly destined to be a leading financial factor in this 
part of Humboldt county. While his wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Meta Duholm, is like himself a native of Germany, all of their children are 
Californians and have the distinction of being natives of Humboldt county. 
They are as follows : Lily, Amos, Peter, Maria, Christine, Christian and ]\Ieta. 

LEVEN C. ERICKSON. — Among the successful young men engaged 
in the dairy business in Humboldt county is Leven C. Erickson, who was 
born in Manistee, Mich., November 18, 1875, the son of Eli C. and Maria 
(Jacobsen) Erickson. The parents were natives of Abenrade, North Sles- 
wick, then a part of Denmark, but since 1871 belonging to Germany. In their 
native country they followed farming, but gave this up to come to the Ignited 
States, settlement being made in Manistee, Mich., where for ten years the 
father was employed with a lumber company. The year 1878 witnessed his 
removal to California, settlement being made in Humboldt county on Bear 
river ridge, on property known as the Mayflower ranch. A residence of two 
years on this property was followed by his removal to the Eel river section, 
where he purchased the old Farrier ranch at Centerville and engaged in farm- 
ing and dairying up to the time of his death in 1902. Faithful to the teachings 
of his childhood he was a devoted member of the Danish Lutheran church, as 
was also his wife, who passed away two years prior to his demise, in 1900, 
leaving two children, a' son and a daughter. 

The eldest of the parental family, Leven C. Erickson, was primarily 
educated in the schools of Centerville, later attending St. Mary's College, 
Oakland, for a year and eight months, when his schooling was suddenly 
terminated owing to the death of his father. When he took charge of the 
home place he had about thirty head of cows on the ranch, which comprised 
thirty-five acres of bottom land. Realizing that he must have more land to 
properly carry out his plans he bought seventy-two acres of swamp land and 
twenty-four acres of hill land, making a total of one hundred thirty-one acres 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 797 

under his control. However, time and experience proved that the land was 
too low for successful dairying, and to correct this he constructed dams in 
Russ creek, which diverted the overflow to his advantage, the sediment grad- 
ually building up his property. It is estimated that in the last ten years 
the land has been raised over six feet, so that it is now unexcelled as dairy 
land. Mr. Erickson has eighty head of high-grade cows, and now owns all 
of the homestead ranch, having purchased his sister's interest in the property. 
He has built a new residence, thus giving him two sets of buildings on 
the ranch. 

As an evidence of his deep interest in the dairy business, as well as show- 
ing the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-dairymen, it may be stated 
that for the past nineteen years he has been secretary of the Ferndale Cream- 
ery and since 1910 has also been manager, tester and bookkeeper, his 
knowledge of the business making it possible for him to fill these several 
offices with ability. 

Mr. Erickson was made a Mason in Ferndale Lodge Xo. 193, F. & A. M., 
of which he was master for two years ; a member of Ferndale Chapter No. 
78, R. A. M., which he served as high priest for three years, besides which 
he is affiliated with the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. In 
politics he is a Republican. In Ferndale, October 30, 1901, he was married to 
Jennie I. Rasmussen, a native of Humboldt county and the daughter of Jacob 
Rasmussen, one of the pioneer dairymen of this section, a sketch of whose 
life and accomplishments may be found upon another page in this work. Mr. 
and Mrs. Erickson have one child, Harold. Mr. Erickson- has been actively 
associated with all movements for the upbuilding of the community, and is 
held in the highest esteem throughout the county of his adoption. 

ISAAC NIXON MINOR.— A native of Humboldt county, a pioneer, and 
the son of one of the best known pioneer families in the county, Isaac Nixon 
Minor has spent his entire lifetime in Humboldt county, save for brief periods 
when business or pleasure have called him away temporarily. He has been 
actively engaged in business enterprises of various sorts which have closely 
identified him with the life of the county and have made him an integral part 
of the history of this region. For many years he was actively engaged in 
lumber manufacturing and of late years was manager of the Minor Mill and 
Lumber Company, until 1912, when they closed down on account of having 
used up all available timber. However, this leaves him by no means inactive, 
for he still has large property interests with which he keeps thoroughly in 
touch and which he is improving, engaging also in cattle raising. He resides 
on his farm about six miles above Areata on the banks of Mad river. 

Mr. Minor was born in Areata, March 12, 1858. Here he spent his boy- 
hood days, attending the public schools of Areata, and after graduating from- 
the grammar school, he went to San Francisco to complete his education, 
graduating from McClure's Military Academy, Oakland, and also from 
Heald's Business College, San Francisco, in 1875. He then returned to Areata 
and took charge of the stock range of the Redwood ranch, which was owned 
at that time by his father. Here he remained, successfully managing this 
extensive property for about three years, or until it was sold to Tom Bair. 
Following this he had charge of his father's home ranch at Areata for a year, 
and then took over the management of another of his father's properties and 
later farmed for himself a year. In 1884 he gave up farming to engage in 

29 



798 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the livery business in Areata, continuing in this undertaking for two years 
and meeting with much success. He then disposed of these interests and 
removed to Glendale, where he worked for his father in the Minor Mill and 
Lumber Company as foreman of the woods, being under the supervision of 
his father, Isaac Minor. He remained with this company for twenty-nine 
years, being for the most part in the same department. The last eight years 
of his service here was as manager of the company, a service which terminated 
when the mill closed down. He was president of the company when it was 
dissolved in 1914. During the active days of the mill its capacity was 100,000 
feet of lumber and 100,000 shingles a day, about $25,000 a month being paid 
out for help, and at times the yard had eight million feet of lumber stacked 
up. During the time he was in the mill Mr. Minor cleared some five thousand 
acres of land. Glendale ranch comprises 4,640 acres of land located on the 
Mad river and is devoted to dairying, breeding Durham and Hereford cattle. 
The range is gradually being cleared up, giving ample pasturage for a large 
herd. For many years Mr. Minor was engaged in raising standard bred 
horses and owned Morosco, which made the best record of any horse at the 
breeders' meeting in California in 1903. 

The marriage of Mr. Minor occurred October 9, 1880, in Areata, uniting 
him with Miss Mary Adams, a native of Humboldt county, born in Eureka, 
February 7, 1863. They have become the parents of two sons, Issac S. and 
George C, both assisting Mr. Minor on the ranch. 

Mrs. Minor is the daughter of Bary Maxwell Adams, a native of Ireland, 
and born in Belfast, August 2, 1826. He left Ireland and went to Australia 
during the great gold excitement there in 1846. Arriving in Australia he did 
not find the conditions as he had expected and so gave up his intention of 
mining and found employment as a bookkeeper for a cattle firm, remaining 
there during his entire stay in Australia. In 1850, hearing of the gold excite- 
ment in California, Mr. Adams resigned his position and immediately set 
sail, landing in San Francisco that same year, and from there going into 
Yuba county, where he engaged in mining for himself for a short time. In 
1852 he decided to remove to Humboldt county and bought a herd of cattle, 
which he drove over the mountains, and engaged in stock raising, locating 
on Bear river. Here he went into partnership with Joe Russ and engaged 
in the butcher business in connection with stock raising for twenty years. At 
a later period he purchased the Three Cabins ranch on Mad river in partner- 
ship with A. Wiley and engaged in stock raising there for a short time, then 
disposed of his interest in the ranch and drove his cattle to the Sacramento 
valley, where he sold stock for a time. His death occurred September 23, 
1888, on his home place near Areata, he having been retired from active busi- 
ness for a number of years previous. His wife, and the mother of Airs. !Minor, 
was Caroline Armstrong, a native of Indiana, born in Indianapolis, April 12, 
1840. She crossed the plains with her parents in 1851, taking six months to 
make the trip. They located in Flumboldt county, where the father, Thomas 
Armstrong, was one of the sturdy pioneers. He built one of the first houses 
in Areata, this being unique in that it was constructed entirely from one tree, 
all the lumber used being whip-sawed by Mr. Armstrong, and very few 
nails being used in the building. This house is standing today. When Mrs. 
Minor's mother came to Areata the trip from San Francisco required twenty 
days. She was married here to Mr. Adams. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 799 

Mr. Minor has been actively engaged in business enterprises in Hum- 
boldt county for almost forty years, and is well known throughout the county. 
His efforts have always been of such a nature that they have developed the 
natural resources of the county, adding to its intrinsic wealth and making it 
a pleasanter habitat for men. He has been keenly alive to all matters of 
public interest, and he is a man of broad mind and progressive ideas, always 
to be found in the vanguard of movements for public welfare and general 
social betterment. His father, Isaac Minor, is one of the best known men in 
Humboldt county, and for many years has been prominently identified with 
the lumbering industry of the state, and also owns much valuable real estate, 
some of the finest ranches in the county being his. 

JOHN ROBERT JACOBSON.— So much of Mr. Jacobson's life has 
been passed upon the water that he can scarcely be called a landsman, but 
nevertheless he has an abiding place on terra firma, as his pleasant home in . 
Eureka testifies. For generations the home of the family had been in Sweden, 
and in Westervik, Smaland, that country, John R. Jacobson was born January 
23, 1858, the son of parents who never left the Scandinavian peninsula. The 
father was an engineer by trade, and it so happened that after the son had 
completed his schooling he also took up the same trade, and while still quite 
a youth had a splendid working knowledge of stationary engineering. With 
this knowledge as his chief asset he started out on his own account when 
about eighteen years old, in 1876, going to sea on the NorAvegian bark Theo- 
dore. On this vessel he continued for three years, during this time making 
port in the AA^est Indies and Mexico. Altogether three trips were made to 
Mexico, where the vessel was loaded with mahogany for England and Scot- 
land, and on one trip to the Americas, cotton from Savannah, Ga., formed 
the cargo for Kronstadt, Russia. Another voyage of the vessel was to 
Rouen, France, on the Seine river, where JMr. Jacobson left the vessel and 
instead went on board the full rigged English vessel known as the Rock City. 
On this he made one trip from England to Montreal and return, and then 
sailed on the German bark Theresa to the West Indies and Florida, returning 
in due time to the port of departure. The next vessel on which he shipped 
was the Ocean King, one of the largest American sailing vessels of that day, 
which left Shields, England, in November, 1880, for San Francisco, via Cape 
Horn. In just one hundred and thirty-three days from the time of leaving 
the English port anchor was dropped in San Francisco, March 3, 1881. 
Whether the resolve was ever taken or not the records do not state, but 
nevertheless it is a fact that after entering the Golden Gate ocean travel for 
Mr. Jacobson was at an end. Instead he became interested in the coastwise 
trade, sailing on various vessels, and his interest in Eureka dates from 
December, 1881. For two years he sailed out of this city in the coasting 
trade, and then gave up the business to become proprietor of the American 
bakery and restaurant on E street. Two years of life on land and the con- 
finement of business as compared with the life which he had led for so many 
years made him restless for his former occupation, and as soon as he could 
dispose of his business he once more sought an occupation connected with 
the water. In 1885 he took rip steamboating on the ocean, beginning as 
fireman, and from this he worked up to engineer, and it was while employed 
on the Santa Maria that the rock for building the St. George lighthouse off 



800 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Crescent City was taken from Eureka to St. George. Following this he re- 
turned to Eureka and for some time thereafter he was engaged on the Buhne 
line of tug boats, following this being connected with the steamer Humboldt 
for four years. It was on this vessel that he was advanced to engineer, and 
remained as such on this vessel until she was wrecked ofif Point Gorda in 1896. 
After this disaster Mr. Jacobson returned to San Francisco and sailed as 
marine engineer on the bay and on Sacramento river boats, continuing this 
until he was given the opportunity to go to Alaska in 1911. During these 
years he accumulated some means and built a residence in San Bruno, San 
Mateo county, which he still owns. As engineer of the Unamake he went 
to the north for the Alaska Packers' Association, an experience which had 
its compensation, but since returning to California he again came to Eureka 
and has been contented to remain within close range of his adopted home, in 
the meantime acting as chief engineer of the Antelope. Flis experience in 
Humboldt county has been exceedingly pleasant, he having formed many 
warm friendships, and he enjoys this country more and finds it more desirable 
than any other place of his travels. This opinion is shared by his faithful 
Avife and helpmate. 

It was after coming to California that Mr. Jacobson formed domestic 
ties, his marriage in Eureka uniting him with ]\Iiss Odine Petersen on De- 
cember 13, 1884. She was born, reared and educated in Stavanger, Norway, 
which country she left with a brother and sister bound for the United States, 
and January 1, 1882, reached Galveston, Tex. The following year she came to 
San Francisco, Cal., and to Eureka in Januar}' of the year following, and it 
was in the last month of the same year that her marriage occurred. Six 
children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson, as follows : Carl, 
who died when six months old ; Axel Fredolph, who runs an automobile stage 
out of Eureka ; Ruby Roberta, Mrs. Madsen, of San Francisco ; Frank P., who 
also resides in that metropolis ; Marguerite Otellia and Janetta. Besides his 
membership in the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, Mr. Jacobson is 
affiliated with the AVoodmen of the World and the Druids, while Mrs. Jacob- 
son is a member of the Women of Woodcraft. Both are members of the 
Lutheran Church, in the tenets of which they were reared in their childhood. 

THOS. H. PERRY. — During the many years of his association with the 
insurance business in Eureka the name of Thos. H. Perry has become well 
known, for few there are indeed who are not -familiar with his catchy adver- 
tising over the signature of "Your fireproof friend Perry." Neither has the 
name proved a misnomer, for Mr. Perry has been a friend indeed in many 
instances in which he has written insurance for clients, as well as being 
instrumental in securing homes for many others, for in addition to writing 
insurance he also engages in the real estate business. 

The history of the Perry family is traced to England, Grandfather Perry 
being the first progenitor of the family in the United States. He located in 
Boston, Mass., and there reared his family. Among his children was Thomas 
L. Perry, born in Boston, and who early in life displayed a taste for the sea. 
It is related that when a mere lad he went to sea and practicall}' 
continued upon the water throughout his life, in time becoming cap- 
tain. In the early '50s as master of a vessel he came around Cape Horn and 
landed at San Francisco. After remaining in the city for a time he decided 




^'L^^LKJL^ '^^tl^'C^Ji^^'LA^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 803 

to give up the sea and for some time engaged in mining, but the venture not 
proving as profitable as he had anticipated he gave it up and came to Eureka. 
Foreseeing a profitable outlook in the decorating business he opened a paint- 
ing, graining and decorating establishment in the city and followed it with 
success throughout the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1887. 
In his marriage he was united with Mary Riley, a native of Ireland, but who 
for some time had been a resident of Massachusetts, and is now making her 
home in Eureka. Of this marriage six children were born, equally divided 
as to sons and daughters, but one son and one daughter have passed away. 

Next to the oldest child in the parental family, Thos. H. Perry was 
born in Eureka April 26, 1872, and up to the time of his father's death he 
was privileged to attend the public schools of his native city. This bereave- 
ment throwing him upon his own resources he began carrying papers for the 
Daily Humboldt Times and Humboldt Standard, and following this he began 
to learn the printer's trade in the Times office. After serving his appren- 
ticeship he worked at the trade for eight years, or until hand work was 
supplanted by the more rapid work of the linotype machine with which the 
office had been equipped. It was at this juncture that he became interested 
in the insurance business, and through his unique method of advertising, to 
say nothing of the care and precision with which he looks after the details 
which the writing of insurance involves, he has developed a creditable busi- 
ness in this line, as well as in the real estate business, which has been added 
more recently. His office is conveniently located at No. 515 F street. Eureka. 
In the line of fire and life insurance the following well-known companies are 
represented : Royal, Connecticut, Sun of London, New Zealand, Michigan 
Commercial, American Central of St. Louis, Maritime of Liverpool, South- 
western Surety Company, Northwestern Life of Milwaukee and New York 
Mutual. He also has the agency for bonding and automobile insurance. The 
confidence the dififerent insurance companies have in his integrity, fairness and 
ability is shown by their having him give his personal attention to the 
adjusting of losses by fire in the case of policies issued through him, a matter 
which is much appreciated by his clients. For the last twelve years, or since 
1902, Mr. Perry has held the commission of notary public. 

Various fraternal and social organizations claim Mr. Perry's attention 
and they in turn benefit by his kindly and pleasing personality Fie is a 
member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., of which he was financial sec- 
retary for eight years and treasurer for two years ; Eureka Lodge No. 652, 
R. P.' O. E. ; Hoopa Tribe No. 146, I. O. R. M. ; Knights of Columbus; and 
Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W., and Woodmen of the World. Mr. 
Perry's name is among the charter members of Eureka Lodge No. 636, Loyal 
Order of Moose, of which he has been secretarj^ ever since its organization, 
June 17, 1911. He is also a member of the Humboldt Club. 

STEPHEN GIULIERI.— The oldest of a family of five children, of 
whom all now reside in the state of California, Stephen Giulieri was born in 
Cognasco, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, June 24, 1855, the son of Dominic, a 
farmer of that country, and Rosa (Calzascia) Giulieri, both of whom are now 
deceased. The boyhood of Stephen was spent upon his father's farm, and he 
received his education at the local public schools, in the year 1874 removing 
to America, and settling in Marin county, Cal., where for four years he was 



804 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

employed on a dairy farm. In 18/8 he came to Eureka on the steamer 
Pelican. The following three years were spent in the same line of work 
at Bear River Ridge, in Humboldt county, after which time he was for three 
years employed in a sawmill, returning, however, to Bear River Ridge for 
a year in the employ of Mr. Russ, the owner of extensive ranches in that 
vicinity, and continuing in the dairy business. Mr. Giulieri was for a period 
of twelve years the manager of the Mountain Glen ranch. Determining then 
to start in business for himself, in the year 1897 he removed to Salmon Creek, 
wdiere he leased the J. M. Tierney ranch for the space of ten years, an estate 
Avhich comprised an area of one hundred twenty acres, and two years later 
took in his brother Charles as partner, an arrangement which continued for 
two years, when he sold his interests in the business to his brother and 
secured employment himself upon different dairies in the vicinity for a few 
3^ears. After a year spent thus at Ferndale, and another at Bear River, at 
which place he was also for two years manager of the Mazeppa ranch, Mr. 
Giulieri leased sixty-five acres on Cannibal Island, being a part of the Dillon 
ranch, where he conducted a dairy of forty cows. His present place, which 
consists of sixty acres located on Salmon creek, he bought in the year 1909, 
in partnership with his brother Charles, with whom he had formerly leased 
the Tierney ranch at the same place, and here Mr. Giulieri now makes his 
home, having built a new bungalow and enlarged and increased the number 
of buildings and improved the property. The soil consists of fertile bottom 
land, and he is enabled to raise thereon all the hay and green feed required 
by his fine dairy herd of Jersey and Durham cows. In his political interests 
Mr. Giulieri is a member of the Republican party, for, though the business 
at his farm occupies much of his time, he yet takes an active part in the 
upbuilding of the new country where he has chosen to make his home and 
which is proving such a profitable land in which to reside. Indeed, he may 
be rated among the old timers in the county, which his steady industry and 
ability have helped to bring to the front among the counties of the western 
coast. 

W. H. HELLARD, JOHN H. HELLARD.— The first improvements 
made at Alderpoint were made by W. H. Hellard, of the firm of Hellard & 
Son, and were in the shape of a two-story hotel building, built in 1911, at the 
cost of $45C0. This firm, which is composed of W. H. Hellard as senior 
partner, and his son, John H. Hellard, as junior member, is one of the most 
enterprising and progressive in Alderpoint, and is doing much for the devel- 
opment of the town and surrounding country. Both father and son are 
wide awake to all business opportunities and have diversified interests. They 
are. besides the operation of the Alderpoint hotel, interested in farming, 
and in portable saw mills, and John Hellard is also clerk in the local post 
office, having held this position since the organization of the office in 1909. 
He is a young man of more than ordinary ability, of strong character, and 
of exceptionally high business principles. He also possesses those rarest of 
qualities, sane judgment and common sense. 

W. H. Hellard is a native of Kentucky, born at Richmond, September 
18, 1852. His father, John Hellard, was a native of Virginia, and his mother 
was Mary Alsap of Kentucky. His parents were married in Kentucky and 
there W. H. Hellard passed his boyhood days. There were no educational 
advantages at that time and he never attended school a day in his life. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 805 

receiving his instruction in private. When he was tw^enty-five years of age 
he went to Arkansas, where he met and married Miss Nancy Bean, a native 
of that state. For eight years he engaged in farming in Arkansas and then 
came west, locating near Portland, Ore., where he again followed the occu- 
pation of farming. In 1896 he came from Portland to Bridgeville, Humboldt 
county, where he continued to farm, and also became interested in running 
machinery, being especially associated with threshing machines and portable 
saw mills. He ran a saw mill ten miles below Blocksburg, and later bought 
and put in machinery at other mills, under the name of Hellard & Son, Saw 
and Planing Mills. They made the lumber which .they used in the erection 
of the Alderpoint hotel, and also in the store building which they built there 
and for their large residence. There are seven children in the family, all of 
whom are residing at-home: John H., the elder, being his father's business 
partner ; Jesse, Charles, Roy, Viola, Ruby and William. 

John H. Hellard, junior partner of the firm of Hellard & Son, is a native 
of Arkansas, having been born on his father's farm in Yell county, December 
1, 1883. He came west with his parents and for a number of years resided on a 
farm near Portland, Ore., where he attended school and assisted with the 
farm responsibilities. He has been his father's business partner since he 
reached his majority, and has been particularly successful. In their farming 
enterprises he has assumed his full share of both labor and responsibility and 
has proven himself capable and industrious. In his work as clerk in the 
Alderpoint post office he is efficient and obliging, and is well liked by friends 
and patrons. Fraternally he is a member of Hydesville Lodge No. 250, 
I. O. O. F., and Hydesville Encampment No. 59, I. O. O. F., and politically 
is a Democrat. 

EDWIN WEED HAIGHT.~The banking interests of Fortuna have 
received a strong impetus since the coming of Mr. Haight to the town, and 
he is now serving as president of the Bank of Fortuna. This bank was incor- 
porated March 27, 1905, by A. H. Smith, with a capital of $25,000, and Mr. 
Haight was elected its first president, serving as such ever since. The other 
officers are A. H. VanDuzen, vice-president; Fred P. Newell, cashier, and 
Gordon R. Legg, assistant cashier, and the board of directors as follows : 
E. W. Haight, A. H. VanDuzen, Fred P. Newell, F. W. Luther, George H. 
Newell, M. P. Hansen, and George Williams. This bank is a commercial 
and savings bank and is regarded as the most substantial financial institu- 
tion in Fortuna. Mr. Haight was born in Washington, D. C, April 22, 1852. 
When he was four years of age his parents moved to Iowa, locating in 
Maquoketa, Jackson county, where he attended the public schools until 
seventeen years old. He then gave up his schooling to take up the miller's 
trade, which he followed for three years, after which he was employed in a 
general merchandise store in his home city for about twelve years. He then 
decided to come to California and on June 15, 1887, he located in Humboldt 
county, entering the merchandise store of L. Feigenbaum Co. at Rohnerville, 
where he remained in the capacity of bookkeeper for eight years. He then 
moved to Fortuna, and with others he purchased the store and stock of 
Swirtzel and Williams, and incorporated The Fortuna Merchandising Com- 
pany, of which he was selected secretary and treasurer, a position he has 
held ever since. During this time, in March, 1905, he was elected president 



806 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of the Fortuna Bank and since 1912 has been giving it all of his attention. 
He is also interested with G. W. Williams in a shingle mill at Burnell Sta- 
tion and in a box factory on Williams creek. 

The marriage of Mr. Haight occurred in Maquoketa, Iowa, November 
26, 1876, he being united with Belle B. Wise, who was born in Cedar county, 
Iowa, and they have a daughter, Elma, wife of O. A. MacDermott of Berkeley. 
Mr. Haight has been a member of the board of trustees since the town of 
Fortuna was incorporated, is president of the board of trustees of the Hum- 
boldt State Normal located at Areata, and is treasurer of Fortuna Lodge, 
I. O. O. F. Mr. Haight is actively associated with all movements brought 
forward for the good of the community and is one of Fortuna's leading 
citizens. He has been a witness of the -wonderful growth and advancement 
of the county and is a progressive, public spirited man. 

JOHN C. ALBEE. — Another of the enterprising and energetic young 
men engaged in farming and orcharding in the Bull creek country, is John C. 
.Albee, a native of Humboldt county, and descended from one of the oldest and 
most highly respected pioneer families of the state. His father, Uriah T. 
Albee, was one of the early settlers, having come to California in 1848, 
around Cape Horn, landing in San Francisco. In 1849 he came to Humboldt 
bay, thus being one of the first white men to view this beautiful body of 
water. He was engaged in the logging and lumbering business and did 
much for the early development of this great industry. The Albee property on 
Bull creek consists of two hundred twenty-four acres, some one hundred 
fifty of which are tillable. About forty acres are bottom land. The son, 
John C. Albee, is at present engaged extensively in the dairy business, in 
which he is making a decided success. His orchards are among the best in 
the valley, and the fruit produced is quite up to standard, even in this region 
of superior apples and other deciduous fruits. He is located up Bull creek 
road about five and one-half miles from South Fork, the station on the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and this place has been his home for more 
than twenty years, having been the property of his father during the latter's 
lifetime. 

John C. Albee was born in Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., ^March 4, 
1879. His father, Uriah T., being among the first lumbermen of Humboldt 
Bay and intimately associated with many of the early lumbermen of Eureka 
and vicinity. In fact, he furnished the logs which were made into lumber and 
which served to build up the great redwood industry of Humboldt Bay, 
and was a man of sterling worth, one of the kind who have left their mark 
upon the county, and who will ever be gratefully remembered. He was a 
native of East Machias, Maine, and came to California, as before stated, in 
1848, around the Horn. He was one of the first gold-seekers at Eureka and 
later came to Humboldt Bay, where he logged in partnership with David 
Evans, and later was partner with Dan Newell, at Fortuna, He cut logs 
where Eureka now stands and logged for William Carson, later going into the 
Elk river country where he engaged in ranching for a time. He sold his 
interests there and came into the Bull creek country about 1890. He died 
in Eureka in 1894. He was unmarried when he first came to California, but 
later turned to Maine and there married Miss Cornelia Crosby, also a native 
of Maine. They returned to California by way of Panama, and she was his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 807 

helpmeet and companion through all the hard pioneer days. She died in 
Eureka about twelve years ago. 

There were seven children in the father's family, three daughters and 
four sons, John C, the subject of this sketch, being the youngest born. He 
grew up in Eureka where the father owned land .and where the family home 
was until the time of the father's death. At that time John C. succeeded 
to the Bull creek property, where he has since made his home. His educa- 
tion was received in Eureka, where he attended the public schools, and later 
worked in the woods for the Pacific Lumber Company, at Scotia. He fol- 
lowed the woods for six or seven years, and then gave up that occupation 
for his present one of ranching and dairying. 

The marriage of John C. Albee and Miss Alma Beatrice Faulkner, 
daughter of T. H. Faulkner, of Ferndale, took place in Ferndale, December 
22, 1909. They are now the parents of one child, a daughter, Priscilla 
Beatrice. The Albee family is descended from old English ancestry, the 
American progenitor coming to America during Colonial days and settling 
in Massachusetts Bay Colony. They were patriots of a high order, and 
several members of the family fought in the Revolutionary war with dis- 
tinction, a paternal ancestor, William Albee, a native of Scarborough, Maine, 
having served eight years in the Revolutionary war, and having held the 
rank of lieutenant. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Albee are popular in the community, where they take 
a prominent part in local affairs. Mr. Albee is a member of the Odd Fel- 
lows, Ferndale Lodge No. 379, L O. O. F., and Mrs. Albee is a prominent 
member of the Rebekahs, and also a member of the Episcopal church at Fern- 
dale. Both she and her husband are members of the Farm Center at Dyer- 
ville. Mrs. Albee is a native of Washington, born at Puyallup. Her father, 
T. H. Faulkner, was born in Toronto, Canada, and came to Washington, 
where he married May Hand, a native of England, who came to Washington 
on a visit. Mrs. Albee was reared and educated in Ferndale, graduating from 
the local high school. She was engaged in teaching and educational work, 
and now teaches in the local schools. 

ELIAS HUNTER.— The Hunters are a distinctive family. Numerously 
represented in Humboldt county for over half a century, the name has always 
been associated with citizenship of a high order, capability, sterling worth 
and honorable independence. Physically they are noted as a wholesome, 
vigorous race, large of build and muscular, with characteristic steady eyes 
and broad foreheads, remarkably active and long-lived. Manly men and 
handsome women are the rule in their large families, common sense and 
industry prevailing traits. Walker Sanders Hunter and his brother, John 
Henry, were the progenitors of the Hunters living around Petrolia, the former 
being the father of Elias Hunter, whose name heads this article. (For an 
account of the father, refer to sketch of George W. Hunter, elsewhere in this 
volume.) 

Elias Hunter was born November 30, 1853, in Missouri, and was in his 
first year when the family came to California. He was in his sixth year 
when they settled in Humboldt county, and had such common school advan- 
tages as Petrolia afforded at the time, side by side with the practical advan- 
tages of training in actual work. He grew up on his father's ranch, and from 



808 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

youth worked industriously, as he does still. After his marriage he operated 
one of his father's properties for three years, as a dairy ranch, and then 
bought a place in the Upper Mattole district, prospering there until he sold 
it, in 1880. He has since resided at Petrolia, where he has a very comfortable 
home, nicely located in the center of the town. Its appearance is typical of 
the owner, every square foot of the three lots being used for trees, plants, 
shrubs or flowers, and Mr. Hunter gives the grounds such excellent care that 
they are an improvement to the neighborhood. He now acts as stableman 
at his son's livery barn in Petrolia, and his record for fair dealing makes 
him as popular in that position as he has always been. He has never taken 
any part in public affairs except to cast his ballot in support of the Repub- 
lican party. 

In 1875 Mr. Hunter was married in Petrolia to Miss Lucy S. Wright, 
daughter of Lucian and Lucy (Farnsworth) Wright, and descended on both 
sides from early pioneer stock of the Mattole valley. Of the twelve children 
born to this union nine are living, namely : Ellis, of Petrolia, is a business 
man and landowner ; James E., a clerk in Brizard's store at Areata, married 
Kate Fielding and has six children ; Claude is unmarried ; Rosa is the wHife 
of R. B. Poole, a dairyman, near Astoria, Ore. ; Walter, of Petrolia, a teamster, 
married Miss Katie Wright, and they have two children ; Irma, who is un- 
married, is in the employ of Jesse Walker, near Petrolia ; Clara is the wife 
of Stephen Gouthier, a ratichman of Humboldt county, and has one child ; 
William is a clerk in the Hart & Johnson store at Petrolia ; Austin, ten years 
old, is living with his parents. Mrs. Hunter is a Seventh Day Adventist in 
religious belief. 

EUPHRONIUS COUSINS.— Back to a remote period in the American 
colonization of Maine may be traced the lineage of the Cousins family, whose 
members in successive generations gave unstintingly of their lives and labors 
to the permanent development of that rugged country. Among them all, 
however, none gained greater distinction in his own locality or became 
more widely known throughout the entire state than the late Euphronius 
Cousins, a native of Hancock county, Me., and for years during young man- 
hood the owner of a shipyard near Ellsworth. From a small beginning 
he developed a great shipyard and the vessels that were launched from his 
yard sailed the high seas to every port of the world, sturdy and stanch in 
the midst of every storm, their substantial construction bearing mute testi- 
mony to the integrity and intelligence of their builder. 

To so great a ship-builder as Mr. Cousins the Pacific coast ofifered oppor- 
tunities too great to be turned aside. When he came to California in 1865 
he settled in Eureka and straightway built the first shipyard here on land 
owned by William Carson. Later with Joseph Russ he built Cousins' Mill 
on Gunther Island and engaged in the manufacture of lumber, also operat- 
ing the shipyard from 1871 to 1883, in the latter year selling out to David 
Evans. The latter changed the name to the Excelsior Mill. Associated with 
Charles H. Heney and E. J. Dodge, he organized the Eel River Valley Lumber 
Company of the Eel river valley and for ten years he devoted his splendid 
energies to the varied interests of lumbering. He built the mill and named 
the place Newberg Mills. After selling his lumber business he engaged in min- 
ing in Arizona for three years and then returned to Eureka. Later he was pre- 
vailed upon to construct a shipyard in Aberdeen, A'N'ash., in which were 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 809 

built the Coronado f named by his wife), the Eldorado and the S. W. Slade, 
when death overtook him and ended his career of usefulness. Among the 
vessels built in Cousins' Eureka )^ard were the ]\Iay Queen, AVestern Belle, 
Joseph Russ, Hilary E. Russ, Maggie Russ, Ruby Cousins, Lillebonne and 
Hesperian. The Lillebonne, one of his stanchest craft, received its name 
from ]Mrs. Cousins' birthplace in France. While still actively engaged in 
ship-building at Aberdeen, Mr. Cousins died June 9, 190L His strong per- 
sonality had impressed itself upon the pioneer citizenship of the west and his 
success as a ship-builder gave permanent prestige to his name. For many 
years he was agent of the Bureau of Veritus and inspected all the foreign 
boats that entered the harbor and only resigned when he went to Aberdeen. 

Busy as was ]\Ir. Cousihs in affairs of business and the construction of 
ships, he was never too engrossed with private affairs to refuse co-operation 
in progressive measures for the general welfare. A man of generous impulses, 
his very generosity to public-spirited projects enhanced his devotion to his 
chosen community, although necessarily reducing his personal income in a 
material degree. Although years have passed since his removal from Eureka, 
his influence is still apparent in the history of the town which he helped to 
develop and which always had his loyal support. Throughout his entire life 
he gave allegiance to the Democratic party, but took no part in public affairs 
aside from casting his ballot for the candidates and measures put forward by 
the Democrats. 

His first marriage was solemnized in ]\Iaine and united him with ]\Iiss 
Sophia Blaisdell, a native of that state. Of the five children born of that 
union, two sons are living, George A\". and L Howard, both of Eureka. Some 
time after the death of his first wife he was united with Melanie Lalouette, 
who was born in Lillebonne, France, a town which contains a ruined castle 
built by William the Conqueror. Islvs. Cousins was married in San Francisco 
and came to Eureka in 1880. Since the death of her husband she has owned 
and occupied the family home at Xo. 1121 G street, where culture and artistic 
taste are apparent in the neatly-kept grounds and attractive interior furnish- 
ings. The walls of the residence are adorned with beautiful oil paintings, 
which invariably attract admiring comments from guests and friends. Upon 
inquiry strangers learn that these represent the genius of ]\Irs. Cousins as 
an artist and give expression to her talent in delineating and reproducing 
scenes of outdoor life. 

HANS D. BENDIXSEN.—The foremost shipbuilder on Humboldt Bay, 
Cal., Hans D. Bendixsen, was noted for his efforts in the upbuilding of this 
part of the country, as well as of the Pacific coast merchant marine. Mr. 
Bendixsen came to California in the old days, via Cape Horn, and found 
employment in Turner's shipyard, at San Francisco, until the vear 1868, at 
which time he came to Eureka, Humboldt county, where he proved himself 
a most enterprising and valued citizen. 

Born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, on October 14, 1842, Mr. Bendixsen 
was the son of Consul F. C. and Mariane (von Mehren) Bendixsen, both 
members of well-to-do families of high station in Denmark. After his con- 
firmation i\Ir. Bendixsen was apprenticed to the shipbuilders' trade in Aalborg 
for two years, following which he was employed in the same line for another 
two years in Copenhagen, after which he went to sea as a ship carpenter. 
After a trip to Brazil he came to San Francisco in 1863, and after some time 



810 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

spent in San Francisco, removed to Eureka, Cal., where he entered the 
employ of E. Cousins' shipyard, remaining there two years. He then began 
shipbuilding independently at the foot of L street, a place which Avas later 
known as Mathews' shipyard, the first vessel he built being the Fairy Queen, 
a topmast schooner, others following, by name, Maxquila, Silva, Alvena, 
Mary, John McCuUough, Jane L. Stanford, Humboldt, Alaska Flyer, Nome 
City, John Palmer and scores of others. In the thirty-three years he was 
engaged in ship construction he built one hundred thirteen vessels of all 
classes, all having a high reputation for encountering heavy seas and for 
general seaworthiness. From Eureka, Mr. Bendixsen removed his shipyard 
to Fairhaven, on the peninsula, and though at different times meeting with 
severe business losses, his plant once beings entirely destroyed by fire, he 
courageously began anew and continued with calm determination, and each 
time made a success, liquidating all debt with one hundred cents on the dollar. 
In 1901 he sold his shipbuilding plant for a snug fortune, netting him close 
to a quarter of a million of dollars, his good credit having made it possible 
for him to retrieve his fortunes after each of the disasters which had 
threatened to destroy his business. Besides his shipbuilding, he also owned 
an interest in many vessels. 

A prominent member of the Masonic order, Mr. Bendixsen rose to the 
thirtv-second degree of the Scottish Rite Masons, being also a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His first marriage, which was of 
but short duration, united him with a lady from the vicinity of his old home 
in Denmark. On January 20, 1880, occurred his second marriage, uniting 
him with Miss Emma Taegen, who was born at Emmerich am Rhein, and 
to whom Mr. Bendixsen gave much of the credit for his success. The death 
of Mr. Bendixsen took place on February 12, 1902, the body being taken to 
the old home at Thisted, Denmark, where the funeral took place in May of 
that year. Since that time his widow has made several gifts to the place of 
his birth, erecting there a magnificent and expensive monument and giving 
money for the support of the needy of that town. 

FEDELE GUGLIELMINA. — For over twenty-six years Fedele Gugliel- 
mina has been following the dairy business in Humboldt county, and his 
early training among the Alps mountains in Switzerland has combined with 
favorable conditions in this region to win him success in the line which has 
been his life work up to now. His prosperous career speaks w^ell for the 
land of his birth and for the land of his adoption. Reared in a region noted 
for the productiveness of its herds, he became familiar with the care of' dairy 
cattle from boyhood. But he was ambitious for greater returns than the 
intense competition and small areas of his own country made possible, and 
settled in. the new world, which has indeed proved a land of promise in his 
case. His irrepressible activity and energy did not abate in the least when 
he found working conditions better, and his industry and cheerful perse- 
verance have been well rewarded, as his present circumstances show. More- 
over, his upright life has gained him the respect of all his neighbors and asso- 
ciates. The eight-hundred-acre property which he leases and on which he 
conducts a large dairy, lies three miles northeast of Petrolia, on the Cape- 
town road, beautifully located in an opening of the Coast range, and is appro- 
priately named Buena Vista ranch. 



^, 



<=^ 







HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 813 

Mr. Gug-lielmina was born September 10, 1865, in Cavergno, canton of 
Ticino, Switzerland, a beautiful mountain district in the Maggia valley on 
the Italian border. His father, Joseph Guglielmina, was a dairyman and 
cheesemaker in comfortable circumstances ; he married Mary Balli, and four 
sons were born to them, of whom Fedele is the youngest. As a lad he had 
the advantages of the public schools, and practical training in dairy work 
at the same time, learning the care of cows and goats and the making and 
handling of the products. When eighteen years old he decided to try his 
fortune in America, sailing from Havre, France, on the Labrador, in Novem- 
ber, 1883, and landing at New York City. He proceeded west immediately, 
coming through to California, and located in Marin county, where he found 
work readily, hiring out by the month on dairy ranches. AVith the thrift 
to which he had been accustomed from childhood he managed always to 
save part of his earnings, and before long had enough to justify him in start- 
ing out for himself. In 1889 he made a trip to Switzerland to visit his parents 
and friends. While there he was married and three months afterward re- 
turned to America, this time coming direct to and locating in Humboldt 
county. During the first two seasons he was employed on dairies in the 
vicinity of Ferndale, then, having saved some money, he determined to en- 
gage in business for himself. He leased a fifty-acre ranch on Coffee creek and 
ran a dairy of thirty cows, remaining on the place for six years. Next he 
leased a ranch of sixty acres on the island near Ferndale, where he continued 
in dairying one year. Later he rented the Woodland Echo ranch on Bear 
river ridge, where he had a dairy of seventy-five cows and made butter which 
he shipped to San Francisco. Three years later he gave this up and leased 
the Spicy Breezes ranch of eight hundred acres on Cape Mendocino and for 
seven years conducted a dairy of one hundred cows. In 1908 he leased the 
present place, the Buena Vista ranch, which is ideal for dairying purposes and 
under his careful management has been very profitable. Seventy milch cows 
comprise the dairy herd, and the principal product is first-class dairy butter, 
which is put up in one-hundred-pound kegs for the lumberwoods trade, bring- 
ing ordinarily from twenty-five to thirty-two cents a pound ; the usual quan- 
tity is twelve thousand pounds annually. A gas engine furnishes power for 
the separator and churn. About fifty calves are raised yearly, some kept to 
replenish the home herd and the rest sold when from three months to one 
year old ; besides, about eight cows are sent to the block each year. Mr. 
Guglielmina's two sons are assisting him faithfully with his work. 

Mr. Guglielmina was married in Cavergno, Switzerland, to Miss Josephine 
Beltrami, who passed away December 30, 1913, at the age of forty-seven years, 
her death being caused by heart disease. Three children were born to this 
union, Silvio Joseph, Lena Helen and Albert Clemerde. Mrs. Guglielmina 
was a faithful helpmate, and the daughter has been devoted to her home 
and of great assistance to her parents, her father especially appreciating this 
since his bereavement. He has never aspired to office nor taken any active 
part in politics, but gives his support to the Republican party. He and his 
family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Petrolia. He is liberal 
and enterprising and always ready to give of his time and means towards 
any movement that has for its purpose the upbuilding of the community 
and betterment of its citizens. His worthy ambition and the success of his 
honorable career are points that young people would do well to emulate. 



814, HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

GEORGE W. HUNTER.— About half way between Upper Mattole and 
Ettersburg is the home ranch of George W. Hunter, a member of the well 
known family of that name which has been associated with the development 
of this part of Humboldt county from the days of its first settlement. The 
Hunters are a family of distinctive traits and have been numerously repre- 
sented in the county for over half a century, 

Walker Sanders Hunter, father of George W. Hunter, was born in ]\Iont- 
goniery county. Mo., and followed farming in that state until 1854, when 
he brought his family across the plains to California. Like many other emi- 
grants, they made the trip in wagons drawn by oxen, the journey taking 
about six months. They arrived in the Mattole valley in Humboldt county 
the year mentioned, but the Indians being very troublesome, they went 
on up to Shasta county, where Mr. LIunter mined for about five years, 
near the little town of Buckeye and in sight of Mount Shasta. Returning to 
Humboldt county in June, 1859, he bought land in the Mattole valley, settling 
about two and a quarter miles from Petrolia, where he owned two claims, 
aggregating about eighteen hundred acres. He acquired large mercantile 
interests as well, his fortune at one time amounting probably to $100,000. But 
the mercantile A'enture, in which he had a partner, turned out unfortunately, 
and he lost $60,000. But he did not forfeit his integrity or honor, or his 
propensity for work, and his reputation and standing did not suffer with his 
loss of fortune. Seventeen years ago he returned to Missouri, where he has 
since lived, at Marshall, Saline county, now (1914), at the age of eighty-five, 
spending his days in peaceful retirement, in the enjoyment of excellent health. 
Mr. Hunter married Miss Nancy Bellamy, also of Missouri, who died at 
Petrolia in 1893, aged sixty-six years. They had a family of ten children : 
Elias, who lives at Petrolia, is mentioned fully elsewhere ; Pascal M., who 
died in April, 1912, at the age of fifty-six years, was lighthouse keeper at 
Punta Gorda, Cal. (he left six children) ; Eliza Ann, now a resident of Petrolia, 
has been twice married, her second husband being Robert Watson, who is 
deceased (she has five children) ; Melissa died when fifteen years old; Ange- 
line is the wife of Walter A. Scott, formerly of Humboldt county (where he 
served as supervisor), now of Seattle, Wash., and has three children living; 
Elvira is the wife of Barney McDonough, a rancher, of Corning, Tehama 
county, Cal., and has a family of six children ; Maggie, also of Corning, is 
married to Francis Muller, a ranchman, and has twelve children ; George W. 
is mentioned below ; Edward is a ranchman in Tehama county ; Thomas, 
who is a resident of Chehalis, Wash., is a widower with seven children. 

George W. Hunter was born October 23, 1866, near Petrolia, where he 
was reared and educated. He has been a representative Hunter in his home 
life, and in his relations to the community, having brought up a large and 
self-reliant family, and having himself succeeded by hard work in attaining 
substantial standing and comfortable means through his own efforts. His 
principal interests as stockman and farmer are on the place where he resides, 
a tract of six hundred forty acres on the main road between Upper Mattole 
and Ettersburg, adjoining which his son Ray has taken up one hundred sixty 
acres as a homestead. George W. Hunter also owns one hundred sixty acres 
four miles south of Petrolia. Mr. Hunter has handled his ranching operations 
carefully, and though he has had to. work hard he has had his reward in his 
continued prosperity and in the progress his children have made. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 815 

Mr. Hunter was but nineteen years old when he was married, near 
Petrolia, November 1, 1885, to Miss May Ellingwood, of Ferndale, who was 
then seventeen. She is the daughter of Giles Warren and Alice J. (Bishop) 
Ellingwood, both of whom were born near Eastport, Me. From there they 
came to California around Cape Horn on a sailing vessel to San Francisco 
in 1857. Settlement was first made in Santa Cruz, where Mr. Ellingwood 
followed ranching, after which for a time he worked at his trade of cooper 
in the Spreckels sugar refinery in San Francisco. In 18/9 he came to Ferndale 
and erected a cooper shop, making a specialty of the manufacture of butter 
kegs and fish barrels, and won the reputation of being the best cooper in the 
county. Mr. Ellingwood died in Oakland in 1906, and his widow passed away 
in Eureka in 1909. Of the six children born to them Mrs. Hunter was next 
to the youngest. She was born at Santa Cruz and was educated in the schools 
of San Francisco and Ferndale. 

Twelve children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, viz. : Levina, 
wife of Harry Schaffer, a tailor, of San Francisco (she taught school in Hum- 
boldt county and at San Francisco prior to her marriage) ; Dora, wife of 
Oscar Smith, an employe of the Union Iron Works, residing at San Francisco ; 
Ray, now twenty-four years old, who has acquired a homestead of one hun- 
dred sixty acres adjoining his father's place; Ira, who owns eighty acres in 
the Mattole valley ; Donald ; Grace ; Russell and Blanche, twins ; Clara ; 
Myrtle ; Lewis, and Madge. They are promising young people, healthy in 
mind and body, and appreciative of the efiforts the parents have made to 
afford them proper home environment and educational advantages. Mrs. 
Hunter has been an exceptionally capable helpmate and her husband at- 
tributes his prosperity to her practical encouragement as well as to his well 
directed labor. 

JOSEPH STOCKEL, SR.— Tracing his ancestry back through a long 
line of sturdy German stock, and himself a native of Strass, Bavaria, Germany,, 
born January 11, 1851, Joseph Stockel, Sr., is a true son of his father, sober, 
industrious, and frugal, giving his best effort to any endeavor to which he 
puts his hand, and meeting at all times with a more than ordinary meed of 
success. He is now the owner of much valuable property in Humboldt county, 
including some very valuable town property at Shively, where he makes his 
home ; a ranch of thirty-six acres at Shively, with $10,000 worth of improve- 
ments ; a stock range of one hundred sixty acres on Bull creek ; a homestead 
of one hundred sixty acres on Prairie creek ; a timber claim of three hundred 
twenty acres on the south fork of the Eel river, and a residence property 
on Harris street, in Eureka. His place at Shively is principally given over 
to the raising of fruit and vegetables, there being about fifteen acres of care- 
fully selected varieties of various kinds of fruits, which he retails in Eureka, 
making the Eureka place his headquarters during the fruit season. 

The father of Mr. Stockel, likewise Joseph Stockel, was a farmer in 
Bavaria, and served in the German army. His mother was Mary Rugger, 
also of Bavaria, both parents being now deceased. There were six children 
in their family, four sons and two daughters, Joseph being the first born. His 
mother died in 1859, when he was but eight years of age. He attended the 
common schools until he was fifteen years of age, and then was apprenticed 
to a carpenter and joiner, and at nineteen had mastered his trade, and for a 
year traveled over Germany as a journeyman. In 1871, when he was but 



816 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

twenty years of age, he left his native land for America, coming to West 
Chester, N. Y., where he took employment for a short time on a farm. He 
soon found employment more to his liking, however, in a furniture factory 
at Williamsburg, N. Y., where he continued until December 25, 1871, when 
he traveled westward to Chicago. This was soon after the great fire and 
there he found employment as a carpenter, working mostly in and around 
the great stock yards, where he became well acquainted with such historic 
characters as Old Hutch, P. D. Armour, the Swifts and Nelson Morris. 

It was in 1874 that Mr. Stockel first came to California, locating in San 
Francisco, where he found work at his trade. Later he came up to Humboldt 
county, arriving in Eureka in 1876, and has since that time made his home 
in this county. He at first purchased a horse and wagon and drove through 
the country, buying and selling farm produce, and later conducted a peddler's 
wagon throughout the county. In 1881 he preempted a timber claim on the 
south fork of the Eel river, near where U. S. Gi"ant Myers now lives, and 
improved the same, planting an orchard and erecting buildings. Later, in 
1885, he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres on Prairie creek. He had much 
trouble over the title to this last place, it being claimed by a mining company 
on account of the splendid w'ater right which it commanded, and it cost Mr. 
Stockel several thousands of dollars and years of litigation to secure a clear 
title to it. This property he also improved, and still owns. While living 
on this homestead he was married, in Eureka, January 29, 1891, to Miss 
Catherine Hassler, a native of Gross Sonnendeich, Schleswig, Germany, the 
daughter of John and Gescha (Caslen) Hassler. Mrs. Stockel's parents were 
born in Schleswig, Germany ; the mother died there ; her father came to 
America, and died in Eureka. Mrs. Stockel came to Humboldt county in i\Iay. 
1889. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stockel became proprietors of 
the Phillipsville store and ranch. After their children grew to school age, 
as the educational advantages in this section were very poor, Mr. Stockel 
decided to locate at Shively. Accordingly he came to this place and bought 
a part of the old Shively estate, where he has since made his home. He has 
erected many buildings in Shively, including several store buildings, a two- 
story hotel building known as Stockel's Resort, and several cottages which 
he rents to workmen and their families. 

Mr. Stockel stands high in the municipal councils of Shively, and while 
accredited as a Republican, he always supports what he believes will accom- 
plish the most good for the general public. He has served in various 
capacities in local political matters and his judgment is always respected. 
He is a keen business man and a born salesman and has prospered exceedingly 
in all that he has undertaken ; he, however, gives no small degree of credit 
for his success to his faithful wife, who has always given him her wise counsel 
and able assistance in all of his undertakings and ambitions. 

In 1913 Mr. Stockel made a visit to his old home in Bavaria, and traveled 
extensively throughout Germany, visiting all the larger cities and seeing all 
the points of interest throughout the Fatherland. He also visited many of 
the larger cities in the United States and Canada, visiting the east and south 
on his trip to Germany, and coming through Canada and down the west coast 
of the United States on his return journey. Arriving home, he enthusiastically 
declared Humboldt county to be the garden spot of them all. Mr. and Mrs. 
Stockel have six children, all natives of Humboldt county, where they are 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 819 

being reared and educated, and where they are well and favorably known. 
Of these, Martin is residing on the home ranch, which he assists to manage ; 
Andrew is in Fresno; Joseph, Jr., is on the home ranch; Frank is employed 
on the state highway ; Katie and Ida, the only daughters, are also residing 
at home, the latter graduating from the Eureka business college in 1915. 

JOHN EWING KANE.— Another of the substantial farmers of the 
Blue Lake region in Himiboldt county is John Ewing Kane, who for thirty 
years has been a resident of the county, coming here when he was scarcely 
twenty-one, and since that time making his home within the confines of 
Humboldt county. For much of the time he has been associated with the 
lumbering industry, but for a number of years past he has been engaged in 
farming, and today he owns' one of the most highly improved ranches in the 
valley, and is known as one of the prosperous farmers of Blue Lake. 

Mr. Kane is a native of Ireland, having been born in Ballycastle, 
County Antrim, April 11, 1864, the son of Daniel Kane, a farmer. Early in 
life the son became familiar with farm-life, as his duties on the ranch com- 
menced when he was a mere lad. His early education was received in the 
public schools, but a.t the age of sixteen he gave up school and went to 
work with his father on the farm. The conditions were not to his liking, 
however, and when he was twenty years of age he determined to seek his 
fortune in the land across the sea, where there were greater opportunities 
for the man who was not afraid to work. Accordingly he came to Ontario, 
Canada, in 1884, and for a year followed the life of the farmer in that region. 
At the end of the year he again moved westward, this time coming to 
Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., arriving in March, 1885. At first he se- 
cured employment with the Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company, and after 
several years of the mill work was promoted to the position of head-sorter. 
Two years later he went to work for John Vance in the mill on Mad river, 
remaining until 1890, when he entered the employ of Isaac Minor as head of 
the sorting department. Two years following he was with the Excelsior 
Company at Freshwater, and in 1898 returned to work for Mr. Minor at 
Glendale as head swamper. 

After several years at Glendale Mr. Kane transferred to the employ 
of Pollard & Dodge at Newburg, where he remained for some time, and 
then was with the Northern Redwood Lumber Company for eight years. 

During all these years in the Avoods Mr. Kane had been accumulating a 
fund for the purchase of a farm, it being his greatest ambition to own a 
tract of land in this region. In 1912 he was enabled to purchase the place 
which has been his home ever since. This is a tract of forty acres of im- 
proved land, all under cultivation, besides which there is an apple orchard 
of ten acres, all in bearing. At the time of purchase there was a large 
house on the place, but little else. Mr. Kane has erected a large barn and 
other outbuildings and in other ways improved the property. He is at 
present engaged in dairying and is meeting with much success. He started 
with only twelve milch cows, but has since continued to increase his herd. 
The ranch is acknowledged to be one of the best in the community, and 
under the present skilful management is proving very profitable. Mr. 
Kane's long experience in the woods makes his services in demand with 
lumber companies and he is now head swamper with the Northern Redwood 
Company in the Korbel woods. 



820 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Kane has many friends throughout the valley, especially among the 
men with whom he has worked for so many years in the forests and the 
mills. He is a Republican in politics, but has never been especially active 
in political affairs. He is progressive and up to date and well informed on 
all current topics. He was made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, is a 
member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., and of Areata Chapter 
No. 207, O. E. S., also of No Surrender Loyal Orange Lodge No. 143, 
L O. R. M. 

Mr. Kane was first married to Mary Redmond, who was born in Ireland 
and was a sister of the present sheriff, Robert A. Redmond, of Eureka. 
She died on January 28, 1903, leaving six children : Bessie, Mrs. McBride 
of Fieldbrook ; Sadie, bookkeeper for A. Brizard Company, Areata; Alex- 
ander, fireman for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and residing in South 
Bay; James, managing the home ranch; and Jennie and Bernice. Mr. 
Kane's second marriage, in Eureka, united him with Miss Jane McMillan, 
a native of Ireland, who came to Eureka in 1904. 

LEON BAKER. — A native of Warren county. Pa., and born in Colum- 
bus, February 3, 1859, Leon Baker has been a resident of Humboldt county, 
Cal., since 1912. For the greater part of his life he has been engaged in 
merchandising and has been very successful in his undertakings. For the 
last few years he has been retired from active business, and is living quietly 
at his home in Blue Lake, enjoying the fruits of many years of industry. 

Mr. Baker received his early education in the public schools of Columbus, 
attending the grammar and high schools until he was seventeen years of 
age, at which time he went to work in a general merchandise store, remaining 
in this position for two years. When he was nineteen he went to Lincoln, 
Neb., and took up the trade of harnessmaker, working at this for four years 
and becoming very proficient in all the details. Later he started in business 
for himself, opening a small hardware store in Lincoln in 1882. Starting on 
a small scale, Mr. Baker builded on a firm foundation, and gradually enlarged 
his stock of goods, and in a short time he owned one of the best establish- 
ments in Lincoln, with a splendid trade both for his hardware enterprise 
and his harness shop, his reputation as a skilled harnessmaker being well 
known throughout the community. 

When A/fr. Baker first came to Lincoln it was a town of from eight 
thousand to ten thousand inhabitants, and his business grew with the city 
(now something like fifty thousand inhabitants). His sons still have charge 
of the business which their father established, which is today one of the 
large concerns of Lincoln. In 1908 he incorporated his business as the Baker 
Hardware Company, of which he is president. In 1912 he retired and moved 
to Blue Lake. In 1914 he was elected a member of the board of city trustees 
and is giving his time to improvement of the town. He has latelj^ been elected 
president of the LIumboldt Federated Commercial Bodies. 

The marriage of Mr. Baker took place in Lincoln, Neb., i\Iay 20. 1885, 
uniting him with Miss Maggie Wittmann, a native of Ripley county, Ind., 
born November 2, 1862. She has borne her husband five children, three 
daughters and two sons : Mary, Mrs. Frost, of Opportunity, Neb. ; Lewis 
W., manager of the store in Lincoln. Neb. ; Susie H., Mrs. Eugene Fountain, 
of Areata; Marguerite, violinist in Minor Theater, Areata; and Walter J., 
at home. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 821 

Mr. Baker is the son of Lewis Baker, a native of New York, born in 
Freedom, March 31, 1833. His paternal great-grandfather. Captain Stuart, 
served in the Revolutionary war. He attended a private school for a time 
and when he was ten years of age moved with his parents to Columbus, Pa. 
When a young man he went to work in the oil fields of that vicinity, they 
being the first to be developed in that section of the state. In 1880 he started 
in business for himself, opening a general merchandise store and later adding 
a hardware department. He continued to conduct this business until 1901, 
when he retired from active life, and is enjoying the declining years of his 
life in rest and quiet. He has always been actively interested in the affairs 
of his community and especially in questions of public welfare. He is a 
Republican in politics, and has been closely associated with the affairs of 
his party, and at one time was assemblyman in the state legislature of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The father of Mrs. Baker was Joseph Wittmann, a native of Germany, 
born in 1837, and a harnessmaker by trade. In 1859 he came to the L^nited 
States and followed his trade here, locating first at Ripley, Ind. For eleven 
years he followed his trade of harnessmaker and saddler, during a part of 
this time also carrying a hardware stock in connection with his other lines. 
In 1870 he moved to Lincoln, Neb., which was then a very small place, Mr. 
Wittmann being one of the pioneers of the city, and there as in Indiana he 
followed his trade with good returns. He was a Democrat in politics and 
was always interested in the affairs of his party. He passed away in 1904, 
having for the previous few years been retired from active participation in 
business and political affairs. 

DAVID MILTON RAMSEY.— No childhood memories have survived 
the flight of years with greater vividness than those of Mr. Ramsey in con- 
nection with the trip to California in 1853 from Missouri, where he was born 
in the city of St. Louis, August 24, 1844. Almost before time had begun to 
be measured for him, his father had died and the mother had married again, 
so it happened that he came with his stepfather to the west, enduring the 
hardships of the voyage via the Isthmus of Panama, then crossing to the 
Pacific on muleback, and lastly traversing the broad expanse of water to 
San Francisco on the John L. Stevens, one of the old vessels then in use. 
The family settled in Sierra (now Plumas) county, and the stepfather, a 
inan of energy and business aptitude, carried on a large mercantile establish- 
ment at Warren Hill, besides conducting two branch stores at other points 
in the same county. One of his most important enterprises was the buying of 
gold dust for the AVells Fargo Express Company. 

David M. Ramsey attended local schools until 1858, after which he 
became a student at Durant College, Oakland. After completing his college 
course, he joined his parents who had in the meantime moved to the ranch 
at Cloverdale, in Sonoma county, after leaving the mining regions. This was 
a part of an old Spanish grant and embraced one-half square mile of bottom 
land, together with four hundred fifty acres of pasture land. Few settlers 
had preceded him into the solitudes of that section. Over broad ranges his 
cattle wandered unmolested and he found cattle-raising, with the subsidiary 
occupation of hog-raising, a source of fair profit. However, the isolation from 
other farmers, the distance from markets and the proximity of hostile Indians 
caused the family to dispose of their large holdings and remove in 1866 to 



822 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

San Francisco, where the son David secured a position in the postofifice and 
also became a member of the Military Band, also taking a course in a business 
college while in that city. 

Coming to Eureka in 1899, Mr. Ramsey for five years acted as local agent 
for the C. P. Doe Steamship Company, since leaving which position he has 
been associated with the Humboldt Stevedore Company as paymaster, 
handling all the finances and superintending difficult matters with an accuracy 
that has met the approval of his employers. During hours of leisure from 
business duties he has found pleasure and profit in developing, into a summer 
hunting and fishing camp, a tract of one hundred sixty acres on Mad river, at 
the mouth of Blue creek, having a half mile of Mad river on his place. When 
he secured the tract it was a timber claim and is still studded with pine and 
tan oak. On the property he has put up a rustic bungalow, made from red- 
wood shakes ; here he makes his headquarters, and for diversion he spends 
frequent vacations in the healthful sports of hunting and fishing. As a youth 
of twelve years, Mr. Ramsey ran the pack train for his stepfather, in old 
Sierra county, gathering the gold dust from the dififerent stores and bringing 
it by muleback to the main store at Warren Hill. In his leisure hours he 
worked on an old abandoned claim from which he had the clean-up, and from 
this source he secured a fair return for his labor. He has never fully re- 
covered from the lure of seeking the elusive gold dust and it is difficult for 
him to refrain from joining the rush to the different gold strikes that are made. 

Through his marriage to Anna A. Condon, a native of Belfast, Me., and 
a daughter of Isaac Condon, who was a member of the Vigilance Committee 
in San Francisco, Mr. Ramsey became united with one of the pioneer families 
of California. During the early 70s his wife's father had come to Humboldt 
county and embarked in the occupation of fishing for halibut off the Mendo- 
cino coast, stopping the steamers on their way to San Francisco and loading 
his catch on board, for sale in the city markets, where halibut in those days 
brought a price of about forty cents per pound. 

CHARLES HART KINSEY.— Through the accomplishments of father 
and son the name of Kinsey is well and favorably known, not only in Eureka 
but through a large portion of Humboldt, where both have passed the greater 
part of their lives and where their interests are now centered. (For a more 
detailed account of the family the reader is referred to the sketch of Louis 
T. Kinsey on another page.) 

The son of Louis Thompson and Sarah Jane (Hart) Kinsey, Charles Hart 
Kinsey was born in Eureka, January 5, 1876. His boyhood and youth were 
passed in his birthplace, and in the meantime he secured a good common 
school education here. Following closely upon his graduation from the 
Eureka high school in 1893 he matriculated in Leland Stanford Jr. University, 
continuing his studies in that institution during the years 1894 and 1895. A 
leaning toward a study of the law characterized the next two years of his 
life, while pursuing his legal training at the Hastings College of Law in San 
Francisco. In 1898 he left school and returned to Humboldt county to take 
charge of a ranch, assuming active management of a five thousand acre 
property for a period of seven years, or until 1905. After leaving the ranch 
he returned to San Francisco and again pursued the study of law, being 
admitted to the bar in 1907. For two years he was a law clerk in the office 
of Jordon, Rowe & Brann, and in 1909 opened an office of his own. His 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 825 

independent practice was continued for a year, at which time he formed a 
partnership with Fabius M. Clark. The partnership still exists, but Air. 
Kinsey divides his time between San Francisco and Humboldt county. In 
1914 he purchased the Nunn ranch near Garberville, in Humboldt county, and 
also the ranch of his father's near Briceland. Since joining the two proper- 
ties Mr. Kinsey has one of the finest cattle ranches in the state. 

The marriage of Charles H. Kinsey united him with Alice Benicia Hulse 
on October 19, 1907. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, 
and while residing in San Francisco was a member of the Commonwealth 
Club and Union League Club. 

JACOB MINER. — In his day Jacob Miner was one of the well known 
farmers and stockmen of the Mattole valley, and his widow still occupies 
the beautiful home at Petrolia which he erected in 1881. She, too, is a 
member of one of the early families of this region, the Johnstons, who came 
here with the Miners in the year 1868. Theirs were the first wagons ever 
brought in over the mountains, and this fact well illustrates the sturdy 
courage and resourcefulness which enabled Mr. Miner to make his way in 
the face of the difficulties which the pioneers encountered here. He was a 
man of high character and ability, and his widow has been no less favorably 
known among her neighbors and friends, her active and helpful life, and 
kindliness in all its relations, having been one of the distinct forces for good 
. in the community for many years. 

Mr. Miner was a native of Ohio, born February 23, 1827, and was a son 
of Allen Miner, a native of New York state. Though only seven years old 
during the war of 1812 the father was impressed into the service to the 
extent of taking a team and sleigh load of volunteer soldiers armed with 
muzzle-loaders and provided with powder horns to take part in the battle 
of Lundy's Lane, and was sent back home with the team. During his young 
manhood he drifted to Kentucky and thence to Ohio, practicing law in Cin- 
cinnati for a time. In Ohio he married a Miss Sophina Searles, and they had 
seven children : Jacob, Ichabod, David, Cyrus, Elizabeth, Lucinda and 
Amanda. For a number of years the family lived in Wisconsin. 

Jacob Miner came to California in 1850, and ten years later married Miss 
Cavy Ann Johnston. For several years they lived at Marysville, in Yuba 
county, where he engaged in the ice and teaming business, dealing in that 
commodity quite extensively, and keeping several teams on the road. In 
1868 they moved thence to Humboldt county, Mrs. Miner's father and his 
family, and Cyrus Miner, brother of Jacob, coming at the same time. They 
all settled on the Mattole, and Jacob Miner became a large landowner in this 
region, improving a stock ranch of about one thousand acres lying along the 
north fork of the river. In 1881 he built the beautiful residence at Petrolia 
where his widow still resides ; the property comprises eleven acres, on which 
there is a thrifty family orchard, and the place is one of the most desirable 
homes in the town. ]\Ir. jNIiner died April 20, 1884. Having no children, ]\Irs. 
Miner reared a niece, Addie Johnston, a daughter of her brother, Charles A. 
Johnston, bringing her up from childhood ; she is now the wife of Rev. Ernest 
Gregg, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Areata ; they have 
three children : Edith L., Cavy A. and Marian E. 

]\Irs. IMiner was born at Cascade, Jones county, Iowa, April 28. 1837, 
and was fifteen years old when she crossed the plains with her father, who 



826 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

was captain of the train. She taught school in Yuba county some time before 
her marriage. She is a very zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Petrolia, and her many acts of Christian devotion and loving 
thought for all her circle of friends and acquaintances have endeared her to 
a large number who are happy to count so useful a member of society among 
their associates. 

Charles B. Johnston, Mrs. Aiiner's father, was born in Guernsey county, 
Ohio, and his wife, Catharine (Smith), was also a native of that state. They 
were married near Bloomington, 111. Moving with their family to the vicinity 
of Galena, 111., they went farther west from there, into Iowa and Missouri, 
back again to Jones county, Iowa, in 1835, and thence over the plains to 
California in 1852. Charles B. Johnston liked frontier life and knew how to 
get along with the Indians, and he was personally acquainted with a number 
of the notable characters of the middle west, Abraham Lincoln among them. 
When the Black Hawk war broke out he enlisted and was captured, but 
fortunately he had had some acquaintance with and had befriended Black 
Hawk, the Indian chief, and the chief furnished him a horse to make his 
escape. His experience qualified him thoroughly to lead his party across the 
plains, and he was chosen captain. Happily they had only one small skirmish 
with the Indians en route, on the Platte river, and drew up safely at La Porte, 
near Gibsonville, in Sierra county. There the Johnston family first settled, 
Mr. Johnston engaging in mining at that location for six years, and for one 
year he was at the Cabbage Patch, in Yuba county, where he mined and kept 
hotel. Thence they moved to the prairie diggings near Brown's Valley, Yuba 
county, remaining there until 1863, after which for several years they were 
on a nearby ranch, which he operated. In 1868 they came to the Mattole, and 
Mr. Johnston took up one hundred sixty acres of land at Upper Mattole, where 
most of the rest of his life was passed. He died at Petrolia in 1885, when 
seventy-five years old, and his widow died there in 1902, at the age of eighty- 
five years. Nine children were born to them, only three of whom stirvive, 
William, the eldest son, having been accidentally killed in July, 1914; he was 
employed at the Anaconda mine. Cavy Ann is the widow of Jacob Miner. 
Samuel S., of National City, San Diego county, Cal., was formerly postmaster 
there. Charles A. is a prominent resident of the Petrolia region, mentioned 
elsewhere in this work. 

CYRUS MINER, brother of the late Jacob Miner, was born in 1843 in 
Rock county, Wis., about three and a half miles from Evansville, on the old 
Madison-Janesville stage road, and was reared in that county up to the age 
of fourteen years. At that time he struck out for himself. Going down to 
the Kansas-Missouri border he was drawn into the local embroilments en- 
gendered by the Civil war, and when it was found necessary to declare martial 
law in the border counties he was called upon for service and placed in the 
militia by the sheriff of Linn county, Kans. He was drafted into the Union 
service under General Lane, and served in one battle and a number of 
skirmishes ; he saw the city of Lawrence, Kans., as it lay in ruins right after 
it was sacked and burned by Quantrell. In the years immediately following 
he led a typical frontiersman's life in Idaho, Washington, California and 
Nevada. In 1863 he teamed to Wallula and Walla Walla, W^ash., hauling 
freight, and from Marysville, Cal., to Virginia City, Nev. During those 
adventurous years he met mail)' of the characters famous in that region. 



HISTORY OF HUlA/[BOLDT COUNTY 827 

Lieutenant Adams, Senator Jones, Stewart, Hearst, Stanford and Mark 
Twain, the latter when he founded and ran the Virginia City Enterprise. Mr. 
Miner continued at Virginia City until the fall of 1868, when he joined his 
brother Jacob on the north fork of the Alattole river, in Humboldt county, 
and has lived in the valley ever since. In partnership with his brother he 
operated in cattle and lands, and they both prospered, becoming citizens of 
substance and standing in this region. Mr. IMiner is a Republican on political 
questions, but has never been active enough in such matters to take any direct 
part in the conduct of public affairs. 

GEORGE WILLIAM PATMORE.— Well known throughout Hum- 
boldt county in the dual role of stockman and contractor for railroad ties, 
George AA'illiam Patmore is one of the influential and prosperous men of the 
vicinity of Dyerville, where his interests are centered. He is also interested 
in the large general merchandise store at Rohnerville which belonged to his 
late father, George Patmore, he being one of the heirs to the family estate 
of which this store is a part. Although yet a comparatively young man, Mr. 
Patmore is the father of a large and interesting family in whom he takes a 
keen interest and pride. In his business interests he is broadminded and 
generous, and especially capable. He is possessed of the magnetic confi- 
dence of the successful man and is popular with a wide circle of friends and 
acquaintances. 

Mr. Patmore is a native of California, born in Brown's Valley, Yuba 
county, April 5, 1869, and was brought to Humboldt county when he was 
six weeks old. He is the son of George Patmore, one of the most respected 
of California pioneers, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this edition, and 
who died at Eureka in August, 1914, at the age of seventy, as the result of a 
surgical operation. He was a native of England, and crossed the Atlantic on 
the Great Eastern on her maiden voyage. He came to California and for a 
time engaged in quartz mining in Brown's Valley and at Marysville, and also 
worked at his trade of house painter. He met Miss Elizabeth Wright in 
Brown's Valley, where they were married. He came to Elk's Prairie in 1869 
and engaged in ranching, meeting with much success. He took up the place 
that is now owned by John Bryan, who conducts a summer resort there, 
known as Bryan's Rest. A short while before taking up this property Mr. 
Patmore lived with his family at old Camp Grant, and while there his house 
was robbed by the Indians, who took everything that he possessed. The wife 
died while living at Bryan's Rest, leaving five children, only three of whom 
are now living, David John, the third born, having died at the age of seven 
years, and Edward, the next child, having died at the age of four. The living 
members of the family are : Mary, who is single and resides at Rohnerville, 
where she has charge of the management of her late father's general mer- 
chandise store; George William, the subject of this article; and Elizabeth, 
now the wife of Charles Avers, at Fortuna. 

Mr. Patmore is one of the true pioneers of Humboldt county and can 
relate many interesting experiences of his childhood days. He attended the 
district school, when there was one available, and at fourteen he learned the 
painter's trade and thereafter worked with his father, being engaged in this 
occupation for some five or six years. AA'hen he was nineteen he took charge 
of his father's ranch on the Eel river, and when twenty-one took up a home- 
stead, a preemption claim and a timber claim, all adjoining. His father and 



828 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

sisters also took up similar claims in the same location. Later Mr. Patmore 
made a trade with his father, exchanging his redwood timber claim for the 
latter's stock ranch, and now owns nine hundred sixty acres, all of which 
is suitable for a stock ranch. He runs from three hundred to five hundred head 
of sheep, thirty-five to forty head of cattle, and about twenty head of horses 
and colts. 

At Blocksburg, December 11, 1896, Mr. Patmore was married to Miss 
Cora Wheat, a native of Humboldt county. Mrs. Patmore is the daughter 
of William and Jennie Wheat, her father, now deceased, being a member of 
the firm of Wheat Brothers, pioneer stockmen of Dyerville. Her mother is 
still residing on the Wheat ranch located about four miles south of Dyerville. 
Mr. and Mrs. Patmore are the parents of eight children, all natives of this 
county. They are Fred, Nellie, Ruby, John, Edith, AVilliam, Donald and Keith. 
Mr. Patmore, while giving his first thought to the conduct of his large 
stock business, is handling at this time an extensive contract for getting out 
ten thousand railroad ties for the Pacific Lumber Company, of Scotia. He 
maintains a camp near Dyerville, where he has eight or more men employed. 
He makes most of these ties from trees that float down the Eel river. 

The afl^airs of his home community are always of the keenest interest 
to Mr. Patmore, and he is high in the confidence of his political party, he 
being affiliated with the Republicans. In all local matters he is progressive 
and wide awake to the best interests of the community, and gives freely of 
his time and ability for the public weal. In educational matters he is especially 
progressive and believes in maintaining a high standard of excellence in the 
public and high schools. 

GEORGE A. PRICE.— Well known throughout Humboldt county as 
the descendant of one of the oldest and best known, as well as the most 
highly respected of the early pioneer families, George A. Price is acknowl- 
edged to be a worthy son of his splendid father, the man for whom Price creek 
was named. He is a native of Humboldt county and practically his entire 
life has been passed within its confines. He has been engaged in farming, 
dairying and stock-raising for many years, and now owns some very valuable 
real estate, and also some fine herds of cattle. He is still in the prime of life 
and takes an active part in all that concerns the general public interests of 
his home community, being especially prominent in lodge circles throughout 
the county. 

George A. Price was born on the old homestead on Grizzly Blufif, August 
17, 1869, the son of Isaac Price, who was born near Hot Springs, Buncombe 
county, N. C, in 1828, and came to California in an early day, and after 
spending several years in mining and other activities in this state, Oregon 
and Utah, finally located in Humboldt county in 1852, and thereafter made 
this his home. He was a soldier during the Mexican war, in 1846-48, and 
later did service in New Mexico, near Santa Fe, where he helped to subdue 
the hostile Indians. Following this he carried the mail from Salt Lake City 
to The Dalles, Ore., and at a still later date freighted in the Sacramento 
valley. For a year he mined at Yreka, Cal., and then came to Humboldt 
county, in 1852, as before stated. He was married in 1853 to Miss Rachael 
B. Wyatt, at Areata, the bride being a native of Illinois, born near Quincy, 
and having crossed the plains with the Stokes family, of Areata. The father 
of Mr. Price was a Democrat and took an active part in the development and 



HISTORY OF HUAIBOLDT COUNTY 829 

governmental affairs of Humboldt county. They had ten children : George 
A., the subject of this sketch, being the youngest. Of the others, Benjamin 
is engaged in the creamery business, and resides in Scott's valley, near Lake- 
port, Lake county, Cal. ; Flora v^as Mrs. Parker, who died at the age of nine- 
teen ; Addie is now Mrs. Simonds of Fortuna, and the mother of two children ; 
Jefferson owns a ranch at Metropolitan, but resides with his family in Oak- 
land ; Dora is the widow of Brice M. Stokes, of Los Angeles ; John is a con- 
ductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad, residing in Los Angeles ; William 
resides near AVaddington ; Milton and Fred were accidentally drowned many 
years ago in Price creek, aged seven and five respectively. 

The boyhood days of George A. Price were spent on his father's farm, 
and his education was received in the public schools of his district, and later 
at the Eureka business college. He has been engaged in dairy-farming and 
stock-raising all his life, and now owns a fine ranch of four hundred sixty- 
eight acres on Grizzly Bluff. He was born on this place, his father having 
located this ranch, the only one on the Bluff, as a government claim when 
there were but few other white settlers in the vicinity. When, many years 
ago, his aged father went to Los Angeles to live with another son to escape 
the rigors of the northern winters, George A. took over the home place and 
has since continued to conduct it along profitable lines. His father, how- 
ever, returned to the home place and died in Humboldt county, October 4, 
1909, in his eighty-second year, the mother having passed away in 1891, at 
the age of sixty-two. 

The marriage of ]\Ir. Price occurred in 1900, uniting him with Miss Mary 
O'Leary, a natiA^e daughter of Humboldt county, who only lived a year and 
a half after their marriage. Mr. Price is prominent in lodge circles, having 
been made a Mason in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., and is a member 
of Ferndale Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. He is also a member 
of the Eureka Lodge of Elks and of the Ferndale Lodge of the Knights of 
Pythias. He has taken an especially active part in the affairs of these two 
latter organizations, and has passed through all of the chairs of both orders. 
He was chancellor at the time of the building of the Knights of Pythias Castle 
at Ferndale, and was a vital factor in the successful completion of this work, 
which was built in 1895 and formally dedicated in 1896. In his political views 
Mr. Price is loyal to Democratic principles, while in local issues he supports 
those who are working for the greatest good of the community, and for 
progress along lines of permanent achievement. 

ALICE E. CATON. — One of the pioneer women of California, and a 
native of Humboldt county, is Mrs. Alice Caton, nee Conness, who is today 
one of the best known and most highly respected women of Garberville. As 
the adopted daughter of Jacob C. Garber, the founder of Garberville, and the 
man for whom the town was named, she spent her girlhood in her present 
home city, and is remembered by its older residents from the time of her 
childhood. She is a woman of splendid character and ability, possessing 
much business acumen, and is a genuine helpmeet to her husband, and his 
partner in various business ventures. She is also a most womanly woman 
in the truest sense of the word and is accomplished beyond the usual stan- 
dards. She is especially talented in music, and has received a splendid musical 
education, being at one time a professional pianist of much ability and no 
little reputation. 



830 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mrs. Caton is now the wife of Joseph Caton, who for some years has 
been a foreman of the Tooby Brothers' ranch on the south fork of the Eel 
river, one and a quarter miles south of Garberville. The property consists 
of twelve thousand acres, and is one of the best ranches in the county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Caton are also part owners in a property of seven hundred sixty-five 
acres, five miles up the Eel river, where they are engaged in stock-raising, 
and they own their own residence in Garberville. 

Mrs. Caton was born near Petrolia, Humboldt county, December 24, 
1863. Her parents were John and Ellen (Sutherland) Coriness, the former 
a native of Missouri, and the latter of Humboldt county, Cal. The father 
was thrown from a horse and fatally injured, dying immediately afterward, 
when Mrs. Caton was so young that she has no recollection whatever of him. 
There were two children : Alice Emma, now Mrs. Caton, and George, who 
died when he was eighteen years of age. 

When Mrs. Caton was but seven years of age she was taken by ]\Ir. and 
Mrs. Jacob C. Garber and reared by them as their own daughter, although 
never legally adopted. She received every advantage that was offered for 
education and general culture and she feels toward her foster parents all the 
tenderness and afi^ection of a true daughter. After her marriage with Mr. 
Caton, which took place in Garberville, she went with her husband to Trinity 
county, where they lived for a time, later returning to Garberville, where they 
have since made their home, and where today Mrs. Caton is one of the 
leading women in the community. 

Jacob C. Garber was one of the earliest settlers in this vicinity, and is 
often called the "pioneer of pioneers." He was born at Fort Republic, Va., 
January 7 , 1824. His early life was passed in Virginia and in Ohio, where 
he received his education. Later he resided for a time in Iowa and also in 
New York. It was in 1845 that he came to California, locating in Trinity 
county, where he was engaged in mining for a number of years, later serving 
as county recorder with much credit to himself. He finally removed to 
Humboldt county, where he engaged in the general merchandise business, 
and in farming near the present site of Garberville. 

In 1887 Mr. Garber removed to Grangeville, Idaho, and soon was made 
postmaster of that place, which position he held until the time of his death, 
October 2, 1904. Following his death, his wife, Julia A. (Wheeler) Garber, 
continued to conduct the afifairs of the postoffice during the remainder of the 
term, and is still living at Grangeville. Mr. and Mrs. Garber never had any 
children of their own, and the place thus left empty in their hearts was 
filled by Alice Emma Conness, now Mrs. Caton, whom they adopted into 
their home when she was seven years of age, and whom they reared as their 
own child. 

In the vicinity of Garberville both Mr. and Mrs. Garber are remembered 
with kindly good will by the older residents. They were people of superior 
worth, representing the true pioneer type, strong, energetic, industrious, 
with a deep love for the soil and for the growing things of the great out-of- 
doors. The general merchandise store opened by Mr. Garber marked the site 
of the present bustling center which bears his name, and which is a monu- 
ment to his ability and industry. 

JOSEPH CATON.— Although a native of Portugal, and descended from 
a long line of Portuguese ancestry, Joseph Caton is none the less a true Call- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 831 

fornian. He came to this state with his parents when he was a child of but 
four years, locating in Trinity county in 1863. Since that time he has made 
this state his home continuously, residing for the most part either in Trinity 
or Humboldt county. For some years he has been a foreman on Tooby 
Brothers' ranch on the south fork of the Eel river, one of the most celebrated 
properties in the county. It contains twelve thousand acres, and was formerly 
known as the Wood's ranch, and is a property of great value. Mr. Caton also 
owns extensive property of his own, and is engaged in stock-raising on the 
Eel river in partnership with Norman Rice, where, together with Mrs. Caton, 
they own a stock range of seven hundred sixty-five acres, all valuable land. 

Mr. Caton was born in Portugal, December 10, 1859, the son of Joseph 
and Francisca Caton. They came to America in 1863, settling in Trinity 
county, Cal., where the father is still living at the age of seventy-five years. 
He has been engaged in working in the mines during his entire lifetime. 
There were eight children in the family, all born in Trinity county save the 
two eldest, Joseph, now residing at Garberville, and Mary, who became Mrs. 
Rogers and lived for many years in Trinity county, passing away June 1, 
1914. The other children are : Fannie, the wife of John King, and residing 
in Sutter county ; Annie, the wife of Samuel Williams, residing in Trinity 
county ; Frank, deceased ; Tony, a farmer in Trinity county ; John, a miner in 
Trinity county ; and Maggie, deceased. The mother is also deceased. 

Joseph Caton began working in the placer mines of Trinity county when 
he was but fourteen years of age, being associated with his father for two 
years, and later for a like period of time with a miner named Silcox. Follow- 
ing this he was variously employed until he was twenty years of age, when 
he went into Humboldt county, arriving at Garberville in 1881. For a time 
he worked for Woods Brothers teaming, and later was employed on the 
famous Wood ranch on Eel river. 

The marriage of Mr. Caton took place in Garberville, uniting him with 
Miss Alice Emma Conness, the daughter of John and Ellen (Sutherland) 
Conness, and a native of Humboldt county, Cal. Mrs. Caton was the foster 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Garber, for whom Garberville is named, and 
her sketch also appears in this work. Following his marriage Mr. Caton 
returned to Trinity county and engaged in the stock business for some three 
or four years, later returning to Garberville to take charge of the Ray ranch, 
remaining there as manager for seven years. He then moved into Garberville 
and took a mail contract, and drove the stage from Garberville to Kenny, in 
Mendocino county. Later he drove stage for Mr. Hamilton and also for the 
Garberville ^Mercantile Company. 

Air. Caton is a man of superior type. He is a true optimist with unwaver- 
ing faith in the future of the county, and is always bright and cheerful, even 
under the most trying circumstances. He is an ardent worker, never faltering 
because an undertaking presents difficulties, and needless to say, he is an 
enthusiastic booster for Humboldt county and for the Garberville region in 
particular. His home place in Garberville, which consists of a comfortable 
residence and six acres of land, is one of the most attractive places in town, 
being well improved and well kept. 

Aside from his business associations Mr. Caton is deservedly popular 
for his sterling qualities as a man and a citizen. He served two years as town 
constable, giving the greatest satisfaction in the discharge of his duties. He 



832 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

is a Republican of the progressive type, and is always to be found on the side 
of progress and right, placing principle before party affiliations at all times, 
and in all local matters giving precedence to the character and type of the 
man, rather than to mere party lines. He is an advocate of temperance re- 
form and works earnestly for a "dry" town, and is also in favor of state- 
wide prohibition. In his political principles he is aided and supported by his 
wife, who is recognized as one of the most capable and efficient women in 
Garberville, and whose power for good is recognized Avherever she is known. 

NAZARETH ACADEMY, BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL.— Estab- 
lished in Eureka June 22, 1912, under the supervision of the Right Reverend 
Thomas Grace, D. D., Bishop of Sacramento, and with the assistance of the 
Very Reverend L. Kennedy, V. G., rector of St. Bernard's Church in Eureka, 
with the Sisters of St. Joseph in actual charge of the work of establishment, 
the Nazareth Academy has, within the short time elapsed since its founding, 
assumed a place of importance in the educational life of the county and state. 
This Community of Sisters is known throughout the world for its splendid 
educational work as well as its charity and philanthropy, its schools being 
among the most successful. The Sisters of St. Joseph were canonically 
established at Le Puy, France, March 10, 1651, and since that time many 
schools of high standard, as well as hospitals, have been established and much 
splendid work accomplished. Bishop Grace, having heard of the proficient 
work done by the sisterhood in the Archdiocese of Chicago, requested that a 
school be opened in his diocese. After mature deliberation. Mother M. 
Bernard determined to answer the call provided she were given the assistance 
of sufficient volunteers to undertake the work of establishing the new school. 
Volunteers were not wanting and those especially fitted for the work were 
selected. The city of Eureka was the location chosen and accordingly plans 
were made for the founding of the present Nazareth Academy, which is now 
playing such an important part in the education of the county. 

Monsignor Kennedy has been untiring in his efforts from the very begin- 
ning and. through the co-operation of his parishioners, the buildings, Naza- 
reth Academy and Nazareth Convent, have been erected at C and Dollison 
streets. The high standards of learning and excellent social and moral train- 
ing of the Academy are attracting the attention of parents of all denomina- 
tions. Pupils are always under the watchful supervision of the Sisters, and 
parents may be certain that care is taken to foster and develop in the minds 
of their children those principles of virtue which alone can render education 
profitable. 

The scope of the new edvicational institution is such as to recommend it 
to those desiring a broad and comprehensive training for their children, as 
it includes academic, commercial, preparatory, primary and kindergarten work, 
each branch containing the latest modern requirements in that particular 
line. Foreign languages, painting, dramatic art and physical training receive 
special attention, while the department of music is conducted on the plan 
of the best conservatories of Europe. All instruments are taught, special 
attention being given to the piano, violin, harp and to the voice. The domestic 
art and science department ofifers a complete course in these branches. All 
students are entered on probation. Monthly tests are given and reports sent to 
parents or guardians, the progress of the student being indicated by the com- 
bined results of these reviews and of their class work. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 835 

The location of the Academy is ideal in every particular. Its elevation 
commands a wonderful view of the surrounding- country — a view that cannot 
be surpassed for beauty and grandeur, and which is seldom equaled. Spread- 
ing below on one side may be seen the picturesque Humboldt bay and the 
vast Pacific, where the sunsets are ever a marvel of beauty, while on the 
landward side are the stately redwood forests and the magnificent snow- 
capped mountains. This healthful location with its atmosphere of peace is 
most conducive to study. 

Soon after the arrival of the Sisters the real work of the Community was 
taken up. Bishop Grace visited Eureka and on July 17, 1912, gave the habit 
of the sisterhood to the first candidate of the Community. The second re- 
ligious reception was held January 6, 1913, when the first two of Eureka's 
young ladies were received. Up to the time of this writing six other 3'oung 
ladies of the same city have entered. 

The chief work of the Community is educational, hence it is the custom 
of the Community to educate talented young girls in that line of work for 
which they are best fitted. Upon entrance they are immediately placed in 
the training school of the Community and firmly grounded in its educational 
principles and methods before being permitted in any of its departments as 
teachers. Those showing no aptitude for the work of teachers are trained in 
other lines such as nursing, etc. 

The Nazareth Academy, being the first school that the Sisters of St. 
Joseph have opened in northern California, is planning to extend its work in 
the state. Other schools will be established, the first one to be at Ferndale, 
under the direction of Reverend J. J. Gleason, who is pastor of the Catholic 
population there. Thus will the splendid work of the Sisters of St. Joseph 
extend from the ^lother-House in Eureka and develop in other parishes 
as well. 

GEORGE G. CURLESS.— The foreman of the Blocksburg ranch of the 
Russ Investment Company has been engaged in farming and ranching the 
greater part of his life, and indeed to fill the position of foreman of this 
immense ranch, which almost surrounds the town of that name, one would 
need to have had much experience along that line. 

George G. Curless, the foreman of this estate, Avhich is one of the 
largest stock ranches in northern California, is the son of Biar Curless, a 
pioneer and rancher of the county who, with his family, and driving his 
cattle before him, crossed the plains to California in 1859, making three trips, 
settling in Placerville, Cal., and later in Humboldt county near what is now 
the town of Blocksburg, and it was here that George G. Curless was born, 
June 6,1875, being one of seven children all of whom were educated in Hum- 
boldt county. His mother w^as Lovina D. (Shaw) Curless, a courageous 
woman of .the old times, who made three hard trips across the unsettled plains 
with her husband and encouraged and helped him in every way possible dur- 
ing his energetic and hard-working life. 

Until the age of nineteen Mr. Curless remained at home upon his father's 
ranch, receiving his education in the public schools at Larabee Creek, then 
leaving home for good and making his own way in the world from boyhood. 
He was employed by the month until his marriage in 1895 to ]\Iiss Ida Perry, 
one of the seven children of Stephen B. Perry, a California pioneer who came 
from Illinois in 1852 and died on his ranch in Humboldt county at the age 



836 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of fifty-three years. A brother of Mrs. Curless is William O. Perry, a ranch- 
man devoting particular attention to the raising of cattle and sheep, and 
the owner of fine property on the road between Alderpoint and Blocksburg. 
By his marriage with Miss Perry Mr. Curless has one son. Earl. 

Mr. Curless at first followed farming and homesteaded one hundred 
sixty acres in the vicinity, which he proved up on. After spending one year 
in the country about Stockton, and four years in teaming from Ukiah to the 
dam constructed by the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company, in 
Potter valley, Mendocino county, in 1911 he became foreman for Z. Russ & 
Sons Company, now the Russ Investment Company, first at their Forest 
Home ranch on Bear River Ridge, where he remained for two years, in 1914 
coming in the same capacity to the Blocksburg Ranch of the same company, 
where he continues to the present time. 

FRED M. KAY.— One of the native sons of the state of CaUfornia is 
the county clerk of Humboldt county, Fred M. Kay, who was born in Eureka, 
in that county, on July 26, 1871, the son of Moses and Mary A. (Snyder) 
Kay. The father was born and brought up in Ohio, removing thence with 
his parents to Hillsdale county, Mich., the journey being made by teams over 
the corduroy roads through the swamps of Ohio and Michigan. On his 
father's side Mr. Kay comes of Revolutionary ancestry, his grandmother 
having been Annis Bickett, whose father served in the Revolutionary war. 
Mr. Kay's mother, though born in Ohio, was the daughter of John Snyder, 
of an old Virginia family, a man who saw service in the War of 1812; and 
the great-grandfather Snyder was a hatter living near General George Wash- 
ington, whose friend he was and for whom he made hats. 

The year before the birth of Fred M. Kay, his family removed to Eureka, 
Cal., where they arrived in December, 1870, and although the father had for 
years been looking forward to the time when he could live in the land of 
gold and sunshine and enjoy the California climate and the hunting and 
fishing here, he died about a week after his arrival in Eureka, leaving his 
wife and a family of nine children. Mrs. Kay, however, courageously assumed 
the responsibility of bringing up her large family, and remained a year at 
Eureka, then for a time living near Fortuna, and later at Rohnerville. In the 
year 1877 she located a homestead near Bridgeville, in the same county, where 
she resided for fifteen years, leaving there to return to Eureka, where she 
lived until her death in 1910. Mrs. Kay was a woman of much force of 
character and brought up her children with a view to their becoming honored 
citizens in the community, and she may well be called one of the true pioneer 
women of this state. Fred M. Kay, the youngest of her children, grew up 
mainly on the ranch at Bridgeville, having plenty of outdoor work and exer- 
cise, and became a strong and healthy lad. His early education was received 
in the pubhc schools, and this he supplemented by a course in the Eureka 
business college, where he was graduated in 1892. His first employment was 
a summer spent on a ranch in the Eel river valley, after which he became a 
clerk in Eureka, and later was bookkeeper in the Standard office for more 
than a year. For a time he tried mining in Trinity county, Cal., but returned 
to clerking, first for F. W. Phillips in Rohnerville, then in San Francisco, 
soon becoming a deputy in the county clerk's office in San Francisco, a posi- 
tion which he filled for two years. Again for a while he was engaged in 
mining, this time in Shasta county, Cal., on his return to Humboldt county 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 837 

becoming manager of Mr. Phillips' store in Rohnerville, which position he 
held for about two years. Returning to Eureka, he in December, 1902, entered 
the county clerk's office as deputy, and continued as such for twelve years. 

In the fall of 1914, Mr. Kay was a candidate for county clerk, and at the 
primary election received a majority of fifty-two hundred votes and was 
elected without opposition at the November election, taking the oath of 
office on January 4, 1915, being well qualified for the position by his long 
experience in the office. He also has served one term as a member of the 
Board of Education of the city of Eureka from the fifth ward, having been 
a member of the Board at the time the high school bond election was held 
and the new high school built. A Republican in politics, he was for many 
years secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, while fra- 
ternally he is a member of Eel River Lodge No. 147 of the Free and Accepted 
Masons, now of Fortuna ; an Odd Fellow of Eel River Lodge No. 210 at 
Rohnerville ; the A\^oodmen of the "World, of Eureka ; and the Eureka Aerie 
No. 130, F. O. E. 

Mr. Kay was married in Hydesville, Cal., to Miss Jessie H. Dobbyn, who 
was born at Camp Grant, this county, the daughter of William B. Dobbyn, 
a veteran of the Mexican war, and a California pioneer of 1849, and a very 
prominent horticulturist of Camp Grant, Eel river section, afterwards of 
Rohnerville, a man who was for many years a supervisor of his district. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kay are the parents of four children, namely : Kendall K., city 
editor of the Humboldt Times, and a rising young newspaper man ; Irene N.,. 
a graduate of the Eureka high school, who assists Mr. Kay in his -office ; 
William B. ; and ^largaret Kay. 

HERBERT ANSON BARBER.— Although educated for the profession 
of a teacher, and engaging in that calling for several years, the career of 
Herbert Anson Barber, at present postmaster of Blue Lake, has been varied 
and interesting. He has been engaged in pursuits that have called for active 
and even strenuous labor, and also for careful management and able leader- 
ship, and in all of them has he met with splendid success. That he has 
many friends and well-wishers in Blue Lake has been attested by his recent 
appointment as postmaster. 

Mr. Barber is a native of Ohio, having been born in Seneca county, July 
16, 1855. Here he passed his boyhood days, attending the public and high 
schools of his district, and proving himself to be a scholar of more than 
ordinary ability. His father was Joel Barber, a native of Pennsylvania, born 
in Erie county in 1822. He was a man of scholarly attainments and a college 
graduate, and for many years was engaged in teaching. For a period of ten 
years he taught in Ohio, but later in life he gave up his profession, purchased 
a farm for himself and for the remainder of his life was a tiller of the soil. 
In this he was very successful and prospered. He died in 1888. The mother 
was ]\Iary Mead, born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1832. There she met Joel 
Barber and was married to him in 1853. She became the mother of four 
children, two sons and two daughters. 

Herbert A. Barber early in life decided to follow in the footsteps of his 
father and become a teacher. He attended college for two years and having 
here, as well as in the high school, shown splendid ability as a student, he 
was able to take up his work as a teacher at the age of nineteen. After 
graduating from Olivet college he accepted a position to teach in the schools 



838 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in Traverse City, Michigan. After a time he gave up this work to engage in 
mining and freighting. Later, in pursuit of these new undertakings, he re- 
moved to Montana, locating in Helena. Here he was very successful in the 
freighting business, but fortune refused to smile upon his ventures as a miner. 

It was in 1882 that Mr. Barber first came to California. Ill health made 
it necessary for him to give up his interests in Montana, and he located 
eventually in Blue Lake, Humboldt county. The change of climate wrought 
the desired result in his physical condition, and within a short time Mr. Barber 
was again able to take up his active interests in life. He entered the employ 
of Isaac Minor, going into the woods to fell trees. He remained in this 
work for twenty-six years, and during all that time continued in the service 
of Mr. Minor. 

In 1908 Mr. Barber was appointed to his present position as postmaster 
at Blue Lake, in which he has proven himself to be especially efificient and 
well fitted for the duties involved. Mr. Barber is also the local agent for the 
Areata and Mad River Railroad. Aside from his official relations, Mr. Barber 
has a host of personal friends, and is also associated with a number of fra- 
ternal societies and lodges in which he is deservedly popular. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic Lodge, having been received into the order more than 
twenty-five years ago, and is also an Odd Fellow of thirty-seven years' 
standing. 

The marriage of Mr. Barber occurred in Eureka, April 26, 1894, uniting 
him with Miss Emma Phillips, the daughter of D. P. Phillips. She is the 
mother of one child, a daughter, Ruth, who is at present attending the high 
school at Areata. 

Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. Barber has been very successful 
in all his undertakings. He is keenly interested in all questions of public 
welfare and civic progress, and is one of the trustworthy citizens of the 
community. 

ALEXANDER GILLIN McCLOSKEY.— Born and reared in the north 
of Ireland, and descended from the sturdy race of Irish farmers who have 
kept the traditions of their fathers green and the tenets of their faith ever 
fresh and untainted it goes quite without saying that Alexander Gillin McClos- 
key brought with him to America something of the flavor of the Emerald Isle, 
coupled, be it said, with a native wit, an insight into human nature, and a 
gift of shrewd business judgment, that is not always vouchsafed even to the 
Irish. And it may also be added, that the wise old saying about "The Irish 
for luck" seems to apply quite completely to him, although it has not been 
"luck" at all, but rather clear-headed wisdom and patient application to 
business, which have made the financial rise of this son of Erin almost 
phenomenal. Coming to Humboldt in 1888, then a man well past the two- 
score mark, and starting his life in the new land as an employe in a sawmill, 
he is now reckoned as one of the substantial business men of the county, and 
has recently retired from active business to enjoy the just rcAvard of his 
industry. 

County Antrim is the native heath of Mr. McCloskey, his birth occurring 
there June 24, 1844, on the farm of his parents. He was the son of Henry 
McCloskey, who like himself was born in County Antrim (April 8, 1822), and 
upon whose home farm the family life centered. The father followed farming 
the greater part of his life, but on different occasions he was in the employ 




/C^^ «^r^ ^ ^/^^.^»y ^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 841 

of the government as a surveyor. In 1846 he removed for a short time to 
County Westmeath, the change being necessitated by his service for the 
government. When this work was completed he returned to County Antrim, 
residing in Armory Parish tmtil the time of his death, in November, 1906. 
Here he had devoted his time to farming, in which he was prosperous, and he 
also owned a grist mill and a sawmill, the raw material for the latter coming 
from New Brunswick. 

At the time when Alexander McCIoskey was ready to enter school the 
only educational institution within reach was a religious school, to which 
he was sent. There he remained until he was seventeen years of age, and 
the succeeding two years- he worked for his father on the home farm. The 
marriage of Mr. McCIoskey to Miss Martha Hill, also a native of County 
Antrim, born July 19, 1845, occurred August 3, 1863, when the bridegroom 
was but nineteen years of age, and the bride a year younger. With his 
marriage the young man branched out for himself, renting and conducting 
a farm, and also engaging as contractor for the building of bridges and roads. 
In this latter venture he prospered and at one time owned the largest con- 
tracting business of this character in County Antrim. Prospering in his busi- 
ness, young McCIoskey began investing his profits in real estate, purchasing 
first a farm of ninety acres, and at various times thereafter other plats of 
land, until he was recognized as a man of affairs and means. On one of these 
farms there were lime works and a boric acid plant, which covered six acres, 
and which he managed until 1874. 

It was not until July 26, 1888, that Mr. McCIoskey left Ireland and set 
sail for America, leaving his family to care for the home until he should be 
ready for them to join him across the sea. He came directly to Humboldt 
county on his arrival in San Francisco and secured employment with John 
Vance at Essex, on the Mad river, where he remained for eight years, work- 
ing in the sawmill and in the lumbering camps, eventually being transferred 
from Essex to Samoa by the same company. The year following his coming 
to Essex (1889) his wife disposed of the holdings in Ireland and with her 
children joined the husband and father in California. Here in 1896 they 
purchased their first farm, a tract of forty acres, all unimproved. The clearing 
of this land was made doubly profitable by the plan of using the timber to 
make bolts for the California barrel factory, located in San Francisco. Other 
tracts were handled in the same way, the bolts being shipped to San Fran- 
cisco until the opening of a barrel factory in Areata created a market nearer 
home. The second forty acres were purchased from John Hannah, and 1897 
witnessed the acquisition of yet another tract of the same size, while 1899 
saw fifty more acres added. Up to 1900 Mr. McCIoskey was still engaged in 
logging, but at that time gave up other interests and devoted his attention 
to real estate and farming. In 1901 he bought one hundred acres of the Hum- 
boldt ^Manufacturing Company, of Areata, at Essex, and in 1903 secured the 
Shore ranch of two hundred forty-three acres from Ed Vance. This latter 
property was purchased for $10,000 and in 1913 it was sold for $20,000. Since 
coming to Humboldt county Mr. McCIoskey has met with unusual success. 
Much of this time he has been interested in farming and dairying, having 
made every department of his work a paying investment. 

Since making his home here, Mr. McCIoskey has been vitally interested 
in all affairs of local import, and especially keen in politics. He has taken an 



842 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

active part in the deliberations of his party, his affiliation being with the 
Progressive Republicans. Several times he has been chosen as delegate to 
party conventions, and has served the interests of his constituents with great 
satisfaction to all. He is progressive in other matters as well as in politics, 
and stands firmly in his community and county for all movements for the 
betterment of conditions along all lines. He is also prominent in Masonic 
circles, having been made a Mason in St. Johns Lodge No. 89, F. & A. M., in 
Ireland, in 1865, also joining Bushmills Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., in Ireland, 
in 1875. 

Mr. McCloskey retired from active business several years ago and now 
lives retired on the home farm near Areata. His wife died on September 
28, 1913, on this same farm, where the family had spent so many happy years. 
It is an interesting fact that the late Mrs. Alex. McCloskey brought her bed 
and feather-bed from Ireland to the United States and slept on it en route, 
and after coming to California used it until her death, so that it can be said 
of her that she never slept a night after her marriage except on this bed. 
There are five children, now all grown and living on their own places in the 
vicinity of Areata. They are James, Henry, Dan, Annie (Mrs. AVilson) and 
Mary Eliza fMrs. Kane). 

MAY R. CRAIGIE. — A native of Nevada county, Cal., and a resident 
of Garberville during her girlhood days, having come here as a child of eleven 
years, Mrs. May R. Craigie is today one of the leading business women of the 
thriving little city, and an important factor in the life and-welfare of the city 
as well. As Miss May McCharles she grew to womanhood, and went from 
here to San Francisco to become the bride of Peter Craigie. After her hus- 
band's death she lived for many years in Grass Valley and cared for her aged 
father there. Later she returned to Garberville and took charge of the Ex- 
change Hotel, the leading tourist and commercial hotel in the southern part 
of Humboldt county, which she at present conducts, assisted by her son. 
Mrs. Craigie is a clever business woman, a shrewd investor and a clear- 
headed judge of men, women and afifairs. She owns an appreciable amount 
of property in the vicinity of Garberville and Avithin the city limits, and also 
some valuable lots in San Francisco. 

Mrs. Craigie was born in Nevada county, Cal. Her father, Harrison 
McCharles, was a forty-niner, having come to California in the fabled year. 
He was a native of Kentucky, and a wagon maker and blacksmith by trade. 
He was married in Kentucky to Rosalie A. Wyman, a native of Canada, and 
of old English descent. Mt. McCharles followed his trade in Kentucky 
until the gold excitement caused him to determine to come to California. He 
came from New York by the Nicaragua route, arriving in San Francisco 
in 1849. He went at once to Nevada county, where he became interested in 
the mines near Grass Valley, where his wife and children joined him in 1851. 
He also took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, which he improved 
and farmed at various times, with varying success. He was interested in 
live stock, and especially in the breeding of fine horses and was noted through- 
out Nevada county for always having good horses. After a time he became 
separated from his wife, but continued to reside in Grass Valley until the 
time of his death in 1900, he being then eighty-nine years of age. 

Mrs. McCharles removed to Garberville in 1871 ; after residing here for 
some years she married John Ray, and continued to make this city her home 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 843 

until the time of her death, in 1903. She built the Exchange Hotel and con- 
ducted it for a period of years. She was a woman of much force of character 
and cf high Christian principles. For many years she was one of the most 
prominent members of the Garberville Methodist church, helping to build 
it and in many ways contributing to its growth. She was the mother of four 
children, all of whom are well and favorably known in Garberville. They are : 
Mrs. Jennie Dale, the widow of John Dale, who resides in East Oakland ; 
Harrison, residing in Trinity county; David, residing at Tustin, Orange 
county, where he is a carpenter and builder ; and May, now Mrs. Craigie, of 
Garberville. 

Mrs. Craigie was eleven years of age when her mother moved to Gar- 
berville. She attended the public schools here, and for two years was a 
student at the grammar school at Rohnerville. She met Peter Craigie at 
Garberville, and was married to him in San Francisco, May 12, 1879. 

Peter Craigie, a bookkeeper by occupation, was a native of Hamilton, 
Canada, born May 12, 1848, and grew to young manhood there. His father 
was Dr. John Craigie, the most noted physician in Hamilton, and a man of 
great ability and learning. Mary, his wife, was of Scotch descent, and their 
marriage was solemnized in Scotland. Dr. Craigie gave all his children splen- 
did educations and started them in business, thus giving them the right 
beginning in life. There were nine children in the family, eight sons and one 
daughter. Of these one son, Thomas R. Craigie, is still living in San Fran- 
cisco, and has been in the United States customs service since 1876. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Craigie went to Westport, where 
they continued to reside until Mr. Craigie's death in 1889, at the age of 
forty-one years. Three sons were born of this union: Harold McCharles 
Craigie, who married Miss Vanderburg of San Francisco, where he is now 
employed as a printer with the Cotter Printing Company; Wallace H. Craigie, 
a salesman for Waterhouse & Lester, of San Francisco; and Peter W. Craigie, 
who married Miss Irene Sullivan, and is now residing at Garberville, where 
he is assisting his mother with the management of the Exchange Hotel ; they 
have a daughter, Irene. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. Craigie returned to Nevada county 
and took up dressmaking, which occupation she followed for many years. 
She gave her three sons excellent educations, putting them all through high 
school, and giving them other advantages, and all with the fruits of her indus- 
try. She also took care of her aged father for fourteen years prior to 
his death. Later, when her mother's health failed, Mrs. Craigie brought her 
CO San Francisco, and saw that she received the best of medical treatment, 
and it was there that she finally passed away at the home of Mrs. Craigie, 
who was at that time residing there. 

Mrs. Craigie herself is a woman of more than ordinary qualities of heart 
and mind. She has enjoyed almost phenomenal success since she has been in 
business, and has accomplished far more than she had anticipated. Her Gar- 
berville property has increased greatly in value under her capable manage- 
ment, and she has recently built a garage across the street from the Exchange 
Hotel. 

In politics Mrs. Craigie is a Progressive, and she typifies all that the word 
signifies, being wide awake to all that is for the best interests of the town 
and community, and always to be found well in the van when there is a 



844 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

movement for the public welfare and municipal betterment before the people. 
She is not, however, a politician, but rather a statesman and a splendid citizen. 

Aside from her business ability, !Mrs. Craigie is the center of a wide circle 
of friends and admiring acquaintances. She is kind-hearted and considerate 
of all with whom she comes in contact, and no one ever appeals in vain to her 
sympathies. She is at once a tower of strength and an angel of love, and as 
such she is known and loved and revered in her home city. In the manage- 
ment of the Exchange Hotel she has shown unusual ability, both as a busi- 
ness woman and in the art of making the hostelry homelike and comfortable 
for the guests, and so has made it easily the leading hotel in its section of the 
county. 

GEORGE W. COUNTS.— When one is a hale old man of sixty-five 
years it must indeed be a pleasure to look back upon an energetic life spent 
in a variety of pursuits in the outdoors in this good green world. When 
George W. Counts of Blocksburg, Cal., a veteran of the Union army, gets to 
thinking of old times, his reminiscences are such as would acceptably fill the 
pages of a story of western life or the stirring days of our Civil war. His 
has been the wide, free-breathing life of the rancher in middle and southwest- 
ern states where one of his greatest delights was to be upon the back of his 
horse ; he has followed wood chopping and lumbering in Missouri and in the 
tall forests in the northern part of California, for the vitality and energy he 
put into his work receiving as much again from the rough, outdoor life ; he 
has served in the army, being one of the youngest soldiers to carry a musket 
in our Civil war ; and grim, red-handed tragedy is not omitted from his earliest 
recollections. 

Born in Marion county. Ark., March 1, 1848, George W. Counts was the 
son of William and Elizabeth (Beard) Counts. About twelve years before the 
opening of the Civil war the family moved to Missouri, where they settled on 
a farm in Dent county, and here the son grew up, one of a family of seven 
children, and supported himself by chopping wood and working on his fath- 
er's and two other Dent county farms. That part of Missouri became the 
scene of bloody strife during the Kansas-Missouri troubles. The father, 
being an ardent Union man, was the object of special vengeance of the pro- 
slavery element, and was taken out from his home three miles into the timber 
and shot by the bushwhackers. Three of the sons had already enlisted in the 
Union army, and after the father's cruel murder all the remaining boys who 
were big enough to carry guns enlisted in the army. Geprge Counts was then 
only fifteen years of age, the youngest of the five brothers in the army. He 
enlisted in Company D, 47th Missouri Infantry, and served in the battle 
of Pilot Knob, Mo., and was in Price's raid when the man of that name was 
pursued to the Big Blue river. The boy saw hard fighting and a lot of 
guerrilla warfare. He was honorably discharged i\Iarch 31, 1865, being then 
only seventeen years of age, and therefore one of the youngest men who did 
actual fighting in the Civil war. 

After the war Mr. Counts was engaged in ranching for two years in 
Missouri and Illinois, and lumbering one year in Missouri. Thence he went 
west to Texas and New Mexico where he followed the cattle and was a great 
rider — "vaquero" is the Spanish word for the cowboys in this southwestern 
part of our country. In 1873 he came to California, where he busied himself 
with lumbering in Humboldt and Mendocino counties for fifteen or twenty 




5^V-^^ U^ 



Mx4-t)-t^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 847 

years, this time as head timber-feller, and it was while employed in splitting 
wood during this time that he accidentally cut off his left thumb. In Trinity 
county, Cal., he took up one hundred sixty acres of homestead, proved up on 
it and resided there eighteen years. 

Politically Mr. Counts is allied with the Republican party. He has kept 
up old associations by his membership in the Cold Harbor G. A. R. Post 
at Areata. He was married, in Humboldt county, to Mrs. Sarah Woods, and 
is the father of five children: Alice E., wife of Charles Baird, a business man 
of Eureka ; W. L., a rancher residing in Covelo ; John H., a teamster at 
Alderpoint ; Ivory M., employed in a hotel at Trinidad, Humboldt county; 
and Alva M., who resides at Alderpoint. Mr. Counts is today well-to-do and 
living in retirement at Blocksburg where he is a well liked and highly re- 
spected citizen. 

LOUIS PERSONS.— The old Eureka Foundry, for many years one of 
the best known plants of its kind in the city and vicinity, was established by 
Asa Persons in 1869, and after his death in 1875 his son continued there, as 
foreman and master mechanic, until January, 1913, his connection with the 
business in that capacity covering a period of thirty-seven years. The latter, 
Louis Persons, is still engaged in the same line at Eureka, where he and his 
family are highly respected citizens. It is notable that Mr. Persons helped 
to organize the fire department of the city, joining Company No. 2 June 25, 
1873, and he has been in the service continuously since, only one other mem- 
ber, William P. Hanna, having as long a record of unbroken -service. 

Asa Persons was born at or near Rochester, N. Y., and came overland to 
California at the beginning of the gold excitement. After that he made 
several more trips over the plains before his marriage, which took place at 
Vinton, Iowa, Miss Isabella Dudgeon becoming his w-ife. She was a native 
of Ohio, of Scotch-Irish stock. In 1859 Mr. Persons settled in Nevada, where 
he built and operated a sawmill, running it in connection with the great Com- 
stock silver mine, to which he supplied lumber. Later he engaged in the 
machine business, constructing the machine shop which did the work for 
the Comstock mine and working in the plant. In February, 1869, Mr. Persons 
moved the first machinery for the old Eureka Foundry to that place, bringing 
it from Washoe City, Nev. It was in the cargo of the brig Hesperia, owned 
by the Dolbeer & Carson Company, and commanded by Capt. Jacob Cousins, 
who at the same time brought the machinery for the old Excelsior mill on 
Gunther island, in Humboldt bay. Mr. Persons bought out an old blacksmith 
shop from James Dawson, located at D and First streets, where some casting 
had been done. This he turned into a foundry and machine shop. He also 
built two steamers which he owned and ran on Humboldt bay, named Silva 
and Ada. He carried on these enterprises very successfully until his death, 
which occurred in 1875, when he was about fifty years old. His wife lived 
to the age of seventy, dying in 1906, at Eureka. She is survived by three 
children : Louis, and two daughters, Mrs. T. R. Hannah and Mrs. J. C. Ferrell, 
the latter a resident of Bar Harbor, Me. 

Louis Persons was born July 22, 1854, in Plumas county, Cal. He was 
in his fifteenth year when he came with his father to Eureka, and he at once 
commenced work in the foundry, attending night school as opportunity 
offered. He has been following the trade of machinist for forty-five years, 
having remained with the works after his father's death, for thirty-seven 



848 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

years as foreman and master mechanic. In January, 1913, he severed his 
connection and has since been engaged as mechanic at the Marine Iron Works, 
on First street, conducted by J. R. Lane. Mr. Persons has always been one 
of the most respected residents of Eureka, and he is particular!}^ well known 
in fraternal circles, being an Odd Fellow and a Mason ; he is a past grand 
of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., of Eureka, and past chief patriarch 
of the encampment. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree. 
He is past master of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M,. ; past high priest 
ot Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M. ; past commander of Eureka Com- 
mandery No. 35, K. T., and a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies at Oak- 
land, and of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; while Mrs. 
Persons is a member of Camelia Chapter, O. E. S. 

Mr. Persons was married at Eureka to Miss Addie Haynes, a native of 
Illinois, and they have become the parents of the following children: Louis 
M., now in the United States immigration service, stationed at Astoria, Ore. ; 
Georgia, the wife of George McGeorge, a steamboat man in the employ of 
the Pacific Coast Steamship Company (they reside in San Francisco) ; Nellie, 
the wife of Asa SuUinger, agent of the San Francisco Chronicle at Eureka; 
and Hazel, who married F. E. McPheren, head steward of the steamship City 
of Topeka, and their home is in San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs. Persons have 
a comfortable home at No. 912 H street. 

SAMUEL R. DEAN. — Among the oldest homesteaders in that section of 
southern Humboldt county adjoining Garberville are the Deans, who have 
occupied their present property on the east branch of the south fork of the 
Eel river since 1878. The Dean ranch comprises four hundred forty acres, all 
acquired by the family under homestead and preemption rights, and is now 
operated by John E. Dean, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. Dean. 
He was born on the place and has passed all his life there, and with the devel- 
opment of his interests has promise of becoming one of the substantial agri- 
culturists of his locality. 

Samuel R. Dean is a native of Penobscot county, Maine, born April 22, 
1838, and he lived there until just before he attained his majority. He came 
to California over the plains and had a rather adventurous trip, the Indians 
running off eight head of cattle belonging to the party, though most of them 
were recovered. He arrived in this state in February, 1859, and for a number 
of years thereafter was employed at the carpenter's trade, which he had 
learned in Maine. It was while following this occupation at Ukiah, Men- 
docino county, that he met Miss Annie A. Davis, whom he married, their 
wedding taking place there, May 26, 1872. In 1878 they decided to come up 
to Humboldt county and settle on government land, and they took up a pre- 
emption claim and a homestead which are now included in the ranch above 
referred to, the rest of the property having been acquired in the same manner 
by their sons, John E. and Samuel T. From the time he came to this section 
until advancing age made it necessary for him to relinquish active labor, 
Samuel R. Dean was engaged in the cultivation of his land and to some extent 
in stock-raising, and his son now continues the operations he inaugurated and 
is making excellent progress with the work of developing the ranch. Five 
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dean, namely : Samuel T., now a resi- 
dent of Trinity county. Gal., engaged in mining, married IMiss Edna Newland, 
and they have three children : Arthur S. died at the age of twenty-five years ; 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 849 

Elbert LeRoy died when twenty years old ; Izora E. is the wife of L. E. 
Trabing, a machinist and engineer, of Yolo county, this state, and they have 
one child ; John E. is now conducting the home farm, where he lives with his 
parents. Samuel R. Dean is now enjoying his ease with the care of the ranch 
in younger hands. He is a member of the lodge of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows at Ukiah, and belongs to the Rebekah degree there also, as 
does his wife. All the family are Republicans on political questions. The 
rustic dwelling on the ranch is a comfortable little home, and the front yard 
with its variety of beautiful flowers shows the loving care of Mrs. Dean, 
who delights in her garden. Though sixty-two years old she is as active 
as ever and interested in her home duties, to which she attends capably. She 
has alwaj's been an excellent rider, and has the distinction of being consid- 
ered the most accomplished horsewoman in Humboldt and ^lendocino coun- 
ties. 

]\Irs. Dean was born at Greencastle, Ind., and her parents, John and 
Sarah J. (Stoner) Davis, were also natives of that state, where they were 
married. Of the six children born to them, five are yet living. The family 
came to California across the plains with ox teams and wagons, in the year 
1857, settling first in Tulare county, whence they moved to iMendocino 
county and later to Humboldt county, making a location right near the Dean 
ranch. Airs. Davis lived to be over eighty-two years old. 

John E. Dean was born in 1888 on the Dean ranch in southern Hum- 
boldt county, and obtained his education in the public schools of the neigh- 
borhood. He now has all the management of the place, eighty acres of which 
he owns in his own right, and besides raising general crops he keeps con- 
siderable stock, having at present seven head of cattle, three horses, fifty 
hogs, seventy-five Angora goats and about fifty hens. He is an enterprising 
worker, managing the various branches of his business intelligently and to 
their mutual advantage, and has already gained much experience since the 
entire responsibility devolved upon him. His recreation is hunting and fish- 
ing, of which he is very fond. His reliable character and strong principles 
have won him a high place among the trustworthy citizens of his section. 

BARTOL MO RAND A.— A resident of Humboldt county, who is so well 
satisfied with the country that he would not live elsewhere, Bartol INIoranda, 
though a native of a distant land, is a loyal and worthy citizen of Ferndale, 
Cal., where he has lived on his present ranch since the year 1903. 

Born in Vogorno, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, IMarch 22, 1859, Mr. 
Aloranda was the son of Stephen and Kate (Dominigini) Moranda, who 
resided in the Alps district all their lives. Of the family of seven children, 
the five sons all came to California to live : Julius is now a farmer at Cen- 
terville, this county ; Stephen was a dairyman in this county but has now 
returned to Ticino ; Bartol, a dairyman, owns his ranch in the vicinity of 
Ferndale ; Frank, also a dairyman, died in this county ; and Joseph, a farmer, 
died near Ferndale. In his native country, Bartol Moranda was early accus- 
tomed to hard work, from a mere lad having to assist in making a living, and 
was employed in farming and dairying in Ticino until the age of twenty-one 
years, having received a good education in the local public schools. He then 
removed to California, attracted hither by the good reports that came back 
to the old home from his brothers and friends already in Humboldt county, 
and in October of the year 1881 he likewise arrived in this county. 



850 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The first employment of Mr. Moranda in the new country was at a 
dairy on Bear River Ridge, where he remained two years, working the next 
two years on Bull Creek, the following three at Loleta, Cal., and then several 
years more in diliferent dairies. Determining to engage in dairying for him- 
self, he rented a ranch with a partner, but this arrangement not proving a 
success, it remained for Mr. Moranda to pay all the debts, which necessitated 
his working for wages until the expenses were paid. Some time thereafter 
he purchased the old Dr. Stephens ranch, four hundred forty acres located 
on Bear River, where he engaged in farming and dairying, with a herd of 
forty-three cows. It was a splendid place, and besides his dairy interests 
there, he was engaged in raising apples and other fruits, and in the making 
of butter he was considered a champion. He conducted this estate until the 
year 1902, when he sold both ranch and stock, intending to return to his 
native Switzerland. But the lure of the West was too strong for him, and 
as soon as he had disposed of the place he found that he had become so much 
attached to life in Humboldt county that he felt no desire to return to 
Europe, and accordingly began looking about at once for another ranch in 
the vicinity of the latter one. In June, 1903, he purchased his present place 
of forty acres, situated three and one-half miles north of Ferndale, all rich 
bottom land and valuable property, and here he is at present engaged in the 
occupation of dairying, having a fine herd of twenty cows. 

In his political interests, Mr. Moranda, like most of the others of his 
nationality in the county of Humboldt, is a stanch Republican. His marriage 
to Juditha Beri, also a native of Canton Ticino, took place in Ferndale, and 
thev are the parents of three children, Anne, Delfina and Silvio. 

'ROBERT ANDERSON REDMOND.— Few officials in Humboldt 
county have had more substantial evidence of the confidence of their fellow 
citizens than Robert A. Redmond, whose continued public service, first as 
constable and later as sheriff, is abundant evidence of his unqualified fitness 
as a public servant. His thorough knowledge of conditions and routine 
gained through long public experience contributes to his reliability and effi- 
ciency, and the appreciation and approval of his work have been shown in 
the enthusiastic support he has received at the polls. It was after he had 
been in public service continuously since the year 1906 that he was elected 
sheriff in the fall of 1910, and so faithfully and well had he discharged his 
duties that he was reelected to succeed himself in 1914. 

Mr. Redmond has lived in Humboldt county from childhood, having 
been thirteen years old when he came here, and he continued his education 
thereafter at the public schools of Eureka. As a foundation for business 
experience in later years he learned the trade of boilermaker, and for fourteen 
years, consecutively, was employed with Langford Brothers, in the Eureka 
Boiler Works. During these years Mr. Redmond's ability as a public ser- 
vant became recognized by his fellow citizens, who appointed him constable 
of Eureka township to fill an unexpired term. So satisfactorily did he dis- 
charge his duties that his name was placed upon the ticket for reelection. At 
the close of a successful full term in this office he was nominated and elected 
sheriff of the county, and as before, at the close of his first term, in 1914, he 
was again elected to succeed himself, receiving a large majority. With some 
particularly trying and hazardous situations to meet he has come to be re- 
garded as one of the most competent incumbents of the office in the state. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 851 

He has been especially successful in criminal cases, and deserves the trust 
that has been reposed in him because of his faithful performance of every 
duty and his evident sincerity to do his utmost to interpret the responsibil- 
ities of his office and discharge them w^ith impartiality and without fear of 
criticism from any quarter. 

j\Ir. Redmond has numerous fraternal connections and has been par- 
ticularly prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging 
to all its branches, lodge, encampment and canton, and taking an active part 
in their work. He is past noble grand of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, past chief 
patriarch of Mt. Zion Encampment, and past deputy grand master of District 
No. 9. He also holds membership in the Red Men, Modern Woodmen of 
America, AVoodmen of the AVorld, Fraternal Order of Eagles, being past 
president of Eureka Aerie No. 130, and the present district deputy of the 
district embracing Humboldt and Del Norte counties. He is also an active 
member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Humboldt Club and 
Sequoia Yacht Club. 

Mr. Redmond was united in marriage with Miss Marian INIcLain, a native 
of Nova Scotia, whose father, Jonathan McLain, was an early settler in 
Humboldt county. Five children have been born to this union : Rutherford, 
Olive, Robert A. Jr., Lucile and Vivian. 

PETER ANDERSON.— Since the year 1865 Peter Anderson has been 
a resident of the United States, having arrived in New York August 13, of 
that year, from Denmark, where he was born at Rudkjoebing, Langeland, 
October 2, 1843, the son of Anders, a forester of a large estate, as was also 
his father, Anders, before him, an occupation which the son Carl now carries 
on in their native land. The father of Peter Anderson, as well as his mother, 
who was formerly Mina Hansen, are now both deceased, and of the family 
of six children, five of whom are at the present time living, two are in 
America, namely, Peter and his brother Rasmus, who is a member of the 
Board of Supervisors of Humboldt county, Cal., and a resident of the city 
of Areata in this county. 

The education of Peter Anderson was received in the public schools of 
Denmark, and he grew up on his father's farm, being confirmed at the age 
of fourteen years, and began to work for wages on a farm at that time. Be- 
cause of the good reports he had read and heard of the opportunities offered 
to energetic and hard-working youths in the land of the Stars, and Stripes, he 
determined to try his fortune in this country, and accordingly left his native 
land for the United States, from New York going directly to Chicago, where 
he was for a time employed, and from there to Rantoul, 111., where he found 
employment on a farm, going later to Manistee, Mich., and working there at 
logging for a period of three years. Finally he made his way to California, 
coming via the Isthmus of Panama, and arriving in San Francisco in May, 
1869. For a time he secured employment in Alameda county, this state ; in 
August, 1869, he removed to Eureka, in Humboldt county, where he went 
to work for James Gannon in the woods above Areata, where for six years 
he w^as engaged in logging, being later engaged in the liquor business for a 
couple of years in Areata, which he abandoned to engage in farming. Pur- 
chasing forty acres of land a mile south of Areata, he operated a farm thereon 
until, selling this, he once more engaged in the liquor business in Areata, 



852 HISTORY OF HUA-IBOLDT COUNTY 

six years later selling his interest in the latter to return to farming in 1903, 
at which time he bought his present ranch, which consists of forty acres a 
mile above Areata, on the Boynton Prairie road. At the time of Mr. Ander- 
son's location on the place it was all wild land, given up to stumps and brush, 
but he cleared the ground and broke it up, and is now successfully engaged 
in raising hay and stock thereon, and has built for himself a pleasant and com- 
modious residence overlooking Humboldt bay, the city of Areata and Areata 
Bottoms, the Mad river, the city of Eureka, and also the Peninsula in the 
distance. Here he makes his home with his wife, formerly Miss Lydia Adkins, 
a native of Savannah, Andrew county, Missouri, to whom he was married 
at Eureka, July 12, 1876, and his son Peter, who assists him in the work upon 
the ranch, the other three children being, namely, Bert, now a member of the 
night police in Areata ; Charles, who is in the employ of the Northern Red- 
wood Lumber Company ; and Minnie, now Mrs. Peter Freeman, and residing 
on the Boynton Prairie road. Mrs. Anderson is the daughter of Enoch and 
Margaret (Stokes) Adkins of Virginia. The father died in 1851 ; the mother 
died at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Anderson came to California 
in 1875. In his religious associations Mr. Anderson is a member of 
the Lutheran Church, while his fraternal connections are with Anni- 
versary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., at Areata, of which he has for forty- 
two years been an active and valued member. An old settler of Humboldt 
county, his progress has been with that of the locality where he makes his 
home, the story of his industry and advancement being closely allied with 
that of the material growth of his adopted county. 

D. H. SOWASH.— The success that has come to D. H. Sowash in his 
life battle has been due entirely to his own efforts. He was thrown on the 
world when he was a child of only eleven years, and secured his education 
by working for his room and board while attending school. He was a talented 
boy and very earnest and industrious and by the time he was twenty-one 
years of age he had saved $500 with which to make his start in business. 
Later, when he had reached a state of affluence, he became interested in the 
oil industry and through unfortunate operations lost all his savings, and was 
again obliged to start at the bottom, seeking for this purpose the same town 
and the identical building that had been the scene of his first business venture. 
His first money was made by trading horses, he having for this line the fabled 
gift of a ''David Haruni," and it was thus that he accumulated most of his 
first $500. He has been in the harness business for much of his lifetime, that 
being the line of his first undertaking, and the one to which he has always 
returned. He has a prosperous shop in Loleta, where he deals in harness, 
whips, robes, and all horse goods, and in the manufacture of harness, run- 
ning in connection a boot and shoe repair shop. He is also justice of the 
peace, having served in this capacity now for sixteen years, and giving such 
satisfaction that at the last primary election he received the nomination 
without opposition. 

Mr. Sowash is the son of Joseph Sowash, a pioneer and frontiersman of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, he keeping always just a little ahead of the march 
of civilization. He cleared two or three farms in western Pennsylvania, and 
then sold them to move further west, repeating the same process in Ohio. 
He was married in Westmoreland county. Pa., to Miss Jane Ann Armstrong, 
a native of that county, and descended from a very long-lived family, her 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 853 

mother living to be one hundred three years old. Some time after his mar- 
riage Mr. Sowash went to Ohio, where he engaged in farming, and where his 
wife died when the subject of this article was eleven years of age. Later the 
father married again, the second wife being a widow from Kentucky, and 
there they established their home, where the father died twenty-eight years 
later, at the age of eighty-four. There were nine children in the family, 
three daughters and six sons, and these were left to shift for themselves after 
the death of their mother. 

D. H. Sowash was born in Armstrong county. Pa., July 9, 1834, and was 
some five or six years of age when the family removed to Ohio. He grew to 
manhood in Scioto county,' and went up into Pike county when he was nine- 
teen, remaining there for a year. When he was a child of nine years he met 
with an accident which cost him his right leg, and this hampered him seriously 
in his eft'orts to secure an education, although he met with a marked degree 
of success. When he was twenty-one he returned to Pennsylvania and en- 
gaged in business in Westmoreland county. Investing his $500 in a stock 
of goods and employing an expert harness-maker, he opened a harness shop 
and there himself learned the trade. He was married in Westmoreland county- 
December 2, 1861, to Miss Keziah M. Grosscup, a native of that county, and 
after four years he disposed of his business there and went into Venango 
county. Pa., where he worked in the old fields, first as shipping-master, later 
as pumper, and then as machinist in charge of the machinery. After four 
years spent thus he began operating independently and soon lost everything 
that he had saved. He then returned to Westmoreland county and began 
again at the bottom, opening a harness shop in the same building that he 
had occupied many years before, at Murraysville. Later another oil boom 
struck Armstrong county, Pa., and he moved with his family into that part 
of the state, settling at Parker City. Here they met with a sad accident 
through the loss of their only child by fire, and after a year they returned 
to Westmoreland county and reengaged in the harness business there, meeting 
with his customary success in this line, which he has followed continuously 
since. Later he moved to Jefferson county, Ohio, where he followed the same 
line at Toronto, remaining for ten years, at the end of which time he came 
to California, locating first in Areata, and later removing to Loleta, where he 
now makes his home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sowash became the parents of two children, the son whose 
death was due to the accident by fire being William H., then aged seven 
years, and another son who died in infancy. They now have an adopted 
daughter, Minnie, the wife of Henry Ott, a harness-maker of Ferndale. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Sowash are very popular in Loleta, where they have lived since 
1895, and also in Areata where they made their home from 1886 to the time 
of their coming to Loleta. They are both members of the Congregational 
church in Loleta, and take an active and influential part in its affairs. Mr. 
Sowash is a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the board of 
business managers, while Mrs. Sowash is the superintendent of the Sunday 
School and also president of the Ladies' Aid Society and one of its most 
earnest and enthusiastic workers. Mr. Sowash is also a very prominent 
member of the Odd Fellows, having united with that organization in 1860, 
and has been through all the chairs, and also served one term as deputy 
grand master of District 102, of Humboldt county, Cal. 



854 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

PETER PETERSEN.— No country has contributed more worthy sons 
to America than has the sturdy Httle kingdom of Denmark, and of these 
there is none truer to the best interests of his adopted country than is Peter 
Petersen, who is now engaged in dairy farming near Metropolitan, this 
county. He owns a valuable farm of more than forty acres about a half 
mile south of Metropolitan and two miles from Rio Dell, which he is operating 
in such a manner as to make it especially profitable. He takes a live interest 
in all that concerns the agricultural affairs of the county and is a member of 
the Alton farm center. 

Mr. Petersen was born near Hadersleben, Sleswick, Denmark, August 
26, 1856, the son of Andreas Petersen, also a native of Hadersleben, and a 
farmer. Peter grew to young manhood on the home farm and attended the 
public schools of his district. There were four children in his father's family, 
two sons and two daughters, of whom Peter and one sister, now Mrs. Mary 
Stephensen, of Chico, Wash., are the only living members. In 1875, when he 
was only nineteen, Peter Petersen came alone to the United States, locating 
in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where for six months he was employed on a farm. At 
the end of that time, in December, 1875, he came to California, coming direct 
to Hydesville, Humboldt county, where lived an uncle and aunt, Mr. and 
Mrs. John Swansen, both now deceased. For a time he was employed on 
various dairy farms in this county, and during the first two years studied 
English under a private teacher. It was in 1886 that he was married in 
Eureka to Miss Anne M'ai, also a native of Hadersleben, Denmark, who came 
to California as a young girl. She was a daughter of Mathias Mai, who for 
thirty-seven years was a musician and then became a merchant. She was 
reared and educated in local schools and in 1884 came to Eureka. Following 
his marriage Mr. Petersen rented land for a number of years and then bought 
a ranch at Hydesville, which he sold later and in 1895 purchased his present 
place at Metropolitan, where he has since made his home. He has placed 
splendid improvements on this property, erecting a beautiful dwelling and 
other modern improvements, and now has one of the most attractive places 
in the vicinity and is making a specialty of dairying. He finds alfalfa a very 
profitable crop, cutting it three times a year, besides pasturing it. He also 
raises large crops of corn, beets and carrots. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen were 
the parents of one child, a son, Andrew, who died in 1907, at the age of twenty- 
one years, after giving evidence of great ability as a student. This has been 
their one great sorrow and the only mar on an otherwise perfectly happy 
home. Mr. Petersen attributes his success in no small degree to the able as- 
sistance and counsel of his wife and helpmate, who has stood nobly by him 
in all of his undertakings and ambitions. Both Mr. and Mrs. Petersen are 
members of the Lutheran church, and he is a Progressive Republican and an 
ardent advocate of local progress and improvement along permanent lines. 

GEORGE R. ALLEN. — One of the successful farmers and cattlemen of 
Humboldt county, George R. Allen, although in his sixty-eighth year, is still 
actively engaged with the care and management of his farm and herds, and 
has recently erected a handsome residence, modern in every appointment and 
with the latest scientific conveniences, in AVaddington, where he will in the 
future reside, together with his wife and family. He is a man of much 
strength of character and genuine Yankee ingenuity and pluck, and descends 
from a hardy old English family of farmers and sailors, his own father having 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 857 

been interested in both lines of endeavor. Mr. Allen has been very successful 
in his various undertakings since coming to Humboldt county, and has 
amassed an appreciable fortune and also owns much valuable property in 
this vicinity. 

Mr. Allen is a native of Maine, having been born in Jefferson township, 
Lincoln county, June 7, 1847, the son of George Alfred Allen and Mary 
(Rowell) Allen. The mother was a native of Maine, her people being early 
pioneers of the Pine Tree State. The father was born and reared in England, 
coming to ]\Iaine when a young man, and there meeting and wedding Miss 
Rowell. He engaged in farming during the summer and in the winter time 
took to the sea, meeting with much success in both occupations. Three 
children were born of this union, all natives of Jefferson, Lincoln county. Me. 
They were : Fannie, now deceased, who was the wife of Marcellus Mayhew, 
a farmer, and the mother of fourteen children ; George R., the present honored 
citizen of Waddington ; and Jesse A., a painter by trade, and now residing in 
Gordon, ]\Ie. The childhood and early youth of Mr. Allen were passed in his 
native ^■illage, where he attended the public schools. When he was twenty- 
two ye'ars of age he determined to come to California, and accordingly, on 
April 1, 1869, he set sail from New York on the steamship Arizona for the 
Isthmus of Panama, which he crossed on April 8, and again set sail on the 
steamship JNIontana for San Francisco, where he arrived on April 23. From 
there he went at once to Trinity county, locating near Weaverville, and en- 
gaging in the logging business, driving a three-yoke ox-team. In 1875 he 
came into Humboldt county, where he again engaged in lumbering, being 
located in the redwoods. For eleven seasons he drove a logging team, and 
following this for six years he worked on the "donkey" engine as second chain 
tender. Later he was for three seasons at Rohnerville, at Fortuna for eight 
seasons, and still later at Scotia and Newburg, making in all seventeen sea- 
sons. It was in 1892 that he quit the lumber woods and took to farming and 
stock-raising, which occupation- has since claimed his attention. 

The first marriage of J\Ir. Allen took place in Rohnerville, July 4, 1876, 
uniting him with Miss Clara Langdon. Of their union was born one daugh- 
ter, Bertha, married to Myron Hight, a blacksmith, at present residing in 
Oakland. She became the mother of three children, Ethel, Arthur and Robert, 
the former two making their home with their maternal grandfather, while 
the latter resides with his father in Oakland, their mother having died at 
Stockton in 1905. Mr. Allen and his first wife were separated by divorce, and 
later he married Mrs. Mary B. AVinkler, a native of Switzerland, where she 
passed the early years of her childhood. When yet a girl she came to Hum- 
boldt county, where she met and married her first husband, becoming the 
mother of five children, three of whom are now living : Emil is employed on 
a ranch at Grizzly Bluff ; Eliza is the wife of Joseph Runner, who is employed 
at the Grizzly Bluff creamery ; and Chris, a carpenter at Ferndale. After the 
death of Air. Winkler, the widow continued to conduct the farm for a number 
of years before her marriage with Mr. Allen. Of this second marriage four 
children have been born : Naomi ; ]\Iay died in infancy ; Archie, and Clara. 
The place where Mr. and Mrs. Allen have resided for some time is the prop- 
erty of Mrs. Allen, and comprises one hundred sixty acres lying in the foot- 
hills south of Waddington. ]\Ir. Allen also owns large interests in the vicinity 



858 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of Waddington, having two hundred acres in the Price creek country, where 
he has extensive herds of livestock. 

Mr. Allen has always given freely of his strength and ability for the 
public welfare, having served in various capacities, and for eight years was 
a member of the school board in the Price creek district. He is a stanch 
Republican and is well grounded in the political faith of that party as it fell 
to his happy lot to hear the doctrines of the Grand Old Party expounded by 
his former friend and fellow citizen, the Honorable James G. Blaine. Mr. 
Allen enjoys the esteem of everyone, and possesses a host of friends and 
admirers. 

JOSEPH M. WALKER.— Although a native of Switzerland, Joseph M. 
Walker has spent practically his entire lifetime in America, having come to 
San Francisco, Cal., when he was a lad of twelve years. When he was seven- 
teen he came into Humboldt county and soon thereafter rented a place and 
commenced dairy-farming, this having been his chief occupation since that 
time. He now owns three handsome ranches in the county, all of which are 
kept in model condition, and all of which are especially profitable. He is 
engaged in dairying and diversified farming and is meeting with the greatest 
of success, as is but natural with one whose application and industry go 
hand in hand with wisdom, judgment, honesty and fair dealing. He is a man 
of great executive force, strong in mind as well as in body, manly, self-reliant 
and altogether respected in his home community, and, in fact, wherever he 
is known. 

Mr. Walker was born in Andermatt, Canton Uri, Switzerland, April 28. 
1873, the son of Joseph and Mary N. (Rinner) AValker. His early childhood 
was spent in his native Canton, where he attended school, learning the German 
language. When he was twelve years of age, however, he came to the United 
States with his mother and brother Max, the father having made the journey 
ten years previously, and being then engaged in business in San Francisco. 
There were only these two sons in the family. Max being now engaged in 
dairy farming at Pleasant Point, this countyi Joseph never attended school 
after coming to California, but at once went to work. His parents remained 
in San Francisco until he was eighteen years of age, when they removed to 
San Mateo county, and he secured employment on a dairy farm. Before this 
he had frequently found employment on the farms near San Francisco and 
Oakland, milking cows and doing other farm tasks, and when he was only 
twelve years of age was earning $20 per month. Soon after he was eighteen 
he came up to Humboldt county, he being the first of the family to locate 
here. He was soon joined by his brother Max, and together they rented an 
eighty-acre ranch at Port Kenyon, and for five years were engaged success- 
fully in dairy farming. At the end of that time the partnership was dissolved, 
Joseph buying out the interests of Max and taking over the farm as an in- 
dependent enterprise. Since that time he has continued in this line of occupa- 
tion and now owns three valuable ranches. There is one of seventy acr.es at 
Pleasant Point near Waddington, one of forty acres at Port Kenyon, and 
another, his home place, consisting of ten acres, and located a half mile north 
of Waddington. He raises a variety of crops, in all of which he is excep- 
tionally successful, and has several orchards of beautiful, healthy trees in 
full bearing. His ranches are models of order and sanitation, and his herds 
of milch cows are among the finest in the valley. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 859 

The marriage of Islr. Y\'alker took place when he was but twenty years 
of age (1893), the bride of his choice being Miss Emma Ragli, a native of 
San Francisco, who came with her parents to the Eel river valley when she 
was but three years of age. There she grew to womanhood, receiving her 
education in the district schools, and there she met and married Mr. ^^^alker. 
Of their union have been born five children : Joseph F., assisting on the 
ranch; Mary died at the age of four years; Clara, Charles and Marie. 

The extensive dairy and farming interests of this industrious and capable 
man have not been sufificient to absorb all of his time and attention, and he 
is heavily interested in a -number of widely varying enterprises. He is one 
of the shareholders in the International Automobile League Tire Company, 
of Buffalo, N. Y., and is also a shareholder in the Starritt Pump and Manu- 
facturing Company, of San Francisco. 

In addition to his influence as a business man and property owner, Mr. 
Walker has also made for himself an enviable position in the fraternal and 
educational circles of his home town. He is a prominent member of the 
Woodmen of the World, in Ferndale, and was for several years a trustee of 
the Cofifee Creek school district, where he resided for a number of years. 

PETER H. CHRISTENSEN.— A man in the very prime of life, strong, 
active, intelligent, industrious, successful and progressive, Peter H. Christen- 
sen is acknowledged to be one of the leading men in Humboldt county, and a 
dairy farmer of more than ordinary ability and standing. He is a native of 
Denmark and came to America when he was still in his 'teens. Here he 
married a good and beautiful girl, a native of Michigan, but born of Danish 
parentage. She has made him a most excellent helpmeet and is a Avoman 
of splendid character, hospitable and refined, and possessing a rare gift of 
common sense and good judgment, and is withal a hard worker. She has 
been of invaluable assistance to her husband in many ways, and especially 
in the promotion of his large business interests, in which Mr. Christensen 
is very aggressive. Their children are bright and attractive, and are receiving 
the best of educational advantages. ]\Ir. Christensen is noted for his splendid 
executive ability and the way in which he succeeds in business generally. He 
employs six or seven men all the time, and more when there is a rush of 
farm work; he drives a fine automobile and has his business interests well 
in hand. He has at this time a herd of choice graded milch cows and Guernsey 
bulls which are valued at $25,000. He is also prominent in church and school 
circles, and in the various Danish societies of the state and countv. His 
ranch is located on the north bank of the Salt river, opposite Port Kenyon, 
near Ferndale, and is known as the Upper Riverside ranch. 

i\Ir. Christensen was born on the Island of Aeroe, in Denmark, December 
8, 1873. His father was a dairyman and landowner, but died when this son, 
Peter, was but three years of age. His mother is also deceased. There were 
eight children in the family of which the present respected citizen of Ferndale 
is next to the youngest, and is the only one in America. His early life was 
spent in Denmark, where he received his education in the public schools of 
the kingdom, being taught in the Danish language. Later he worked on a 
dairy farm in his native land, being employed on his mother's place much of 
the time. In 1892, when he was but eighteen, he determined to come to 
America, having at that time two brothers in Cleveland, Ohio. The young 
Peter, however, had heard many tales of the golden opportunities ofifered in 



860 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

California, and so came directly to the coast, locating first in Marin county, 
where he secured employment as a dairy hand on one of the great farms, 
being employed by the month, and continuing thus for about four years. He 
next engaged as buttermaker at the Burdell creamery, and following that 
engaged as a stage-driver out of Olema to Tocoloma. The following year 
he came up to Humboldt county, and secured employment near Ferndale on 
a dairy ranch where he remained for a short time, and then, in partnership 
with John Larsen, rented the Willowbrook ranch, on Salmon river. This 
partnership continued very successfully for three years, at the end of which 
time Mr. Christensen sold his interests to Mr. Larsen and rented a ranch at 
Loleta, operating this property alone for five years. It was during this time 
that he was married to Miss Emma S. Smith, a native of Michigan, but a 
resident of Humboldt county for many years. Of their union have been born 
five children : Elmer H., Arlina, E[arry M. and Hazel M., twins, and Kenneth. 

It was in 1908 that Mr. Christensen removed to his present location, the 
Upper Riverside ranch. This property consists of three hundred fifty acres 
of excellent valley land, on which he has a dairy herd of about two hundred 
graded Guernsey milch cows, headed by eight Guernsey bulls, two of which 
are full-blooded and registered. 

Mr. Christensen has taken an active part in the general afifairs of the 
community, where he makes his home, for many years. He is progressive 
and public spirited and supports all movements for the permanent improve- 
ment of the state, county and community. He is a member of the Dania 
Society, a Danish fraternal society of national scope, and of the Danish 
Lutheran church, in Ferndale, being also one of the church trustees. 

REDMOND O. McKEON. — The fact that Mr. McKeon has been chosen 
to fill the responsible positions of secretary, treasurer and superintendent of 
the Union Labor Hospital bespeaks an ability rarely found in a man of his 
years. Not only is he a native son of the state, but he is also a native of 
Eureka, his birth occurring here May 31, 1886. He is the son of John McKeon, 
who came to California from St. John, New Brunswick, where as a stationary 
engineer he was in great demand, for he was an expert in his calling. Need- 
less to say that on coming to Eureka he had no difficulty in finding employ- 
ment, and the proprietor of the old Vance mill was fortunate in securing his 
services. The attractions of the north at the time of the rush to Klondyke 
proved too strong to be resisted and giving up his position in Eureka he 
went to Alaska as a marine engineer, continuing to run on steamboats up to 
the time of his death in Victoria, B. C, in 1908. His wife, who in maiden- 
hood was Miss Mary O'Connor, is still living, making her home in Eureka. 
Seven children were born of the marriage of John and Mary (O'Connor) 
McKeon, of whom six are now living. 

The fifth of the parental family, Redmond O. McKeon, was reared in 
his native city, Eureka, and was primarily educated in the public schools. 
In the midst of his schooling he began to earn his own living, and while thus 
engaged attended night school in order to more fully round out his education, 
and to this he added a course in Eureka business college, all of which he 
paid for by his own efforts, demonstrating his perseverance and determina- 
tion to forge ahead and win an education by his own endeavors. 

It was while Mr. McKeon was attending business college that he was 
elected secretary and treasurer of the Union Labor Hospital in January, 1912. 




ol(M^^'yO Cy^c 



Ci^ ^'7-^^^'?^^^.e^9^f'^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 863 

and that he is the right man in the right place is evidenced by his uninter- 
rupted occupancy of the position. The hospital is a large, modern, three- 
story structure, light, airy and sanitary in every respect, and has a capacity 
of seventy-five beds. It is located at Harris and H streets. 

He has taken an active interest in the Eureka Fire Department for the 
last eight years, having been a member of Engine Company No. 1. By right 
of birth ]\Ir. ^McKeon is eligible to membership in the Native Sons of the 
Golden AA'est, and he claims that right by membership in Humboldt Parlor 
No. 14. He is also a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Sequoia 
Yachting and Boating Club ; while in his religious affiliations he is a member 
of St. Bernard's Catholic Church. 

LOUIS RASMUSSEN.— It is an acknowledged fact that there is no 
foreign nation that sends to the United States a better and more desirable 
class of. citizens than does Germany, or one which amalgamates and be- 
comes transformed into genuine Americans more thoroughly or readily. 
Among this type of citizens is Louis Rasmussen, one of the extensive land 
owners and farmers of Areata district, and a man highly esteemed by neigh- 
bors and friends. He came to Humboldt county almost thirty years ago, 
and since that time has made this county his home, being engaged continu- 
ously in farming, and meeting always with great success. He has invested 
heavily in land, and today is owner of some of the most desirable property in 
the county. 

^Ir. Rasmussen was born at Tondern, Slesvig, Germany, April 17 , 1867. 
His father was Soren C. Rasmussen, also born in Slesvig, Germany, in May, 
1825, but at that time under the Danish flag, for at the time of his birth the 
country in which he was born was a part of Denmark. He served his coun- 
try in the Slesvig-Holstein war of 1848, and again in the Danish-Prussian 
war in 1864, resulting in the acquisition of Slesvig and Holstein by Ger- 
many. He is still living on his farm in Slesvig, and is in excellent health. 
He has followed farming for practically his entire life, but within the past 
few years he has retired from active work of all kinds. His wife, Louisa Sam- 
uelsen, died at the birth of the son who is now an esteemed citizen of Areata. 
The boyhood days of ]\Ir. Rasmussen were spent on his father's farm. 
He attended school until he was fifteen, then began working with his father 
on the ranch. He was not destined to pass his entire life in his native coun- 
try, however, for he had heard considerable about the splendid opportunities 
for young men in the United States and desired to participate in them, be- 
sides he wished to escape the military oppression which would fall to his lot 
by remaining in Germany. It thus happened that in 1888 we find him 
taking passage for New York City. Two brothers had preceded him and were 
making their home in Ferndale, Humboldt county, consequently he came di- 
rectly to California, and for two years was employed on the dairy farm be- 
longing to his brother Cornelius. Following this he worked on various ranches 
in the vicinity for four years, and in 1894 he leased three hundred acres. At 
the end of six years he engaged in farming for himself near Loleta, an under- 
taking in which he was very successful, clearing enough during the life of his 
lease to purchase, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Peter Johansen, 
the old Titlow place near Areata, comprising one hundred seventy acres. The 
two engaged in farming and dairying on this property for two years, and 
after selling it in 1902 Mr. Rasmussen purchased the Dolson place, upon 



864 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

which he now resides, comprising sixty-two acres and lying one mile north 
of Alliance. At the time of purchase only a small portion of the place was 
cleared, but since then it has all been brought under a high state of cultiva- 
tion and is now well improved. No water had been developed on the place 
when Mr. Rasmussen purchased it, but now it has an abundant water supply. 
Mr. Rasmussen is engaged in dairying, and has a very fine herd of Holstein 
cows. He is interested in the United Creameries, Inc., at Areata, and has 
served on its board of directors. In February, 1915, he purchased eleven 
acres in the village of Bayside, with a residence, into which he has moved 
and will operate a small dairy, having leased his home place for one year. 

Aside from his farming and dairying interests, Mr. Rasmussen is also 
interested in all questions which pertain to the general welfare of his com- 
munity. He is especially interested in matters of education and has served 
as a school trustee in his district for several years. In politics he is a stanch 
Republican, but has never been especially active in political affairs. He is a 
member of Areata Lodge No. 472, W. O. W. 

The marriage of Mr. Rasmussen occurred in Loleta, October 29, 1894, 
uniting him with Miss Dora Duholm, a native of Germany, and, like her 
husband, a native of Slesvig, born September 22, 1866. Of this union have 
been born three children, all sons : Clifford, Leonard and Maynard, and all 
are at present attending the public schools of their district. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen have many warm friends in Areata and 
the surrounding country, where they are well known. They are both mem- 
bers of the Danish Lutheran church in Areata, and together with their sons, 
are regular attendants at its services. 

WILLIAM HACKETT.— One of the most active men in the develop- 
ment of the dairy and creamer}^ interests of Humboldt county for many years 
has been William Hackett, who, although a native of New Jersey, has been a 
resident of California since the age of twelve years. He almost immediately 
assumed a share of the duties and responsibilities of his father's dairy farm, 
and has for practically his entire life been associated with this line of business. 
He and his father built a creamery in the Eel river valley and conducted it 
with great success for many year-s. Mr. Hackett is descended from an old 
English family of wealth and refinement, and was himself born amid the 
surroundings of wealth and luxury. In his own family there is a large- 
hearted, open-handedness that precludes the accumulation of any great 
wealth, but he enjoys an appreciable fortune and owns some valuable prop- 
erty in the valley, and also some very fine cattle, especially milch cows. 

Mr. Hackett was born in Newark, New Jersey, October 4, 1861, the eldest 
son of William Hackett, Sr., a native of New York City, where he was born 
August 29, 1839, and also where he was reared, educated and married. He 
was a jeweler by trade, and was associated with a jewelry manufacturing 
house in Newark, N. J., and was in very affluent circumstances. He was, 
however, in ill health, and so determined to come with his family to California. 
Accordingly, he sold his property, which was of considerable value, and 
July 5, 1873, he set sail from New York for Texas, expecting to remain there 
for a time. Arriving at Houston, however, they were not pleased with the 
conditions, and so came immediatel)- by rail to San Francisco. From there 
they proceeded to Eureka, where they remained for a few months, and later 
removed to a ranch at Grizzly Bluff, which they leased for three years. At 



HISTORY OF HUA^BOLDT COUNTY 865 

the expiration of the lease Mr. Hackett, Sr., purchased a farm of forty acres, 
all in timber, which he cleared and brought under cultivation, and on which 
he lived for many years. His death occurred in August, 1913, at the age of 
seventy-four years. The father of William Hackett, Sr., was Henry James 
Hackett, a native of London, England, and he also was a jeweler by trade 
and associated with the manufacturing business. He made his home with his 
son and family at Grizzly Bluff for some time, dying there at the age of 
eighty years. 

A'Villiam Hackett, Sr., was married in New York City, being united with 
Miss Elizabeth Cooper, also a native of New York City, and they became 
the parents of eight children, all of whom grew'to manhood and womanhood 
save one, Joseph Edward, the sixth born, who died in infancy. Five of these 
were born in Newark, N. J., and the youngest three in Humboldt county. 
The mother still owns the Eel river valley ranch, which has been her home 
for so many years, but makes her residence at Weott or Ferndale. She is 
now seventy-five years of age, but is still interested in all that transpires 
about her. Of her children still Hving, the eldest, William, is the subject of 
this article ; Charles J. is a rancher near Waddington ; Albert is still single 
and makes his home with his mother; Walter resides in Ferndale; Ambrose 
is a dairyman at Centralia, Wash. ; Mabel A'V. is now the wife of Richard 
Bryson, a dairyman of Waddington ; Anna Louisa is the wife of Ira Goff, a 
clerk, residing in Waddington. 

The subject of this sketch was but twelve years of age when he came 
with his parents to California, and located in Humboldt county. He had 
attended school in the east, but the duties of the farm claimed his assistance 
after coming west, and he attended school but three months after that time. 
He worked shoulder to shoulder with his father, and after a short time they 
built the Pleasant Point creamery, and built up a business of $3,000.00 per 
month, operating as a creamery until 1906, and thereafter as a skimming 
station until November, 1912. The younger Mr. Hackett put in eleven years 
and nine months in this creamery, and during that time made the phenomenal 
record of missing but three mornings from his duties. During a part of this 
time he rented the old Purcell ranch and kept a splendid herd of thirty-nine 
milch cows. He is prosperous and progressive and his place is one of the 
most attractive in the locality. 

The marriage of Mr. Hackett was solemnized in Eureka, Humboldt 
county, February 3, 1887, uniting him with Miss Nellie Wooldridge, a native 
of Stuart's Point, Sonoma county, Cal., who came to Humboldt county with 
her parents when she was a small child. Here she was reared and educated, 
and many of her friends are the playmates of her childhood. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hackett have become the parents of three children, all natives of this county, 
where they have been reared and educated. Of these, Gertrude, the eldest, 
resides with her parents ; Edna is the wife of Victor Maybury, an employe 
of the Central creamery in Ferndale, and they have two children, Loyd and 
Zearl ; and Clarence, who is still residing at home with his parents. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Hackett are well known to a wide circle of friends 
throughout their section of the valley. Mr. Hackett is a prominent member 
of the Odd Fellows, and both Mr. and Mrs. Hackett are Rebekahs and take 
an active part in the work of that order, and both are also members of the 
American Nobles. Mr. Hackett is also a member of the Woodmen of the 



866 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

World. In his political affiliations he is a Republican and is well informed 
on all questions of the day. He is a strong party man, but is also independent 
in his opinions, and in local issues endorses the men and principles which 
stand for the best interests of the public. 

WILLIAM JAMES QUINN, M. D.— In common with practically all 
of the men who have been lifelong residents of Humboldt county and are 
famiUar with its development, Dr. Quinn maintains an unceasing interest in 
movements for the public welfare and the material upbuilding. He was born 
at Table Bluff, October 11, 1876, and here he laid the foundation of a splendid 
education by attendance upon the Eureka schools. In this county he grew 
to manhood and hither he returned at the close of his medical course and 
hospital service in San Francisco, content to engage in practice at Eureka 
without investigating the allurements of localities less dear to him. Largely 
through his own efforts he was enabled to enjoy exceptional advantages while 
preparing for the practice of his profession and after he was graduated from 
the Cooper Medical College with the degree of M. D., in 1905, he engaged 
as a physician in St. Mary's hospital in San Francisco, where a year of prac- 
tical experience in the treatment of diseases of every kind proved most helpful 
to him in later embarking in the profession for himself. 

Upon his return to Eureka in 1906 Dr. Quinn opened an office and began 
to practice his profession, which has since engaged his attention and has 
brought him a growing prestige and popularity. Besides his private practice 
he is engaged as surgeon with the Union Labor hospital of Eureka. A close 
student of every advance made in the profession, he has been benefited by 
the reading of medical literature with reports of latest discoveries, and has 
found help also in association with the county and state medical societies. 
For some years he has acted as physician for the local Aerie of Eagles, to 
which he belongs, and his other fraternities are the Knights of Columbus 
and the Improved Order of Red Men. By his marriage to Norma McClean, a 
native of Minnesota, he has two children, Robert and Phyllis. The family 
home is a comfortable residence in Eureka, while the Doctor's office is in the 
Carson building. As yet he has taken no part in politics nor has he ever con- 
sented to hold office, his tastes being in the line of professional activities 
rather than public affairs. Yet he has been keen to give his support to every 
measure for the permanent progress of the community and has cooperated 
with helpful projects, so that he merits a place among the public-spirited men 
of his native county. 

WALTER L. BURRILL.—Another of the rising young men of Hum- 
boldt county is Walter L. Burrill, an enterprising manufacturer of confec- 
tions, who is winning for himself and his home city general recognition 
throughout the county for the splendid quality of his Ferndale products. Mr. 
Burrill has spent most of his lifetime in California, his parents having located 
in Eureka when he was but thirteen years of age. There he received his 
education, and grew to manhood. After graduating from the grammar and 
high schools he served an apprenticeship with E. B. Hall, the confectioner 
at Eureka, and on August 1, 1899, he came to Ferndale to seek a possible 
location for a business of his own. On August 22 he opened up his first place 
in P'erndale, and has been continuously in business here since. He now has 
one of the finest business stands in the county, and one of which the city is 
justly proud. He has built up a splendid local trade in his special line of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 869 

candies and is now establishing an equally desirable wholesale trade. He has 
a commodious ice cream parlor and soda water fountain in connection with 
his factory, the entire place being beautiful and attractive. In the rear is 
to be found the candy factory, which is every bit as good to look at as the 
candies themselves are good to eat. The establishment is conducted on the 
latest lines of modern sanitation and every precaution is taken to have the 
product scientifically pure. Only the best of ingredients are used, pure sugar 
and fruit flavors being employed exclusively. Mr. Burrill began in a very 
modest manner, but his business is rapidly assuming metropolitan proportions. 

Mr. Burrill is a native of Maine, having been born at Fairfield, in the 
Pine Tree state, February 8, 1872. His father, James M. Burrill, also a native 
of Maine, is now an engineer for the Metropolitan Lumber Company, and 
resides at Eureka. The mother, like her husband and son, was born in 
Maine, and was Miss Mary J. Brown in the days of her maidenhood, and 
resides at the family home in Eureka. There were two children in the Burrill 
family, the son, Walter L., and a daughter, Abbie C, who is still living 
at home. 

]\Ir. Burrill was married at Eureka October 30, 1902, to Miss Etta F. 
Allen, the daughter of Capt. H. D. P. Allen, of Eureka, a pioneer boatman of 
Humboldt county. Of their union has been born one child, a son, Leslie 
A. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burrill are justly popular in their home city, having a 
wide circle of friends. Mr. Burrill is forging to the front in many respects 
and is regarded as one of the most influential men of the community. He 
was elected in April, 1914, as a member of the board of town trustees, and is 
making an enviable record for himself in his ofificial capacity. He is also well 
and favorably known in fraternal circles, being an influential member of the 
Ferndale lodges of Foresters of America, the Woodmen of the World and the 
Knights of Pythias. 

WILLIAM CROWLEY. — A man who has taken a prominent part as 
foreman for different lumber companies in Humboldt county, Cal., and 
whose proficiency in the handling of men makes him valuable as superin- 
tendent in charge of construction work, William Crowley understands the 
lumber business thoroughly, having worked in every department, from the 
felling of the timber until it was landed at the mill either by means of water 
or rail, and in early days was employed to drive a bull team in connection 
with the work. 

Since the fall of 1875 Mr. Crowley has been a resident of California, his 
birthplace having been St. John, New Brunswick, where he was born Octo- 
ber 25, 1858. His father, John Crowley, who was born in County Derry, 
Ireland, removed to New Brunswick, where he later married Theresa 
Pierce, a native of that part of Canada, and spent the remainder of his life 
there, engaged in farm and lumber work. Of their eleven children, A^^ill- 
iam Crowley was the oldest, and received his education in the public schools 
of New Brunswick, after which he was employed on his father's farm during 
the summer months, the winters being spent in the lumber woods. Remov- 
ing to California, he spent the first three years of his residence here in the 
Areata v/oods, where he was employed by N. H. Falk, later being employed 
another three years by D. R. Jones & Co., on the Elk river. He was nexi 
engaged by the Excelsior Mill Company, located on Gunther Island, to 
work in their woods on the Freshwater, where he remained sixteen vears, 



870 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

during that time becoming foreman, a position which he filled with ability 
and with complete satisfaction to his employers, his many years of expe- 
rience in the woods amply qualifying him for the position. Later he en- 
gaged in the manufacture of shingles, operating a shingle mill and wood 
yard for two years in Eureka, after which he entered the employ of the 
Pacific Lumbel- Company at Scotia as woods foreman, continuing with 
them for a period of fourteen years. Resigning from their employ, he 
accepted a position with a New York lumber company as superintendent of 
railroad and woods at their mills, which were located in Madero, Mexico. 
There he was engaged in carrying out his duties for fifteen months, when 
the revolution in that country became so menacing that they were obliged 
to leave the place, and Mr. Crowley came then into charge of the railroad of 
the Little River Redwood Company, in Humboldt county, Cal., being em- 
ployed in the woods by this company for three years and three months. 
In October of 1914, in company with a partner, Thomas E. Clooney, he ob- 
tained a contract to build three and one-tenth miles of the state highway, 
extending from Bear creek to Jordan creek, in the carrying out of which 
charge he is at present engaged. Mr. Crowley has much faith in the 
Pacific coast real estate, and is the owner of property in Humboldt county, 
in Southern California, and also along the northern coast. 

A Republican in his political interests, Mr. Crowley's fraternal associa- 
tions are with the Eureka Lodge, B. P. O. E., the Woodmen of the World 
and the Knights of Columbus. He was married to Miss Katherine Gorman 
in Eureka, who is a native of England, and they have four children, of 
whom three are at present living, namely : William A., an employee in the 
Eureka postoffice ; Millard E., a machinist in San Francisco ; and Frances 
G., the wife of John Reedy, of San Francisco. 

JOHN F. HELMS.— In the veins of John F. Helms flows the blood of a 
noble and ancient ancestry. The origin of the family is traced to Holland, 
whence members came to the new world with Peter Stuyvesant in 1616 and 
settled in New York. Subsequently some of the family drifted into Virginia, 
and it was in that state that the great-grandfather of our subject, Alfred 
Helms, was born, he being one of a family of eleven children, all of whom 
served in the Revolutionary war. It is said that Alfred Helms accompanied 
"Mad Anthony" Wayne to the frontier in an Indian campaign. The country 
was then all known as Ohio Territory, but is now the state of Indiana. At 
the close of the campaign Mr. Helms returned to Virginia, but the compara- 
tive ease and quiet of life there palled upon him and he determined to go 
back to the frontier. With others he made his way over the mountains into 
what is now Dearborn county, Ind., and there purchased a claim from an 
Indian chief which embraced thirty-six sections. Afterward he named this 
Clay township, in so doing perpetuating the name of Henry Clay, for whom 
he had the greatest admiration. His ownership of the property was recog- 
nized by the government, the grant remaining valid, and the land is still in 
the possession of his descendants. As an indication of the political strength 
of the Helms family it may be said that as voters they hold the balance of 
power in Dearborn county today. 

The son and namesake of this intrepid pioneer, Alfred Helms, the grand- 
father of our subject, participated in the war of his time, doing valiant service 
in the Mexican war. He was the father of thirteen sons, and of these nine 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 871 

followed the example of their forebears in taking- up arms in defense of their 
country, serving in the Civil war, and though three of them were wounded, 
all of them lived to the close of hostilities. Next to the oldest in this large 
family was David Helms, who saw active service in Company B, Eighty-third 
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for a period of four years, during which time 
he was in numerous battles and skirmishes, having been able to respond to 
every call, and ultimately rose to the rank of captain. After laying down the 
destructive equipment of warfare he took up the peaceful and constructive 
life of the farmer in Indiana, settling upon a place which had been the home 
of three generations before him. Subsequently he sold this property and 
removed to Topeka, Kans., where he now makes his home at the age of eighty 
years. In maidenhood his wife was Jennie Johnson, a native of Dearborn 
county, Ind. She died in Topeka, Kans., in 1912, having become the mother 
of ten children, of whom six are now living. 

Next to the oldest in the parental family, John F. Helms was born in 
Clay township, Dearborn county, Ind., May 27, 1871, and was brought up 
on the old home farm until he was eighteen years of age. In the meantime 
he had received a good education in the schools near by. He accompanied 
his parents upon their removal to Topeka, Kans., in 1889, and in Shawnee 
county he followed farming, at the same time continuing his education by 
attending school during the winter season. When circumstances made it 
possible he took a course in Topeka Business College, from which he was 
graduated in 1891. It was following this that he gave up farming and began 
teaching school in the district adjoining Topeka, and at the same time he 
taught at night in the Topeka Business College, continuing this dual occupa- 
tion for five years. 

Mr. Helms' public life dates from 1896, when he was appointed clerk in 
the office of Sheriff Porter S. Cook of Topeka. His activity in political mat- 
ters led to his selection to become a delegate to the Republican county con- 
gressional and state convention during the years which intervened. Upon 
the breaking out of the Spanish-American war he resigned his position with 
Sheriff' Cook and volunteered for service in the Twentieth Kansas Volunteer 
Infantry, but was rejected, after which he enlisted in the Sixteenth United 
States Infantry, and as a member of Company F was sent with his regiment 
to Cuba. At Santiago, Cuba, he and others were detailed and mounted and 
later were under Colonel Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, but before the charge 
he was ordered back to guard the field hospital. 

At the close of the war Mr. Helms was mustered out and honorably 
discharged at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo. Subsequently his regiment 
was sent to the Philippines, so he again enlisted in Company F, Sixteenth 
United States Volunteer Infantry, and joined his regiment in the islands, 
making the trip by way of New York City, thence across the Atlantic and 
up the Mediterranean sea, through the Suez canal to Luzon Island, where 
with his regiment he took an active part. Soon after his arrival he was 
detailed as headquarter's clerk. He considered himself fortunate because at 
no time was his name on the sick report. During his service in the islands 
he worked his way up to sergeant-major, and passed the examination for 
second lieutenant, ranking third in a class of thirty-seven. Returning to San 
Francisco, he was honorably discharged, and liking the country, decided to 
remain in the west. For a year he was employed in a tannery at Benicia, after 



872 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

which he bought a ranch at Shively and became interested in fruit-farming. 
As had been the case in Kansas, his ability for office holding became recog- 
nized by his fellow citizens and in 1906 he was appointed deputy county clerk 
under George Cousins, an office which he held for one year, after which he 
returned to his ranch, in addition to the management of which he also served 
as deputy county assessor for three years. Thereafter he received the 
appointment of deputy United States marshal and came to Eureka. How- 
ever, after six months he resigned the office to accept the appointment of 
under-sheriff to Sheriff Robert A. Redmond, a position which he has ably 
filled since January, 1910. He has disposed of his ranch at Shively, but he 
still retains his buildings and shingle mill at Holmes, in the running of the 
latter having a capable partner in George R. Young of Pepperwood, who 
operates the mill whenever the price of shingles justifies their manufacture. 
The mill has proved a source of profit to both partners, each in his own 
name owning redwood lands. With what has preceded regarding Mr. Helms' 
public life it is needless to state that he is a stanch Republican. However, 
he is liberal in his views and recognizes good even in his opponents. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Hoopa Tribe, I. O. R. M., of Eureka. 

GATLIFF & THOMPSON.— The leading photographers in Eureka at 
the present time are Gatliff & Thompson, whose studios are located in the 
Connick & St. Clair building, at the corner of Fourth and F streets. Both 
of the partners are thorough masters of photography and artists in their line. 
Their work is the best and all the later styles and types of photography are 
to be found in their studios, which are artistic and attractive to a degree. 
They enjoy the patronage of the best people in Eureka and Humboldt county, 
and are always careful to have all their work up to their established high 
standard. The partnership is composed of Bertram Gatliff and Joseph G. 
Thompson, the former being the senior partner, and a resident of Eureka 
for many years. 

Both Mr. Gatliff and Mr. Thompson are popular with a wide circle of 
personal friends in Eureka, and their standing among business and pro- 
fessional men of the city is very high. Their business is prosperous and is 
conducted along modern lines, and they themselves are both progressive, 
wideawake young business men. They are enthusiastic and energetic boosters 
for their home city, and take an active part in all that tends for the welfare 
of the municipality. 

GEORGE S. SHEDDEN.— A native of Scotland, but a resident of 
America since early childhood, George S. Shedden is today one of the most 
prominent and prosperous of Eureka's business men, and is one of the most 
highly respected of her citizens. He came to Eureka as a drug clerk, but 
very soon bought out the business from his employer, and has since continued 
to conduct it as an independent enterprise, with the greatest success. His 
thrift and conscientious industry have reaped a splendid reward, and today 
he is well on the high road to wealth. He is interested in copper properties in 
Humboldt county, together with other prominent business and professional 
men of Eureka, which bid fair to make all the stockholders therein inde- 
pendently wealthy within the near future. 

Mr. Shedden was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, December 23, 
1863. His father was John Shedden and his mother was Margaret (McCall) 
Shedden, both natives of Ayrshire, Scotland. They were married at Ayr, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 873 

Scotland, and the present honored citizen of Eureka was the youngest of 
seven children. The father was gardener at Airdrie House, and held this 
position for many years. He removed to the United States with his family 
in 1873, when George S. was ten years of age, locating in Newport, R. I. 
There the son grew to manhood, receiving his education in the public schools. 
In January, 1883, when he was twenty years of age, he came west to For- 
mosa, Jewell county, Kans., where he was engaged by an elder brother, 
Thomas Shedden, as a drug clerk, he being the owner of a drug store there. 

It was in 1888 that ]Mr. Shedden finally came to California, locating at 
Santa Cruz, where he was employed in the drug business. He remained there, 
until 1895, when he went to San Jose to accept a position in the drug firm of 
Perrin & Stephenson, remaining with them for ten years, and making an 
enviable reputation for himself for reliability and trustworthiness. In 1905 
he came to Eureka with Mr. Stephenson, his former employer in San Jose, 
who had purchased the store of W. E. Moore in Eureka. Almost immediately 
Mr. Stephenson desired to dispose of his interests and leave Eureka. Accord- 
ingly, Mr. Shedden bought a half interest in the business, paying for it the 
first year from the profits of the store. Later he bought the remaining one- 
half interest, which has since been cleared away by the profits of the en- 
terprise. 

The marriage of Mr. Shedden took place in Eureka, August 13, 1911, 
uniting him with Mrs. Helen Beckwith Skinner, the daughter of Leonard and 
Caroline Beckwith, and a native of Hydesville, Humboldt county. Her father 
is one of the oldest settlers in Eureka, where he is held in especially high 
esteem, having been closely associated with the upbuilding of Humboldt 
county for rrtany years, and being a man of more than ordinary ability and 
worth. Mrs. Shedden is the mother of one daughter by her first husband, 
Margaret Skinner, who makes her home with Mr. Shedden. 

The copper property in which Mr. Shedden is interested is owned by a 
corporation of fifteen prominent business and professional men of Eureka, 
and is known as the Humboldt Copper Mining Company, of which Mr. 
Shedden is a director. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Shedden are popular members of their social circle 
in Eureka, and are the center of a wide circle of warm friends and admiring 
acquaintances. 

WILLIAM LIGHT. — Lying on the Briceland road two and a half miles 
west of Garberville, Humboldt county, is the Light ranch of three hundred 
twenty acres, where Mr. and Mrs. William Light have resided continuously 
since 1883. They have been residents of California, however, for a much 
longer period, both having come to this state during the sixties. Mr. Light, 
in common with many emigrants from the eastern states in his day, tried 
mining when he began life on the Pacific coast, but a very brief experience 
in that line, and a better understanding of the varied resources of the country 
aside from its mineral wealth, convinced him that it was not the only road 
to prosperity, and he has followed agricultural pursuits with highly satis- 
factory results. He and his wife are counted among the most esteemed resi- 
dents in their section of the county. 

Mr. Light was born in Broome county, N. Y., January 16, 1842, and lived 
on his father's farm until he reached his majority. Then he decided to come 
out to California, and made the trip by the Nicaraguan route. He was soon 



874 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

at work in the gold fields in Placer county, but he became disgusted after a 
week's trial of mining and went to work for his uncle, Elijah Light, on a 
farm in Marin county, remaining with him one season. Proceeding thence 
to Sonoma county, he rented a dairy ranch comprising one hundred acres 
situated in the Coleman valley, and was successfully engaged in agricultural 
work on his own account in that county until his removal ao Humboldt 
county, in 1883. That year he bought the ranch of three hundred twenty acres 
where he has since had his home, and which during his ownership has under- 
gone steady and intelligent improvement. Besides cultivating it carefully 
he has put up two sets of buildings, one occupied by himself and wife, the 
other by their daughter, Mrs. Hinckley, to whom the property was turned 
over recently, Mr. Light having retired from active labor to enjoy the com- 
fortable home and competence he acquired during his busy career. Mr. 
Light's honorable life, his pleasant relations with his neighbors, and thrifty 
management of his property, all combine to establish him as one of the highly 
desirable residents of his locality. 

During his residence in Sonoma county Mr. Light married Mrs. Cynthia 
(Williams) Barton, who came to California with her parents in 1865. By her 
first marriage she had two children : Clara, Mrs. Good, who died in Oakland, 
March 12, 1909; and J. W., living at Eureka. One child has been born to 
her union with Mr. Light, Amy, now Mrs. Alexis Hinckley, and they have 
two children, George and Clara. Politically Mr. Light is a Democrat, his 
wife a Republican. She is a Christian Scientist in religious belief, and pos- 
sesses estimable personal qualities which have endeared her to a large circle 
of friends and acquaintances. Even-tempered and serene, and accustomed to 
accepting her duties philosophically and her pleasures gratefully, she has a 
disposition which attracts friendship, and her generous nature is appreciated 
by all who have had the opportunity of knowing her. 

Mrs. Light was born at Hyde Park, Vt., the third child of Mr. and Afrs. 
William Williams, farming people, who moved to New Hampshire during 
her early life. The father came to California alone in 1853, and became 
interested in farming at Tomales, Marin county. Some time later he returned 
to Hebron, N. H., for his wife and family of four children, whom he brought 
to the Pacific coast in 1865. They were at sea when news was received of 
Lincoln's assassination, and the diversity of opinion among the passengers 
regarding the affair nearly caused a riot on board. 

Just as this goes to press Mr. Light died, July 18, 1915. His loss is 
mourned not only by his dear ones, but by all who knew him. He was a 
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for forty-two years, being 
a member of Occidental Lodge, Sonoma county. 

EDWARD STUART FORBES.— It would be difficult to find a young 
man more emphatically in accord with the true western spirit of progress 
or more keenly alive to the opportunities awaiting the industrious and in- 
telligent man of affairs in Humboldt county than Edward S. Forbes, junior 
member of the firm of Forbes Bros. They have built up a far-reaching stock 
and dairy business and identified themselves with the best interests of their 
district. Out of his own experience Mr. Forbes has evolved the theory that 
any young man with ambition and the correct theories of life may attain 
unto his goal, providing his diversions do not include gambling, drinking 
and kindred destroyers of happiness. Fie is a fine type of young manhood, of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 875 

athletic build, six feet five inches in height. Besides renting the old home 
place of a quarter section, Forbes Bros, operate eleven hundred acres of the 
Beaty range, which they rent, and also have leased eight hundred acres from 
Dick Mason. Their properties are located near Blocksburg. They devote 
their time to general farming and dairying, having on their ranch a fine herd 
of ninety cattle of the best breeds. The progressive spirit possessed by the 
brothers is shown in the improvements which they have introduced, as it is 
their desire to have only the very best in farm machinery and dairy equipment. 

A representative of a fine old Scotch family which was among the first 
to locate in Humboldt county, Mr. Forbes was born at Elk River, February 
23, 1895. His father, Alexander Forbes, came to America when a young man 
and during the early fifties became a resident of California at a time when 
Humboldt county was wild and almost entirely uncultivated. However, in 
spite of hardships and obstacles, in spite of having to start for himself in a 
strange country without friends, he gained a success that reflects credit upon 
his sterling Scotch characteristics. He lived to the advanced age of eighty- 
six years, passing away in 1908. To himself and wife, Harriet Honora (Creek) 
Forbes, were born four children : Robert Bruce, the senior member of the 
firm of Forbes Bros., married Miss Rosina Curless, a native of Van Dusen 
township, this county ; Fred Victor, foreman of the Howard Auto Company, 
makes his home in Portland, Ore. ; Myron C. married Miss Florence Barrett 
and is living at Fortuna ; and Edward Stuart. On the death of her husband 
Mrs. Forbes married Frank B. Morey and is making her home in Fortuna. 

WILLIAM E. SMITH.— Since the spring of 1914 the books of the 
Pacific Oak Extract Company, at Briceland, have been under the care of 
William E. Smith, who though yet a young man has acquired a verv high 
reputation as bookkeeper and accountant. His training and the responsible 
positions he has held were thorough preparation for his present duties, in 
which his work has been up to the high standards for which he has become 
known. Mr. Smith was born November 24, 1892, on a ranch seven miles 
west of Briceland, son of the late Abraham Smith. The father was a typical 
westerner and experienced ranchman. From the time he was eleven years 
old he was a great rider and a good pistol shot, could spin a lariat to perfec- 
tion, and had the various other accomplishments acquired in riding the ranges. 
He was thus engaged, as a cowboy, in Montana for years before coming to 
California, settling in Humboldt county in 1888. He married Miss Julia 
Calkins, of Briceland, this county, and two children were born to their mar- 
riage : Mrs. Katie Teel, who lives at Bakersfield, Cal. ; and William E. After 
the father's death the mother remarried, being now the wife of W. O. Louk, 
and living at Garberville, Humboldt county. 

William E. Smith grew up at Garberville, where he attended public 
school. He was only ten years old when his father died, but his mother 
reared him carefully and gave him all possible advantages. When a youth he 
took the commercial course at the Eureka business college, from which he was 
graudated in 1909, following immediately with the post-graduate course. He 
now holds a teacher's certificate, being not only a proficient bookkeeper and 
accountant from the practical standpoint, but also an expert instructor in the 
art. During 1910-11 he taught in the Eureka business college, and then took 
a position with the Shelter Cove Wharf & Warehouse Company, keeping 
their books two years. For the next six months he was similarly employed 



876 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

by the Garberville Mercantile Company, on April 1, 1914, taking his present 
position, with the Pacific Oak Extract Company. This company conducts 
the most important industry in southern Humboldt county, fifty men being 
employed at its works in Briceland and in the woods getting out bark. Its 
product, oak extract used in tanning, is made from the bark of the oak growths 
on the edge of the redwood belt, which for many years were considered un- 
worthy of commercial exploitation. Thus the business has a double value, 
having converted what was once looked upon as a waste product of this 
region to an article for which there is steady demand. The extract company 
at Briceland is subsidiary to the Wagner Leather Company, of Stockton, 
Cal., which uses all the output of the works. Mr. Smith has taken his place 
among the valued employees of the company, and his reliability and capability 
are receiving just appreciation. He has made an excellent beginning in 
business. 

On May 16, 1914, Mr. Smith was married, to Miss Pearl Landergen, of 
Upper Mattole, this county, daughter of R. R. Landergen, a rancher of that 
region. Socially Mr. Smith holds membership in the lodge of Modern Wood- 
men at Eureka, and in Hoopa Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, of the 
same place. 

LEOPOLD FREDERICK GROTHE.— The justice of the peace of 
Briceland township in Humboldt county, Cal., a popular and enterprising man 
in that vicinity, and the owner of extensive property in that county, Leopold 
Frederick Grothe is a native son of California, having been born at Bell 
Springs, Mendocino county, on August 15, 1880, the son of Frederick August 
Grothe, who, with his brother Ferdinand, came from Germany to New York 
and two years later to the northern part of California in the early days, 
they being among the first permanent settlers of northern Mendocino county. 

Berlin, Germany, w^as the native home of Mr. Grothe's father, and there 
he grew up and learned the blacksmith's trade, in 1867 coming to the United 
States, where for two years he remained in Long Island City, N. Y., in the 
year 1869 making his way to Sacramento, Cal., where he commenced farm- 
ing operations in company with Messrs. Chittenden and Weinkauf. With 
his partners he removed to Mendocino county, locating claims at or near 
Bell Springs, and with them engaged in stock raising, continuing the part- 
nership for a period of about seven years, when it was dissolved and by the 
division of the property Frederick August Grothe became the owner of the 
ranch at Bell Springs. Building up a well improved ranch there, he added 
to it from time to time until he had in his possession about ten thousand acres 
of land at the time of his death. With the aid of his sons he engaged in 
cattle and sheep raising on an extensive scale, meeting with remarkable suc- 
cess and erecting a comfortable residence on his ranch at Bell Springs, which 
has for many years been the stopping place for travelers between points in 
Humboldt county and the Bay region. Both Mr. Grothe and his wife were 
devoted to the Lutheran faith, in which they had been reared, his wife having 
been Anna AVeinkauf, a native of Germany, who died in June, 1891, the death 
of Mr. Grothe occurring in January, 1910. They were the parents of nine 
children, as follows : Louise, now Mrs. Linser, residing near Bell Springs ; 
Selma, who was formerly a teacher, but now presides over the Bell Springs 
home,; Otto, engaged on the home ranch; Leopold Frederick, the owner of 
an extensive ranch in Humboldt county ; Franz, who remains on the home 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 879 

ranch ; Henry, engaged in the dairy business at Woodland, Cal. ; Paul and 
Weinkauf, who are also on the home ranch ; and Rose, a teacher, who makes 
her home on the Bell Springs ranch. The father is remembered as having 
brought the first drove of sheep into northern Mendocino county, and as being 
the last to go out of the business on account of the coyotes which brought 
destruction to so many of the flocks of that region. The ranch is still owned 
by the family and is operated under the firm name of Grothe Brothers. 

The son, Leopold Frederick Grothe, who was brought up on the Bell 
Springs ranch, receiving his education in the public schools, from a lad was 
well acquainted with the business of stock raising and continued at the home 
ranch until accepting the position of foreman of the Ramsey Home ranch 
near Bell Springs for Harry Ramsey, after the great fire in San Francisco, 
however, removing to that city, where for a year he followed the carpenter's 
trade, returning to the Ramsey ranch for a short period of time. In 1911 
he came to Briceland, Cal., to assume the management of the Ferdinand 
Grothe ranch which his family had inherited from the uncle, Ferdinand 
Grothe, who in the early days had settled at Bell Springs, where he home- 
steaded with his brother and carried on stock raising for several years, selling 
out his business and removing to Briceland, where he purchased the William 
Marshall place. Here he engaged in sheep raising, meeting with success 
until the inroads of the coyotes caused him to give up the raising of sheep 
and devote himself to his cattle, wherein also he was successful. A well 
known and popular man, active in local politics and an ardent admirer of 
the Republican platform, Ferdinand Grothe was a prominent member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined the Cahto lodge No. 206 
soon after coming to California. He was never married, and his death 
occurred in 1911, at which time his nephew, Leopold Frederick, assumed 
charge of his property, where he has since resided, in 1914 selling his interest 
in the estate at Bell Springs and purchasing the Briceland ranch of the estate, 
by which transaction Leopold Frederick is now sole owner of his uncle's 
Briceland ranch, which comprises over fifteen hundred acres located on Red- 
wood creek, and is known as the Heart G ranch, Mr. Grothe's brand being a 
G within a heart. On this estate range over one hundred twenty-five head 
of cattle, Mr. Grothe making a specialty of high grade short horn Durham 
cattle and also raising hogs. The property is splendid grazing land, well 
adapted to stock raising, and besides the advantages of Redwood creek, there 
are numerous small streams and springs upon the land, including a sulphur 
spring, and Mr. Grothe is placing redwood troughs in convenient locations 
for the stock, the water being brought thereto by iron pipes, so that his cattle 
have ample drinking facilities. 

A member of the Cahto Lodge No. 206, I. O. O. F., and in politics an 
enthusiastic and stanch Republican, Mr. Grothe is actively interested in the 
welfare of the community where he resides, having been elected justice of 
the peace of Briceland township by a handsome majority, assuming the duties 
of his office in January, 1915. 

HARRY COWEN.— The prosperity of the little town of Briceland has 
been materially aided by the operations of the Pacific Oak Extract Company, 
which affords employment to some fifty men, supplying the Wagner Leather 
Company, of Stockton, Cal., with a high-grade extract of oak bark used in 
the tanning of its superior products. Harry Cowen, one of the most respected 



880 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

citizens of this place, is the efficient woods foreman for this company, whose 
employ he entered in 1906, and his varied duties have been so capably 
performed that he is recognized as one of the men whose conscientious efforts 
and intelligent understanding of the requirements of the business have been 
the foundation upon which its success is laid. He has been a resident ot 
southern Humboldt county since 1901. 

Mr. Cowen is a native of Pennsylvania, born November 15, 1871, near 
the center of the state, on the Susquehanna river, at Clearfield, Clearfield 
county, and was the sixth in the family of fifteen children born to Robert 
and Hannah (Henchbarger) Cowen, who were married in Pennsylvania; the 
mother was born in that state. Robert Cowen made an honorable record 
as a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in 1863 in the One Hundred Tenth 
regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and serving until 1865. At one 
time he owned five hundred acres of timber land in Pennsylvania, but his 
patriotism cost him his property, for he lost his land and home on account 
of accumulated interest debts. Subsequently he rented farms in that state. 
In 1898 he and his wife moved to California. 

Harry Cowen was brought up in Pennsylvania and began to make his 
own living when only a boy, becoming used to hard work early. His first 
experience in his present business was acquired there, cutting and peeling 
hemlock bark, and being large for his age and very strong he did heavy 
labor when a mere youth. When eighteen years old he began to follow the 
log drives on the Susquehanna river, from the lumber regions, being thus 
engaged for ten seasons. Having concluded to settle in the west he spent 
some time deciding on a location, looking over twenty-two of the north- 
western states and eventually making his home in Mendocino county, Cal. 
For the several years following he was employed there by the Usall Lumber 
Company, at Usall. In 19(X), at the time of the rush to Nome, he went up 
to Alaska for a season, and upon his return to California in the fall of that 
year he located at Garberville, Humboldt county, renting the Swithenbank 
place, four miles north of that town. He remained on that property five 
years, during which time he was very successful. The year after the big 
earthquake, 1906, he took the contract from the supervisors to fix the road 
to Shelter Cove, a large undertaking and difficult to carry out for many 
reasons, and his highly satisfactory completion of the contract was a proof 
of executive ability, it being done in the thorough manner typical of every- 
thing he handles. He was then induced to help out a friend who had entered 
into an unusually responsible contract with the Pacific Oak Extract Company 
to furnish a large quantity of tanbark, and then began to work for the company 
on his own account, in the fall of that year. His valuable qualities were soon 
recognized, and in the spring of 1907 he took the position of woods foreman, 
which he has since filled. Most of his time and attention is given to his 
work in this connection, which includes a variety of arduous and important 
duties. The cutting and peeling of the oak tanbark, and its delivery to the 
works, which are located on Redwood creek half a mile from Briceland, are 
intrusted to him, with all the incidental business of buying tanbark timber 
as needed, or when there is a favorable opportunity; of looking after the 
curing systematically and economically; and of laying out and building the 
roads necessary to facilitate its transportation from the w^oods, which must 
usually be accomplished over long and difficult mountainous trails. The 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 881 

average quantity required at the works is eighty cords weekly, and the diffi- 
culty of procuring enough to keep the works going is increasing steadily, the 
company being obliged to go farther and farther for the bark each year. More- 
over, the location to be cut over must be chosen in good time and all prepara- 
tions made, as the cutting has to be done at the proper season, after which 
the bark is cured and hauled to the sheds at Briceland to be stored ready 
for use. Fifty mules and horses are used in the woods, and a fiive-ton 
automobile truck supplements the teams in taking the finished product from 
the works to Shelter Cove, where it is loaded onto steamboats for shipment 
to San Francisco, being sent thence by river boat to Stockton. The extract 
company is subsidiary to the Wagner Leather Company, of Stockton, which 
uses all the extract made at the Briceland works. Mr. Cowen has proved 
to be the right man for his work, and his efficiency has increased as he has 
acquired familiarity with its details, his resource and ingenuity in making the 
best of every situation being no less remarkable than his strength and ener- 
getic disposition. 

While his activities for several years have been devoted principally to 
the business of the extract company, ^Ir. Cowen has also looked after some 
private affairs and has taken part in the public affairs of his locality. He has 
made a number of good investments in stock range and timber lands in. 
Humboldt county, having a half interest in two hundred forty acres of red- 
wood timber lands ; and also three hundred twenty acres of tanbark oak land,. 
his wife owning a similar quantity. 

For the last four years Mr. Cowen has been filling the office of justice of 
the peace in Briceland township, with office at Briceland, and his recent 
nomination for another term shows how well satisfied his felloAV citizens have 
been with his services. He has every reason to be well pleased with his 
choice of a place to live and work. He found the opportunities he was seeking, 
and has proved himself worthy of them ; the change has brought him content- 
ment and prosperity, and he is repaying the community which held out these 
attractions, and made good, with citizenship of the highest order. 

On Alay 12, 1896, Air. Cowen was married at Ferndale, Humboldt county, 
to Aliss Annie Miner, daughter of Allen JNIiner, a stock-raiser in Union and 
jNIattole, where she was born. Air. and Airs. Cowen have two children, 
Edward Allen and Harry Aliner. Air. Cowen owns the comfortable little 
home at Briceland which they occupy. 

Air. Cowen was the first of his family to come to California, and he was 
sufficiently impressed with its advantages to encourage other members to 
follow him, his parents, two brothers and five sisters joining him here in 
1898; the next year another sister came out. Politically he has always been 
a stanch Republican. 

DAVID MURPHY. — Those were energetic pioneers in the old days who 
made the tedious journe}^ to California across the plains in ox- wagons or by 
saiUng-vessel around Cape Horn, either journey being attended by the many 
inconveniences of travel in early times, not to mention hardship and danger. 
The father of David Alurphy, a rancher and bear-hunter of Blocksburg, Cal., 
was one of the settlers of this state who made the journey around the Cape. 
The elder David Alurphy was born in the state of Ohio and was married in 
Alissouri to Polly iVnn Raglan, a native of that state, by whom he had ten 
children, the two oldest being born in Alissouri, the others in California. In 



882 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

1856 the family came to California, where for three years they lived at 
Hydesville, and in April, 1873, settling near Blocksburg. The father then 
bought the Foster ranch where he devoted his time and energj^ to stock- 
raising, and died sixteen years ago at the age of seventy-six, his wife having 
passed away the previous year aged sixty-five years. 

The seventh of his children, David Murphy, now a prosperous resident 
of Humboldt county, was born at Cottonwood, Tehama county, Cal., October 
10, 1867, receiving his education in the public schools of Blocksburg district, 
for some time remaining at home where he assisted his father and was em- 
ployed also on various other ranches in the vicinity. In 1890 he took up a pre- 
emption of forty acres which he proved up and still owns. He has also held 
large stock-ranch interests at Fruitland, Cal., which he sold in 1914 and rented 
the G. F. Connick ranch of fifteen hundred acres and about one thousand acres 
of Fruitland property whereon he raises cattle and hogs. Besides being a suc- 
cessful rancher, Mr. Murphy has gained for himself the distinction of being 
the most successful bear-hunter, at the present time, in the county, having 
killed twenty bears in Humboldt county during the season of 1913 and 1914, 
so that he may be said to rival Roosevelt as a bear-hunter. His reason for 
hunting so industriously was because the bears were destroying the hogs 
in the neighborhood. 

Mr. Murphy's home life on his ranch is of the pleasantest. His wife is 
Susie F. Heryford, whom he married in 1891 ; she is the daughter of Paul and 
Josephine (Elkins) Heryford, also pioneers of California, crossing the plains 
when children; they were married in California; the father died in Blocks- 
burg and the mother now resides in Santa Rosa. Mrs. INIurphy was born in 
Tehama, California, but was reared and educated at Blocksburg. She is the 
mother of five children : Viola, the wife of Bert Johnson, living near Harris ; 
Neta, the wife of Charles Flora, living at Fruitland; David, William and Eva. 
JOHN WALTER RYAN.— Apparent chance brought Mr. Ryan from 
the extreme northeastern portion of our country (Sherman Mills, Aroostook 
county. Me.,) where he was born May 14, 1847, and where he had been reared 
on a farm, to the extreme western portion of our great continent, although 
there had been a long interval of employment in other sections prior to his 
settlement in Humboldt county in July of 1883. Throughout practically all 
of his life he has been identified with the lumber business. As a boy he 
worked in logging camps in the great pine forests of Maine. When he left 
that commonwealth in 1868 he secured employment in the lumber industry 
in Pennsylvania, nor was there any special change in occupation during the 
nine years of his wanderings in Idaho, Utah, Montana and Nevada. After 
he had engaged in the lumber business at Lake Tahoe for six years he spent 
two years in Butte City, Mont., until 1883, when he arrived in Humboldt 
county, where for eighteen years he was connected with the old Pacific 
Lumber Company of Scotia. For a time he also assisted in railroad building. 
During almost the entire period of his residence in this county he has been 
connected with its timber claims and perhaps no one is more familiar with 
their condition than he. Coming to Eureka in 1902, he bought the neat resi- 
dence which he now occupies. In 1905 he was appointed justice to fill a 
vacancy and the following year he was elected justice of the peace. Since 
then, a period of two terms, he has filled the office with rare tact and a far 
wider knowledge of the law than he would have been expected to possess. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 885 

Judge Ryan has always been a Republican, active in the councils of the 
party, and in 1900 was one of the state presidential electors on the McKinley- 
Roosevelt ticket. He was duly elected and met with his colleagues in the 
senate chamber at Sacramento, when they cast their vote for the Republican 
nominees. 

The first marriage of Judge Ryan united him with Miss Priscilla Mc- 
Henry, who was born in Pennsylvania and died in Humboldt county in 1900. 
Later he was united with Miss Minnie Jameson, who was born and reared in 
this county and is a member of an honored pioneer family, her father, Benja- 
min T. Jameson, having settled here in 1852 and afterward taken an active 
part in local upbuilding. Besides being prominent in the local branches of 
Masonry, including blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Eastern Star, in 
some of which he has filled offices of honor. Judge Ryan is one of the leading 
members of the Eureka Lodge of Elks and at this writing is serving as 
leading knight. 

JAMES E. FRENCH.— The Ettersburg neighborhood is known as one 
of the most progressive in Humboldt county. The wholesome spirit of cooper- 
ation which has characterized that region is well exemplified in the success 
of the Ettersburg Farm Center, and the same liberal esprit de corps is evident 
in the business circles of the locality, where enterprise does not mean selfish- 
ness, or success riches for one man alone. The Etter brothers themselves have 
set a notable example in this regard, but those who have kept pace in their 
own lines also deserve and receive credit. As the Etters have taken the lead 
in Humboldt county in horticultural work, so the firm of French & Pixton 
has been foremost in another industry, one not yet thoroughly understood or 
entirely appreciated in this country — the raising of milch goats. The mem- 
bers of this firm are brothers-in-law, and they have been working together 
successfully for a number of years. Beginning in a humble way, taking up 
homesteads in the mountains which required years of hard work to prove up 
and develop, they have gone ahead in spite of drawbacks, and in their special 
line particularly have turned adverse circumstances to profitable use. In 
fact, one of their greatest triumphs is the demonstration that hundreds of 
acres of Humboldt county mountain lands hitherto considered useless for 
cultivation or grazing, being inaccessible even to sheep, may be turned to 
account. 

Mr. French is a son of Daniel and Sarah (Huling) French, the father a 
native of Michigan and of English and German extraction. The mother came 
of an old English family, to which General Huling, a British officer in the 
Revolution, belonged. She was born in Iowa, and was only a child when 
taken across the plains by an uncle, the journey being made with ox teams, 
in 1861. After seven years' residence in California she returned to Iowa, 
where she married ]\Ir. French in 1869, and in 1876 came back with him to 
California, settling that year near Fortuna, in Humboldt county. She died at 
Fortuna in 1895, the mother of three children: James E. ; Ernest E., also a 
resident of the Ettersburg section of this county; and Clarence H. By a 
previous marriage Daniel French had one son, Henry, now a merchant in 
New York City. The father is still living, now (1914) almost eighty-four 
years of age, but though he lost his left leg nineteen years ago (it was ampu- 
tated above the knee) he is able to mount a horse and ride over the mountains 
unassisted. 



886 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

James E. French was born October 22, 1870, at West Union, in Fayette 
county, Iowa, and was six years old when his parents settled at Fortuna. 
There he received his education, graduating from the grammar school, and 
completed the ninth grade work when fifteen years old, after which he began 
to make his own living. For nearly two years he was in the employ of Cor- 
nelius Swett, butcher at Fortuna, driving a delivery wagon. Then he spent 
three years in Tillamook county, Oregon, where he took up a homestead, but 
he dropped it and engaged in the cattle business and eventually returned to 
Humboldt county. Flis next employment was with Z. B. Patrick, in the 
Ferndale market, and after two years he bought a third interest in the same. 
About this time he was married, and he continued in the meat business at that 
location until his wife's health made a change necessary, her suffering from 
asthma being relieved by the higher altitude at Ettersburg, which is in a 
mountainous region. For five years Mr. French rented a place at Ettersburg, 
the Erickson home, and then ran a hotel and conducted the post office for a 
time. He has homesteaded a tract of one hundred sixty acres on Wilder 
Ridge mountain, lying to the right of the road between Upper Mattole and 
Ettersburg, and though the third winter was very hard, many of his cattle 
being lost, he persevered until he proved up on his land, which has become 
more valuable yearly under his care. He still lives on that place, where he 
now has a comfortable dwelling house and barns, good fences, considerable 
cleared land and a fine family orchard ; the corn he raises on his mountain 
tract is as fine and large as that grown anywhere. 

But it is principally as a breeder of milch goats that Mr. French is 
working toward success. In partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Pixton, 
he has established what is now the leading business of the kind in Humboldt 
county, where Richard Sweasey, of Eureka, was the first to undertake it — 
that is, the first to introduce Toggenburg goats, a famous breed. French & 
Pixton were second, and at present they are giving more attention to the 
raising of Toggenburg goats than any others in the county. The work is so 
interesting that it is worthy of some mention. The Toggenburg goats are 
scarce and high priced, grade does bringing from fifty to seventy-five dollars, 
thoroughbreds from one hundred and thirty-five to two hundred dollars ; 
thoroughbred bucks are worth about three hundred dollars. Larger and 
stronger than the Angoras, they can climb where even sheep cannot go, and 
like homing pigeons return at night and at milking time. To those familiar 
with the mountain districts of California the breeding of these animals 
offers lucrative employment, and there is no danger of overstocking north- 
ern California in twenty-five years. Indeed, when the value of these little 
animals comes to be more generally known the demand for their products will 
increase. Their browsing habits make them almost invaluable in clearing 
laud of brush, etc. The milk is prescribed by physicians for invalids and 
infants, and is claimed to be more digestible than cow's milk. Sold to hos- 
pitals, it brings twenty-five cents a quart. Condensed or evaporated, it may 
be kept almost indefinitely. It is the basis for the manufacture of Roquefort 
cheese, a high-priced commodity. The meat is good for food, by many pre- 
ferred to mutton, which it closely resembles. The hides are valuable for 
leather. Though the goat costs as much as a cow it can be raised in a much 
shorter time and for less than one-third the cost. French & Pixton now own 
five seven-eighths bred does, six three-quarter bred does, ten half-breed does 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 887 

and one thoroughbred Toggenburg buck, whose dam had a record of seven 
quarts of milk daily, for two milkings. 

Mr. French is not only an excellent business man, but a citizen whose 
good qualities make him highly desirable to his fellow men, a type of Ameri- 
can manhood which is a credit to the race. He vies with his neighbors in 
community enterprise, and is a prominent member of the Farm Center at 
Ettersburg which has done so much to promote sociability and good times 
among the congenial element which has found its way into that section. 

Mr. French married Miss Sarah Pixton of Ferndale, who was born in 
Blackburn, Lancashire, England, coming to Salt Lake City when eight years 
of age, and to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1884, with her parents. Their fam- 
ily consists of four children: Sadie, who attends high school at Ferndale: 
Florence ; Ralph, and Lee. Mr. French is a progressive in his political 
convictions. 

LEWIS KEYSOR WOOD.— The early days of the Humboldt bay 
region, and the records of the intrepid pioneers who braved the hardships of 
settlement in Avhat was then a wild section, remote from civilization and 
difficult of access, afiford much of interest to the generation now enjo^ang 
the fruit of the seeds sown by their hardihood. Of the names intimately 
associated with the beginnings of development in what is now Humboldt 
county, that of Lewis Keysor AVood has a permanent place in history, not 
only officially, because he was its first county clerk, but as one of the coura- 
geous band who were the first to find a way into the wilderness then surround- 
ing the bay. Bucksport, in this county, still commemorates the name of one 
of the party, David A. Buck, and other localities still bear the titles bestowed 
upon them by these explorers. Mr. Wood entered upon his life here crippled 
by injuries received in an encounter with grizzly bears on the expedition. 

Lewis Keysor Wood was a native of Kentucky, born February 17, 1819. 
His father, David Wood, born in Washington, Mason county, Ky., April 13, 
1789, was a member of the company of Captain Bayliss in the Eleventh Regi- 
ment of Kentucky militia, as the result of whose services Proctor's army was 
defeated at the Thames. On August 21, 1816, David Wood married Emma 
Scudder, in Washington, Ky., and one of their sons, Nathaniel, served as an 
officer in the Union army during the Civil war. Emma Scudder was a grand- 
daughter of Nathaniel Scudder, a signer of the Declaration of Independence 
from New Jersey. 

Lewis Keysor Wood was a druggist by profession. In 1849 he crossed 
the plains to California as one of a party of about forty persons, arriving at 
the Trinity river worn out by the tedious journey. They made camp at a 
point now known as Rich Bar. Having been informed by an Indian chief 
that the ocean was not more than eight days' travel distant, and that there 
was a large and beautiful bay surrounded by fine and extensive prairie lands, 
a company was formed to explore this unknown expanse lying between the 
upper Trinity and the Pacific. Twenty-four at first volunteered for the ex- 
pedition, and two Indians from the nearby tribe consented to act as guides. 
But while they were recuperating from the toilsome trip just completed the 
wet season set in, and heavy rains and snows delayed their departure and 
made the outlook unpromising in view of the evident hardships to be encoun- 
tered in traveling afoot that time of the year. Thus when preparations were 
resumed only seven were willing to undertake the expedition, and the two 



888 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Indians who were to guide also backed out because of the rain and snow. 
One of the first to suggest this tour of exploration had been Dr. Josiah Gregg, 
a native of Missouri, a physician by profession, and of all the large company 
seemingly the best fitted to guide and direct so important and hazardous an 
enterprise. The seven who accompanied him were Thomas Seabring, of 
Ottawa, 111.; David A. Buck, of New York; J. B. Truesdell, of Oregon; Mr. 
Van Dusen, of Boston, Mass. ; Charles C. Southard, also of Boston ; Isaac 
Wilson, of Missouri, and Lewis K. Wood, of Mason county, Ky. They set 
out on the 7th of November, 1849, carrying scarcely enough provisions for 
ten days' ordinary rations of flour, beans and pork, not to be incumbered 
with supplies. The next six weeks were filled with unmitigated toil, privation 
and sufifering of which even these hardy adventurers could have had little 
anticipation. Before them, as far as the eye could see, lay mountains, high 
and rugged, deep valleys and difficult canyons, now filled with water after 
the recent rains. Leaving the river they struck a path up the mountains in 
the direction indicated by the Indians, and though the wearisome journey was 
much longer than they had expected they stuck to their enterprise until they 
reached the coast, after incredible hardships and all but starvation, arriving 
at the mouth of Little river, December 20th. They had tramped over snowy 
mountains and swum swollen streams without hesitation until their goal 
was attained, over six weeks from the day they started. Mr. Buck discovered 
the bay on the date named and called it Trinity bay, and the party also named 
Mad river, Buck's Port, Elk river, Eel river and the Van Dusen. However, 
the bay was discovered from the ocean four months later by a company 
of the vessel Laura Virginia, who gave it the name it retains, Humboldt bay. 
Under the leadership of Dr. Gregg the party now attempted the return 
to the settlement by way of the Eel river, in the depth of one of the hardest 
winters known in California. Their provisions gave out in the midst of a 
heavy snowstorrii, and for days they were without food, reduced almost to 
starvation. Three of the men went hunting, and, finding a band of eight 
grizzly bears, in their desperation attacked them. After they had wounded 
some of the animals the brutes turned on them, and seized Mr. Wood, 
mangling his body fearfully. One of his legs was broken, and one of his 
arms torn, and his life was saved only by his presence of mind. When the 
bears had torn the clothing from his body and injured him so terribly, they 
left him lying on the ground, evidently thinking him dead, and for some time 
he remained perfectly still for fear they would return. It was not until he 
tried to move that he realized the extent of his injuries. His companions 
managed to carry him back into camp, where they stayed for twelve days 
because of his inability to proceed, subsisting entirely on the meat of the 
bear Mr. Wilson had shot during the struggle. But his wounds instead of 
healing grew worse, and it was a question what might be done with the 
disabled man, as all were aware that their health and strength were being 
steadily undermined by the hardships of their position. If they remained in 
camp they would perish of hunger, yet Mr. Wood's wounds were so swollen 
and sore he could not be moved. When they consulted with him he asked 
them either to induce the Indians who had visited the camp to care for him 
until his companions could procure aid from the settlement, or if this could 
not be arranged to end his suiTerings by shooting him, which he was willing 
they should do rather than sacrifice the lives of all. Either alternative was 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 891 

preferable to being abandoned to his fate under the circumstances. But after 
some discussion the men decided to make a Utter and pack him as far as 
possible, and thus they reached the ranch of Mirs. Mark West on the 17th of 
February, after enduring untold miseries in their weakened condition. They 
remained there until sufficiently recovered to proceed to San Francisco, and 
Mr. Wood never forgot the kindness and care which he received from every 
member of the West family. 

Not long after his recovery Mr. Wood returned to what is now Hum- 
boldt county, and in 1852 was the independent candidate for the office of 
clerk of Trinity county, of which Humboldt then formed a part. The Demo- 
cratic candidate won, but when Humboldt county was created, in 1853, Mr. 
Wood became its first clerk, and filled the office with efficiency and the utmost 
satisfaction to his fellow citizens. Later in life he became engaged in farming 
in Areata bottom, and he died at Areata, July 12, 1874. The same progressive 
spirit which induced Mr. Wood to try his fortune in the west and which made 
him a member of the little band of discoverers who first penetrated the Hum- 
boldt bay country characterized him to the end of his days. He was always 
foremost in advocating movements for the general good, and as a farmer did 
his share in bettering conditions among agriculturists in this locality, taking 
an active part in the Grange work and becoming the first president of Kiwe- 
lattah Grange, organized at Areata about the year 1870. In politics he was a 
Union Democrat, supporting Lincoln on the occasion of his second nomina- 
tion for the presidency. His religious connection was with the Presbyterian 
Church. 

On June 18, 1857, Mr. Wood was married, at Eureka, Cal., to Miss 
Clarissa Sidney Hanna, daughter of James Hanna, and a great-granddaughter 
of Betsy Ross, the maker of the first American flag. She came to California 
from Philadelphia by way of Panama in 1856. Of the eight children, seven 
grew to maturity and most of them still reside in Humboldt county, as fol- 
lows : Emma Scudder, Mrs. L. F. Stinson, resides in Areata ; Ella Sophia, 
Mrs. P. L. Deuel, of Portland, Oregon; Clarissa Sidney, Mrs. D. J. Foley, of 
Eureka ; David married Minnie Greenwald, and is engaged in real estate and 
insurance business in Areata ; Mary Forman, the wife of A. N. Foster, of 
Eureka ; Lewis Keysor married Maggie Cornwell, and he is a clerk in the 
United States engineer's office in Eureka; Alice Hanna is the wife of Howard 
Barter, of Areata. 

JAMES EDWARD MARSHALL.— The varied experiences of James 
Edward Marshall are full of interest and excitement, and have served to fit 
him especially well for his present position of superintendent of outside con- 
struction in brick, cement and concrete, for the great Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany at Scotia, which position he has capably filled since 1909. Previous to 
that time he had been engaged in a similar line of work in various parts of 
the world, including the Philippine Islands, where he did several million 
dollars' worth of government contract work, in Mexico and in Louisiana, 
Texas, and other parts of the United States. He has always been eminently 
successful in his work, and only failing health has ever interfered with the 
continuation of any especial line of work in which he has been engaged. 

Mr. Marshall is a native of Ohio, born at Forest, Wyandotte county, 
September 24, 1877. His father, James Willis Marshall, was a native of 
Germany, as was the grandfather, Joseph Marshall. The father was married 



892 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to Miss Fannie Baker in Ohio, where they spent many years of their life, now- 
being residents of Nevada county. Ark., where the father is engaged in brick- 
making and. brick contracting business at Prescott, Ark. Under the name 
of Cole & Marshall he put in the first sawmill at Gurdon, Ark., which later 
burned, and was a heavy loss to the owners, practically breaking Mr. Marshall 
in business. James E. was then fourteen years of age, the eldest of nine chil- 
dren, by his mother, who was his father's fifth wife, there being fourteen 
children in all. At this time he started out for himself, going to work in a 
brick yard in Prescott (Ark.), where he did a man's work. Later he went out 
on construction work and learned brick laying under his father in and around 
Prescott. He began to act as a boss of men at the age of fifteen years and 
had increasing responsibilities put upon his shoulders from that time. He 
became an expert brick layer and building boss and also a construction boss 
on brick work. He was employed in this way until the breaking out of the 
Spanish-American war, when he enlisted in the First Arkansas Volunteer 
Infantry, Company E, and was mustered, in at Little Rock. He received his 
honorable discharge October 25, 1898, and then went to Cuba as a civilian, 
remaining about three months, and making a special study of the Spanish 
language. Returning to Arkansas he re-enlisted for the Philippine service, 
September 6, 1899, in Company A, Fortieth United States Volunteers, at 
Little Rock, under Captain Dodge. He drilled at Fort Riley and was there 
made corporal, September 18, 1899. They were later sent to the Presidio, San 
Francisco, and thence sailed for Manila. Mr. Marshall was engaged in many 
skirmishes and battles in the Philippines and was with General Bell's expedi- 
tion to Southern Luzon and later to Mindanao in 1900. He received his honor- 
able discharge in Manila May 19, 1901, and remained in the islands for a 
number of years, being engaged in government construction, and handling 
some of the largest contracts for government construction work. He was first 
appointed watchman inspector, quartermaster's department, under Capt. 
Thomas H. Cruse, captain and quartermaster, U. S. A., June 1, 1901. Later 
he was transferred to the southern department under Capt. Archibald Butts, 
who went down on the Titanic. He then went to Camp Stotsenburg and 
engaged in construction work with Capt. C. D. "V. Hunt, afterwards under 
Captain Whitman. He was made superintendent of construction in Novem- 
ber, 1903, when he was transferred to Fort William McKinley, where he took 
charge as inspector of the construction of that post, roads, sidewalks, bar- 
racks, ofiicers' quarters, etc., the construction work requiring an appropriation 
totaling $1,500,000. In 1905 he was promoted to chief inspector of the United 
States government work, bridges, roads and sewers being his principal line 
of work. He put in twenty-five miles of sewer at Fort William McKinley, 
under Thomas H. Jackson, lieutenant of engineers. 

Ill health finally made the resignation of Mr. Marshall necessary and he 
left Manila, spending some time in China, Japan and Australia, going finally 
to Cape Town, South Africa. Returning at last to the United States he went to 
Waldo, Ark,, where he built three store buildings. He then went to Mindon, 
La., to set boilers for the Bodcaw Lumber Company, and thence to Trout, 
La., where he put in large dry kilns. He married Mary Anna Prichard at this 
place, April 6, 1907, she being the daughter of Lee and Florence (Green) 
Prichard. Later he put in a mill and built dry kilns at Longville, La. ; later 
still going into Mexico, State of Chihuahua, and at Madria built a sawmill 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 893 

plant and put in 3,000,000 bricks. The panic and the war caused him to 
lose everything that he had there, and in 1908 he returned to Louisiana and 
started anew. After a short stay in Louisiana he came to California, arriving 
in Scotia June 3, 1909, where he has since resided. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have many friends at Scotia and take an 
active part in the social life of the town. They have one child, Ben B. 
Marshall, born at Madria, Mexico, August 16, 1908. Mr. Marshall takes an 
interest in the local fraternal affairs, being a member of the Red Men at Scotia, 
Weeott Tribe No. 147, I. O. R. M., and also a Mason, with a membership in 
Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., at Fortuna. He is a member of the Span- 
ish-American War Veterans, Camp Lafferty, P. I. In his political preferences 
he is a stanch Republican, and has served on the County Central Committee 
with distinction. He served as deputy sheriff under Redmond and at the No- 
vember election, 1914, he was elected constable of Hydesville township by a 
large majority, which position he is now filling. He is progressive and wide 
awake to the best interests of the community, giving freely of his time and 
ability for the general welfare. He believes in educational advancement, and 
lends his aid readily to all forward movements. 

ARTEMUS HOWARD LEWIS.— Having traveled extensively over 
the west and south, being in all the Pacific coast states, Colorado, Arizona, 
Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico, and having lived many years in Missouri 
and Indiana, his native state, and also in Kentucky, A. H. Lewis returned at 
last to California and located on his present ranch in the Bull creek district, 
Humboldt county, in 1891, and is convinced that he selected for his home 
the garden spot of the United States, if not of the world, although he is 
loath to admit even the remote possibility of any place that excels his home 
community. Mr. Lewis is a native of Park county, Ind., born December 11, 
1845. His father, George Ashford Lewis, was a native of Ohio, as was also 
his mother, who was Mary Hamilton in the days of her maidenhood. The 
father was a stone-mason and brick-layer, learning hia trade at Pittsburg, 
Pa., and later becoming a contractor and builder well known in Indiana and 
Ohio. One of his most notable buildings was the court house at Craw- 
fordsville, Ind. In the fall of 1865 the family removed to Lawrence, Kansas, 
where the father died in the fall of 1866, at the age of fifty-four years. The 
mother returned to Paris, Monroe county, Missouri, where the son, A. H. 
Lewis, purchased a farm for her to reside upon, and there she lived until the 
time of her death, which occurred when she was sixty-seven years of age. 
She was the mother of eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch 
was the second born. 

A. H. Lewis was reared and educated in Indiana, spending most of his 
time at Rockville, Park county. He suffered from a peculiar affliction in 
childhood, being deaf from the time he was three years of age until he was 
fourteen, when the deafness left him as miraculously as it had come upon him. 
This affliction prevented him from indulging in the sports of other children, 
or the occupations of the farm, and he was obliged to spend his time at 
home with his mother. From her he learned to be an excellent cook, an 
accomplishment which he later used to good advantage. At a later date the 
family migrated to Lawrence, Kansas, making the journey with horses and 
wagons. Mr. Lewis soon came on westward, locating in Colorado, where he 
took a contract for the getting out of railroad ties for the Denver and Rio 



894 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Grande Railroad, near Buena Vista and Salida. He made a great success of 
this undertaking, getting out many thousands of ties, and at the same time 
being engaged in cooking at a camp for about eight men, the double revenue 
netting him a handsome profit. Later he was employed as cook at the coke 
ovens, in Tincup or Virginia City, Colo., where he cooked for from thirty to 
forty men. Finally he returned to Missouri, but found the climate too cold 
to suit him, and so he came west again, this time through the Southwest. He 
was variously employed at the various places in Arkansas, Texas, New Mex- 
ico, Arizona and California for a number of years, including Sonoma county, 
Cal., where he worked for a year ; Seattle, Tacoma, Anacortes, and Kirkland, 
Wash., and Portland, Ore. He also spent a year in Humboldt county at this 
time, being engaged as cook for John French, in the lumber camps. From 
Washington he went through Idaho and Montana, back to Missouri, where 
he worked at contracting for four months, and eventually returned to Hum- 
boldt county, in April, 1890, where he has since made his home. He pur- 
chased his present place of one hundred fifty-four acres of James Hart for 
$1200 in 1890, and has improved it and greatly enhanced its value since that 
time, having orchards of apples, pears, peaches, prunes and plums. 

The marriage of Mr. Lewis and Miss Sarah Reed took place at Lawrence, 
Kansas, in 1873, and of their union were born four children, only one of whom, 
Abner Bruce, is now living. He is an orchardist and stockman on Bull 
creek, and is married to Ida May Turner, a daughter of the late Noah 
H. Turner, a pioneer of Humboldt county. Mrs. Lewis is also the sister 
of Jasper Turner, a prominent young farmer and orchardist of the Bull Creek 
district, whose sketch appears elscAvhere in this edition. 

Mr. and Mrs. Abner Bruce Lewis have become the parents of seven 
children, namely, Ernest, Viola, Noah, Emma, Leona, Blanche and Bruce. 
Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Lewis but one other lived 
to grow to maturity, this being a daughter, Effie Grace, who married Mr. 
Thompson, a conductor on a train running out of Leadville, Colo., where 
they made their home for many years. She died in 1912, leaving two 
children, Bruce and Albert. 

Mr. Lewis was a sufferer from cancer for many years, and spent many 
months in various hospitals, and was pronounced incurable by many physi- 
cians. He was, however, entirely cured at the Bohanon Cancer Institute at 
Berkeley, and is a man of more than ordinary vitality, strong and capable of 
enduring great fatigue and hardship. He owned one hundred fifty-four acres 
of land here, but deeded ninety acres to his son Bruce. He resides in the 
oldest house on Bull creek, is still active and always busy in improving the 
place and in caring for his growing crops and orchards. He is one of the 
most enthusiastic boosters that Humboldt county possesses and his praises 
of the Bull creek country are quite unqualified. He is of a kindly, generous 
disposition and enjoys the friendship of a wide circle throughout this portion 
of the county. 

MICHAEL RODONI. — Among the native sons who are making an 
honorable record and success in business in Humboldt county is jNIichael 
Rodoni, who was born in Salinas, Monterey county, August 29, 1877, the son 
of Michael and Constancia (Rosetti) Rodoni, natives of Biasca, Ticino, 
Switzerland. After their marriage they removed to Buenos Ayres, South 
America, where they engaged in the stock business for three years, when 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 895 

they returned to Ticino, and later they emigrated to Santa Cruz, California, 
in 1873, where the elder Rodoni followed teaming for about three years, after 
which the family removed to Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo county, where 
he purchased a ranch and engaged in dairying with success until he sold out 
and removed to San -Jose, where he was a stock-buyer as well as buying and 
shipping hides. He was accidentally killed by being run over by a train at 
Twelfth and Taylor streets, San Jose, April 12, 1913, when he was seventy-two 
years of age. His widow still makes her home in San Jose. They had twelve 
children, ten of whom are living, as follows : Antone was born in Buenos 
Ayres ; Paul is the partner of our subject; Dora, Mrs. Monighetti, resides in 
San Luis Obispo county ; Michael, of whom we write ; Jennie, Mrs. Robas- 
ciotti, of San Luis Obispo county; William, of Petrolia; Joseph died when 
twenty-eight years of age ; Josephine, Mrs. Garfinkle, of San Jose ; Fred, living 
at Capetown, and John, with Rodoni Brothers. 

Michael Rodoni was reared on the farm in Arroyo Grande and received 
a good education in the public schools. In 1899 he came to Humboldt county 
and found employment at dairying at Loleta for three years, then at Ferndale 
for one year, when he became foreman of the Green Pond ranch for Z. Russ 
Company, continuing in that position for six years. Having determined to 
engage in business for himself he leased the Anderson place of eighty acres 
where he operated a dairy of forty cows for two years. After spending a year 
in the south, he returned to Humboldt county. In 1911 he formed the present 
partnership with his brother Paul, as Rodoni Bros., and leased the Grant 
Johnson place of fifteen hundred acres on Bear river, above Capetown, where 
they are engaged in dairying and stock-raising. Aside from raising cattle 
and hogs they have a dairy of sixty milch cows. They make butter which 
is made into squares and cubes and shipped to San Francisco under the brand 
of "Myrtle Grove Creamery." Their creamery is equipped with a gas engine 
for running the separator and churn. 

Michael Rodoni was married in Ferndale to Miss Mary Jensen, a native 
of that place and a daughter of Robert Jensen, an old settler on the Island 
and who was accidentally killed by his horse running away. Mrs. Rodoni 
died near Ferndale, in 1907, leaving three children : Mabel, James and Ada. 
Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the W. O. W., at Loleta. 
Always interested in the cause of education, he is a loyal supporter of good 
schools. Politically he is a Republican. 

Paul Rodoni, the other member of the firm of Rodoni Bros., was born 
in Biasca, Ticino, November IS, 1872, and came to Santa Cruz county. He 
grew up on his father's farm, remaining there until 1897, when he came to 
Loleta, Humboldt county. After working on dairy ranches he finally rented 
the Green Pond ranch for five years, and then ran a dairy, near Ferndale, for 
two years, until 1911, when he joined his brother Michael in the present enter- 
prise. By his marriage he has two children, Ernest and Elsie. He is a trustee 
of the Capetown school district and a Woodman of the World. 

JACOB H. DECKER.— One of the oldest living pioneers of Humboldt 
county, Jacob H. Decker, whose death occurred December 14, 1914, was well 
past his eighty-first year. Mr. Decker was a veritable store-house of pioneer 
history, being probably the best informed man in the county on the early life 
of that section. His mind was as bright and his memory as vital as that 
of a man of fifty years, although his bodily strength failed during the past 



896 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

few years. He had been engaged at various times in farming, mining, and 
in building and contracting, and had witnessed the growth and development 
of the country through many changing stages. He was a member of one 
of the oldest and best American families, the progenitor of the Deckers in 
America having settling in New Amsterdam, one of the earliest settlements 
of New York, and descended from a good old Dutch family. The Decker 
Brothers, manufacturers of the famous Decker piano, are own cousins of 
the late honored citizen of Rohnerville. Mr. Decker was a man of strict 
integrity and splendid character, and through years of industry he had 
accumulated an appreciable fortune. His daughter, Mrs. Williams, who kept 
his home and gave him her affectionate care, was one of the first white girls 
to be born in Humboldt county, and is herself a pioneer of many interesting 
experiences. 

Mr. Decker was a native of New York, born January 28, 1833. His 
father, Peter L. Decker, was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., and was a 
logger and chopper by trade, and also owned a small farm. He was married 
in 1812, and died in 1835, at the age of forty-eight years. The mother was 
Cornelia Swart, the daughter of David and Nancy Swart, and a native of 
New York, her maternal grandmother having been born during the Revolu- 
tionary War. After the father's death Mrs. Decker, Sr., gathered her five 
children, of whom Jacob H. was the youngest, and moved to Branch county, 
Mich., where she located two hundred acres of land near Butler. There young 
Jacob was reared, attending the public schools of the district, the school house 
being made of logs, with hewn logs for benches and desks, with other accom- 
modations in proportion. In 1853, at the age of twenty years, he was married 
to Miss Elizabeth Rossman, born in Onondaga, N. Y., in 1834, and in 1855 
he came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at Sacra- 
mento. From there he went to Whiskeytown, on Clear creek, Shasta county, 
and later went up into the Sierra Nevada mountains and engaged in making 
boards and shingles. The following year his wife and baby joined him at 
Shingletown, where he continued until October 1, 1856, when he came to 
Hydesville, crossing the mountains and arriving there October 15. There 
he found employment with Dr. Felt, making shingles, and later kept a liver}^ 
barn in Eureka, in 1858. He built the Decker Hill road over Decker Hill back 
of Field's Landing, and still later he purchased one hundred sixty acres of 
land which he cleared and improved, adding to his tract until he had three 
hundred sixty acres, all improved. About this time diphtheria and typhoid 
fever broke out and three of Mr. Decker's sons were stricken and died. He 
became discouraged and sold his valuable property for a small sum and re- 
turned to Michigan, together with his wife and two remaining children. He 
bought a farm in Butler township. Branch county, and farmed there for four 
years, during which time another child was born. Here again dread disease 
found them and two children were lost through scarlet fever. Selling his 
Michigan property, Mr. Decker returned to Humboldt county in October, 
1873, residing here until his death, being for the greater part of that time 
engaged in carpentering, contracting and building. Only one of his children 
lived to maturity, this being Luella, born at Field's Landing. She is now the 
widow of Thomas L. Williams, who died near Rohnerville in 1886, and is the 
mother of two children, Elizabeth, the wife of J. O. Branstetter, a carpenter 
of Rohnerville, and herself the mother of three children, Maxine. Clifton and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 897 

Van. Mrs. Decker, the mother of Mrs. Williams, died in June, 1887, at the 
age of fifty-three years. 

Three times during the years of his residence in California, Mr. Decker 
had journeyed back to Michigan for a visit. In the days of his young man- 
hood he was a Democrat, but the guns fired against Fort Sumter changed him 
into a Republican, and he became a stanch Progressive. He always took an 
active part in the political affairs of his community and held various public 
ofifices, serving on several occasions as deputy sherifl', and filling the office 
with marked ability. He was a member of the Eel River Lodge No. 210, 
I, O. O. F., with which he affiliated many years ago. Mr. Decker was held in 
the highest esteem by all who knew him and was acknowledged to be one of 
the finest men of the county. 

DICK K. FRENCH. — The descendant of an early pioneer family of Cali- 
fornia, and himself a native of Trinity county, where he was born October 
14, 1882, Dick K. French is a young man of excellent worth, and stands high 
in the esteem of employers and friends. His family resided for many years 
in Van Dusen township, Humboldt county, and he has many warm friends 
in this section. He is the son of Greenleaf C. and Mrs. Orinda (Bean) (Bur- 
gess) French. His father died at Burr creek, five miles south of Bridgeville, 
where he owned a handsome property which he was farming at the time. He 
was about fifty-five years of age, his death occurring in 1893. The mother has 
been married three times, and is now the wife of W. H. Barnwell and resides 
on a farm on Burr creek. After the death of her first husband, John Burgess, 
she was married to Greenleaf C. French, the father of the subject of this 
sketch, and after his death she became Mrs. Barnwell. By her first husband 
she became the mother of three children: Benjamin and John, both deceased, 
and Esther, now the wife of Henry M. Marvel, in the employ of the California 
Central Creameries, at Ferndale, and an old teacher of Humboldt county. By 
Mr. French there were four children : Addie L., now the wife of W. H. Sweet, 
residing in P'erndale and employed in the California Central Creameries ; Dick 
K., the subject of this sketch; Alden A., employed at Ferndale; and Susan 
Jane. By her present marriage Mrs. Barnwell has one child, A^'illiam H. 
Barnwell, Jr. 

The father of ]\Ir. French, Greenleaf C. French, was a native of Maine 
and came to California, locating in Trinity county, when he was a young 
man. He engaged in mining and packing supplies into the mining camps 
and was very successful. He was married to Mrs. Orinda (Bean) Burgess 
in Trinity county, and removed to his farm on Burr creek, Humboldt county, 
in x\pril, 1883. Dick K. French was eleven years of age when his father 
died, and life took on a different aspect. He had attended the public schools 
up to that time, and also received further advantages, but commenced to 
work out for others before the marriage of his mother to Mr. Barnwell, and 
has been making his own way in the world since he was eighteen years of 
age. He was for a time engaged in farm work, and then took to teaming and 
stage driving and is an expert in the handling of horses. In 1907 he entered 
the employ of the Helmke Stage Company, but after a time gave this up and 
took to ranching as an independent venture, following the fortunes of the 
farmer for three years, with varying success, near Burr creek. Eventually, 
however, he returned to the service of the Helmke Stage Company, and is 



898 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

now engaged in driving a four-horse freight team, carrying freight to the 
store at Blocksburg, where he makes his home. 

WILLIS B. MEAKIN.— One of the richest and most fertile ranches in 
the region of Pepperwood is that owned by Willis B. Meakin, and located 
in Pepperwood Bottoms, which section is declared to be "as rich as the 
valley of the Nile" of fabled story and song. Mr. Meakin owns about forty- 
three acres, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, and which 
is one of the most beautiful places in the vicinity. In 1913 he erected a 
handsome two-story frame dwelling, at a cost of $5,000, which, with one 
possible exception, is the most modern and complete residence in this part 
of the valley. While he is engaged in diversified farming, more and more 
he is giving his attention to horticulture as the years go by. He purchased 
this property in 1902 and has improved it since that time, clearing the land 
of a heavy growth of timber and bringing it up to its present high condition. 
He has made the place a very profitable one, and in all his undertakings he 
has the unstinted support and cooperation of his faithful wife, to whom he 
gives much credit for his success. 

Mr. Meakin is a native of Pennsylvania, born January 2, 1856, the second 
in a family of eight children born to George and Lucy A. (Bliss) Meakin, 
also natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married. Shortly after the 
birth of their second child, Willis B., the parents removed to Linn coimty, 
Iowa, where the father engaged in farming, and also followed logging, con- 
tracting for getting out hardwood logs, such as hard maple and hickory, 
for manufacturing purposes. He died in Iowa at the age of fifty-two years. 
The mother came to California in 1896, locating near Pepperwood, in Hum- 
boldt county. Later she went to Eureka, where she died at the home of her 
daughter, Mrs. Annie Masters. 

Willis B. Meakin grew to young manhood on the farm in Iowa, at- 
tending the public schools and assisting his father with the care of the 
home place. He also farmed for himself, meeting with deserved success. 
During the summer of 1896 he came to California, driving overland with 
horses and wagons and arriving in Humboldt in July of that year. After 
reaching his destination he resumed farming and in 1902 purchased his 
present property. His marriage occurred in Eureka in 1897, uniting him with 
Miss Julia Bliss, a native of Morris county, Kan. Mrs. Meakin is a daughter 
of Isaac and Sarah (Trowbridge) Bliss, natives of Clearfield county. Pa., 
and New York respectively. They were married in Iowa, after which 
they removed to Osage county, Kan., and later to Morris county. In 1896 
they came to California with their family, locating at Pepperwood, where 
they died. Of their eleven children eight grew up, and of these Airs. Meakin 
is third oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Meakin had eight children, only five of whom 
are living, their first-born having died at birth ; Ora, the third child, living to 
be five, and Allen, the seventh born, dying in infancy. All the living children 
are residing at home and are well and favorably known in their community. 
They are George W., Earl, Stanley, Willard, and Thomas. 

Mr. Meakin is a Republican in his party politics, and is keenly alive to 
the benefits of progressive legislation, both local, state and national. He is 
interested in educational matters, and gives of his best efforts for the public 
welfare at all times. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 901 

U. S. GRANT MYERS. — As the owner and proprietor of ]\Iyers Resort, 
located on the state highway, nine miles south of Dyerville, on the road 
between that point and Garberville, U. S. Grant Myers is well known 
throughout Humboldt county, and especially so in the southern part. With 
the completion of the new state highway, which passes directly by his place, 
he plans to enlarge his house and accommodations, and to conduct a large 
summer and tourist resort. The location is especially suitable for such an 
enterprise, and there seems no reason that such an undertaking should not 
meet with exceptional success. The south fork of Eel river flows past the 
very door, and fish are plentiful therein, while game of all kinds may be 
secured in the mountains near by. Fruits and vegetables of all kinds are 
now supplied for the table from the home place, where they are grown to 
perfection, the soil being especially adapted to their growth. Milk, cream, 
butter and eggs are also supplied in abundance from the home place, and 
the table at Myers Inn is noted for its excellency. In addition to all this 
are the beauty of location and scenery, than which there is nothing more 
magnificent to be found in the state. Personally Mr. Myers is well fitted for 
such a business, having that charming, pleasant, genial manner which in- 
stantly puts his guests at their ease. 

A native of California, Mr. Myers was born near what is now Carrville, 
Trinity county, January 9, 1864, and came into Humboldt county when he 
was four years of age, and has since that time made this his home. His father 
was Elias Myers, a native of Missouri, and his mother, Sarah D. Camp, of 
Dubuque, Iowa, where she met and married Mr. Myers. Later, accompanied 
by an uncle of the husband's, Andrew Myers, familiarly known as "Uncle 
Andy," the young couple crossed the plains with ox-teams and wagons, and 
came to California in 1860, locating in Trinity county. "Uncle Andy" had 
been to California before, having made his first trip in 1850. He made his 
home with his nephew and wife for many years, and was a well known pioneer, 
passing away at their home at the age of ninety-one years. The young 
couple continued to reside in Trinity county until 1867, when they came to 
Rohnerville, Humboldt county, where they remained for their first winter, 
purchasing the squatter's rights of Farris and Brock to the present site of 
Myers Inn the following spring, paying $1,000 for the one hundred sixty 
acres. They began at once to make improvements and this was their home 
place for many years. Both are now deceased, the father passing away in 
Missouri at the age of seventy years, and the mother dying in Eureka' at the 
age of seventy-two. They were the parents of six children : Etta, wife of 
Willis Nichols, residing at Camp Grant, where she died in 1914, leaving two 
children by a former marriage, namely, Arthur M. Hungerford, now a master 
mechanic at the Hammond Lumber JNIills, at Astoria, Ore., and Daisy, now 
the wife of Harry Potter, residing at Tacoma, and the mother of two children ; 
Hosea E., who first married Emma Carr, and by her had three children, later 
marrying Martha Hamilton, by whom he had two children (he was in the 
stock business in Trinity county and was so engaged when he was attacked 
by a mad bull and gored to death) ; John G., a rancher at Camp Grant, married 
to Kate Turner, of Bull creek, and died leaving nine children ; Clara, who was 
the wife of J. C. Day, and died at El Paso, Tex. ; Christie J., living in Los 
Angeles county, where he is engaged in farming, and is married to INIiss Mary 
McGill, of Table Bluff; and U. S. Grant Myers, the subject of this sketch. 



902 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

There were no public schools within reach of the Myers farm when 
U. S. Grant was of school age, and he was necessarily sent away to receive 
his education. He graduated in due time from Heald's Business College, in 
San Francisco, in 1884, and then returned to Humboldt county, where he 
assisted with the management of the home farm. In 1897 he went to the 
Klondike, making the journey by way of the AVhite's Pass route, sledding 
over the mountains to Windy oven, there building boats and coming 
down the Yukon, arriving in Dawson, June 18, 1898. He engaged in placer 
mining there for two years and met with an appreciable amount of success, 
clearing several thousand dollars through his efiforts. In 1900 he returned 
from the frozen north and on ~\Iarch 19, 1901, in Eureka, he was married to 
Miss Mattie C. Smith, a native of Hayesville, Keokuk county, Iowa, to whom 
he bad been betrothed before his trip to Alaska. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are the 
parents of four children, all natives of Humboldt county. They are : Nevada 
California, U. S. Grant, Jr., Andrew Fay and Lesser Roosevelt. 

Besides his property on the state highway, where he makes his, home, 
Mr. Myers owns a one-half interest in the property of one hundred twenty 
acres which he owns together with his late sister, Mrs. Etta Nichols, the other 
half interest being owned by her estate. The home place, however, is the 
especial pride of Mr. Myers' heart and is receiving his most ardent attention. 
He has one hundred acres under a high state of cultivation, with seven hun- 
dred bearing apple trees, and a young orchard of three hundred Bartlett pear 
trees, all of which are in magnificent condition. He raises a large crop of 
sweet potatoes for the market each season, the soil here being especially 
adapted for their growth. This is also true of sweet corn, and his fields of 
this succulent vegetable are of the finest to be found. His gardens of other 
vegetables and small fruits, berries, etc., are not to be excelled, and his 
orchards contain practically every variety of fruit grown in the temperate 
zones. In addition he maintains a first-class dairy and chicken ranch, and 
each year markets about fifty hogs. 

In his interest in local affairs Mr. Myers is quite up to date and his grasp 
of political situations, both local and national, is of the best. He is an 
enthusiastic Progressive, and is giving his best effort for the measures which 
he deems best for the development of the county and state. He commands 
the respect and admiration of his neighbors and friends, and receives the best 
wishes of all who know him. 

FRANK LESLIE KEHOE.— Mr. Kehoe has spent most of the years 
of his manhood up in Alaska, and has but recently settled at Briceland as 
the successor of his brother-in-law, John W. Bowden, in the mercantile busi- 
ness, but he is no stranger to Humboldt county, and is finding himself quite 
naturally in close touch with its affairs once more. One of a family whose 
members one and all are possessed of impressive personality, he is favorably 
remembered at Rohnerville, where his youth was spent, and has already 
attained a place in the popular esteem at Briceland, where his progressive 
policy and enterprise have assured the continued success of the business he 
took over a Httle more than a year ago. He is a brother of William Kehoe, 
of Eureka, a leading attorney of the county and at present serxdng in the 
state senate from his district. 

Mr. Rehoe's parents, William and Elsie (Hammersley) Kehoe, were of 
eastern birth, the father a native of Maine, the mother of Pennsylvania, in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 903 

which latter state they were married. Their first two children, both daugh- 
ters, were born there. In 1876 the family came to California, first settling 
in Mendocino county, Avhere they lived until the year 1883. Then they re- 
moved to Eureka, Humboldt county, and thence in April, 1884, to Rohner- 
ville, this county, where AVilliam Kehoe engaged in hotelkeeping, conducting 
the Grand Hotel until his death, which occurred in 1888. His widow took 
up the work thereafter, carrying on the hotel very successfully until 1910, 
when a paralytic stroke incapacitated her for active duties and she retired. 
Her home is now at Fortuna, Humboldt county. Four children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Kehoe: Clara is the wife of Fred Leach, hardware merchant 
at Fortuna ; Lottie is married to J. W. Bowden, who until recently had the 
general store at Briceland now operated by F. L. Kehoe ; William, present 
state senator from the First Senatorial district, is a member of the firm of 
Coonan & Kehoe, attorneys, who have offices in the Gross building at Eureka; 
Frank Leslie completes the family. 

F. L. Kehoe was born in Mendocino county January 17, 1880, at Cuffey's 
Cove, on Greenwood creek, near Elk, and spent practically all of his boyhood 
and youth at Rohnerville, where he obtained a good education in the public 
schools. The family was well known there in connection with the hotel 
business, and the young man widened his own circle of acquaintances as clerk 
in the store for Mr. Phillips and as one of the local favorites among baseball 
players who brought fame to the town. In 1900, in company with twelve 
other young men, from Fortuna, Scotia and Rohnerville, all towns of Hum- 
boldt county, he went up to Alaska hoping to win fortune in the gold fields. 
They sailed from Eureka on the steamer Humboldt, to Seattle, where they 
embarked for Skagway, Alaska, arriving February 14. Proceeding up the 
White Pass to Lake Linderman and Lake Bennett, they assembled the dog 
teams at the latter place and left there February 22, pushing on over the trail 
to Dawson, six hundred miles from Bennett. They reached their destination 
March 14 and celebrated Saint Patrick's day there. At no time during the 
trip did the thermometer rise above twenty degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), 
and at Fort Selkirk, on the Yukon, they experienced a temperature of sixty- 
five degrees below. 

Mr. Kehoe took a job logging on Moose Hide creek, and after about: 
three months in the Klondike country went down to Nome in a small open 
boat, being the only one of the original party to undertake this journey. He 
followed the uncertain game of mining and prospecting for five years without 
making a single large stake. Returning to Rohnerville on a visit, he was at 
home from November, 1904, to the latter part of February, 1905, when he 
joined another stampede to Alaska, with the same results as before. He lost 
the winter without returns. From June, 1906, to 1908, he was at Fairbanks 
and vicinity, and then bought an interest in a business at Fox, Alaska, where 
he was associated with two other men, storekeeping and mining. In the fall 
of 1910 he sold his interest at. Fox, going to Iditarod, where he and his 
partners had established a branch store that year, the place being a new 
mining camp on the lower Yukon which ofl^ered exceptional opportunities. Mr. 
Kehoe remained in business there until 1912, and in 1913 came back to Cali- 
fornia. Though in common with a large percentage of those who went up 
north to search for gold he was disappointed in that particular, he had no 
reason to regret his venture, for he was decidedly successful as a merchant 



904 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

accumulating enough to give him a good start when he was ready to resume 
life in his old home territory. 

In 1913 Mr. Kehoe bought out the business of his brother-in-law, J. W. 
Bowden, who had the only general store at Briceland, where he built up a 
large and profitable business. Since it came into his hands it has been con- 
ducted along the lines which for a number of years have made it a popular 
trading center, and Mr. Kehoe has devoted himself to studying the tastes of 
his customers and the demands of his patronage, which he endeavors to meet 
in the most satisfactory manner. He gives strict personal attention to all 
the details of the trade, and the fifteen-thousand-dollar stock from which it 
is supplied comprises everything likely to be called for in the way of staple 
and fancy groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, hats and caps, dry goods, 
clothing, furniture, crockery, tinware, toilet articles, patent medicines, in 
quality and assortment calculated to please all classes. It would be difficult 
to find a better selected range of goods, and the patrons appreciate the oppor- 
tunities which Mr. Kehoe's enterprise presents at their very doors. Mr. 
Kehoe is interested in the upbuilding of his section of the county, and when 
the test for oil in this field was launched he contributed his influence and 
means, becoming an original stockholder of the Briceland Oil Company. 
Personally he has lost none of the pleasing qualities which made him so 
popular as a youth, and the many years during which he has been accustomed 
to come into contact with people of all kinds on grounds of common interest 
have made him a broadminded and sympathetic human being, a fact which 
those who enjoy any degree of acquaintance with him readily concede. He 
and his brother have many similarities of character, all the family, in fact, 
enjoying a reputation for charm of presence which is well deserved. Mr. 
Kehoe has entered public life to the extent of serving as one of the registra- 
tion clerks in southern Humboldt county (of which there are four), in which 
capacity he has registered one hundred people for the primaries. His ener- 
getic career even in the brief period since his return to the county has made 
him welcomed as a substantial acquisition to the ranks of the most reliable 
citizens of this section. 

Mr. Kehoe was married at Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1909, to Miss Myrtle 
Townsend, of that place, but a native of the state of Nebraska. Two children 
have been born of this union, Lottie and Clara. Mr. Kehoe became a Mason 
in St. John's Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M., Seattle, Wash. For ten years he has 
been a member of Eel River Lodge No. 210, I. O. O. F., at Rohnerville. 

R. AMBROSE. — For thirty years Mr. Ambrose, the present postmaster 
at Miranda, has been a resident of Humboldt county, and he is particularly 
well known in and around Rohnerville for his musical attainments and suc- 
cess as a teacher of music. The greater part of his life has been devoted to 
that profession, though his career has been varied by experiences of many 
kinds. With his natural talent for music developed by careful training and 
. constant practice, Mr. Ambrose was a fine performer on the cornet and violin 
during the days of his active career as a musician, and as band master and 
orchestra leader his services were in constant demand. 

Mr. Ambrose was born in Herefordshire, England, June 11, 1840, and 
grew up in his native land. His education was received in the national 
schools, which correspond to the pubHc schools in this country. In 1865 he 
went to London, where he was engaged as a professional musician for the 




61^ 0^-^ 



^ju^y. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 907 

year and a half following, in 1867 entering the government service. He was 
sent out to China and placed in the harbormaster's department, where his 
work, though dangerous, was highly interesting. Piracy was then enjoying 
its palmy days in Chinese waters, where it is still practiced to some extent, 
and the Engdish government was then directing its activities to putting down 
and preventing the evil. Mr. Ambrose saw service at three different stations 
on the Chinese coast, and himself had charge of one of the six stations main- 
tained there by England at that time. He was in the government service for 
nearly four years, at the end of which time he came to America, settling at 
San Francisco, Cal., in the year 1870. During his stay in China he kept up 
his work in music for -his own pleasure only, but after coming to this country 
he resumed the profession, which he followed in San Francisco for over thir- 
teen years, playing the cornet and violin, leading cornet bands and orchestras, 
and teaching. His high-class work gained him a position among the most 
popular musicians in the city. Looking for a change of occupation and loca- 
tion, Mr. Ambrose came to Humboldt county in 1884, and settled at Rohner- 
ville, taking up a homestead about three miles east of where the Miranda 
postoffice is now located. He proved up on his land, planted an orchard, 
improved the property in various other ways, and then sold it, returning to 
Rohnerville, where he continued to make his home for a number of years. 
Throughout this period he was engaged at the work of his choice, teaching 
bands and orchestras and giving private lessons, and relinquishing the work 
only when he felt that his advancing age interfered with the perfect per- 
formances to which he always bent his energies. 

Since he gave up his musical work Mr. Ambrose has been acting as post- 
master at Miranda, Humboldt county, to which ofifice he was appointed in 
August, 19n. The ofifice is of the fourth class, and under the civil service 
regulations. Now that the parcel post is established a considerable amount 
of business is handled at this point, and it is constantly on the increase. Mr. 
Ambrose has shown himself well adapted to the duties of his post, to which 
he attends punctually and intelligently, giving the utmost satisfaction to 
those who are served from Miranda. He has many friends in this part of 
the county who hold him in affectionate esteem for the kindly regard he has 
always displayed in all his relations with his fellow men here. 

Mr. Ambrose was married in 1863 to Miss Onor Harding, a native of 
England, who died in that country not long afterward. It was then he went 
up to London to follow his profession in the city, as above related. 

ERNEST R. LINSER.— Though still a young man, Ernest R. Linser is 
thoroughly experienced in the calling to which he bids fair to devote the 
principal part of his life — the development of northern California lands. 
He has just undertaken a large enterprise, having purchased in 1913 the 
property formerly known as the Davis ranch, to which he has recently 
moved. In his youth and earlier manhood he had an all-around training 
on the extensive Belle Springs ranch in Mendocino county, just south of the 
Humboldt county line, which he and a brother now own in partnership 
with their mother, and his success with that place should be a fair indi- 
cation of what he may expect to accomplish in his present venture. As a 
self-made young man he has few rivals in his vicinity, for his position and 
means have been acquired through his own labor, a fact which undoubtedly 
accounts for the large measure of confidence which his fellow citizens have 



908 HISTORY OF HU^IBOLDT COUNTY 

shown in his ability to carry ambitious plans to satisfactory completion. 

Mr. Linser is of German extraction, his parents, Frederick and Caroline 
(Weinkauf) Linser, having been born in Germany, where they lived until 
after their marriage and the birth of their first two children. They came to 
this country in about 1866, and for a time thereafter were located in New 
York state, vvhere Mr. Linser was engaged at ordinary labor for three years. 
Thence they removed to Minnesota, where Mr. Linser took advantage of 
the opportunities offered to settlers, taking up a homestead in McLeod 
county. He went bravely to work to secure a home for his growing 
family, but he died after a few years and before he had proved up on his 
land, his widow completing the necessary work and complying with the 
requirements. Her family consisted of seven children, all small at the time 
of the father's death, and she was glad to avail herself of the chance offered 
not long afterward by her brother, Charles Weinkauf, who lived on the 
Belle Springs ranch in Mendocino county, Cal., of which he was a half 
owner with August Grothe. She came to California about 1880, with her 
little brood to the home he provided, and worked for him several years, and 
though her duties were many she was contented in being able to keep her 
children together. When her brother died he willed her an undivided 
quarter interest in the ranch, which consisted of forty-five hundred acre? of 
well improved hill land, a fine grazing and stock farm. Through all the 
changes which the years brought, Ernest and an older brother, August, 
remained with their mother and devoted themselves faithfully to the rather 
formidable task, for two young men, of operating the ranch, and after many 
years of hard work they succeeded in buying off the heirs to another quarter 
interest in the property, thus coming into one-half interest in the Belle 
Spring ranch in partnership with August Grothe. Afterward the ranch 
was divided into two parts, Mrs. Linser and the two sons coming into 
possession of about twenty-seven hundred acres of the western part of the 
ranch. Mrs. Linser is now seventy-seven years of age, and is enjoying the 
rest and immunity from care which she so well deserves. Her noble efforts 
are fully appreciated by her family, and she is respected by all who know 
her and have been in any position to realize the extent of her labors. 

Ernest R. Linser was born July 6, 1876, near Hutchinson, in McLeod 
county, Minn., and having been but three and a half years old when his 
father died, has but the barest recollection of him. He was the sixth child 
in the family of seven. His early education was obtained in the public 
schools of Mendocino county, and when a young man of twenty-three 
years he took a six months' course in the commercial department of the 
Santa Rosa business college, graduating from that institution. From boy- 
hood he helped on the ranch, and he should have his share of the credit for 
its successful development into the valuable property it is today. Some 
eight years ago Mr. Linser came up to Humboldt county, and rented the 
Nunn ranch of forty-five hundred acres located on the east branch of the 
south fork of the Eel river, living there alone for three years — until his 
marriage. He had phenomenal success with this land, which he continued 
to operate until he removed to his recently acquired property in the same 
neighborhood, a tract of twelve hundred eighty-eight acres which he pur- 
chased from Mel. P. Roberts in 1913. His plans for its improvement include 
the planting of an extensive orchard, apples, pears and walnuts, and he will 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY ' 909 

give considerable attention to the raising of cattle and hogs. AVith a re- 
markable capacity for hard work with his own hands, executive ability 
perfected in the discharge of heavy responsibilities, and a character which 
bears no impeachment, his future looks promising indeed. Moreover, his 
fellow agriculturists in the vicinity look to him for leadership and coopera- 
tion in the promotion of many enterprises which will benefit the entire 
locality. Mr. Linser is a stockholder in the Garberville Mercantile Com- 
pany, which operates a large general store at Garberville and owns and 
runs two stage lines from that point, one to Dyerville and one to Thorn, 
both in Humboldt county. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias 
lodge at Garberville. 

Mr. Linser is married to Mattie Hamilton, sister of John W. Hamilton, 
secretary of the Garberville Mercantile Company and general superintend- 
ent and vice-president of the large Woods ranch of the Western Live Stock 
Company. She is a native of Kentucky, and came to California from that 
state some time after her father's death. Mr. and Mrs. Linser have three 
children, Hamilton Rudolph, Vera IMarie, and Leslie Frederick. 

JOHN J. NEWMAN. — In this region of extensive properties there are 
few agriculturists who have made any serious attempts at intensive farming, 
but John J. Newman has demonstrated that with proper care Humboldt 
county land may be made to yield as abundantly as any in the sections of 
boasted fertility. For thirty years he has been cultivating a fifty-acre tract 
on the Eel river, opposite Dyerville, in the southern part of the county, and 
the surprising results of his work have a value beyond the profit they have 
brought him, for they show the possibilities of the locality, and are an en- 
couragement to all who have his perseverance and ambition. A native of 
Pennsylvania, of German extraction, he has all the thrift characteristic of his 
race, developed generations ago under the stress of necessity, and persisting 
in the more prosperous descendants whose industry is better rewarded. His 
grandfather came to this country from Germany. His parents, Frederick and 
Caroline (Binz) Newman, were farming people, and lived and died in Penn- 
sylvania. John Joshua, their only child, was born July 18, 1853, at ]\Iilford, 
on the Delaware river. 

John Joshua Newman grew up in Pennsylvania and had a thorough com- 
mon school training, attending a private German school, and he still reads 
and writes German as well as English. He became familiar with farm work 
from boyhood on the home place. After his parents died he sold his interests 
in his native state and came to Humboldt county, Cal., locating at Rohnerville 
in June, 1882. He spent one season there, and in 1884 bought his present 
place on the Eel river, a tract of fifty acres then only partially improved. The 
work of development has gone forward steadily since he took hold of the land, 
and the work has not been done in any haphazard fashion. Besides experi- 
menting carefully, he has studied faithfully the means of making the most 
of his property, applying his mind as well as his hands to the task with such 
good effect that his crops seem marvelous, though his intelligent, scientific 
attention can account for all he has achieved. His horticultural triumphs are 
due to unceasing study and unremitting care. He has selected the varieties 
of apples, peaches, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables best adapted to 
the conditions found in his locality, and then neglected no detail of culture to 
bring them to perfection, both as regards quality and yield. Absence of weeds 



910 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and other evidences of close care add immensely to the attractiveness of the 
property. The fruit grown here is of beautiful color and flavor, Mr. New- 
man's Crawford peaches having so high a reputation that they bring top 
prices in the market. His peach orchard covers three acres, and he usually 
grows about eight acres of choice potatoes, which net him about three hun- 
dred dollars an acre. In fact, he has accomplished wonders on his little ranch, 
on which he has built two fine residences and a barn, and established a 
delightful home. He has been able to rear his family well, give his children 
the best of educational advantages and enjoys a more than comfortable liveli- 
hood, establishing a precedent in the development of Humboldt county land 
worthy the attention of all who have any interest in its value. Mr. Newman 
has been particularly attentive to the question of public education in his 
neighborhood and has served twenty years as trustee of his school district. 
Politically he is in sympathy with the Progressive party. The family are 
Lutherans in religious connection. 

When twenty-four years old Mr. Newman married Miss Catherine Grath- 
wold, who was born in Pennsylvania, and they have had a family of four 
children : Anna M., graduated from the University of California, at Berkeley, 
and is now the wife of Horace Jenkins, who is in charge of the manual training 
school at Monterey, Cal. ; John G. took the agricultural course at the Uni- 
versity of California, graduating, and is now running a ranch of six hundred 
acres in Potter valley, Mendocino county, he married Miss Hazel Barnett, 
of Potter Valley ; Fred Conrad, after two years in the civil engineering course 
at the Leland Stanford University, and having completed a course in the 
International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pa., is now a surveyor 
in Flumboldt county, at Eureka, he married Miss EUenor Bryant, of Eureka, 
and they have one child, Pauline ; Clarence, a graduate of the commercial 
department of the University of California, was formerly employed as office- 
man by the Pacific Lumber Company, and is now operating the home place 
with his father, he married Catherine Felt, of Stockton, Cal., a granddaughter 
of the late Dr. Dwight Felt, of Eureka, Humboldt county, a pioneer physician 
of this section of the state, and they have one child, Ruth. 

WILLIAM JOHN MAHAN.— Although not a native of California, 
William John Mahan has spent practically his entire life in this state, his 
parents coming west when he was but a few months old, and locating in 
Sierra county. They made the long journey around Cape Horn, many 
months being consumed on the way. After a few years spent in Sierra 
county the family removed to Humboldt county in 1867, locating on the 
property that is now the home-place of Mr. Mahan. His parents, James and 
Ellen (McCormick) Mahan, had ten children, eight of whom are living, 
William J. being the oldest. This worthy couple of pioneers made this farm 
their home, and established a reputation for business sagacity and reliability 
that is worth more than much gold, and also being very successful in their 
business undertakings. The father died in 1898 and the mother now makes 
her home in Eureka. 

Mr. Mahan is a native of Illinois, having been born in Galena, Jo 
Daviess county, July 12, 1862. This same year his parents removed to 
California, where they located on a farm. After a few years they settled 
on Mad River, opposite what is now Blue Lake, but which was then known 
as Scottsville, and here the son received his education in the public schools. 




(^. ^^ ^^;.^,.,.^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 913 

At the age of seventeen he gave up attending school and went to work 
with his father on the ranch, remaining at home until he was twenty-three 
years of age. At that time he went to work in the woods for Jim Gammon 
at Bayside, being employed in the lumbering camps. Here he remained for 
two years, and the following year was with Frank Graham at similar work, 
then during the winter for John Vance. The next four years he was with 
the Minor & Kirk Company located on Warren creek, and for six years 
after that with Isaac Minor, at Glendale, and constantly occupied in the 
woods. The next two seasons he was with A'Villiam Carson on the Elk 
river lumbering, and in 1893 he went back to work for Isaac INIinor, also in 
the woods, at Glendale. 

It was in 1895 that Mr. Mahan returned home and took charge of the 
home-place and engaged in dairying and farming, making a specialty of the 
former. The farm included seventy acres of improved river bottom land 
of great richness. The last few years much of the bottom land has been 
washed away by the flood waters of Mad river, leaving at the present time 
only about thirty acres of good bottom lands. AVhen the father had the 
management of the place, he spent many hundreds of dollars in the erection 
of dykes and break-waters to keep out the floods, but when the river is at 
its highest these are prone to go down with the flood. At one time there 
was a very valuable orchard on the place, but this too, was washed away. 
This shrinkage of the bottom land of the farm so interfered with the possi- 
bilities of dairying that Mr. Mahan has given up that line of farming indus- 
try, and has taken up the poultry business instead. He commenced on a 
small scale in 1910, with but twenty-four laying hens, and today he has a 
flock of more than six hundred hens. The undertaking has proven very 
successful and is one of the most attractive poultry farms in the valley. 
The place is well equipped with the latest incubators, brooders, and other 
appliances for a successful poultry business. 

Mr. Mahan has been successful in all his undertakings and is well 
known and liked throughout the valley, where he has many life-long friends. 
In politics he is a Democrat, but has never desired political preferment. 

The marriage of Mr. Mahan took place July 22, 1886, at Eureka, uniting 
him with Maggie Frances Keating, a native of Humboldt county, born on 
Elk river. She is the mother of two sons, Raymond Edward and Harold 
Joseph ; the former is attending the Areata high school. Mr. Mahan, together 
with his family, is a member of the Catholic church. 

CARL W. WIDNES. — A young man of marked executive ability and 
business acumen, honest and upright, and one who is meeting with great 
success along his chosen line of occupation, Carl W. Widnes, who comes of a 
fine old family in Christiania, Norway, is an example of the kind of foreigner 
whom America welcomes to her shores and is glad to adopt as her son. A 
member of the firm of Peters & Widnes, proprietors of the Log Cabin and 
the Eureka bakeries, the two largest of their kind in the city of Eureka, Mr. 
A'Vidnes was born in Christiania, the capital of Norway, the son of Anton 
AVidnes, who was proprietor of a bakery in that city, M'here he did a successful 
business until the time of his death. The son, Carl W., was educated in 
public and private schools of Christiania, and at the completion of his educa- 
tion was apprenticed as a baker in the same city, learning the trade in all its 
details and making a specialty of cakes and confections. Then, as a journey- 



914 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

man, he worked at his trade in various cities in Germany and Denmark, until 
the death of his father necessitated his return home to take charge of his 
parent's business. On account of the good reports he had heard from the 
Pacific coast, Mr. Widnes was fired with a desire to make his home in Cali- 
fornia, and accordingly in 1905 he came to Eureka, where he soon found 
employment in the Log Cabin Bakery, and nine months later was made fore- 
man of the cake department for the company, a position he filled acceptably 
until his resignation in 1914 to take a much desired trip back to his old home. 
During his residence in Eureka, Mr. Widnes had been an active member of 
the Norden Singing Society, of which he is now an ex-president, and he accom- 
panied this society to Christiania at the Jubilee Exposition, with his fine bass 
voice assisting the society in the rendition of the beautiful Songs of the North ; 
on the way to New York they gave concerts in the leading cities between 
Portland and New York, and in Norway in most of the principal cities of 
that country, receiving ovations due them from their countrymen. It was 
with intense enjoyment that Mr. Widnes revisited the familiar scenes of his 
home country, his trip consuming about five months, or the weeks included 
between ]\Iay and October. On his return to California he purchased the 
Eureka Bakery, situated at No. 423 Fifth street. Eureka, where he continued 
the business, five months later^ taking as partner John Peters, who bought a 
one-half interest in the business, while Mr. Widnes purchased also a half 
interest in the Log Cabin Bakery, the two men thereafter continuing the busi- 
ness as Peters & Widnes. The last mentioned bakery, located on Fifth near 
H street, is the manufacturing plant. The bakery is equipped with the most 
modern machinery to be found in a plant of this kind. It has a large capacity 
for baking bread, putting out from three thousand to five thousand loaves a 
day. A specialty is also made of making cakes and confections, the business 
along this line being one of the largest and most important between San 
Francisco and Portland. 

Prominent in many of the local societies, Mr. Widnes, besides having 
been president of the Norden Singing Society, is also a member and ex- 
president of the Normana Literary Society. Fraternally he was made a Mason 
in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and also holds membership in the 
Foresters and Red Men. In religious circles he is active in the Norwegian 
Lutheran Church, where he was at one time a member of its board of trustees. 

GEORGE McDonald GRATTO.— The little village of Harris, pic- 
turesquely situated in the mountainous region in the southern end of Hum- 
boldt county, is a favorite stopping place for automobilists passing through 
that section, and its location in the heart of a rich agricultural region also 
brings many business men here who find profitable patronage among its 
well-to-do settlers. The Harris House, conducted by Mr. and Mrs. George 
M. Gratto, enjoys well merited popularity among all who visit the town, and 
its proprietors are probably the most widely known in the southeastern 
corner of the county, for their energetic spirit not only pervades almost ever}^ 
channel of their activities, but spreads out to wider fields. Besides the hotel 
they conduct a general merchandise store in the town, where Mr. Gratto is 
also postmaster, and they combine their various interests very effectively. 

Mr. Gratto was born September 10, 1860, at Machias, Maine, where his 
early years were spent acquiring a common school education and serving 
an apprenticeship to the shoemaker's trade. A\'hen nineteen years old he 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 915 

accompanied his father to CaUfornia, settling at Blocksburg, Humboldt 
county, where he followed shoemaking for a time. Coming to Harris a num- 
ber of years ago he has by dint of intelligent management conducted all his 
affairs most successfully, and the fact that he is now one of the foremost 
men of the place is due entirely to his own efforts. He has built his store, 
hotel and residence here, and in other ways made material contributions to 
the growth of the town, besides using his influence always for the good of 
its best interests. Mr. Gratto made a recent visit to the east, among his 
relatives in Maine and Massachusetts. 

On November 28, 1886, Mr. Gratto was married to Miss Martha Asenath 
Jewett, daughter of the late Enoch Phelps Jewett, and they have had three 
children : Gladys Celia, born August 27, 1890, who died December 27, 1891 ; 
Eva Belle, born November 16, 1887; and Ruby Asenath, born August 1, 1892, 
who was married to Charles W. Wilson, the ceremony occurring on the top 
of Jewett Rock, January 16, 1915, in the presence of twenty-two relatives, 
after which a wedding breakfast was prepared and served on the rock. Mrs. 
Gratto is noted for her neighborly and hospitable disposition, sharing her 
husband's popularity in and around Harris. As one of her father's heirs she 
owns a large stock ranch at Harris. 

Enoch Phelps Jewett, father of Mrs. Martha A. (Jewett) Gratto, was 
a native of Springfield, Mass., and a member of a family well known in that 
state from Colonial days and represented in the Revolutionary war on the 
colonists' side. A genealogy of this family, in two volumes, has recently been 
published. Its earliest progenitor in America, Deacon Maximilian Jewett, 
was born in England in 1607, son of Edward Jewett, a cloth manufacturer of 
Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Deacon Jewett married in his 
native country, and in 1638 sailed with his wife, Ann, from Hull, England, 
in the ship John, as members of a company under the leadership of Rev. 
Ezekiel Rogers. They arrived at Boston, December 1, 1638, spent the winter 
at Salem, and in the spring of 1639 founded the town of Rowley, in the Massa- 
chusetts Bay colony. Deacon Jewett's descendants in every generation have 
been noted for vigor of intellect and high moral character, and the branch 
of the family in Humboldt county, Cal., has been no exception to the rule. 

Stephen Jewett, great-grandfather of Enoch Phelps Jewett, was born 
October 5, 1736, in Thompson, Conn., and moved to Lanesboro, Mass. His 
wife was Mehitable Harris. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, a 
sergeant in the company of Asa Barnes, Col. B. Ruggles AVoodbridge's regi- 
ment, muster roll dated August 1, 1775; entered May 17, 1775, service two 
months, sixteen days. 

Timothy Jewett, son of Stephen, was born March 5, 1763, in Lanesboro, 
Mass., and like his father was a Revolutionary soldier, his record reading as 
follows : "Timothy Jewett, private, Capt. David AA^heeler's company, Col. 
Benjamin Simonds' regiment ; service eight days ; company marched from 
Lanesboro to Manchester, October 12, 1780." He married Elizabeth Phelps. 

Enoch Phelps Jewett, son of Timothy and Elizabeth (Phelps) Jewett, 
learned the trade of tailor, but was only a youth when he shipped on a whaler, 
sailing from the port of Boston. He made voyages to both the Arctic and 
Antarctic oceans, around Cape Horn and north to San Francisco, where he 
took "French leave" of the ship. This was in 1843, when California was still 
Mexican territory. He remained at San Francisco until 1848, and assisted in 



916 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

making the first, second and third surveys of the city and bay. Having 
decided to return to the east overland, he had proceeded as far as Salt Lake 
City when he heard of the gold finds, and hoping to make a fortune in the 
mines retraced his steps, going up to the north fork of the Feather river. He 
spent five or six years at Hangtovi^n (now Placerville), and took part in the 
gruesome afifair from which the place derived its early name, helping to 
arrest, try and execute three desperadoes. They were made to stand up in 
a wagon box with the ropes adjusted about their necks and attached to the 
limb of a tree, and Mr. Jewett was one of the men who helped pull the wagon 
from under them. He not only mined, but also ran a store and market at 
FTangtown. Later he moved to the Sacramento valley, where he was engaged 
in ranching, and for a time he was in Gravelly valley, hunting deer. Two 
of his partners, Messrs. Flick and Brown, were killed by the Indians, and in 
this and other experiences he had the dangers of life in the early days brought 
very near to him. For a few years he was located in Sherwood valley, 
Mendocino county, raising cattle, hogs and horses, and in March, 1863, he 
came up to what was then known as Little valley, in Humboldt county, but 
which was renamed Jewett's valley in his honor. Here he bought a squatter's 
claim of ten thousand acres from Mr. Redd and drove in the first cattle, horses 
and hogs ever brought into the valley. There are many landmarks now in 
the vicinity which perpetuate his name. Jewett's Rock, in full view from the 
little mountain town of Harris, stands like a sentinel in the midst of pic- 
turesque scenery, and Jewett's creek is another local feature. 

Mr. Jewett had twenty-five hundred sheep, two hundred head of cattle 
and one hundred horses (principally saddle horses), and his sons worked with 
him in the cultivation of the ranch and the conduct of its various interests, 
becoming expert horsemen and cattlemen, and raisers of sheep and saddle 
horses. Here Enoch P. Jewett made his home during the last thirty-five ydars 
of his life, becoming one of the well known figures who bore a large share 
in the advancement and development of the locality, where he was honored 
for his admirable personal qualities as well as for his success in his business 
ventures. He perfected title to twenty-four hundred acres, now in the pos- 
session of his four children, who have taken proper pride in the preservation 
of the large estate. 

By his marriage to Miss Belle Fenton, a native of Trinity county, Cal., 
Mr. Jewett had a family of four children : John Howard, who is extensively 
interested in the stock-raising ; Martha Asenath, wife of George McDonald 
Gratto, of Harris ; Edwin Cecil, who is engaged in the raising of cattle and 
hogs; and Maria C, wife of Wilson Wood, of Harris. Mr. Jewett died May 
16, 1898, at the age of seventy-three years, surviving his wife, whose death 
occurred March 12, 1888. 

JOHN W. LOGAN. — The Logan ranch of twelve hundred acres in 
southern Flumboldt county, lying about a mile from the little village of 
Miranda, is now operated by Albert F. and Simeon B. Logan, sons of the late 
John W. Logan, who live there with their mother and sister. The extensive 
tract has accumulated around the nucleus of Mr. Logan's homestead, taken 
up in the year 1875, before thei'e was a railroad in the county, and in this 
region no traveled road on their way beyond Rohnerville. Mrs. Logan saw 
no wag-on for several years after their arrival here, which circumstance of 
itself indicates the courage and perseverance required of the pioneers who 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 917 

braved loneliness as well as hard work and lack of comforts to found a home 
in a region which then held little attraction except its promise. Their expec- 
tations of acquiring a desirable home were fulfilled, however, after years of 
patient and unremitting labor, and they deserve great credit for the share 
they bore in opening up the locality to civilization. 

John W. Logan was a native of Clay county, Illinois, and was a farmer 
all his life. In Clay county, July 4, 1867, he married Miss Amanda Ruth 
McDaniel, who was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Joseph 
and Martha (Morrison) McDaniel, both also Pennsylvanians by birth. Mrs. 
Logan grew up in that state, and moved to southern Illinois with her parents. 
In the latter part of 18/4 ^'Ir. and Mrs. Logan, with their family, then con- 
sisting of three children, left Flora, 111., journeying by rail to San Francisco. 
Thence they made the trip up the coast to Eureka in the old steamboat 
"Pelican,"' and from there proceeded by stage to Rohnerville, continuing 
from that point as far as Rio Dell in a lumber wagon. The Rohnerville 
teamster who brought them so far would not go on, being afraid of being 
caught in a winter storm, so they hired an Indian to take them on up the 
south fork of the Eel river, as far as Phillipsville, where Mr. Logan's brothers, 
Albert and Charles Logan, were then living. They had brought their house- 
hold goods, and had to make a second trip by boat to transport the same. 
Mrs. Logan's mother, who was past seventy-two years of age, accompanied 
the party, and in spite of all drawbacks they arrived safely. Mr. Logan took 
up a homestead near the south fork of the Eel river, and to this one hundred 
and sixty acres added as much more by preemption. Thereafter from time 
to time, as his means permitted, he increased his holdings by purchase until 
he had twelve hundred acres, on which all the improving has been done by 
the family, Mr. Logan's heirs having contintied the work he had so well 
started. His death occurred November 12, 1899, when he was sixty-six years 
old. 

Eleven children were born to JNIr. and Mrs. Logan, seven of whom sur- 
vive at this writing: Arthur J., of Eureka, the present county surveyor; 
Martha Ellen, Mrs. M. C. Burnell, of Chico, Cal. ; Albert F. is on the home 
ranch; Jane is a teacher in Humboldt county; Mary E., Mrs. L. M. Burnell, 
of Eureka; Una, Mrs. Howatt, Scotia, Cal.; and Simeon B., who resides at 
home. 

Airs. Logan and three of her children still reside at the home place, the 
sons looking after its operation. There is a substantial house on the prop- 
erty, considerable clearing has been done, and an orchard set out, the latter 
for family use, and which, in view of the large amount of labor involved in 
clearing, is a luxury which speaks well for the industry and perseverance of 
this thrifty family. , Self-denying and ambitious, they have made steady ad- 
vancement, not only with the work necessary to improve their land but in 
the matter of education and other progress, and they have cooperated faith- 
fully, all the members of the family showing spirit and sterling qualities of 
character in the furtherance of their various undertakings. They are of the 
kind which contributes citizenship of solid worth to the community, earning 
all they acquire and assisting in the general welfare. Mr. Logan was a man 
of active nature, and his wife helped him nobly in his struggles to obtain a 
start in the wilderness. Yet in spite of hard work she is well and energetic 
at the age of seventy-eight years. She has every reason to appreciate the 



918 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

material comforts of the present day as well as the improved social condi- 
tions. She can remember when deer were so plentiful here that she could 
see as many as twenty-four at one time ; at times they still come close to a 
field near the house. 

WILLIAM JOHN JONES.^The little village of Miranda, in southern 
Humboldt county, derives its principal importance as the halfway stopping- 
place of the stages between Garberville and Dyerville. The stage teams are 
changed there, going and coming, and the interests of the Garberville Mer- 
cantile Company, which operates the stage line, constitute the business life 
of the town. William J. Jones is the company's man in charge there, and 
he also acts as lineman for the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, 
giving the greater part of his time to the duties of the latter position, which 
he has held for sixteen years. He has resided in Humboldt county since 
1888, and has been established at Miranda since 1909. Mr. Jones' work 
brings him into contact with a large proportion of the residents of his part 
of the county, and the good cheer of his genial nature and hopeful disposi- 
tion have made him welcome wherever known. 

Mr. Jones is of Welsh ancestry. His father, J. Jones, a native of the 
state of Pennsylvania, followed the business of merchant tailor throughout 
his active years. In 1864 he removed to Girard, Ohio, where he resided until 
his death. May 12, 1915, at eighty years of age. His wife lived to be eighty- 
one years old. Of the six children born to them three died in infancy, the 
survivors being : William John ; Ida, married to Gomer Jones, a general 
merchant of Girard, Ohio; and Daniel D., a druggist, who resides near Day- 
ton, Ohio. William John Jones was born January 7, 1862, at Hyde Park, 
Pa., about two and a half miles above Scranton (nov/ a suburb of that city). 
Being but two years old when the family settled in Ohio, all his education 
was acquired there, and he attended the high school at Girard. In 1884 he 
went to Chicago, where he remained until a short time after his marriage, 
that year (1887) moving up to Ferry, in northern Michigan. His wife's 
health beginning to fail in that climate he brought her out to California, 
arriving at Garberville, Humboldt county, M'ay 8, 1888. For several years 
thereafter he ran a small ranch. Mrs. Jones was considerably benefited by 
the change. In 1893 she was appointed postmaster at Garberville, and she 
continued to fill the position until, after an attack of pneumonia, her health 
was so seriously affected that she was obliged to resign, in October, 1907, 
her death occurring the following month, at Riverside, Cal. Her maiden 
name was Belle Voorhies, and she was a niece of Senator Daniel Voorhies 
and daughter of Jackson Voorhies, who was a Union soldier during the Civil 
war and fell at the battle of the Wilderness. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were mar- 
ried at Chicago, September 21, 1887. 

Mr. Jones acted as his wife's assistant in the Garberville postoffice until 
1898, when he became lineman for the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph 
Company, and he continued to reside at Garberville until the company 
changed his headquarters to Miranda, in 1909. His jurisdiction is over a 
distance of thirty-three miles, all the telephone and telegraph wires from 
Grant Meyers' place to Samp's old place, nine miles south of Garberville, 
being under his care. That he has never lost a day's work in the sixteen 
years he has been in the employ of the company speaks well for his fidelity 
and reliability, important qualities where so much is left to his own judg- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 919 

ment. i\Iiranda lies half way between Garberville and Dyerville (thirty-two 
miles apart), in the woods, and the store of the Garberville Mercantile 
Company, with its barns and sheds for the stage line, a schoolhouse and a 
few dwelling houses and the post office, constitute the town. Mr. Jones 
has charge of the stage station and store, and the Garberville Mercantile 
Company rents the ranch of five hundred forty acres at this point belong- 
ing to Mrs. Jones, which she acquired as one of the heirs of the estate of 
J. AA'. ]\Ionroe, her first husband. Upon this land the Mercantile Company 
produces enough hay to supply the stage horses. The agricultural land 
forms only a small part of this property, probably twenty or thirty acres ; 
the country is mountainous and stony, and the hillsides are timbered prin- 
cipally with tanbark oak, cut for the sake of the bark. 

Mr. Jones was married (second) September 22, 1909, to Mrs. Gussie P. 
Monroe, daughter of "Gus"' Schumacher, a native of Germany, and widow 
of J. W. Monroe, who was a brother of Attorney ^Monroe, of Eureka, one of 
the leading citizens of that place. To this marriage has been born one 
child, Jay, now fifteen months old. Mr. Jones had no family by his first 
union. Mrs. Jones had seven children by her first husband, viz. : Sybil, 
who is now the wife of H. A. Ross and living in Minneapolis, ]\Iinn. ; Ann, 
who is engaged as stenographer in the office of the Humboldt Times, at 
Eureka ; Mary, at present attending Craddock's business college ; Edith, who 
is taking a course in nursing; John, Frank and Loretta, who live at home- 
and are attending the public school at Miranda. Mr. and Mrs. Jones and 
their family reserve the dwelling, house yards (about three acres) and barn 
on her ranch for their own use, residing there. They are all active and 
enterprising, making the most of their circumstances and helping to enliven 
conditions and social existence in the little town where they are so comfort- 
ably settled. Mrs. Jones is a capable helpmate, and her encouragement and 
assistance have been very valuable to Mr. Jones. She was born at Petrolia, 
Humboldt county. Outside of her home, her interest in public afi^airs has 
been principally in those governing educational provisions in the locality, 
and she is serving at present as a member of the board of school trustees. 
Mr. Jones is a Republican on political issues. 

DAVID WAYNE MORRIS was born on a farm near Salem, Essex 
county, Mass., April 22, 1842. He passed his boyhood days on the farm, 
attending the public school in the winter and working on the farm during 
the summer. Thus he continued until nineteen, when the Civil War began 
and he responded to the first call for 300,000 men, enlisting in Company H, 
Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry, being mustered into service October 
7. 1861. He served continuously for four years and four months, being 
continually at the front, and was fortunate in escaping injury. The first 
two years he served along the Atlantic coast, from Maryland to Florida. 
When General Grant took command, in March, 1864, he served under him in 
the Army of the James till the surrender at Appomattox. 

He was mustered out in Richmond, January 26, 1866, and returned to 
Boston, where he was honorably discharged. Soon after his discharge, he 
started west and after visiting several states he located at Baxter Springs, 
Cherokee county, Kansas, being engaged in farming for some years. While 



there he met the lady who later became his wife, the 



marriage occurrmg 



July 16, 1868, when he was united with Miss Emily Ruth Mitchell, a native 



920 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of Plainfield, Kendall county, 111., and to them were born eight children, 
three boys and five girls. In 1873, they removed to Pueblo. Colo., where he 
remained two years. 

It was in the spring of 1875 that Mr. Morris removed with his familv to 
California, locating at Ferndale, Humboldt county. Here he engaged in 
farming and dairying until 1896, when he moved across the river to Fortuna 
and continued in the same occupation, residing there for eight years. In 
1904 Mr. Morris purchased a forty-acre tract on Dow's Prairie, where he still 
resides. Mr. Morris was a member of Anderson Post, G. A. R., at Ferndale, 
until it was disbanded. 

EDWARD LEE FITZGERALD.— Among the prominent, liberal and 
enterprising young men, who by his ability, energy and exertion has made 
a place for himself among the leading men of the community is Edward, or 
Judge. Fitzgerald, as he is familiarly called. A native son of Humboldt 
county, he was born on the old Fitzgerald place, which he now operates on 
Kneeland Prairie, August 26, 1874. He is the son of Michael and Margaret 
(Welch) Fitzgerald, natives of Ireland. They came to California in the 
pioneer era. Michael Fitzgerald had crossed the plains in the early days 
and had served in the wars with the Indians on the plains. After his arrival 
on the coast he followed mining in California and Nevada. He was mar- 
ried in the latter state, and resided there until October 23, 1867, when he 
arrived in Humboldt county with his family. Being desirous of engaging 
in ranching he looked about for a location and purchased two hundred acres, 
the nucleus of the present place on Kneeland Prairie. It was wild land and 
he set to work clearing it of brush and timber, breaking the ground and 
starting crops. He built a log house which was the second house on Knee- 
land Prairie. It was made of logs cut from the native timber and hewed 
into shape for use in building the house. He started in stockraising, an 
undertaking in which he met with success. By the purchase of adjoining" 
land he became owner of five hundred sixty acres, which he held at the 
time of his death in 1890. Flis widow raised the family and continued to 
operate the ranch with the aid of the children until about eleven years ago, 
when she turned the management over to her son Edward L. She still 
makes her home on the ranch, and is hale and hearty at the age of seventy- 
five years, and is now the oldest settler on Kneeland Prairie. Her family 
comprised eight children, as follows: Mary C, of Eureka; John M., who 
died in 1892; James, living at Fort Baker; Nora, Mrs. Showers, of Eureka; 
Nellie, Mrs. Burke, of Fruitvale ; Margaret, Mrs. Kentling, of Ozark, Mo. ; 
Edward L., of this review ; and Kate, Mrs. Delamore, of Eureka. 

Edward L. Fitzgerald received a good education in the public schools, 
which was supplemented by a course in the Eureka Business college. For 
three years he followed ranching at Madera, Cal., but in 1904 he returned 
to Kneeland Prairie to take the management of the old homestead. Leasing 
the ranch from his mother he has since engaged in farming and stockraising, 
keeping up the improvements so that it is one of the well-kept places in the 
county. It is an admirable stock ranch, being well watered and wooded 
with sufficient land suitable for cultivation, thus enabling him to raise 
ample crops of hay and grain for his stock. He is making a specialty of 
sheepraising, growing them for both wool and mutton, his flocks number- 
ing three hundred or more head. 




(b iL. J^^l^y^^^MC 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 923 

Fraternally, Mr. Fitzgerald is a member of the Woodmen of the World 
at Madera, and the Knights of Columbus in Eureka. For eight years he 
served as Justice of the Peace of Bucksport township, holding the office from 
January, 1907, until January, 1915, filling the office with credit to himself as 
well as his constituents. He was not a candidate for a third term. Polit- 
ically he is independent, preferring to vote for the man rather than party. 

Edward Fitzgerald is a man of pleasing personality and is highly 
esteemed by all who know him for his kindness of heart and charity towards 
those who have been less fortunate, being always ready to lend a helping 
hand to all worthy movements. 

FRANK EDWARD MORRELL.— Another of the prominent and in- 
fluential men of Areata, and one who has been a material factor in the life 
of the community for many years, is Frank Edward Morrell, who is at 
present engaged in the real estate and insurance business, and in which, 
although the venture is in an entirely new field, he is making a decided 
success. His home place is a well kept dairy farm, one mile north of town, 
where he has resided for a number of years, and on which his sons are now 
engaged in dairy farming. For many years previous to his latest under- 
taking in the business field. ^Ir. Morrell was engaged in blacksmithing, and 
as a workman of more than ordinary skill he is known throughout the 
valley. 

]Mr. ]\Iorrell is a native of New Brunswick, Canada, having been born 
at Oak Bay, that province. May 2, 1865. His father was Andrew J. ]\Iorrell, 
a blacksmith by trade, and when a small boy the son commenced to help 
about the shop, assisting his father in many ways, and by the time he was 
tAventy-one he was a skilled workman, capable of doing all classes of the 
work. He attended the public schools of Oak Bay until he was eighteen, 
and from then until he was twenty-one was with his father in the shop. At 
that time he accepted a position with a lumbering company in Maine 
(Tracy & Love Company), to take charge of their blacksmith shop, remain- 
ing with them for four years, and proving himself a capable man for the 
position. 

It was in 1888 that :\Ir. Morrell came west. He left Penobscot, Me., 
where his headquarters had been, and came directly to Humboldt county 
(California), feeling that the opportunities in this state were greater than 
those offered in the east, and naturally seeking lumbering regions. At first 
he went to work for John Vance as blacksmith in the woods, remaining for 
six months, when in partnership Avith Charles Smith he opened a shop in 
Areata. In this new undertaking they were very successful and for three 
years they continued here. At that time the health of Mr. IMorrell failed 
and it was not possible for him to continue in indoor occupation, and he 
was obliged to dispose of his interests and for a time gave himself up to 
complete rest. Later he accepted a position as blacksmith at the govern- 
ment jetties, remaining there but six months, when he returned to the 
employ of the Vance & Hammond Company remaining with them for four- 
teen years, eight of which were spent at Essex, and six at Samoa. 

It was in 1906 that Mr. Morrell gave up his position with this com- 
pany and purchased his present home place of twenty acres, all improved 
land. Here he built a home, and has since that time resided thereon. 
Later he purchased an additional tract of fifteen acres adjoining, this being 



924 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

unimproved land, which has since been brought under a high state of culti- 
vation, and is nov\^ a part of the dairy farm. On his home place, Mr. Mor- 
rell built a blacksmith shop, and again engaged in his trade. He was re- 
membered by many people for the splendid service rendered in his similar 
shop in Areata a few years previously, and within a short time the new 
shop was doing a flourishing business. Skilled workmanship and prompt 
service were two important elements which helped to build up the trade with 
such rapidity. He continued to conduct his shop with the greatest suc- 
cess until July, 1912, when he gave up active work of this kind, and leased 
the shop to Porter Brothers, who are conducting it at the present time. 
Soon after this he took up his present occupation in the real estate and 
insurance line, in which he is meeting with his customary success. He 
represents several splendid companies in his insurance business and the con- 
fidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens are again aiding 
materially in establishing a most desirable clientele. The care of the home 
place has been given over to the sons, thus leaving Mr. Morrell free for his 
outside interests. 

Aside from his business interests Mr. Morrell has always been keenly 
interested in politics and in all the public questions concerning his com- 
munity and the county and state. He is a progressive Republican and is a 
progressive in the broadest and best sense of the word, standing for all that 
tends toward the social and civic betterment of the city and community. 
He is also interested in fraternal matters and is prominent in lodge circles 
in Areata. He was made a Mason in Sussex Lodge No. 7, F. & A. ]\L, 
St. Stephens, N. B., and is now a member of Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & 
A. M., of which he is Past Master. He is a member of Humboldt Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is espe- 
cially prominent in Odd Fellow circles, being a member and Past Grand of 
Anniversary Lodge No. 85, L O. O. F. 

The marriage of Mr. Morrell occurred in Areata, July 21, 1891, uniting 
him with Miss Clara Bell Brown, a native of California, born at Pescadero. 
Her parents were pioneers of the state, and well known in their section, her 
mother coming across the plains in 1849. Mrs. Morrell grew to womanhood 
and received her education in this state, and has resided in Humboldt 
county for the greater part of her life, having a wide circle of friends 
throughout the county. She has borne her husband four children, all of 
whom are natives of Areata, where they have been reared and educated : 
Vera, Earl, Chester and Alford. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Morrell are prominent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church of Areata, of which they are regular attendants. 

DANIEL ALEXANDER BALDWIN.— It was in January, 1884, that 
Daniel Alexander Baldwin came to California, from his home in New 
Brunswick, Canada, locating first in Sonoma county. Since that time he 
has resided continually either in that county or Humboldt, choosing his wife 
from the former place. At present he makes his home in the beautiful little 
city of Blue Lake, near which he owns valuable real estate, both farming 
land and range lands. He has for the greater part of his residence here been 
associated with some phase of the lumbering business, and is also interested 
in farming. He has been actively associated with the governmental and 
political life of the county, also, and has twice been elected supervisor from 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 925 

his district, where he is one of the influential members of the Repubhcan 
party. 

Mr. Baldwin is a native of Chatham, Northumberland county, New 
Brunswick, where he was born September 27, 1858. Here he spent his boy- 
hood days on the farm of his father, attending school in the winter and 
assisting with the farm work in the summer months. After finishing his 
school course he went to work in the woods, but continued to live at home 
with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age. At that time he 
went to Pennsylvania, as the wages in the United States were better than 
those paid in Canada. Here he also worked in the lumber camps, remain- 
ing until 1883. In the spring of that year he returned to his home in New 
Brunswick and began his preparations for coming to California, where it 
was known there was great demand for men, and where the wages were 
high. In the fall he made his start, and arrived in Sonoma county the first 
month of the following year (1884). There was no delay in securing em- 
ployment, and his first work was for a man named French at Guerneville. 
Later he was employed by Brown & Armstrong for a year at the same 
place. 

It was in 1887 that Mr. Baldwin first came to Humboldt county. He 
remained but a short time, however, going to Fresno county, where he 
found better opportunities at that time. Here he was for a year employed 
in the sugar pine woods, lumbering in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In 
1889, he was married in Sonoma county, and soon returned to Humboldt 
county, where he has since resided. In the fall of 1889 he went to work for 
the Korbel Lumber Company, and in the spring of 1890 took charge of the 
work of road building for this company, which at that time was known as 
the Humboldt Milling Company; afterwards this company was absorbed by 
the Northern Redwood Lumber Company. He continued with this company 
in charge of their road construction work until 1906. 

During all the time of his employment in Humboldt county, Mr. Bald- 
win had been actively interested in securing land for himself. He had 
taken up several claims in the mountains and had lived on one of these for 
five years, Avhile working for this company. He had also purchased a ranch 
of seventy-two acres, all improved land. 

It was in 1906 that Mr. Baldwin purchased his present home site of five 
acres at Blue Lake and at the same time he gave up working for the North- 
ern Redwood Lumber Company, and accepted a position with Stanley 
Thompson, getting out ship timbers, and remained in his employ for two 
years. While with Mr. Thompson he was nominated supervisor for the 
third district on the Republican ticket, and was elected for a term of four 
years in 1908. In 1912 he was reelected, and at present serves the public in 
this capacity. He is exceedingly conscientious in his application to his 
duties as supervisor and he never allows anything to interfere with the 
affairs of his ofiice. He is familiar with the road work, and his practical 
knowledge of road construction is invaluable to the county and is a valuable 
asset among the many abilities of the supervisor from the third district. 

The marriage of Mr. Baldwin to Miss Mary Angeline Carr occurred in 
Sonoma county, at the home of the bride's parents, July 3, 1889. Mrs. 
Baldwin is a native of Pennsylvania, where she was born March 21, 1871. 
She came to California with her parents who located in Sonoma county 



926 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

about 1875. Her father, William Carr, has followed the fortunes of the 
farmer for the greater part of his life, and is at present located on a ranch 
at Guerneville, Sonoma county, where he is well and favorably known. 
Mrs. Baldwin has become the mother of four children: AVilliam C, James 
D., Nellie G. and John, the latter deceased. The eldest son, William C, is 
a graduate of the Eureka business college, and is manager of the People's 
Store in Areata ; James D. is attending the Oregon Agricultural College in 
Corvallis, Oregon ; Nellie G. is attending the Humboldt State Normal school 
at Areata. 

Mr. Baldwin has been very successful since coming to Humboldt county 
and is today classed as one of the most progressive and sterling citizens of 
the county. He is a man of broad mind and progressive ideas, with an 
unusual understanding of public questions and is especially well informed 
along all business and political lines. He is recognized as a man of abso- 
lutely sound business principles and his dealings with his fellowmen have 
been of such a character that his word is as good as his bond wherever he 
is known. 

Aside from his business and political associations, Mr. Baldwin is well 
known in certain fraternal circles, where he is interested, although he is not 
what is known as a lodgeman. He is a prominent member of the Odd Fel- 
lows, and is one of the veteran members of the order in this section of the 
state, having joined Redwood Lodge, No. 281, L O. O. F., at Guerneville in 
1885, but is now a member of Blue Lake Lodge, No. 347, I. O. 0- F., of which 
he is past grand and the present secretary. 

Mr. Baldwin is the son of Daniel Baldwin and Mary (McLaughlin) 
Baldwin, both natives of New Brunswick, where he himself was born. His 
father was born in 1819, and the greater part of his life he was a tiller of the 
soil. For a short time he varied this by lumbering in the adjoining woods. 
He died at the age of eighty-one years. The mother of Mr. Baldwin is also 
dead, having passed away in 1889. Her entire life had been spent almost 
within sight of the place of her birth. She was a woman of great strength 
of character and of deep maternal afifection, and her influence on the lives 
of her children cannot be overestimated. She was the mother of nine 
children, five of whom are living, Mr. Baldwin being the fifth in order of 
birth. 

WILLIAM JAMES TURNER.— As president of the Garberville Mer- 
cantile Company, and one of the principal stockholders in this corporation, 
William James Turner is one of the prominent and influential citizens of 
Garberville, where he has made his home for many years. He has owned 
and operated a blacksmith shop here for a number of years past. Descended 
from a long line of Irish ancestry, he was born in County Armagh, Ireland, 
July 12, 1861, the son of Robert and Margaret (Mc'Creary) Turner, both 
natives of Ireland, where they lived and died. The father was a wagon- 
maker, carpenter and blacksmith, and had a large establishment for the manu- 
facture of wagons, farm implements and tools, besides doing repair work and 
much general blacksmithing, and often employed as many as sixty men at 
a time. There w^ere four children in the family, one daughter and three sons. 
Of these the daughter died in infancy, and the three sons all came to America, 
eventually settling in California. Joseph became a machinist and was for a 
short time located in San Francisco, later coming to Garberville, where he 





(Jl/Y) 



.i^-eix 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 929 

opened a machine and blacksmith shop, and owned and operated a stock ranch 
on the south fork of the Eel river. He had married before leaving Ireland, 
and was accompanied by his wife when he came to California. At his death, 
in 1880, he left a widow and three daughters, and the widow has since died. 
John also came to Humboldt county and for a time had charge of the brother's 
stock ranch on the Eel river, where he died. 

William James Turner spent his boyhood days in Ireland, where he 
attended the common and high schools of his native village. He began to 
work in his father's shop when he was a boy and grew up with the trade, 
becoming a skilled blacksmith and machinist. It was in 1885 that he came 
to America, coming to California, where his older brothers had preceded him 
by several years. He went at once to the ranch on the south fork of Eel 
river, where his older brother, Joseph, had died in 1880. The ranch was 
then being conducted by his brother John. Later W. J. Turner bought a 
blacksmith shop in Garberville, and built up a splendid trade, through the 
rendering of prompt and efficient service. He still owns and operates this 
shop, which is one of the best known in the community. 

The marriage of Mr. Turner took place in Eureka, in 1909, uniting him 
to Miss Emma Kemper, born in Sonoma county, the daughter of C. W. and 
Margaret (Merritt) Kemper. Her parents were well known in Garberville, 
where they lived for inany years, and where both passed away. 

Aside from his business as a machinist and blacksmith, Mr. Turner has 
been in close touch with the affairs of Garberville during his long residence 
here, and is an influential citizen. When the Garberville Mercantile Com- 
pany was organized in 1911 he was one of the prime movers and also a heavy 
investor in the stock of the company, and was chosen its first president, which 
position he still fills. Other officers of the corporation are: E. R. Linser, 
vice-president; John W. Hamilton, secretary-treasurer, while the Bank of 
Humboldt County is the depository. 

In addition to their general merchandising business, which is probably 
the largest business of its kind in southern Humboldt county, the company 
own and operate two stage lines, connecting Garberville with adjacent terri- 
tory. Their business on these lines is important and extensive. They employ 
three drivers and one hostler on each line, own twenty-five horses, which the)^ 
use in this connection, and lately have also put on an automobile truck. 

Mr. Turner has been almost phenomenally successful in his business 
ventures, and his judgment and foresight are such as to enable him to make 
many successful investments and business ventures. He is well informed, a 
good financier, and a careful and capable business manager. In all his 
interests he has had the sympathy and cooperation of his wife, who is a woman 
of rare ability and judgment. Both Mr. and Mrs. Turner are highly respected 
in Garberville, and enjoy the friendship of a wide circle of acquaintances. 
They are members of the Presbyterian church and regular attendants of its 
services. Mr. Turner is a Republican in his political affiliations, but has 
never been actively associated with the affairs of his party outside of local 
issues. He is progressive and an independent thinker, and has always worked 
for the welfare and general betterment of his home city and community. 

Mr. Turner is a true Irishman in that he is very proud of his ancestry and 
nativity, although he is a true and loyal son of his adopted state. Mrs. Turner 
represents one of the oldest and most highly respected pioneer families of 

35 



930 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

California, her parents having come to this state in the pioneer days, and made 
it their home since that time. 

ALEXANDER LAMB.— One of the wealthy stockmen of Rohnerville, 
Alexander Lamb has been a resident of Humboldt county since 1866, coming 
to the Pacific coast immediately after the close of the Civil war, throughout 
which he had served with honor and distinction. His parents had come to 
California during his time of military service and as soon as he was mus- 
tered out he joined them. They were then engaged in the stock business 
and Mr. Lamb, who is now the only living member of the family, has since 
continued in this line with exceptional success. Since 1865 he has been 
fifty-one years in the saddle, and has probably ridden more miles on horse- 
back than any other man of Humboldt county. Under the corporate name 
of Lamb Brothers Company, they own nine thousand acres of stock-ranch 
land in the Ball Hills, twenty miles east of Rohnerville, where he manages 
an extensive stock ranch. He is president and manager of the company, 
and is a man of strict integrity, progressive and industrious, and stands 
exceptionally high in his home community. His home place is an eighty- 
acre ranch on the main road between Rohnerville and Hydesville, which he 
operates himself. 

Mr. Lamb is .a native of Indiana, born in Monroe county in 1845. His 
father, also Alexander Lamb, was a native of North Carolina, as also was his 
mother, Abigail Trodgen, her parents being descended from an old Southern 
family of distinction. The father was a farmer and removed to Indiana 
shortly after his marriage, and there a family of nine children were born, 
the present respected citizen of Rohnerville being the eighth child, and the 
only one now living. When he was but a small child the family removed 
to Lucas county, Iowa, where he grew to maturity, attending the public 
schools and working on his father's farm. At the age of seventeen he re- 
sponded to the call of President Lincoln for volunteers, and enlisted in 
Company L, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, in 1863. Lie was mustered in at Daven- 
port, drew horses at Louisville, Ky., and entered the Army of the Tennessee, 
being in the battles from Resaca to the taking of Atlanta, then fighting 
under General Thomas at the battles of Franklin and Nashville, where 
General Hood's army was annihilated. Mr. Lamb served until the close of 
the war, making a splendid record for courage and daring, and was never 
wounded, although he had m.any narrow escapes, having two horses shot 
from under him in one day. The company was mustered out at Clinton, 
Iowa, and Mr. Lamb returned home to find that his parents and family had 
migrated to California, having crossed the plains with wagons in 1864. He 
himself made the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San 
Francisco, June 19, 1866, joining his parents and brothers and sisters at 
Rohnerville, where he has since made his home. 

The marriage of Mr. Lamb occurred at Hydesville, uniting him with 
Miss Frances Palmer, a native of Missouri. Of their union were born six 
children, five of whom are living. They are all natives of Humboldt county, 
and are well and favorably known in Rohnerville, where they have been 
reared and educated. They are: VVinfield, Leonard, Henry, Abigail (de- 
ceased), Charles and Ray. 

Mr. Lamb is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is 
particularly proud of his war record. The standing of his family since first 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 931 

they came to Humboldt county more than fifty years ago has been such as 
to place any representative of the name in high favor, and of this, too. ]\Ir. 
Lamb is very proud. He is progressive and broad-miruied, and has always 
given of his best for the general welfare of the community. 

PETER NICHOLAS J. PETERSEN.— As one of the demonstrators of 
the Farm Bureau of Humboldt county, Peter Nicholas J. Petersen is well 
known throughout the county, and is in very close touch with the farmers 
and their needs. He himself has been actively engaged in farming since 
he was a young man and so has a very wide practical knowledge of the 
existing conditions. For the past season he has been demonstrating the 
value of lime as a fertilizer in the raising of alfalfa and has been very suc- 
cessful in gaining the attention and co-operation of the farmers. He is 
associated in this work with A. H. Christiansen, farm advisor for the county, 
who is in charge of the demonstration work. Mr. Petersen's own ranch is 
three-quarters of a mile south of Grizzly Bluff and consists of sixty acres, 
being generally known as the old Wooldridge place. It is one of the best 
kept and most attractive places in the vicinity, a credit to its owner and a 
source of pride to the neighborhood. 

Mr. Petersen is a native of Abenrade, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 
and was sixteen years of age when he came to America. He is the son of 
A. E. Petersen, well known throughout the Ferndale district as a man of 
great strength of character and purpose of mind. He and his forbears were 
natives of Schleswig, born there when it was a part of Denmark. He owned 
a splendid dairy farm and was one of the prosperous men of the community, 
but the German dominion was so offensive that he disposed of his holdings 
there, and together with his wife and family migrated to America, in 1894, 
locating in Humboldt county, Cal., where he purchased a farm. The son, 
Peter Nicholas, the subject of this article, has inherited many of the splen- 
did qualities of heart and mind that distinguished his forefathers. He at- 
tended the public schools in Schleswig, where he was born, June 24, 1878, 
learning both the Danish and the German language. The family was a 
large one, and although the family was in good circumstances it was neces- 
sary for the boys to work whenever they were not in school. This same 
condition maintained after their coming to America, and for five or six 
years Nicholas worked on the various farms in the neighborhood, and then 
rented the Sam Fulmer ranch on Eel River Island for three years, this 
being a dairy ranch of eighty acres. Following this he rented the Joe Shaw 
ranch at Centerville, where he continued to engage in dairy farming for six 
years. At that time, in 1913, he purchased his present place, where he has 
established a permanent home. With a passing glance at this place today 
it is plain to see that the owner is a man of ability and industry. The 
dwelling house, yard, fields, pastures, orchard, water supplv, and large new 
dairy barn all speak of and for the man who is responsible for them. AVhen 
he purchased the place he at once remodeled the dwelling, and everything 
else has been brought up to the same standard of excellence, the dairy barn 
being the last word in scientific construction. 

The marriage of Mr. Petersen in Ferndale, November 15, 1911, united 
him with Miss Johanna Linnemann, a native of Sorup, Jutland, Denmark, 
the daughter of Carl Linnemann, who followed farming in that country 
until his death. Mrs. Petersen finished her training in the school of domestic 



932 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

science at Sjaelland, and afterwards was a teacher of this science in Copen- 
hagen, continuing this until she came to California for a visit. In Hum- 
boldt county she met Mr. Petersen and their marriage followed in Ferndale, 
as above stated. She is a woman of rare personal charm and has gathered 
about her a circle of warm friends. She has one child, a daughter, Edith. 

Quite apart from his responsible position as farm demonstrator for the 
county, and also from his popularity as a man of affairs, ^Ir. Petersen occu- 
pies a place of prominence in the fraternal, religious and governmental 
affairs of his community. He is especially prominent among the fraternal 
orders with a large Danish membership, and has been active in the affairs 
of the local organization of the Danish Brotherhood, of which he has been 
a member for many years. He is a member of the Lutheran church at Fern- 
dale, and keenly interested in all its activities. In his political views Mr. 
Petersen is a Republican and has taken an intelligent part in the local 
affairs of his party. He is, however, essentially interested in his own busi- 
ness aft'airs, and his success therein is far more vital to him than any obso- 
lete political problem. In all questions that affect the local improvement 
and progress he is keenly alive to their full importance and ready to give 
his earnest support for the betterment of the community, county, state, or 
nation. 

CHARLES WESCOTT.— Coming to Scotia in 1900 from South San 
Francisco, where ill health had forced him to resign from a lucrative posi- 
tion, Charles VVescott accepted a minor position with the Pacific Lumber 
Company at this place and steadily worked his way upward, until in 1910 
he was made foreman of the drying department for the Scotia mills, which 
important position he now fills, having charge of the dry kilns and of the 
handling of all the lumber in that department. The importance of the work 
that he controls may be easily understood when it is known that the freight 
rates on lumber from the coast to the Missouri river points are forty-two 
cents per hundredweight, sixty-five cents to Chicago, and seventy-fiive cents 
to New York ; and that while a foot of green redwood lumber, fresh from 
the saw, weighs seven and one-half pounds, the same lumber, skillfully dried 
in the kilns, weighs but two and one-half pounds. Thus it is seen that the 
drying process is a wonderful saving in freight rates, and that the work is 
necessarily intrusted to a man of great reliability. 

Mr. Wescott is a native of New York, having been born in Essex- 
county, June 12, 1875. His father, Leander Wescott, was a farmer of Essex 
county and was very well-to-do. He was born in Essex county, at Wescott 
Hill, which was named for his grandfather, Oliver Wescott, who came to 
America from England in Colonial times. Oliver Wescott was a patriot of 
the truest type, and together with his son, the grandfather of the present 
respected citizen of Scotia, fought in the Revolutionary War, both being 
engaged in the battle of Plattsburg, where they fought side by side. Charles 
Wescott grew to young manhood in Essex county, attending public and high 
schools of the district, working on his father's farm, and in the woods, the 
latter occupation appealing to him most strongly. The Wescott home was 
located in the woods, and while yet a boy he learned all the craft of the 
woodsman. There were seven children in the family, two sons and five 
daughters, only two of whom are living at this time, the other member being 
Mrs. Daisy Hathaway, of Levv^is, Essex county, N. Y. The parents are both 




Jc^yfUAyyi^^^/t^ J2^^^^^^^^^^^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 935 

deceased, the father having lived to be sixty-three years of age, and the 
mother to be sixty. When Mr. Wescott was twenty-two years of age he 
forsook the home farm and came to California, and in 1897 engaged in the 
meat packing business, working his way up until he became foreman of the 
Western Meat Company at South San Francisco, where he remained for 
three years. His health broke down at that time and he was obliged to 
seek employment in a different climate. Quite naturally his inclination 
turned him toward the lumber woods, and he went to Eureka, where he 
remained for a short time, and then came to Scotia, where he entered the 
employ of the Pacific Lumber Company in the spring of 1900. For a time 
he was engaged as a handler of lumber, but his abihty and application made 
his promotion certain, and after a time he was made foreman of the old dry 
kiln, holding this position for a year and a half, then becoming assistant 
foreman of mill yard "A." This position he filled for three years, when he 
became foreman, and was later transferred to the dry kilns. 

Mr. Wescott is deeply interested in his work and is of a mechanical 
turn of mind, having made numerous changes and improvements in the dry 
kilns which have greatly increased their efficiency. He is an adept in the 
use of tools, in cabinet work and in the methods of finishing and polishing 
the various kinds of woods that are found in Humboldt county. One of the 
most interesting things that he has discovered is a method for finishing up 
boards cut out of redwood bark. He gives them a soft, plush-like finish 
which makes very novel and beautiful furniture, and of these he has made 
various pieces of furniture for his own home. Formerly Mr. Wescott was 
fire chief of Scotia and filled the office very capably. He is also exception- 
ally well liked by the employees of the Pacific Lumber Company who are 
under his direction, and also by his employers. He is firm and exact, but 
always fair and reasonable. 

The marriage of Mr. Wescott and Miss Vera Locke, of Grand Island, 
Neb., occurred in Scotia in 1911. They are now the parents of two small 
daughters: Verda and lone. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wescott are popular 
socially and have many friends in Scotia. Mr. Wescott also takes an active 
part in the local fraternal affairs. He is an influential member of a number 
of local orders, including the Knights of Pythias, Weeott Tribe, No. 147, 
I. O. R. M., and the Modern Woodmen. 

ULYSSES SHERMAN STOCKHOFF.— One of the prominent resi- 
dents of Elk River, Cal., where he is engaged in farming and as overseer 
of a section of the road, Ulysses Sherman Stockhofif is well known and liked 
as a progressive and enterprising man in that section of Humboldt county. 

The parents of Mr. StockhofT came to California in the early days, his 
father being John Henry Stockhoff, a native of Oldenburg, Germany, who 
became a cattle dealer in Iowa, where he married Charity Ann Winters, who 
was born in Tennessee, but came to Missouri with her parents when a child, 
where she grew up. In the '60s, John Henry Stockhofif crossed the plains 
with ox teams to Nevada, where for a year he engaged in ranching, coming 
thence to California, and locating in Sonoma county, where he spent a year 
in chopping wood. The next year he was engaged in making ties, etc., 
hiring as an assistant to his boss of the previous year, and later took up 
contracting and teaming near Fort Ross, took a homestead there, which he 
cleared and improved, operating a dairy thereon and buying adjacent land. 



936 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

so that he had a large stock ranch and jdairy of about eight hundred acres 
at the time of his death, which occurred irilPM, his wife having passed away 
in 1893. They were the parents of five sons and one daughter, Ulysses 
Sherman Stockhoff being the third oldest of the family, the names of the 
children being as follows : Mary A., now Mrs. Zeek, residing at the old 
home at Fort Ross; Samuel H., a stock man in Larabee valley, Humboldt 
county; Ulysses Sherman, a farmer of Humboldt county; John F., a farmer 
near Elk River Corners; William S., who went to Alaska, and has not been 
heard from; and Cornelius, who for years has been driving the stage for 
Holloway out of Point Arena, and is well known in Mendocino county. 

Growing up on his father's ranch overlooking the Pacific just north of 
Fort Ross, Ulysses S. StockhofT was educated in the Timber Cove school 
district and remained at home until the age of twenty-one years, at which 
time he started out for himself, being employed by a rancher near Fort 
Ross to care for cattle and sheep, and there he rode the range and for seven 
years had the management of the Jack Lancaster ranch. Leaving there to 
come to Humboldt county, he worked for a year at Salmon creek, and 
then with his brother Samuel bought out the business and engaged in dairy- 
ing on Judge Haines' ranch for three years, operating a dairy of thirty cows. 
Selling out to his brother, Mr. Stockhoff then entered the employ of the 
Vance Company, now the Hammond Lumber Company, being employed in 
the woods near Fieldbrook and later at Little river for the same company, 
in all covering a period of three or four years. Then purchasing his present 
ranch from his brother Samuel in 1903, formerly known as the old Bell ranch 
on the north fork of the Elk river about ten miles from Eureka, Mr. Stock- 
hoff has now in his possession an estate comprising one hundred and forty- 
eight acres, about forty acres of which are under the plow, and here he is 
engaged in stockraising and farming, raising potatoes for the market, also 
giving a part of his attention to general contracting. He is also well known 
in the vicinity as road overseer in District No. 3, from Bucksport to Falk, 
and to Humboldt Hill on the south and back of Pine ranch. Flis political 
preferences are with the Republican party, and his fraternal associations 
are with the Fortuna Lodge No. 221, L O. O. F., at Eureka. 

ROBERT LEE HARRIS.— -Well known in Scotia and vicinity as the 
foreman of the cut-up department of Mill "B," of the Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany, Robert Lee Harris is one of the most popular employees of this great 
company, and also of Scotia, where he has made his home for a number of 
years. His association with the Pacific Lumber Company has proven his 
ability in mechanical and industrial lines. His department is that in which 
the lumber is sawed into proper lengths for sashes, doors, window, and door 
casings, boxes, and the thousand and one things for which special lengths 
are required, and is one of the most important departments of the mill 
work. 

Mr. Harris, who is popularly known as Lee Harris, is a native of Cali-^ 
fornia, having been born at Rio Dell, Humboldt county, December 27, 1873. 
His father was James A. Harris, a native of Arkansas, and died when Robert 
Lee was ten years of age. His grandfather was Henry B. Harris, also a 
native of Arkansas, where both grandfather and father were well-known 
cotton planters, and in which state the grandfather lived and died. The 
mother was, in her girlhood, Addie A. Gould, a native of California, and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 937 

born in San Francisco. She is now residing at Shively, this county, with a 
son, and is sixty-two years of age. She bore her husband six children, 
three sons and three daughters, two sons and a daughter still living, the 
others having died in childhood. The living members of the family are: 
A. W. Harris, a farmer at Shively, with whom the mother makes her home; 
Clara, now the wife of William Carter, a rancher in Sonoma county; and 
Robert Lee Harris, respected citizen of Scotia. Following the death of his 
father when he was ten years of age, Robert Lee went to live with his 
mother in Sonoma county. His father had left an estate of some $30,000, 
and he received a common school education and later took a course in the 
Eureka business college, where he was graduated in 1892. He then went to 
work for the AVilliams Company at Fortuna, where he remained six years. 
He next became foreman for Beckwith for a year, and then returned to the 
employ of the Williams Creek Company, accepting a position as w^SP'ds' and 
mill foreman, and remaining for two years. A position was then offered 
him with the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, and for a year and a half 
he served as an apprentice as a band-saw filer, and from his knowledge of 
the band-saw machinery he was then given a position in the cut-up depart- 
ment. Here his knowledge of the lumber business stood him in good stead 
and he was shortly made foreman of the department, which position he has 
now held for four years. 

The marriage of J\Ir. Harris occurred in Fortuna in 1899, uniting him 
with JMiss Mildred Kerri, the daughter of Frank Iverri, who. came to Cali- 
fornia in 1858, locating in Humboldt county, where he has since made his 
home. He is now^ living in retirement with the family of Mr. Harris. Mr. 
and ^Irs. Harris have one child, a daughter, Alildred Leota. Both ]\Ir. and 
Mrs. Harris are well known socially in Scotia, and Air. Harris occupies a 
prominent position in the fraternal affairs of the county. He is an influen- 
tial member of the Alasons, having been made a ]\Iason in Eel River Lodge, 
No. 147, F. & A. ]M., of which he is Past blaster; he is also a member of 
Ferndale Chapter, No. 78, R. A. i\I., at Ferndale, and is Past Inspector of 
the northern district of California, District No. 1. He is also a member of 
the Odd Fellows at Fortuna, and Past Grand of that Lodge. In his political 
preferences Mr. Harris is a stanch Republican, and has been a member of 
the county central committee for several years. • He takes a keen interest in 
all that pertains to the welfare of the community and is active in all the 
affairs of his party, but steadily declines public ofhce for himself, although 
he has been urged by his friends and admirers on several occasions to accept 
the nomination for important county positions. 

CHARLES BERTI.— One of the successful young dairymen in Hum- 
boldt county who is now conducting the Spicy Breezes Dairy ranch on Cape 
Mendocino is Charles Berti, who was born at Prosito, near Lodrino, Ticino, 
Switzerland, October 17, 1883. His father, Augustino, was a painter and 
decorator, and followed his trade in Paris during the summer for many years. 
He now resides on a small farm at Prosito. His wife, who was Giacinta 
Biasca, is also living, as are their two children, the eldest, Charles, of whom 
we write, the youngest Giacinta, living in the old home with her parents. 

Charles Berti, after completing his education in the public schools, was 
apprenticed and learned the stone cutter and mason trade. Having a desire to 
try his fortune in California, of which he had heard good reports, he came to 



938 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Eureka, arriving March 5, 1?01. The first year he was in the employ of 
Ralph Biasca, who ran a dairy at Areata, then he entered the employ of 
Rudolph Ambrosini, on the Mayflower ranch, continuing there one year. 
Afterward he was with Ferdinand Ambrosini on the Woodland Echo ranch 
for five years, later for eighteen months with Joseph Russ near Ferndale, 
after which he concluded to start in business for himself. In 1910 he leased 
the Spicy Breezes Ranch of 60O acres which he devotes to dairying and the 
raising of hogs and cattle. He has a herd of ninety-two milch cows and by the 
use of a gas engine is making butter which is packed under the label of Cape 
Mendocino Creamery and shipped to Eureka and San Francisco markets. 

In Ferndale occurred the marriage of Mr. Berti with ]Mansuita Biasca, 
also a native of Ticino. They have four children, as follows : Edward, Dora, 
Elvizo and Baby. 

PETER MOSSI was born in Sant' Antonio, Ticino, Switzerland, March 
10, 1872. His father, also named Peter, was a farmer at Sant' Antonio. Young 
Peter was educated in the public schools of his native place and in the high 
school at Bellinzona, at the same time remaining on the home farm and making 
himself generally useful until the age of seventeen. It was at this time that 
he determined to try his luck on the Pacific coast, of which he had heard such 
good reports. His brother Joseph had come to California a dozen years 
previous and was living in Placer county. So in May, 1889, Peter joined his 
brother in the latter county and for a short time was employed in a sawmill, 
after which he returned to San Francisco bay. After working a short time in 
the salt works in Alameda he found employment on a dairy at Point Reyes, 
Marin county, afterwards following the same line in Sonoma county, until 
March, 1895, when he came to Humboldt county. Until 1904 he was employed 
on dairy ranches in the vicinity of Ferndale, after which, in partnership with 
Thomas Pedrazini, he purchased a liquor establishment. In 1906 he bought 
his partner out and has since continued the business alone, being now located 
in the center of Ferndale. 

Mr. Mossi was married in Ferndale to Miss Victoria Re, also a native of 
Switzerland, born at Cevio. Fraternally he is a member of the local lodge of 
Druids, of which he is past officer. Politically he is a Republican. 

CHRIS MOSSI was born at Carena, Canton Ticino, Switzerland. October 
28, 1869. His father, James Mossi, a dairyman there, married Annie Boletti 
and both are living on the old home. Of their ten children Chris is next 
to the oldest and was brought up to be an industrious lad, learning farming 
and dairying as it was done in his native Ticino, and he also received a good 
education in the local schools. In 1889 he came to Santa Cruz county, Cal, 
where he worked in a sawmill during the summer and then on a dairy near 
Davenport. He continued in that vicinity until 1902, in that year coming to 
Humboldt county. After working a while in the Eel river valley he went 
to Scotia and was employed on the Pacific Lumber Company's ranch for two 
years, after which he leased a ranch in that vicinity and ran a dairy of thirty 
cows. In December, 1908, he leased the McDonald place of one hundred 
twenty acres at Grizzly Bluff, where his herd of milch cows numbered fifty- 
five. In January, 1915, he sold his interest and lease and has since been in the 
employ of the Hansen dairy ranch. 

In 1909 Mr. Mossi made a trip back to Switzerland, visiting his old home, 
and in December of that year was married at Carena, being united with ?^Iiss 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 939 

Delmonica Enriceta, also a native of that place, and they have two children, 
Lena and Alice. Fraternally Mr. Mossi is a member of Branch Forty, Lodge 
No. 96, Santa Cruz. Politically he is an ardent believer in the principles of 
the Republican platform. 

WILLIAM L. SHIELDS.— The present proprietor of the old East Ferry 
at Alton is William L. Shields, vi'ho was born at South West City, McDonald 
county. Mo., June 8, 1870. His father, John R. Shields, was a farmer, and 
William L. spent his boyhood helping his parents on the farm and attending 
public schools until fifteen years of age, or until 1885, when he came to the 
Pacific coast. While living at Healdsburg and at Lakeport, Cal., he attended 
public school, later going to Ukiah, where he was employed at farming. In 
Sacramento he was engaged in horse breaking and bronco busting. Giving 
up this v/ork he returned to Ukiah and thence to Potter valley, where he 
again worked at farming. 

After spending nine years in California A-Ir. Shields returned to Missouri 
and soon afterwards went to Oklahoma, being there at the time of the opening 
of the Cherokee strip. He followed farming there between Grove, Delaware 
county, and Fairland, Ottawa county, at the same time engaging in threshing 
during the grain season for twenty-four years, and during this time wore out 
four steam threshing rigs. He was very energetic during these years and 
was busy all the time. 

In 1913 Mr. Shields returned to California, locating at Waddington, Hum- 
boldt county, where he followed the carpenter's trade until March 15, 1915, 
when he purchased the old East Ferry, which he operates across Eel river at 
Alton. This is an important crossing, as it takes care of the travel on the road 
between Ferndale and Alton, and is said to be the most popular ferry on 
the river. 

In Ukiah Mr. Shields was married to Miss Birdie Stewart, born in Men- 
docino county, the daughter of Mark Stewart, a pioneer of that county, and 
they have nine children living, as follows : George (residing in Napa), Robert, 
Effie, John, Henry, Freelove, Frank, Bernies and Eleanor. Politically he is 
a Democrat. 

ANTONE PELASCINI was born in Statsona, province de Como, Italy, 
February 4, 1880, the son of Guerimo and Lucia (Gobbi) Pelascini. The father 
was a farmer in his native land and is now in Buenos Ayres, South America, 
while the mother is still residing at the old home in Italy. 

Of the four children in the parental family Antone Pelascini is the third 
oldest, and he and his brother Peter, of Elk River, are the only ones in 
America. Antone's boyhood was spent on the farm in sunny Italy, where he 
received a good education in the public schools. In 1902 he came to Eureka, 
Humboldt county, where he obtained employment in the woods working for 
the Vance Company, then for their successors, the Hammond Lumber Com- 
pany, and still later for the Pacific Lumber Company. He also spent two 
years in Del Norte county in the same line of work. Having saved enough 
money he determined to engage in the dairy business and in 1912 leased the 
present ranch of seventy-five acres near Alton, fifty acres of the place being 
bottom land, where he raised a sufficient quantity of hay and grain feed for 
his herd of twenty-five milch cows. He has made a success of his new 
undertaking. 

In Eureka in April, 1914, Mr. Pelascini was married to Miss Rosa Gobbi, 



940 HISTORY OF, HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

who was also a native of Statsona, Italy, and they have a little daughter, named 
Annie. In politics Mr. Pelascini favors the principles of the Republican party. 

JOHN SAOTTINI.— Brescia, Italy, is not alone famed for violin- 
making, but also for its high standard of butter and cheese making. Many 
from that province have made Humboldt county their adopted home and have 
taken their place among the leading dairymen of the county. One of these 
is John Saottini, who was born at Bioni, Brescia, Italy, December 27, 1884. 
His father, Peter Saottini, a dairyman at Bioni, was there married to Cressini 
Giacomini, who died about the year 1898, and to them were born five children, 
four of whom are living. John is the eldest, and he has two brothers, Louis 
and Peter, also in Humboldt county. 

, As a lad John Saottini learned dairying as it is done in Brescia, and also 
attended the public schools. On completing the local course of study he con- 
tinued to assist his father on the farm, but he soon resolved to try his fortune 
in the land of the Stars and Stripes. In May, 1902, he came to the United 
States, and in the vicinity of Pittsburg, Pa., he was employed in the coal mines 
until 1907. In that year he concluded to come to the Pacific coast, and in 
August of that year he arrived in Loleta, Cal. Here for fourteen months he 
was in the employ of Steve Giulieri, and then worked over three years for 
Rafael Lanini, after which he rented Erickson &. Johansen's ranch of one 
hundred eighty-four acres in the vicinity of Loleta, which he devoted to dairy- 
ing,, having a herd of sixty milch cows. He had leased the place for ten years, 
but he sold the lease at the end of four years and purchased a half interest 
with Rafael Lanini in the present dairy and lease of one hundred thirty acres 
on Cannibal Island, which is devoted to a dairy of fifty cows, and since Mr. 
Lanini moved out to his own place on Elk river Mr. Saottini has superin- 
tended the place, giving it his undivided attention. The place is rich bottom 
land, which not only furnishes excellent pasturage, but also yields ample crops 
of hay and green feed. 

Fraternally Mr. Saottini is a member of the Woodmen of the World. He 
is an experienced dairyman and by his energy and close application to the 
business he is making, a success and has established himself among the men 
of affairs in the Eel river valley. 

CLAUDIO PIFFERINI was born at Cugnasco, Canton Ticino, Switzer- 
land, November 16, 1882, the son of Dominico and Teresa (Pallacio) Pififerini, 
who followed dairying. The father died in^ 1901 and the mother is still residing 
at the old home. Of their eight children, five of whom are living, Claudio 
is the third oldest. After receiving his education in the public schools he 
assisted his parents on the home farm until he came to California. His brother 
Albert had migrated to Humboldt, county some years before, so Claudio joined 
him here in February, 1907. For a short time he was employed in the woods 
for the lumber company at Metropolitan and then for the Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany at Scotia, working in the mill. In 1908 he went to work on a dairy 
near Ferndale, later for Charles Walker at McKinleyville and afterwards at 
Loleta until January, 1910, when he formed a partnership with Fred M. 
Giulieri, leasing two small ranches of one hundred sixty acres near Grizzly 
Bluff, where they engaged in dairying, eventually milking sixty-five cows on 
the place. In January, 1915, he sold his interest to his partner and came to 
Areata Bottoms, where he leased the Albert Nelson ranch of forty-seven acres, 
being rich bottom land, which furnishes ample feed for thirty milch cows. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 94L 

In Ticino, Italy, December 16, 1905, Mr. Pi£ferini was married to Mary 
Pallacio and they have four children, Attilio, Haz.el, John and Lillie.. 
Politically he espouses the principles of the Republican party. 

SAMUEL PIOLA was born in Montecrestese, Province of Novara, 
Italy, February 18, 1876, the son of Isidoro and Adelaide (Storni) Piola, who 
were farmers. The father is dead, while the mother still lives on the old 
farm in Italy. Of their seven children that grew to maturity, Samuel is the 
fifth in order of birth. Fie received a good public school education, remaining 
at home and assisting his parents until eighteen years of age, when he 
emigrated to the Argentine Republic, South America, being employed on 
farms and in factories and also clerking at Rosario de Santa Fe. While there 
he became familiar with the Spanish language. After five years he returned: 
to his old home in Novara, and immediately made preparations to come to 
the United States. On April 16, 1901, he arrived in St. Louis, Mo., vvhich city 
he left two years afterward to go to McAlester, Indian Territory, where for 
the next four years he was employed in the coal mines. 

■ In 1906 Mr. Piola came to California, going first to Los Angeles and 
two months later to Alameda county, where he was employed as a brick- 
maker at Tesla. In December, 1906, he made his way to Bisbee, Ariz., where 
he was employed in the copper mines. In the spring of 1912 he came to 
Humboldt county and worked on a dairy on Cannibal Island. In the fall of 
1912 he rented the Varian place of forty acres and ran a dairy of twenty-two 
cows for two years. After selling this lease he entered a partnership with 
G. Faravis in leasing the Risen place of one hundred thirty acres and the 
J. Larsen place of forty-five acres on Cock Robin Island, which the partners 
devoted to dairying. In December, 1914, Mr. Piola's partner was accidentally 
drowned, and since purchasing the latter's interest Mr. Piola has continued 
operating the one hundred seventy-five acres, milking sixty cows on his dairy, 
and is meeting with success. 

Mr. Piola was married in Bisbee, Ariz., in 1911, being united with 
Clementine Pella, who was also born at Montecrestese, and they have one 
child, Gino. Politically he believes in the principles of the Republican party. 

MARTIN L. PONTONL— A successful dairyman in Humboldt county, 
where he owns a valuable farm near Areata, in a section of California which 
has proved most propitious for the dairy industry, Martin L. Pontoni is 
known as an enterprising and liberal man, and an upbuilder of the community 
where he resides. 

Born at Cimalmotto, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Martin Louis Pontoni 
was the son of Michael and Martha (Coppini) Pontoni, his birth occurring 
September 20, 187.5. His father, a painter by trade, spent his summers in 
Paris, France, where he was engaged in painting and decorating, and his 
death took place at his farm at Cimalmotto, where his wife is still living with 
her six daughters. Of their family of ten children, eight are now living, and 
the two sons are both in California, where Camillo, the younger, works for 
his brother Martin. Brought up on the home farm in Switzerland, and edu- 
cated in the local public schools, at the age: of sixteen years Martin Pontoni 
decided to come to California, of which he had heard good reports concerning 
wages and opportunities for young men. Accordingly, in October, 1891,: he 
arrived in San Francisco, going thence to Eureka, in Humboldt county, 
immediately seeking employment, as he had borrowed one hundred sixty 



942 HISTORY OF HUA^BOLDT COUNTY 

dollars from his father for the journey. In finding work Mr. Pontoni was 
very successful, as he went to work on his first evening there, being employed 
on a dairy ranch near Fern Bridge, continuing in the same line of work in 
other dairies for a year or two, at the end of the first year being able to repay 
the money borrowed of his father, in spite of the fact that the wages were 
not as good then as now, Mr. Pontoni receiving only two hundred dollars and 
board for his first year's work. In the year 1893 he removed to the vicinity of 
Areata, where he was employed on the dairy of J. W. Coppini for a year and 
at other dairies in that vicinity thereafter. Ten years later, having saved 
sufficient money to enable him to start in business for himself, he leased 
the Stewart Foster place of sixty-six acres, and engaged in the dairy business 
independently, starting with a herd of thirty-six cows, later renting more 
land and increasing the number of his cows, milking as many as seventy-five 
cows in a season. In 1909 he purchased forty acres and later twenty more, 
30 that he now owns sixty acres, to which he at present gives his entire atten- 
tion, having two years ago given up his leased land. On his property, which 
is all rich soil, he has fine pastures, and raises hay for his herd as well as 
such green feed as corn, carrots and beets, and his dairy herd of forty cows 
is composed solely of high grade Jersey cows. 

A stockholder in the Savings Bank of Areata, Mr. Pontoni has also been 
both an organizer and stockholder in the United Creameries Compan3^ in 
1908 becoming a member of its board of directors and later the vice-president 
of the board, which position he still holds. He is also a member of the Hum- 
boldt County Dairymen's Association and of its board of directors, and 
member and trustee of the Canal School district, while fraternally he holds 
membership in the Areata Camp No. 472, Woodmen of the World, and with 
the Knights of Columbus in Eureka, his political preferences being with the 
Democratic party. By his marriage in Eureka with Jennie Barca, also a 
native of Canton Ticino, Switzerland, he is the father of five children : 
Michael, John, Martha, Martin and Louis. 

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS. — A man who has been prominent in the lum- 
ber industry and mercantile business and is present supervisor of the Second 
Supervisorial district of Humboldt county is George W. Williams. He was 
born in Fairview, Guernsey county, Ohio, February 22, 1858, the son of 
Daniel W. and Fannie (Belford) Williams, natives of Wales and Ireland, 
respectively. They were married in Fairview, Ohio, where Daniel Williams 
was a carriage maker. In 1861 he came west via Panama and landed at San 
Francisco. From there he went to Nevada and engaged in sawmilling. It 
was about 1870 that he located in Humboldt county, engaging in the manu- 
facture of shingles at Fortuna until he retired. Five years after coming west, 
1875, the family joined him in this county. Both parents died in Fortuna. 

Of the four children born to Daniel W. and Fannie Williams, George 
W. was the third oldest. He was reared in Fairview, Ohio, and was edu- 
cated in the public schools of that place until he was seventeen, when with 
the family he joined his father in Humboldt county and here continued his 
studies for two years in a district that later became the thriving city of 
Fortuna. After his school days were over, he started a shingle mill on his 
own account, in 1878, building it in Palmer Creek gulch about one mile from 
what is now Fortuna. It was then called Slide, afterwards Springville and 
finally Fortuna. He continued as a shingle manufacturer for thirty-five years. 




^^^^^^^^^-^U-^^^-^^-t-^.-^-^ 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 945 

during which time he had about twelve different mills, among them the sash 
and door factory at Fortuna. This was in partnership with William Swortzel, 
the firm being known as Swortzel & Williams, an association that continued 
for about twenty years. Besides the sash and door mill, the firm had a shingle 
mill and a store in Fortuna. During this time Mr. Williams was interested in 
organizing the Bank of Fortuna, and has been a director of that institution for 
many years. The store was incorporated as the Fortuna Merchandise Co., 
and was run as such by the original owners for about ten years, when it was 
sold, and it is still running under the same name. After the dissolution of the 
partnership, Mr. Williams became sole owner of the shingle mill. 

In August, 1905, Mr. Williams was appointed Supervisor of the Second 
District by Governor Pardee to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. 
Swortzel, and in 1906 he was elected for the balance of the term. In 1908 
he was elected to succeed himself and again in 1912 by a handsome majority. 
So for the last ten years his time has been devoted to the duties of supervisor 
and during this time he has been chairman of the board for four years. His 
district embraces about five large townships, extending from Singley on the 
west to Trinity county on the east, and from about two miles north of 
Fortuna to the Mendocino county line on the south. This includes about 
four hundred miles of road, with about the same number of bridges. The 
roads in his district are kept in splendid shape and he is well liked and fav- 
orably known. 

Mr. Williams was married in Hydesville, February 21, 1886, being united 
with Josephine Versell, a native of Rock Island, 111., the daughter Joseph and 
Dorris M. (Liitt) Versell, natives of Switzerland and Germany, respectively. 
They migrated from Illinois to Humboldt county in 1880 and Mrs. Williams 
attended school in Hydesville. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have four children : 
Dorris, Mrs. Nelson, and Ida, Mrs. Pryor, both of Fortuna; Versell of Scotia; 
and Belford, who remains at home. 

Fraternally Mr. Williams is a member of Onward Lodge No. 380, I. O. O. 
F., at Fortuna; Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and is also a member of 
the Fortuna Men's club and Fortuna Board of Trade. In his political pref- 
erences Mr. Williams is a stanch Republican. Mrs. Williams is a member of 
Independence Rebekah Lodge No. 197, of which she is past district deputy 
and is also a member of Sunshine Circle No. 678, Women of AVoodcraft, 
being past installing officer. 

CHARLES E. SACCHI.— A native of Switzerland, where he was born 
in Lodrino, Canton Ticino, on March 30, 1867, Charles E. Sacchi is the son 
of Peter Sacchi, a farmer and dairyman of that canton, and in his new home 
in California the younger Mr. Sacchi is continuing the occupation of dairying 
in which he grew up from childhood. After attending the public schools 
of his native country, he determined, when but seventeen years of age, to 
seek his fortune in California, a country whither his brother Natal had pre- 
ceded him and sent home glowing reports of the prospects for young and 
ambitious men. Accordingly February, 1884, found Charles Sacchi in Hum- 
boldt county, Cal., where he soon secured employment on a dairy on Bear 
River Ridge, continuing there for a period of three years. Desirous of en- 
gaging in that business independently, he in 1888 leased a ranch consisting of 
seventy acres located at Rio Dell, in the same county, there for five years 
conducting a dairy of forty cows. At the end of that time, removing to Elk 



946 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

River, Cal., he leased a ranch of two hundred fifty acres, where for seven 
years he operated a dairy composed of seventy milch cows. In 1900 he came 
to Areata, Cal., where he at present makes his home, leasing there the Calan- 
chini and Comisto ranch of three hundred thirty-five acres, located about a 
mile south of the town of Areata. Here he engaged in dairying, and has 
brought the ranch up to a high standard for the purpose, his splendid pastures 
and large crops of hay, corn and green feed for his dairy herd of one hundred 
twenty milch cows being the result of his own endeavors and skilful manage- 
ment in bringing the place to a high state of productiveness. 

The interest taken by Mr. Sacchi in the dairy industry is not confined 
to his own ranch alone, but he also takes a practical share in the advance- 
ment of this and kindred industries, and assisted in the incorporation and 
building up of the United Creameries Company, Inc., of which he has been 
one of the directors from the time of its organization, serving one year as 
president and for the past three years as secretary. In political circles he 
is known as a stanch upholder of the Republican principles. His marriage 
in Rio Dell, Cal., July 4, 1891, united him with Miss Lucy Giacolini, who 
is a native of the same part of Switzerland as her husband, she having been 
born in Monte Carasso, Canton Ticino. Mr. and Mrs. Sacchi are the parents 
of six children, namely : Peter, who is in charge of the Bayside Skimming 
Station for the L^nited Creameries Company; Frank, who assists his 'father 
on the ranch ; and Amelia, Mabel, Juditha and Christina, who live at home. 

AXEL ANDERSON.— A native of Langeland, Denmark, where his 
birth occurred on January 14, 1885, Axel Anderson, a man now prominent in 
the creamery business in Areata, Cal., is the son of Carl J. and Antonia 
(Nielsen) Anderson, both of whom are now living in their native home of 
Denrhark, where the father is a forester, as was his father Anders before him. 
The fourth in a family of seven children, Axel Anderson received his educa- 
tion in the local public schools, after which for two years he was employed 
at cheese-making in a creamery, at the end of which time he entered a 
creamery school, taking a dairy course there, receiving in that way a thorough 
education in his chosen line of work, in which he had already had practical 
experience. On the completion of his course of study Mr. Anderson entered 
the Danish navy, serving on different vessels as gunner, during the time of 
the Russo-Japanese war, after a year's service being honorably discharged. 

Turning his attention once more to the creamery business, Mr. Anderson 
was for about a year employed in this line of work, but determining to tr}?- his 
fortunes in California, where he had two uncles, Peter and Rasmus Anderson, 
living at Areata, he came immediately to this place, arriving in April, 1906. 
Entering the employ of the Central Creamery Company at the IMinor Cream- 
ery near Areata, he spent the summer engaged in work there, removing later 
to the Ferndale plant of the same company, after a while engaging with the 
Silver Star Creamery on the Island until his return to Areata in the spring 
of 1907. Here he was employed at Creamery No. 1 by the United Creameries, 
Incorporated, a few months later being placed in charge of the Premium 
Creamery, one of this company's plants located at Bayside, where he re- 
mained for a year, then entering the employ of Creamery No. 2 of the same 
firm until the spring of 1912. At that time he went back to the Premium 
Creamery at Bayside for a few months, then again returned to Creamery 
No. 2, where he continued until June, 1913, when he was placed in charge 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 947 

of Creamery No. 1, situated at Areata Bottoms, where he continues in busi- 
ness at the present time. By his long association with the United Creameries 
Company, at their various plants, Mr. Anderson has become a valued assistant 
of the firm, one thoroughly acquainted with its business methods as well as 
with the creamery industry in general. During the height of the season Mr. 
Anderson oversees the receiving of sixteen tons of milk and about a ton of 
cream per day, the separating of the cream, which is sent to the main plant 
in Areata, and the making of casein. He built for himself and family a com- 
fortable and pleasant residence at Areata, which he now rents, since he now 
makes his residence adjoining the creamery. 

In his political preferences Mr. Anderson is an upholder of the Demo- 
cratic party, while his religious associations are with the Lutheran church, 
and fraternally he is a member of the Areata Aerie No. 1846, Fraternal Order 
of Eagles. His marriage took place in Areata in 1913, his wife being Miss 
Elaine Moxon; who was born at the Moxon home on Areata Bottoms, the 
daughter of Isaac and Emma (Nielsen) Moxon, well known residents of that 
part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of one son, Carl 
Isaac Anderson. 

JOHN and HUGH HAMILTON.— Among the rising young farmers 
of the Bull creek country and natives of Humboldt county, descended from 
one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of the county, are John 
and Hugh Hamilton, who are residing on the old Hamilton homestead, which 
they operate together, the ranch being the property of their widowed mother. 
The Hamiltons trace their ancestry back directly to one of the most illustrious 
families of England, and the grandfather, James B. Hamilton, was a first 
cousin of Alexander Hamilton, the great statesman of Revolutionary times. 
The grandfather was a minister of the gospel, a member of the United 
Brethren church, and was one of the pioneer preachers of Humboldt county. 
He lived to be over ninety years of age, and died just two weeks before the 
death of his son, James A. Hamilton, which occurred November 15, 1904. 
His wife was Levicy McWhorter, a native of Illinois, where they were mar- 
ried and where their only son, James A.., was born, March 19, 1839, this son 
becoming the head of a family of nine children. James A. Hamilton was 
married to Miss Emily Powell in Iowa, she being a native of Platte county, 
Missouri. Three children were born to them in Iowa before they came to 
California in 1855. The father and mother of Mr. Hamilton came with them, 
the long journey across the plains being with ox teams, in 1855. The entire 
family resided for a time in Yolo county, and about 1862 they came into 
Humboldt county, where they have since resided. For two years they lived 
at Ferndale, and then moved into the Hydesville and Rohnerville vicinity 
where they resided on various places for a number of years, buying and selling 
several pieces of property. In 1878 they moved into the Bull creek countrv 
buying a relinquishment of one hundred sixty acres from Mr. Whitlow and 
proving up on the same. Later an additional one hundred sixty acres adjoin- 
ing was secured by his oldest son and became a part of his ranch, the property 
now numbering three hundred twenty acres. Since the death of their father 
in 1904 the two sons, Hugh and John, have been running the place, and are 
meeting with much merited success. They raise principally fruit and stock' 
and also do general farming. They have five acres of apples which are among 
the finest in the valley. jMrs. Hamilton, their mother, owns the property and 



948 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

keeps in close touch with all that concerns her interests. She is now almost 
eighty years of age, but is still vigorous in mind and body. She became the 
mother of nine children, all of whom are living at the present time, save one, 
Uriah, the fourth born, who died at the age of eighteen months. Of the 
others, William, the eldest, is a farmer at Independence, Ore. ; Baker resides 
at Requa, Del Norte county, Cal., where he is engaged in dairy farming; 
Martha resides in Merced county, where her husband, James Blow, is a dairy 
farmer ; John is engaged in the management of the home farm ; Levicy also 
resides at home ; Mary is the wife of Simon Albee, and resides at Myrtle 
Point, Ore., where her husband is engaged in the confectionery business; 
Augustus also resides at Myrtle Point, Ore., where he is a well known stock- 
man ; and Hugh is engaged in the management of the home farm with his 
brother John. 

John Hamilton was born at Ferndale, but was raised on the ranch in 
Bull creek and educated in the public schools there. Although some time has 
been spent in other parts of the county, his interests and work have centered 
around the old homestead, and since his father died he and Hugh have run 
the farm together. 

Hugh Hamilton is a native of Humboldt county, being born on the farm 
on Bull creek, and reared and educated in this district, where he has passed 
his lifetime. The brothers are well known throughout the county as young 
men of ability and worth, industrious, energetic and capable, possessed of 
judgment and business acumen. Hugh Hamilton was married to Miss Ruby 
Butler, a native of Nevada, and the daughter of AVilliam and Minnie (Bess- 
mer) Butler. She came to Humboldt county with her parents when a girl, 
and is well known at South Bay, this county, where her parents now reside. 
She has borne her husband two children, Hugh Augustus and Ruby Maxine. 
Both John and Hugh Hamilton are members of the farm center at Dyerville 
and are taking an active interest in the agricultural and horticultural develop- 
ment of their vicinity. 

CARL FREDERICK HANSEN.— The manager of the United Cream- 
eries Company at Areata, Cal., is Carl Frederick Hansen, who was employed 
by a large creamery company in his native land of Denmark before coming 
to the United States, and who, prior to his appointment as manager of his 
present company, acted as butter-maker for the firm until the year 1911, 
having already had extensive experience along this line of business in other 
companies in California. The United Creameries Company was incorporated 
about the year 1907, its main plant being located about a half mile west of 
the city of Areata, with skimming stations at both Areata and Bayside. The 
butter is all manufactured at the main plant of the company, with an output 
of forty-five hundred pounds per day, much of which is sold locally in Eureka 
and vicinity, the rest being shipped to San Francisco. The record of the 
United Creameries Company for the year 1914 was close to a million pounds 
of butter, while for 1915 they expect an output of over a million pounds. 
Their manufacture of casein amounts to about twelve hundred pounds per 
day, or one hundred fifty tons a year. Besides being manager of the com- 
pany, Mr. Hansen is also a stockholder and director in the same, his wide 
experience in the industry, both in Denmark and in this country, rendering 
him peculiarly fitted for the important offices which he today fills. 

Like his two brothers, Mr. Hansen has chosen to make his home in Cali- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 951 

fornia, where opportunities are offered to ambitious youths from other coun- 
tries for advancement which their home lands do not afford. Born in Band- 
holm, Laaland, Denmark, September 4, 1876, he was the son of Mads and 
Maren Hansen, both of whom are now deceased. Carl Frederick was brought 
up in his native city, receiving his education in the local public schools, and 
entering the employ of a large creamery company at the close of his school 
days, where he remained until twenty years of age, learning the trade of 
butter-making in all its branches. At the age of twenty Mr. Hansen entered 
the Danish Agricultural College, where he was graduated from the creamery 
course two years later, thereafter serving the required time in the Danish 
army, from which he was honorably discharged at the end of a year. Return- 
ing then to his chosen line of occupation, he entered the employ of a cow- 
testing association, the largest of the kind in the country, continuing there 
for a period of two years, resigning in order to remove to California, where 
he arrived in Humboldt county in February of the year 1901. Here Mr. 
Hansen found employment with the Sunset Creamery at the town of Loleta, 
being placed in charge of the plant, in which office he continued until deciding 
to accept a position with the United Creameries Company at Areata, since 
which time he has made his home in the latter city, and has risen from an 
inferior position with the firm to his present office of manager. 

Married in San Francisco to IMiss Gerda Dohlquist, a native of Goeteborg, 
Sweden, Mr. Hansen is the father of two sons, Vernon and Kenneth. In his 
religious associations he is a member of the Lutheran church, and fr3.ternally 
he is an Odd Fellow, having been made a member thereof in the Loleta 
Lodge No. 56, and at one time was Noble Grand of the same, being at present 
a member of the Anniversary Lodge at xArcata. 

GEORGE BOYES. — Among the men who have achieved success and 
acquired a competency in their chosen occupation mention must be made 
of George Boyes, who is the owner of a stock ranch on Boynton Prairie, 
where he is engaged in growing cattle and angora goats, in the latter industry 
demonstrating it to be very profitable not only for the fleece and meat, but 
also for keeping down and clearing the stock range of brush. Before he had 
the flock of goats it was necessary for him to clear and burn the brush every 
few years, but since he has the flock of angoras they keep it down. Mr. 
Boyes has been a resident of California for thirty-three years and of Humboldt 
county since 1884. Since then he has taken no small part in its development 
and upbuilding and is known as a progressive and enterprising man, liberal 
and kind hearted, always ready and willing to do his share towards any meas- 
ure that has for its aim the improvement of the county or betterment of the 
condition of its people. In all this he is ably assisted b}^ his estimable wife, 
who has been his helpmate in the truest sense and to whom he gives no small 
credit for the success he has attained. They are both very hospitable and do 
not hesitate to assist those who have been less fortunate. 

George Boyes was born in Hemmingford, Huntingdon county. Province 
of Quebec, November 6, 1861, being the sixth oldest of a family of ten chil- 
dren born to George and ^Nlary A. (Lyttle) Boyes, who were respectively 
born in England and Ireland, coming to the Province of Quebec in youth 
where later they were married and where they engaged in farming. George 
Boyes received a good education in the public schools. From a lad he made 



952 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

himself generally useful on the farm and learned farming as it is done in 
Quebec. He was thus employed until he was twenty-one years of age, when 
he came to Mendocino county, Cal., in 1882. His first employment was on a 
ranch near Albion, but a year later he went to work in the Albion woods, 
continuing there until 1884, thence came to Humboldt county. For a year he 
worked for Isaac Minor on Warren creek and then entered the employ of 
the Riverside Lumber Company, afterwards incorporated as the Northern 
Redwood Lumber Company. Beginning his work on Mad river as a rig- 
puller, he worked up and soon became chain tender, a place he filled until 
1895, when he discontinued his connection with the company to engage in 
dairying. For this purpose he leased the Merriam ranch above Blue Lake 
and operated a dairy of forty cows, continuing on the place for a period of 
five years. He then purchased the old Boynton Prairie farm of four hundred 
eighty acres, lying nine miles east of Areata, the place taking its name from 
Mr. Boynton, who was killed by the Indians while squatting on land at this 
place. After securing the place he moved onto it with his cattle and for a 
time ran a dairy, but he found it too far to market so began growing cattle, 
of which he has a splendid herd. In 1909 he began raising angora goats, 
which he finds very satisfactory and profitable, as stated heretofore. Besides 
his herd of cattle he has about two hundred head of fine nearly full blooded 
angora stock. Aside from his manifold duties on the ranch he finds time 
to contract getting out tan bark for the Areata tannery, some years deliv- 
ering as much as one hundred fifty cords to the tannery. 

The marriage of Mr. Boyes occurred at Areata in December, 1887, when 
he was united with Miss Kate Goodrich, a native of New Hampshire. Her 
father, Henry Goodrich, brought his family to Areata when Mrs. Boyes was 
a year old. He followed general contracting until he retired and there he still 
makes his home. Mrs. Boyes received her education in Areata and is a 
cultured and refined woman, greatly esteemed by all who know her. They 
have one child, Alice, Mrs. Stanley Stokes, of Oakland. 

Fraternally Mr. Boyes is a member of Blue Lake Lodge No. 172, I. O. O. 
F. He is a member of the board of trustees of Cedar Springs school district. 
Politically he has always believed the principles of the Republican party to 
be of the greatest benefit to the country. 

MRS. MARGARET SMITH COBB.— An author of note, and known 
among her literary friends as "The Lady of the Hills," is Mrs. Margaret Smith . 
Cobb, at present residing on her ranch some four miles from Garberville, where 
she has made- her home for many years. Mrs. Cobb is a woman of rare ability 
and charm, and her literary skill is of a superior order. She published a Cali- 
fornia romance in 1913 which has had a wide circulation. It is "Blaxine, 
Half-breed Girl," a tale which, like Helen Hunt Jackson's "Ramona," deals 
with the life of a beautiful half-breed girl. This tale has received the favor- 
able comment of the best critics and has been especially praised by California 
writers, including Joaquin Miller and Jack London, both of whom give it their 
unqualified approval, the former having declared that "it is dearer to me than 
'Ramona'," and adding that it is "the masculine to Helen Hunt's feminine." 
Mrs. Cobb has the manuscript to several other novels which will appear within 
a limited time, and she is planning to publish a volume of her poems in 1915. 
These manuscripts were ready for the publisher when the death of her hus- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 953 

band occurred and so disturbed the current of her life that for the last year she 
has given very little time to her literary efforts. 

Mrs. Cobb claims that her ability as a literary vi^oman is simply a heritage 
Anyone blessed with the wonderful father and mother that were her own 
must naturally and necessarily be a writer. She is the davighter of Thomas 
Smith, a native of Michigan, a dreamer and frontiersman, and Donna Anna 
Zeparra, of- a titled family of Chile. 

When but a boy Mrs. Cobb's father was in the commission of the gov- 
ernment, moving the Pottawattamie Indians to the west of the Mississippi. 
This awakened in him a love for the Indians, to understand something better 
in their nature than savagery. In 1846 he crossed the plains to California, and 
while on this trip there were the most friendly relations with the Sioux and 
Comanches. Arriving in California, he enlisted under John C. Fremont and 
served under him during the war with Mexico. He was working in the timber, 
where Oakland now stands, when gold was discovered, and Aunt Jane AVymer, 
who tested the gold in the kettle of soft soap, was an aunt by marriage. 

Shortly after this he became associated with a party that made a trip 
through the wilds of Trinity county. Redemeyer of Ukiah, Requa of Long 
Valley and Jewett of Harris were members of this party. They found no gold 
and the Indians were very troublesome, forcing them to make a stand against 
them where Harris is now situated. It was on this trip that the dreamer and 
adventurer first saw Long Valley in Mendocino. He loved the beauty of the 
high A^ale in the mountains and the next year, in 1852, returned to make his 
selection of a home in the valley that had charmed him. Far up in this 
wilderness he lived several years, building the log house that still stands on 
the land and splitting out fencing from the virgin timber. In 1858 he returned 
to .San Jose for the wife he was to take away to share the wilds with him. 

Donna Anna Zeparra was a Chilean lady, a granddaughter of Don Juan 
de Lieva, a well known figure in Chilean history and one of a long line of 
Castilian nobility. Donna Anna was a daughter of the rich and one of a 
family intensely Catholic, nuns and priests following both sides of the family. 
The De Lieva farrtily owned a magnificent property in the Rincon Valley near 
Valparaiso. Don Juan was a proud old Tory during the war for Independence, 
and would have been treated as one when the Chileans won their freedom, 
but it was too widely known how he had opened his granaries to the poor 
of both parties. In honor to this kindness, he was pardoned (an unusual 
thing during those cruel years) and made governor for life in that section 
where he lived. The family had great pride in their title, their Castilian blood 
and in their deeds toward the church. It was a grand-aunt of Donna Anna, 
Donna Monecita, who founded the great Carmelite convent at San Felipe. 
Donna Anna was left an orphan at six years, and her stories of her childhood, 
of playing in the great garden where the red lilies grew as tall as her head, or 
sitting at evening watching the flames belch forth from Mt. Aconcagua are 
yet stories of wonder. In 1850 she was brought to California by her god- 
father and god-mother and soon afterward entered Notre Dame convent at 
San Jose to be a nun and teacher. She had determined to become a nun, and 
had taken the first vows when she met the man who was to be her husband, 
while recovering from an illness at her god-mother's. It was a case of true 
love at first sight, the frail Spanish maiden loving the daring blond frontiers- 



954 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

man. They were married in. a short time, Bishop Alamana officiating at the 
ceremony. Then they set out for the wilds. The young husband drove a 
yoke of cattle and carried with him three hundred fruit trees, ornamental 
trees and rose cuttings, while the bride carried her great Spanish dictionary 
and grammar and her finest embroidery and lace needles. Arriving at their 
home, the little wife embroidered and wrote Latin poems, when for months 
at a time her only companions were the Lidian squaws who looked upon her 
as some rare queen. When the first baby was born the second year after their 
arrival, it possessed six long skirts embroidered their full length so heavily 
that one could scarcely find the space to set a finger down on unembellished 
cloth. 

Donna Anna became the mother of eight children, Airs. Cobb being the 
sixth. Mrs. Cobb's opportunities for schooling were very scanty, the dreamer- 
father was never a maker of money, but the teaching of her inother was 
always her aid. Listening to the wonderful stories that her father and 
mother could tell was a natural advantage to her trend of literature. During 
her childhood she read many of the classics, including all the works of 
Shakespeare. At seventeen she began to write poems, but did nothing of 
great merit until her twenty-seventh year. In that year her poem "The 
Drowned Man's Song" was brought out by Ambrose Bierce in the San 
Francisco Examiner with his praise. Ever after Bierce proved a friend to 
her in her lireiary work. 

Mrs. Cobb has not done a great amount of literary work ; she has always 
had to contend with ill health — but what she has done has been pronounced 
exquisite. Mr. and Mrs. Jack London are warm personal friends of Mrs. 
Cobb and it was Mr. London who presented her poem to the Century. This 
poem Vv'as copied and recopied throughout the east with the following coni- 
men.t of IMr. London: "The poem 'LTnkissed' which is published in the Sep- 
tember Century, came to the Century through Jack London, who sent it 
with the following comment: '1 am sending you what I consider, under the 
circumstances, a most remarkable poem. The writer, Margaret Smith Cobb, 
is a mountain woman, who has lived all her life in the remotest mountain 
districts of California, far beyond the reach of any railroad. The author's 
mother came from the west coast of South America in 1849, so you can see 
that from the time of her birth to the present moment, the writer has lived 
a most primitive life. Yet this poem of hers has the control, the restraint, 
the simplicity and the chastity that would mark the expression of an elder 
and old country civilization, such as that of England.' " 

Mrs. Cobb was born in San Jose, where she remained at the old Mission 
until she was six years of age, when her parents removed again to their 
ranch at the headwaters of the south fork of the Eel river. She met and mar- 
ried Oliver C. Cobb, a native of the state of Maine, born in 1858. He came to 
California and became the owner of a ranch of sixteen hundred acres on tlie 
ICel river south of Garberville, where his widow now resides. He was a mem- 
ber of a splendid family, and was a brother of Charles H. Cobb, of Seattle, 
A'Vash., millionaire real estate and mill owner of that place. His death occurred 
in Oakland, May 16, 1914. Mrs. Cobb is the inother of two children, Lillian, 
the wife of Samuel McCash, a native of California, who now rents and oper- 
ates the Cobb ranch, and Yvonne, aged eleven years. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 957 

Mrs. Cobb lives a busy life, but she finds time to devote to her literary 
work. Among her unpublished works are two novels, the "Gold Squaw" and 
"Gad Wright," both of which will appear shortly. Mr. and Mrs. Jack London 
are warm personal friends of Mrs. Cobb and have been entertained by her at 
her ranch home. Mr. London is an eager admirer of her work. George 
Sterling is also another admirer of her poems, characterizing her lines as 
"exquisite." As a means of diversion, and as an outlet and satisfaction 
for her artistic imagination, Mrs. Cobb also does landscape painting, and has 
produced some very creditable canvases, both in water colors and in oils. 
She also makes a rare and beautiful grade of Spanish point lace, an accom- 
plishment which she learned from her tal.ented mother. 

It is also a noteworthy fact that with her splendid artistic and literary 
ability Mrs. Cobb yet possesses a business ability and power of sane and safe 
judgment that is unusual. She understands the conduct of her business inter- 
ests and keeps in close touch with all the details of her properties. She is 
well informed on all questions of public interest and is progressive and mod- 
ern in her appreciation of public needs. She has never taken an active part 
in the suffrage movement, but is an advocate of freedom and fuller life for 
women and fully appreciates the advantages that have been accorded to the 
sex in California. 

LEWIS L. McDANIEL. — A typical California pioneer, who was en- 
gaged in mining and stage driving in this state and in Idaho in an early 
day, and who did valiant service with the California Volunteers in the days 
of the Indian troubles, serving for six months in Humboldt county, is Lewis 
L. McDaniel, who has been a resident of California for almost sixty years. 
In 1860 he left New York City for the west, coming direct to Humboldt 
county, which has been his home continuously since with the exception of 
a few years spent elsewhere on two different occasions. He has driven a 
stage in Idaho, Nevada and California, his routes in this state being both in 
Humboldt and Mendocino counties. 

Lewis L. McDaniel is a native of Missouri, born at Palmyra, November 
29, 1842, the son of William and Sarah (Nash) McDaniel, the father being 
a native of Virginia and the mother a Kentuckian. His parents were married 
in Missouri, where his father was engaged in the practice of law. He served 
for twenty-five years in the United States land office, and in collaboration 
with Major Hook he established the land office in Humboldt county, at Hum- 
boldt Point, in 1858, this being the first land office in the county, in which he 
served as registrar. He made numerous trips across the continent in his 
official capacity, and held two commissions under President Jackson, one 
from President Pierce and one from President Buchanan. He came to Hum- 
boldt county in 1849, crossing the plains by way of the old Santa Fe trail. 
From Humboldt county he removed to Idaho, where he was elected territorial 
auditor, and died from Bright's disease while holding this office, at the age 
of sixty-four years. The mother outlived him by a number of years, passing 
away in Eureka. There were ten children in the family, of whom the sub- 
ject of this sketch was the fifth born. 

The mother came to California in 1860 accompanied by Lewis L. and 
another son and a daughter, and located on Elk river. Later L. L. McDaniel 
went into the mines in Idaho, just before he was twenty-one, and in 1870 
he began staging, driving the stage from Boise, Idaho, to Owyhee, Reno and 



958 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Virginia City, Nev., this line being- then a part of Wells Fargo & Company's 
property. Later Mr. McDaniel came to Humboldt county and was engaged 
in driving stage for Bullard & Sweasey, and was so engaged when he joined 
the California Volunteers to fight the Indians, who were then causing much 
trouble in this part of the state. He served under Captain Work, and was 
in a number of sharp engagements. After quiet was restored he resumed 
stage driving. 

The marriage of Mr. McDaniel and Miss Izetta Greenlaw took place in 
L877. She is the daughter of J. C. and Mary (Morris) Greenlaw. Mrs. Mc- 
Daniel is a native of New Brunswick, as are both her parents, who came to 
California in the fall of 1858, locating in Sonora, Tuolumne county, where 
for two years the father was engaged in placer mining. In 1859 Mr. and Mrs. 
Greenlaw came to Humboldt county, locating at Eden, where the father en- 
gaged in logging. Later they purchased one hundred sixty acres of land, 
which they improved and upon which they lived until 1877. At that time 
this property Avas sold to the sister of Mr. Greenlaw, and he came with his 
family to Pepperwood, where he purchased three places on Eel river, includ- 
ing two claims of about three hundred acres each. Since their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. McDaniel have made their home in Humboldt county continually, 
save for four years when Mr. McDaniel was employed at the Great Eastern 
silver mine in Sonoma county, and two years during which he drove stage in 
Mendocino county. It was in the early part of 1876 that he bought a hand- 
some Concord stage coach in San Francisco and shipped it to Humboldt 
county for service between Eureka and Areata, the firm operating this line 
being knov.m as McDaniel & Kirby, and continuing through 1876-77. This 
was the second coach in the county. 

Mr. McDaniel's present place is located in Pepperwood bottoms, well 
adapted to fruit raising and general farming, he having cleared and made all 
the improvements himself. Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel have three living chil- 
dren, all natives of Humboldt county, where they have been reared and edu- 
cated, and where they are bearing out the traditions of the family for char- 
acter and .ability. They are : Edna, Mrs. E. P. French, and Edith, Mrs. Carl 
Daggitt, both of- Pepperwood ; and Frank, now engaged in business in Chi- 
cago. There was also another child that died in infancy. Mrs. McDaniel 
has a large and rare collection of curios and Indian relics, not only from 
Humboldt and Mendocino counties, but from all over the world. 

In his political affiliations INIr. McDaniel is a Democrat, as was his 
father before him. He is closely identified with the affairs of the com- 
munity and is broad-minded and progressive. Both Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel 
are regarded as the flower of the old pioneer stock of the county, and their 
daughters are prominent in the circles of the Native Daughters, being mem- 
bers of Alton Parlor, and high in the councils of the order throughout the 
county. 

CHARLES F. ROBERTS. — A career worthy of emulation from many 
standpoints is that of Charles F. Roberts, one of the enthusiastic promoters 
of the enterprises of Eureka and who served as treasurer of Humboldt county 
from 1898 to 1911. During that time he won the confidence of all its best 
citizens, who appreciated to the full his faithful services. An ardent liepub- 
lican, he has been chairman of the county central committee and was 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 959 

appointed registrar of the United States Land Office in 1872 by President 
Grant; reappointed by him in 1876; in 1880 by President Hayes and again 
in 1884 by President Arthur. He was appointed collector of customs in 1892 
by Benjamin Harrison, and served until a change in administration. During 
this time he served nine years as a member of the board of education 
in Eureka, a part of the time as president, and also served one term as member 
of the city council. He is a prominent Mason, having been made a member 
of Trinity Lodge, at Presque Isle, Me., and is at present a member of Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., at Eureka, having served as master, senior 
and junior w^arden, senior deacon, and was treasurer for twelve years. For 
one year he was chief of the Fire Department; in 1888 was president of the 
Eureka Jockey Club, and in 1893 was president of the Humboldt Midwinter 
Fair Association, to the success of which he devoted a great deal of time and 
money. The Odd Fellows claim him as one of their most valued members, 
being a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , while with his wife he belongs 
to Camelia Chapter, O. E. S., and the Rebekahs. At the organization of 
Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., he became one of its charter members 
and has held the office of adjutant for many years. 

Mr. Roberts is of English and Scotch descent and was born in Hartland, 
Somerset county. Me., April 7, 1843. His father and grandfather both bearing 
the name of Joseph, were ministers in the Baptist Church, preaching in the 
days when they received no remuneration for their services. As farmers they 
were capable and moderately successful. The mother of Charles Roberts 
was Atlant Ireland, also a native of Maine. He was the third in order of 
birth of six boys and two girls, of whom one son is deceased. After com- 
pleting his education in the grammar schools, he entered the high school of 
Bangor, where he was prosecuting his studies at the outbreak of the Civil 
war. To one of loyal, patriotic spirit, his country's needs appealed with 
great force and young Roberts enlisted in Company H, Second Regiment, 
Maine Volunteers, and was assigned to the First Division, Third Brigade, 
Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. This was in May, 1861, in the 
three months' service. On the expiration of his term he reenlisted in the 
same company for two years and saw service at the first Battle of Bull Run, 
the seven days fight on the Peninsula, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville. In the spring of 1863 he was mustered out and honorably discharged 
with a record of which he may well be proud. 

Mr. Roberts started for the Golden State, July 13, 1863, leaving New 
York and coming to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama, arriving two 
months later. Like many others coming West he had hoped to secure a 
good position in the metropolis, a hope that was doomed to disappointment, 
for after a short time spent there he went by stage to Carson City, Nev., and 
secured employment as tally man and clerk in the office of Folsom & Bragg, 
owners of a sawmill and lumber yard. Later, however, he was made book- 
keeper for the same firm, receiving, as remuneration for his first year's work, 
$50 per month. This sum was raised the second year to $75 and the third 
year to $100 per month. While a resident of Carson City, Mr. Roberts met 
and married Miss Alicia, the daughter of Albert Bragg, one of the firm of 
Folsom & Bragg, his employers. She was born at Dover, Me., and was well 
educated in the public schools of that place. On returning to California in 



960 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

1866, Mr. Roberts and wife came to Eureka and the following year he spent 
as swamper in the woods. This business not being to his liking he found 
employment on a ranch on Mad river, remaining there until 1872, when he 
received his appointment as registrar of the land office, then followed, as 
hereinbefore mentioned, thirty years of conscientious, honorable public 
service. For many years Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, though not members, have 
been active in the work of the Congregational Church, to the support of 
which they are most liberal contributors. 

L. B. POYFAIRE.— The coming of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad 
to Fort Seward and Eureka and other points in Humboldt county Avas the 
beginning of a new era in the life and development of that portion of the 
state. Already the strides forward that have been made are stupendous, and 
especially has Fort Seward forged to the front, with promises of being second 
to none in the county as a commercial center. As the local representative 
of the Northwestern Pacific, L. B. Poyfaire has been exceptionally closely 
identified with the changes that have been worked through the opening of 
this splendid new artery of trade, and the growth of the business of the road 
since its opening has been so great that even the splendid abilities of this 
clever, energetic and capable young man have been taxed to their uttermost. 
Having been the first agent of the new line at Fort Seward, Mr. Poyfaire 
has been accorded a prominent place in the minds and hearts of the people, 
as a material evidence of a blessing so long hoped for, and it is greatly to 
his credit that he has not only held this position, but rather has won for 
himself an even warmer place in the regard of his fellow townsmen by the 
quality of his service and the evident interest that he takes in his work and 
in the general welfare of the town and community. 

Mr. Poyfaire is a native of Washington, born at Woodland, August 15, 
1892, the son of Isadore and Laura M. (Cook) Poyfaire, his father being a 
native of Nebraska, born in Lincoln county. When the son was five years 
of age the family left Woodland and came to California, locating at Edge- 
wood, Siskiyou county, where they remained for a season, and then came 
to Humboldt county, settling at Eureka. Later they returned to Edgewood 
for several years, but in the end returned to Eureka to make their home, 
remaining there until 1906, when they removed to San Francisco. In 1911 
they again moved, this time going to Loleta, where the father is engaged 
as a driver of auto trucks for Libby, McNeill & Libby. Young Mr. Poyfaire 
attended school in Eureka, graduating from the grammar grades, and then 
entered the Craddock Business College, taking a commercial course, from 
which he graduated with the class of 1911. He then joined his parents at 
Loleta and at once began to work at the depot, starting at the bottom with 
the avowed intention of learning the railroad business from the ground up. 
His application and industry opened many doors for Mr. Poyfaire and he 
soon was firmly planted on the ladder to success, and has since climbed 
steadily upward. He was given a position of responsibility at Loleta within a 
short time, and since then has served as agent at a number of minor stations, 
including Scotia, Alton, Elinor, South Bay, Fortuna, Trinidad, and came 
to Fort Seward on the opening of the new line in June, 1914. In all the 
details of his business he is proficient and reliable, and his grasp of details 
is a matter of wonder to those who are in contact with the volume of business 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 961 

that he handles. The Northwestern Pacific has recently erected a handsome 
and commodious passenger station, and is already provided with huge freight 
stations and warehouses. The volume of business that passes through the 
ofifices and yards here can only be understood when it is realized that many 
thousands of acres of rich land in Trinity county also find their outlet here, 
as well as the country immediately surrounding Fort Seward, which is one 
of the richest and most productive sections of the county. 

Fort Seward itself is a new town, and like most youths is possessed of a 
splendid amount of strength and vitality. It is located at the terminal of the 
new railroad and is situated on the site of the old fort of historic interest. 
Surrounded on every hand by the eternal hills, the beautiful little valley lies 
beside the river anci directly on the line of the railway. There is an abun- 
dance of trees, madrones and oaks, which add a stately beauty to the land- 
scape, while leaving the land nominally clear. The growth of the city has 
been very rapid and the improvements that have been made by the county 
since the coming of the railroad and the completion of the magnificent new 
highway which Trinity county has built to give an outlet to the railway for 
her rich farm lands, have added vastly to her resources and made the future 
outlook very flattering. The citizens of Fort Seward are of a type that know 
not discouragement or faltering in reaching the goal of the heart's desire, 
which in this case is to make their city at least equal in importance to Eureka, 
and it is a known fact that they have set themselves no limits. They are all 
pulling together and the harmony that prevails is one of their strongest 
assets. In all this they are receiving the hearty support and cooperation of 
the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, and of their energetic local 
agent, Mr. Poyfaire. Special efforts are being made to give splendid service, 
both in the passenger and freight lines, and the improvements that have been 
and are being made by the railroad are of the best, adding not only to the 
commercial value of the town, but also to its beauty. It is freely predicted, 
both in Humboldt county and in Oakland and San Francisco, that the open- 
ing of a regular through service from San Francisco will bring an influx of 
tourists, pleasure seekers and home seekers into this section of the country 
such as has never been known before, and that this region will become one 
of the most popular resort sections of the state. It is especially fitted for 
this, being well wooded, provided with game and fish, and blessed with a 
beauty of scenery that cannot be excelled. 

MANUEL ENOS DE MELLO.— It is interesting to learn of the dif- 
ferent nationalities which constitute our American nation, the natives of 
certain foreign lands being represented in certain sections of our country; 
and to California, which is essentially Spanish in atmosphere, the descendants 
of Spanish, Portuguese and South American families can hardly seem like 
strangers, though the old Massachusetts coast towns can also claim a degree 
of Portuguese population, since men of that descent were brought from the 
Azores in early days to assist in the whaling industry of little Nantucket 
Island, where their names are still to be met with, as well as in many of the 
tiny fishing towns along the Cape. South America, too, where old-time New 
Englanders used to go to make their fortunes, has given Spanish brides and 
pretty children of Spanish ancestry to the sedate little Puritan towns beside 
Massachusetts Bay. 



962 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Both South America and the Azores are represented in the family of 
Manuel Enos De Mello, an old-time settler and prominent dairyman of Hum- 
boldt county, Cal., where his death occurred March 24, 1915, he having been 
born at the Isle St. George, in the Azores, in January, 1861, while his wife 
was born at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the daughter of Joseph Enos and Maria 
Brazil, natives of Isle St. George, Azores. Manuel De Mello grew up on his 
native isle, at the age of fifteen years removing to Boston, Mass., securing 
employment on a dairy in that vicinity for two years. He then, in 1878, came 
west to California, locating in Humboldt county, where for nine years he 
was employed upon the Hurlbutt dairy ranch on Bear River Ridge, during 
that time becoming manager of the place. After a six months' visit to his 
old home at St. George, Mr. De Mello returned to the United States, settling 
in Massachusetts as he had first done, this time at the town of New Bedford, 
and there his marriage took place, on December 18, 1888, to Miss Diulinda 
J. Brazil, of South American birth, her father being now deceased and her 
mother still living at St. George, her native place. Mrs. De Mello was the 
oldest of seven children, of whom the five at present living are as follows : 
Diulinda, now Mrs. De Mello; John, a dairyman at Freshwater; Julio, who 
makes his home with Mrs. De Mello; Ida, now Mrs. Enos, of Freshwater; 
and Leonora, Mrs. Enos, residing at Modesto, Cal. Mrs. De Mello grew up 
at her parents' old home in the Azores, where she received a good public 
school education, in June, 1888, removing to New Bedford, Mass., where her 
marriage took place in December of the same year. 

Immediately after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. De Mello moved to 
Humboldt county, where Mr. De Mello had spent' nine years previous to 
his marriage, and here they now leased the Hurlbutt dairy ranch, of which 
he had formerly been the manager. On this estate, which comprised about 
five thousand acres of land, Mr. De Mello at once engaged in dairying and 
stock raising, milking a herd of two hundred seventy cows. In those 
early days it was necessary to pan the milk and skim the cream by hand, 
the churning also being done by hand, but Mr. De Mello soon obtained 
horse power for the churning and in the last two years of his residence at 
the place operated a separator, his butter being shipped in kegs to San 
Francisco and carried by six-horse teams to the wharf at the foot of Table 
Blufif. His next move was to rent the Robert ranch on Kneeland Prairie, 
where for two years he conducted a dairy, skimming milk by hand and 
making butter, and after a few months spent on a ranch near Areata, he 
leased the Deering place at Bucksport, in the same county, operating a 
dairy there of thirty-five cows and running a retail milk route in the city 
of Eureka for a period of five years. In December, 1900, he leased the 
present place, the Zanone ranch, consisting of about two hundred eighty 
acres, situated five miles from Eureka, and here he carried on a prosperous 
dairy of fifty cows, besides engaging in the raising of stock. A Republican 
in politics, and a member of the I. D. E. S., his death occurred in 1915, 
after an illness of eight months' duration, and since that time Mrs. De Mello 
has proved herself a successful business woman by her wise operation of 
the ranch and dairy with the assistance of her son Alfred, a young man of 
much ability and worth. For fifteen years they have operated the Zanone 
ranch, and not only enjoy the ranch, but also appreciate the owners very 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 963 

much. Besides this son, Mrs. De Mello has two other children living, 
namely, Marie, now the wife of Frank X. Costa, and Rose De Mello, both 
of whom make their home with Mrs. De Mello, the former being the mother 
of three daughters, Ermaline, Marie and Diulinda Costa. 

FRANK ESSIG.^ — It is often said of Americans, especially here on the 
Pacific coast, that they are not "descendants," but rather "ancestors," and 
in. the latter statement is the truth especially told of Frank Essig ; for, 
although he is descended from a sturdy line of old German stock, his chief 
pride is in his sons, their honor, integrity and Christian manhood, their 
achievements and their progress being the principal delight of his life, it 
is also worthy of note that Mr. Essig has not confined his efforts among 
the youth of his community to his own sons, but has reached out a helping 
hand to all Avho are in need and has done a splendid work in the community 
for many years. He organized a union Sunday school in Shively, where he 
makes his home, and was its superintendent for three years, and one of the 
most devoted workers in the cause at all times. He also organized the 
Sunday school at Holmes, attending there in the afternoon, where he was 
assistant superintendent, the mornings being given to similar work in 
Shively. The strength and straightforwardness of Mr. Essig's character 
and life are most strongly exemplified in his sons, who are all men of 
splendid character and achievements. One of his sons is now a professor 
of entomology at the State University, at Berkeley, the author of several 
books along similar lines, while the others (there being five in all) are fol- 
lowing various lines of occupation which are honorable, and in which they 
are acquiring much distinction. 

Mr. Essig is engaged in ranching and in horticulture at Shively, where 
he owns eight acres a quarter of a mile above the town, and rents the Pacific 
Lumber Company ranch of twenty acres, just north of Shively, on which he 
has a lease. This property is principally devoted to orchard, and he is 
producing some exceptionally fine apples and making a specialty of raising 
tomatoes, in which he is making a decided financial success. Mr. Essig is 
a native of Indiana, born at Arcadia, February 8, 1862, the youngest of a 
family of fifteen children, there being ten sons and five daughters. His 
father, Henry Essig, was a native of Wurtemburg, Germany ; he was a 
cabinet-maker and farmer, and a member of the Lutheran church. He came 
to America at the age of sixteen years and located in Allentown, Pa., and 
was there married to Caroline Bosler, who bore his children and died at 
the age of sixty-nine years, the father living to be seventy-nine and dying 
in Indiana, whither he had removed with his family many years before. 

Frank Essig was reared and educated in Indiana, and at the age of 
eighteen years started out in life for himself. At this age he was married 
to Miss Belle Todd (his first wife), and soon afterward the death of his 
father called him back to the home farm, which he then managed for five 
years. He was twenty-seven when he finally came to California, locating 
first in Sonoma county, and later moving to Napa county. His first wife 
had died before he left Indiana, and while residing at Santa Rosa, Napa 
county, Mr. Essig was again married, July 5, 1889, to Mrs. Fannie (Morris) 
Owens, the widow of James Owens, by whom she had five children. Mrs. 
Owens was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Halverstadt) Morris, 



964 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

well known California pioneers. But three of the children by her first 
marriage lived to maturity, and of these, Elmer resides hi San Francisco, 
Isabelle is the widow of Jesse Doss and resides in Lake county, and Luella 
is the wife of William Bernhardt, and resides at Gardner, Douglas county, 
Ore. Mr. and Mrs. Essig have become the parents of four children, two 
sons and two daughters, all of whom are well known in Humboldt county. 
They are : Hattie, the wife of Harry Thompson, an engineer of the Pacific 
Lumber Company at Shively, and the mother of three children, John, 
Donald, and Glenn ; Fred, a student at the LTniversity of California, at 
Berkeley; Charles, an electrician, with the Western Electric Company, in 
San Francisco ; and Caroline, the wife of Lester Thornton, residing in For- 
tuna, and the mother of one child, a son, Maxwell. Mr. Essig's first wife 
left him two little sons, who were aged, respectively, four and six years at 
the time of his second marriage, and they were reared by the present Mrs. 
Essig as her oMai. Of these, the elder, Samuel H., is horticultural inspector 
in Ventura county, and married to Miss Hazel Crabtree, of Rohnerville; 
and Edward Oliver is professor of entomology at the LTniversity of Cali- 
fornia, at Berkeley, and the author of "Injurious and Beneficial Insects of 
California," ex-secretary of the State Board of Horticulture, and an expert 
horticulturist and an authority on this subject. He is married to Miss 
Ethel M. Langford, of Eureka. 

Mr. Essig continued to reside in Sonoma county for two years after 
his second marriage, and then removed to Calistoga, Napa county, where 
he remained for three years, then going to Oregon, where he farmed at 
Florence, Lane county, for another three years. At the end of this time he 
came to Humboldt county, and has since resided here. He located 
at Fortuna, in February, 1895, farming and working for the Pacific Lumber 
Company in various capacities, and meeting with success in all his under- 
takings. He has taken an active part in the political and municipal afl^airs 
of his community since coming to Shively and is one of the most influential 
men of this part of the county. He is a Democrat, but is broader than any 
party and gives his support to the measures that are most beneficial to 
the community, and to the candidates who are best fitted to render valuable 
public service. Mr. Essig is keenly alive to the value of education, and has 
given to each of his children the best educational advantages that the day 
affords. In local educational matters he is always for giving the best of 
school advantages to the boys and girls, and has rendered valuable service 
as a member of the school board and has served as clerk of the board. He 
is also a member of and clerk of Shively Farm Center. 

OSCAR RASSAERT.— A well known architect and chemist, as well 
as inventor and mining man, one who for some years has been intensely 
interested in scientific research regarding the extraction of valuable metals 
from the black sand, is Oscar Rassaert, a man of whom this state may well 
be proud. He has perfected a plan in which by an electrical chemical process 
he has been enabled to make a perfect separation of gold, platinum and 
iridium by amalgamation. He has also invented a machine, which he is now 
building at Eureka, Cal., for concentrating the sand and gravel before the 
separating process, having also built an extracting plant in the same town, 
enabling miners to get values extracted at a minimum expense. It will thus 




Cy\7dL'^^=c.^<:^^^^f'^^ 



t:e_-^.^V<j? 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 967 

be seen that the genius of Mr. Rassaert has brought forward another industry 
in the county, and one that materially benefits the mining interests of the 
entire state. 

The Rassaert family is of Belgian extraction, being traced back in that 
country to the year 1342, and its members were prominent in the mercantile 
interests of their native land. Mr. Rassaert's father, Prosper, was a success- 
ful architect and contractor in the city of Ghent, Belgium, where he became 
one of the prominent and wealthy citizens, and there his son Oscar was born 
and received a thorough education in private and high schools, after which 
he began the study of architecture in the Academic of Beaux Arts of Ghent, 
and graduated with the diploma of architect and engineer. Practicing in the 
city of Ghent and perfecting plans for buildings not only in that city, but 
throughout Belgium, Mr. Rassaert spent his vacations in travel in various 
countries of Europe, where he continued his study of architecture. His was 
a profession which took him far afield, for in 1903 he set out for Lima, 
Peru, to compete for the plans for the Grand Opera House in that South 
American city, but on his arrival in San Francisco, Gal., he learned that, on 
account of political troubles in Peru and consequent turmoil there, it would 
not be advisable for him to continue his journey to Lima. Accordingly, he 
concluded to remain in San Francisco. He was instrumental in forming the 
Ferrolite Company, architects and builders, who were engaged in building 
in that city, and after the great fire in its rebuilding. They also experimented 
for the Western Fuel Company, wherein they made the first successful ex^ 
periments with reinforced concrete. On account of his health, in the autumn 
of 1906 Mr. Rassaert went into the mountains to recuperate, and while in 
Plumas county became interested in placer mining, his knowledge of 
chemistry leading him to experiment and study to discover a manner of 
extracting gold from the black sand, and by his success in this experiment 
was the first man to accomplish the endeavor. During this period Mr. 
Rassaert visited many different mining districts of California, in 1912 coming 
to Humboldt county, where the Johnson mine was located north of Gold 
Bluff. A year later he purchased the lease of the Gold Bluff mine, which he 
has operated continuously since that time, the mine being situated seven 
miles north of the town of Orick, on the Pacific ocean, and extending for 
two miles along the coast. Here the ocean waves take the first step in the 
concentration process as they break against the bluff, whereafter the machine 
invented by Mr. Rassaert concentrates the beach sand containing valuable 
metals, separating by his original process the metals from the black sand ; 
and as he also does the separating of the metals he thus obtains the largest 
possible values from them. 

It will thus be seen that Mr. Rassaert is a man who gets results by his 
own energy and brain ; he works entirely for the end in view, and thus is 
enabled to accomplish his ambition and thus, too, by his enterprise and pro- 
gressive spirit he has made a success of mining to a greater extent and in 
different and more original ways than most men. Indeed, his is a career 
which many might do well to emulate. 

HITIE ROBINSON. — A stirring young man of energy and business 
ability, honest, fearless, and a hard worker, Hitie Robinson is making his 
mark in the commercial life of Humboldt countv as a dealer in fresh and 



968 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

cured meats of all kinds, and also engaged in btiying and selling beef, hogs, 
dairy cows and sheep. He has a market at Shively, where he makes his 
home. The management of the slaughter-houses, the buying and selling, 
and also the management of the market, are attended to by Mr. Robinson, 
duties which he is discharging with great ability and financial profit. His 
trade in live stock is large and is constantly increasing. 

A native of California and of Humboldt county, Mr. Robinson was 
born at Rio Dell, April 14, 1877. His father, Seth Robinson, owns a ranch 
at Shively, where he now makes his home. He was a native of Ohio, and 
came to California in 1851, locating in Humboldt county in 1853 or 1854, and 
has since made this county his home. He has been engaged in farming 
during this entire time, and for many years was dairy farmer for the Joseph 
Russ ranches, looking after as many as thirteen dairies. He is now eighty- 
two years of age. Hitie Robinson attended the local schools and later 
spent three years in Eureka, where he attended the Phelps Academy. His 
first business venture was as a teamster, contracting for the getting out of 
piling, bolts, and all kinds of split timber 'and telephone poles. He con- 
tinued in the contracting business until he engaged in his present occupa- 
tion in 1913. 

The marriage of Mr. Robinson and Miss Rosa Emhoff took place in 
1900. Of their union has been born one child, a son, Gilbert. Mr. Robinson 
takes an active part in local political affairs, and has rendered valuable 
service to his community as justice of the peace, to which office he was 
first appointed in 1908, and was regularly elected in 1910. He was not a 
candidate for re-election, as the duties of the office require more time than 
he can give from his private business. In his political views Mr. Robinson 
is a Republican and stands high in the councils of his party in all local 
affairs. 

BERT Q. KEESEY.— A native of Ohio, where he had made a success 
of stock-raising before he came to California, Bert Q. Keesey is now one of 
the well known fruit-growers and market-gardeners of the southern part of 
Humboldt county, making his home near Pepperwood, where he operates 
a ranch of forty acres. Mr. Keesey is industrious and progressive, the 
type of man that always succeeds in whatever he undertakes, because of 
the value and fidelity of his service, his splendid judgment and his careful 
attention to details. His father before him was engaged in market-garden- 
ing on a large scale in Ohio, and it seems an inherited ability with Mr. 
Keesey to till the soil and secure phenomenal results with fruits and vege- 
tables, and he is never happier than when so engaged. 

Mr. Keesey was born at Cadiz, Ohio, August 31, 1870, where he was 
reared and educated, learning to work on his father's farm and in his 
gardens. His father, James B. Keesey, was a German, of frugal and indus- 
trious type, and the son learned the value of the conservation of all resources 
and attention to detail when he was a small boy. He became engaged in 
the stock business at Cadiz when he was a young man and met with much 
success. He was married there, August 3, 1890, to Miss Carrie L. Nichols, 
also a native of Cadiz, and they have six children: Harry is an automobile 
driver in San Francisco and a machinist by trade ; Charles is a musician 
in Eureka, Paul, Laurance, Ray and Chester are still at home. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 969 

The first trip that Mr. Keesey made to California was in 1895, and for a 
year he remained in the southern part of the state, coming to Humboldt 
county in October of that year, and buying a small place at Fortuna. For 
two summers he returned to Arkansas, where he was then making his home, 
but eventually returned to Humboldt county to reside permanently, bringing 
his wife and family with him. He now rents a forty-acre ranch on which 
he raises apples and other fruits, including small fruits and berries in 
abundance. All kinds of vegetables are grown and the entire place is in a 
splendid condition and one of the best cared for ranches in the vicinity. He 
retails the vegetables, making trips as far as Loleta and Ferndale. 

The local afifairs of the community have always been of vital importance 
to Mr. Keesey and he is especially well informed on all economic and 
educational subjects. He is a careful student, and in his political views is 
a Socialist. He is progressive and broad-minded and as a thinker is well 
in advance of his time. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen. His 
keenest interest, however, lies in the farm bureau of Humboldt county, in 
which he is an influential worker, being a member of the farm center at 
Rohnerville. Mrs. Keesey is the close companion and friend of her husband 
in all his business undertakings and is a member of the Christian church 
in Fortuna. 

MATT L. WARNER.— Although a native of Texas, Matt L. Warner 
is descended from old California pioneer families, both his parents being 
natives of this state, and his grandparents respected pioneers of an early 
day, coming from Ohio and crossing the plains with ox-teams in 1849. 
Business interests took his parents to Texas, and there he was born, August 
30, 1882, the son of Edmund and Rebekah (Amen) Warner. His mother 
was a native of Petaluma, and the family is well known there at this time. 
The father was a cabinet-maker, and died in Texas, their son. Matt L., 
being the only child born of their union. After the death of her husband, 
Mrs. Warner returned to California, locating in Los Angeles, where she 
died in 1898. After the death of his mother the son came to Humboldt 
county to make his home with an uncle, A. E. Amen, also a native of Cali- 
fornia, and residing at Pepperwood, where he has since made his home. 
He attended school both here and in Los Angeles, receiving a good educa- 
tion. 

Since reaching his majority, young Air. Warner has been in business 
for the greater part of his time in Pepperwood, being engaged in the general 
mercantile business, and has a splendid trade. Mr. Warner is also post- 
master at Pepperwood, having received his appointment in 1914, and having 
since that time given splendid satisfaction in his new duties. He is a young 
man of exemplary habits and of exceptionally good character. His marriage 
occurred in 1903, uniting him to Miss Caroline Alice Winemiller, the daugh- 
ter of Mrs. S. C. Winemiller, and a native of Humboldt county. She has 
borne her husband four children, namely : Wesley, Jiovanni, Newell and 
Clyde. 

Mrs. S. C. Winemiller is a native of Iowa, and was formerly Miss Sarah 
C. Thompson. She was only a small child when her parents came to Cali- 
fornia, and she was reared and educated in this state. Mrs. Winemiller 
is a woman of much ability and withal has lost none of her true womanli- 



970 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ness and old-fashioned charm of manner and speech, although entirely 
modern in business comprehension and appreciation. She has a host of 
friends in Pepperwood and vicinity, where she has resided for many years. 

GEORGE W. McKINNON, M. D.— It was the privilege of Dr. McKin- 
non to receive his medical training in one of the greatest universities of 
America, an institution noted for the superior talents possessed by members 
of its faculty and also for the high character of its student body, this being 
none other than McGill University of Montreal, from whose medical depart- 
ment he was graduated in 1888 with an exceptional standing and with the 
thorough preparation necessary for the attainment of professional success. 
Prior to attendance at the famous Canadian college he had alternated at- 
tendance at local schools with work on the home farm on Prince Edward 
Island, where he was born February 22, 1867, and where his parents were 
of the hard-working but unusually efficient agricultural class: Two years 
after he had completed the studies of the university he came to California and 
opened an office in Eureka with Dr. William H. Wallace as an associate in 
professional work. 

A partnership of remarkable harmony came to an end in 1898 with the 
removal of Dr. McKinnon to Areata, where he has since engaged in general 
practice, becoming widely known throughout all this section of the county 
and rising to local prominence solely through his own merit as a physician 
and surgeon. The need of a hospital at this point impressed him forcibly 
from the first and in 1909 he carried out a long-felt desire in the building 
of Trinity hospital at Areata, a modern structure of twenty-five beds, up-to- 
date equipment and every facility for the efficient care of the sick. Two per- 
manent' trained nurses are employed at the hospital and others are available 
if needed. The Doctor has been deeply interested in every movement per- 
taining to medical work and has studied current literature with painstaking 
zeal. During 1908 he was honored with the presidency of the Humboldt 
County Medical Association and besides he is connected with the California 
State and American Medical Associations. Fraternally he is a member of 
the orders of Elks, Eagles and Knights of Columbus. By his marriage to 
Miss Annie Richert, a native of California, he is the father of two sons, 
Harold R. and Wilfred C, both of whom are receiving excellent educational 
advantages. 

JOHN W. BRYAN. — As one of the pioneer hotel men of Humboldt 
county, his father having been in this business when he was a child, John W. 
Bryan is well known to the traveling public and is highly esteemed by all 
who know him. He purchased his present place, which he named Bryan's 
Rest, a delightful summer resort, in 1890, and, with the aid of his wife, has 
made a splendid success of its management. He has one hundred twenty 
acres in the ranch, and the location is ideal for a tourist resort, being located 
on the Eel river, and having all the advantages of beauty of scenery, splendid 
table, with home cooking, fruits and vegetables, eggs, butter, milk and 
cream, supplied from the home farm orchards and gardens. The trans- 
portation facilities are also of the best, Bryan's Rest being directly on the 
line of the Northwestern Pacific Railway, with a station of its own, called 
Bryan. Mr. Bryan is an ideal host for such a place, being of that genial, 
happy-hearted disposition which immediately puts his guests at ease, and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 971 

possessing those indispensable qualities of the capable landlord, the ability 
to anticipate their every wish, and satisfy it almost before it is made known. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bryan have had many years of successful hotel experi- 
ence, having had charge' of the leading hotel in Fortuna for many years, 
and many of the guests that come regularly to Bryan's Rest are old friends 
of the former days. 

Mr. Bryan is a native of Ohio, born in Adams county, as was also his 
father, William H. Bryan, and his mother, Frances J. Lockwood. The 
father was engaged in farming in Ohio, and in 1870, when John W. was 
sixteen years of age (he having been born July 20, 1854), the family 
removed to La Salle county. 111., where they remained for two years. In 
1872 the family, consisting at that time of the parents and five children, 
came to California, locating in Monterey county, at Monterey, where they 
remained for four years, the father being engaged in the hotel business and 
also owning and managing a livery stable. In 1876 they came to Rohner- 
ville, Humboldt county, where the father was elected justice of the peace 
and appointed a notary, and for many years maintained an office there. He 
died in Rohnerville in 1908, at the age of seventy-four years, after a pro- 
tracted illness lasting four years. The mother passed away three years 
before this time. They had five children : Martha, now Mrs. Van Sickle, of 
Rohnerville ; John W., the subject of this article ; Maggie, who was Mrs. 
Thomas Thompson, a resident of San Francisco, where she died, leaving two 
children ; Albert, married and living in San Francisco, where he died, leaving 
no children ; and Oscar, who was drowned in Bull creek when he was 
eighteen years of age, while teaching school. 

When he first came to Rohnerville Mr. Bryan started out for himself 
and worked at various occupations, generally being employed on the farms 
of the vicinity. When he was thirty years of age, August 2, 1884, he was 
married in Rohnerville to Miss Maggie McDaniel, a native of Albany, Linn 
county, Oregon, and soon afterward they went to Rohnerville, where they 
conducted the Bryan House, meeting with merited success. Later they 
conducted the principal hotel in Fortuna, and in 1890 they purchased their 
present place, which they named Bryan's Rest. They have made many 
improvements and their accommodations are strictly modern and up to date. 
Their hotel building is a two-story structure, forty by fifty feet, and is 
attractive and comfortable. The ranch is a very valuable one, and jNIr. 
Bryan has fifty-five acres in Eel River bottoms under a high state of cultiva- 
tion. The land is very rich, and with present shipping facilities the products 
are so easily marketed that it is especially valuable. 

Mrs. Bryan is a daughter of Austin and Mary (Wilkinson) McDaniel, 
born in Virginia and Kentucky, respectively ; they were married in Kentucky 
and crossed the plains to Oregon, where he engaged in mining and farming. 
The mother died in Oregon, and the father then moved to California; they 
had five children, four of whom are living, Mrs. Bryan being the second 
oldest. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan have four children, all of whom are natives of this 
county, and are very popular, possessing their parents' rare charm of per- 
sonality. The children are : Dr. Lloyd Bryan of Eureka, county physician 
and surgeon at the Sequoia Hospital, and who is extremely popular, is 



972 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

married and has a daughter, Jane ; Oscar Homer, a locomotive engineer on 
the Western Pacific Railroad, and married to Miss Marie AValdner, of this 
county, they having one child, a daughter, Doris; Ray W., in the employ of 
the Humboldt Commercial Company, Eureka ; and Verna, a graduate of 
the Eureka High School, class of 1914. 

Mr. Bryan is a member of the Knights of Pythias of F^rtuna, and has 
been through all the chairs. He is a Republican, is always interested in 
the cause of education, and it was largely through his efforts that Engle- 
wood district was formed. He built a school house this side and Mrs. 
Colonel George built one on the other side of the river, and they had school 
in one or the other, wherever most convenient. He was a trustee for many 
years. 

WILSON WOOD.— One of the notable estates of southern Humboldt 
county is the old Jewett ranch of twenty-four hundred acres still owned and 
occupied by the heirs of the original proprietor, Enoch Phelps Jewett, and 
their families, the Woods, Grattos and Jewetts. Wilson Wood, who married 
one of the daughters of Enoch P. Jewett, is the eldest son of anothe" pioneer 
of the region, the late James E. Wood, at one time the owner of the celebrated 
Wood ranch, one and a quarter miles south of Garberville, a tract of twelve 
thousand acres now owned by Toobey Brothers. A man of stirring disposi- 
tion and ambitious nature, he improved that immense place and for years 
was heavily interested in sheep and other stock as well as agricultural opera- 
tions to some extent. 

James E. Wood was a native of Whitehall, Greene county, 111., born 
March 14, 1827, and died in southern Humboldt county, Cal., in 1907, aged 
eighty years. He had an eventful, busy and useful life. Coming to Cali- 
fornia in 1858, he mined for a time in Plumas and Nevada counties, and then 
engaged in hunting, supplying provisions to the government. About 1859-60 
he settled in the vicinity of Garberville, Humboldt county, where he became 
very extensively engaged in the stock' business, owning and operating what 
has been known since his time as the Wood ranch, about twelve thousand 
acres situated along the south fork of the Eel river. In his later life, however, 
owing to the hard times he met with financial reverses, and he lost the 
accumulations of a lifetime of thrift and well directed industry, through no 
fault of his own. Through his enterprise he developed and improved a vast 
tract of valuable land, and to his energy was due much of the advancement 
made in that part of Humboldt county during the last generation. He was 
respected for his upright character, and his descendants are representative 
citizens of the county. 

Mr. A'Vood was twice married, and AVilson was the only child of the first 
union that grew to maturity. For his second wife he married ^liss Laura 
Webb, who survives him, now making her home at Rohnerville, this county, 
and she became the mother of seventeen children, of whom we have the follow- 
ing record: Julia; Charles W., who married Lena Linser, and who has large 
interests at Briceland and Garberville; Mary Elizabeth; Alice, who lives with 
her mother at Rohnerville ; Olive ; Ella, Mrs. Hadley, of Petrolia ; George, 
who died when two years old ; Nancy, who married and died leaving three 
children ; Nellie, deceased in infancy ; Louis, who died when ten years old, 
of injuries received by a horse falling on him ; John, of San Diego, Cal. ; Delia, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 973 

who died at Petrolia when fifteen years old ; Leora Edna ; Edith, of Hardy, 
Cal. ; James, a resident of Humboldt county ; Frank, of Rohnerville ; and 
Frances, who lives in Washington state. 

Wilson Wood was born November 29, 1866, on the Wood ranch in Hum- 
boldt county, and there spent his childhood and early manhood, attending 
the public schools in the local country district and beginning to help his 
father as soon as possible. He remained at home until his marriage, taking 
an active part in the improvement of the estate, and after a few years' ex- 
perience on other ranches settled with his wife on the Jewett ranch, where 
they have resided continuously since 1892. Though the property has been 
divided, each of the heirs owning distinct herds and droves and carrying on 
independent operations, the large tract is fenced altogether, and the Wood, 
Jewett and Gratto families have many interests in common. The property 
of Mr. and Mrs. Wood now comprises eight hundred acres, in the manage- 
ment and systematic cultivation of which he has shown the value of his early 
training. He raises high-grade cattle, and makes a specialty of breeding- 
Yorkshire hogs. As a progressive citizen Mr. Wood has proved a worthy son 
of his father, using his influence for the promotion of the best movements, 
and taking an active part in the local welfare. He has exerted himself 
especially in the cause of public educational facilities, and is a school trustee 
and president of the board. His religious principles are based on the teach- 
ings of the Golden Rule. 

When twenty-four years old Mr. Wood married Miss Maria C. Jewett, 
daughter of the late Enoch Phelps Jewett, and they have two children : 
Howard C. J., and Enoch Phelps J., both of whom reside at home and assist 
in the operation of the ranch. It is located two and a half miles east of Harris. 

Enoch Phelps Jewett, father of Mrs. Maria C. (Jewett) Wood, was a 
native of Springfield, Mass., and a member of a family well known in that 
state from Colonial days and represented in the Revolutionary war on the 
colonists' side. A genealogy of this family, in two volumes, has recently been 
published. Its earliest progenitor in America, Deacon Maximilian Jewett, 
was born in England in 1607, son of Edward Jewett, a cloth manufacturer at 
Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He married in his native coun- 
try, and in 1638 sailed with his wife from Hull, England, in the ship John, 
as members of a colony under the leadership of Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. They 
arrived at Boston, December 1, 1638, spent the winter at Salem, and in the 
spring of 1639 founded the town of Rowley, in the Massachusetts Bay colony. 
Deacon Jewett's descendants in every generation have been noted for vigor 
of intellect and high moral character, and the branch of the family in Hum- 
boldt county, Cal., has been no exception to the rule. 

Stephen Jewett, great-grandfather of Enoch Phelps Jewett, was born 
October 5, 1736, in Thompson, Conn., and moved to Lanesboro, Mass. His 
wife was Mehitable Harris. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, a 
sergeant in the company of Asa Barnes, Col. B. Ruggles Woodbridge's regi- 
ment, muster roll dated August 1, 1775; entered May 17, 1775, service two 
months, sixteen days. 

Timothy Jewett, son of Stephen, was born March 5, 1763, in Lanesboro, 
Mass., and like his father was a Revolutionary soldier, his record reading 
as follows ; "Timothy Jewett, private, Capt. David Wheeler's company, Col. 



974 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Bcniamin Simonds" regiment; service eight days; company marched from 
Lanesboro to Manchester, October 12, 1780." He married Elizabeth Phelps. 

Enoch Phelps Jewett, son of Timothy and Elizabeth (Phelps) Jewett, 
learned the trade of tailor, but was only a youth when he shipped on a whaler, 
sailing from the port of Boston. He made voyages to both the Arctic and 
Antarctic oceans, around Cape Horn and north to San Francisco, where he 
took "French leave" of the ship. This was in 1843, when California was still 
Mexican territory. He remained at San Francisco until 1848, and assisted 
in making the first, second and third surveys of the city and bay. Having 
decided to return to the east overland, he had proceeded as far as Salt Lake 
City when he heard of the gold finds, and hoping to make a fortune in the 
mines retraced his steps, going up to the north fork of the Feather river. 
He spent five or six years at Hangtown (now Placerville), and took part 
in the gruesome afifair from which the place derived its early name, helping 
to arrest, try and execute three desperadoes. They were made to stand up 
in a wagon box with the ropes adjusted about their necks and attached to 
the limb of a tree, and Mr. Jewett drove the team hitched to the wagon. He 
not only mined, but also ran a store and market at Hangtown. Later he 
moved to the Sacramento valley, where he was engaged in ranching, and for 
a time he was in Hull's valley, hunting deer. Two of his party were killed 
by the Indians, and in this and other experiences he had the dangers of 
life in the early days brought very near to him. For a few years he was 
located in the Sherwood valley, in Mendocino county, raising cattle, hogs 
and horses, and in March, 1863, he came up to what was then known as 
Little valley, in Humboldt county, but which was renamed Jewett's valley 
in his honor. Here he bought a squatter's claim of one thousand acres, and 
drove in the first cattle, horses and hogs ever brought into the valley. There 
are many landmarks now in the vicinity which perpetuate his name. Jewett's 
Peak, in full view from the little mountain town of Harris, stands like a 
sentinel in the midst of picturesque scenery, and Jewett's creek is another 
local feature. 

Mr. Jewett had twenty-five hundred sheep, two hundred head of cattle 
and one hundred horses (principally saddle horses), and his sons worked with 
him in the cultivation of the ranch and the conduct of its various interests, 
becoming expert horsemen and cattlemen, and raisers of sheep and saddle 
horses. Here Enoch P. Jewett made his home during the last thirty-five years 
of his life, becoming one of the well known figures who bore a large share in 
the advancement and development of the locality, where he was honored for 
his admirable personal qualities as well as for his success in his business 
ventures. He added to his original holdings materially, until he owned 
twenty-four hyndred acres, now in the possession of his four children, who 
have taken proper pride in the preservation of the estate. 

By his marriage to Miss Belle Fenton, a native of Trinity county, Cal., 
Mr. Jewett had a family of four children : John Howard, who is extensively 
interested in the raising of saddle and stage horses ; Martha Asenath, wife 
of George McDonald Gratto, of Harris ; Edwin C, who is engaged in the 
raising of cattle and hogs ; and Maria C, wife of Wilson Wood. Mr. Jewett 
died in 1898, at the age of seventy-three years, surviving his wife, whose death 
occurred twenty-six years ago. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 975 

JOHN W. BOWDEN. — An interesting career, and one that holds promise 
of still greater success, is that of John W. Bowden, of Garberville, rancher, 
oil promoter and general business man, who is one of the most prominent 
young men in Humboldt county, and one whose splendid good fortune is the 
direct result of his own untiring efforts. Mr. Bowden is descended from a 
long line of distinguished ancestry, dating back through the colonial days to 
England, and numbering many men and women of note on both sides. His 
mother is a cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the poet, and is herself an 
authoress of note, while on the father's side there are men of courage and 
brave deeds by the score. This favored son seems to have manifested many 
of the splendid traits of his forbears, and his financial success, personal 
popularity and integrity of character are acknowledged by all who know him. 

Mr. Bowden is a native of Maine, having been born at Jefferson, Lincoln 
county, February 8, 1870. His father, William H. Bowden, a farmer, was 
also a native of Maine, where he died when this son was a lad of seven years. 
His mother is still living at the age of seventy-one, making her home in San 
Luis Obispo. She has given much time and thought to literary work and one 
of her published volumes is dedicated to her children. She is a poetess 
and prose writer of rare ability and her writings have been well received. 
The progenitor of the American branch of the Bowden family was Gideon 
Bowden, who came to this country from England and settled at Boothbay, 
Me., early in the eighteenth century. One of his sons married Jane Murphy, 
the first white child to be born between the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers, 
and they became the ancestors of a long line, the wife living to be a great- 
great-grandmother. On the side of the mother, who was in girlhood Miss 
Caroline E. Philbrick, Mr. Bowden is related not only to the famous poet 
(Nathaniel Hawthorne), but also by direct descent to Asa Bartlett, one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

The boyhood days of Mr. Bowden were spent in Maine, where he assumed 
the responsibilities of life at an early age. His father owned a small farm, 
free from debt, but not profitable enough to provide for the family, and so he 
went to work at the age of eleven years on a neighboring farm, attending 
school in the winter months and working during vacations and at odd times. 
There were five children in the family, three sons and two daughters, namely : 
John W., present esteemed citizen of Garberville ; William H., residing at 
Shelter Cove ; Delia, the wife of Henry Bryant, residing in San Francisco ; 
Belle, wife of Fred Jenks, residing at Willowbrook, Los Angeles county; 
and Charles, a farmer and dairyman at San Luis Obispo. From his earliest 
boyhood Mr. Bowden was very practical in his ideas and when he worked 
he always managed to save something of his earnings. Accordingly in 1886, 
when he was sixteen years of age, he had saved enough to bring him to CaH- 
fornia, and leaving his family home at Jefferson, he made the trip alone, com- 
ing first to San Luis Obispo, where he secured employment with Judge Beebee 
as office boy in his lumber office, remaining there for two years. His mother 
and the remaining members of the family joined him in 1888, and he pur- 
chased a little place where his mother still makes her home. Later he went 
to San Francisco and took a course in civil engineering at the Van der Nailen 
School of Civil Engineering, graduating with the class of 1893. For a time 
he pursued this occupation in the southern part of the state, but later 



976 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUxNTY 

came to northern California, landing at Shelter Cove in 1894. In the fall of 
1896 he opened a general merchandise business at Briceland, and for seven- 
teen years conducted it as an independent enterprise with the greatest suc- 
cess. In 1904 his brother, William H. Bowden, came to Humboldt county and 
a partnership was formed between the two, which still continues in some 
lines. Together they purchased the drug store formerly conducted by C. J. 
Swithenbank, and William H. Bowden took charge of that while John W. 
conducted the general merchandise business. In 1908 another business ex- 
pansion was made, the brothers purchasing the one-half interest of the Notley 
Brothers in the store and wharf at Shelter Cove, the remaining half interest 
being the property of the Wagner Leather Company of Stockton. This busi- 
ness has since been incorporated and is now known as the Shelter Cove 
Wharf & Warehouse Company, capitalized at $50,000. They have improved 
the wharf and now have first-class wharfage accommodations, where steam- 
ers of fourteen feet draft can easily and safely dock. It is anticipated that the 
question of the United States government's establishing a Harbor of Refuge 
south of Eureka will eventually be decided in favor of Shelter Cove. 

Recently Mr. Bowden has become actively interested in ranch property 
and in oil lands, the latter industry being his especial esthusiasm at this time. 
He disposed of his store at Briceland in 1913 to Leslie Kehoe, lately of 
Alaska, and has given up the merchandising business. In 1912 he purchased 
the Kemper Brothers ranch, a property of eight hundred acres located two 
and a half miles south of Garberville, which he operates at present. He is 
planning to cut this tract up into smaller ranches and dispose of it for home 
farms, which are in demand in the locality. He also owns some eight hun- 
dred acres of timber land, covered with much valuable timber. 

His interest in the oil industry is not a new idea with Mr. Bowden, he 
having made a careful study of the conditions in this locality for 
several years, and being convinced that there are large deposits of oil here, 
he is determined to develop the industry in southern Humboldt county. 
The seepage of oil is very evident in many places, and natural gas is found 
in sufficient quantities and of such quality that it is used for heating and 
lighting purposes in Briceland. A company has been formed with John W. 
Bowden as president, C. J. Swithenbank as secretary-treasurer, and M. D. 
Shaw as vice-president and manager, and they are at present engaged in 
drilling for oil on their properties. 

The marriage of Mr. Bowden took place in San Francisco in 1898, uniting 
him with Miss Lottie Kehoe, a native of Pennsylvania but reared at Rohner- 
ville, Cal., an own sister of Senator William Kehoe, of Eureka. Of this union 
has been born one child, Clara D. 

Aside from his splendid business abilities, Mr. Bowden is well known 
socially and fraternally and possesses a host of warm friends and admirers. 
He is an old line Republican and a stanch party man. He is progressive 
and alive on all pubUc questions and always in favor of all measures that tend 
toward the general betterment of the community. He favors strictly business 
methods in municipal and state government and stands firmly for the prin- 
ciples advocated by his party. Altogether, Mr. Bowden is a citizen of whom 
the county may well be proud. His work has been strictly along developmental 
lines, and he has been an important factor in the history of the county in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 977 

that he has been instrumental in opening up various lines of endeavor, ex- 
tending and developing them, and so increasing the wealth and opportunities 
that the community offered to the general public. This is his great desire in 
the oil industry, and he is striving to demonstrate the possibilities and great 
hidden wealth of the locality, rather than working for mere personal gain. 

JOSEPH CASACCA.— From the canton of Ticino, in Switzerland, 
Joseph Casacca came to make his home in California, having heard there 
were great opportunities for young men in this new country. Brought up 
on his father's dairy farm in the Alps, Joseph Casacca was already well ini- 
tiated in the dairy business, which he has followed industriously and with 
marked success since coming to America. 

Born in Gordola, Switzerland, March 19, 1872, Mr. Casacca was the son 
of John and Carmilla (Scaroni) Casacca, both of whom are now deceased, 
and of their family of eight children five are now living, namely : Joseph, a 
dairyman in Humboldt county, Cal. ; Albert, residing in San Francisco ; 
Celeste, also living in San Francisco ; Marion, in the employ of the elder 
brother Joseph ; and Louis, who remains on the old home farm in the Alps. 
At the age of twenty-one years, having received his education in the local 
public schools, and spent some time assisting his father upon the farm, 
Joseph Casacca determined to come to California, and in May, 1893, arrived 
in Sonoma county, where for fourteen months he was employed on a dairy at 
Lakeville, in July of the next year removing to Humboldt county, where he 
was employed on different dairies in the neighborhood of Waddington for 
about nine years. By that time, having saved sufficient money to enable his 
starting in business independently, Mr. Casacca in 1903 leased the Pleasant 
Point ranch of sixty acres near Waddington, where for a period of five 
years he conducted a dairy of twenty cows. Removing thence to the Eel river 
island he there leased the old Sam Fulmore place of sixty-two acres of bottom 
land, where he raises large crops of hay, grain, clover, corn, carrots and 
beets, and milks a herd of thirty-four cows, all fed upon the estate. 

Besides being a stockholder in the Valley Flower Creamery Company, 
Mr. Casacca is a member of the Woodmen of the World, his wife being a_ 
member of the Women of Woodcraft. His marriage took place in Ferndale, 
his wife having formerly been Miss Cora Mead, a native of Oregon and 
daughter of Alfred Mead, a pioneer of Oregon and California now residing at 
Bridgeville, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Casacca are the parents of three child- 
ren, by name ]\Iabel, Florence and Lloyd. 

MARTIN AMBROSINI.— For many years Martin Ambrosini has been 
a resident of the state of California, whither he was attracted by the good 
reports he had heard of the opportunities for farming and dairying in Hum- 
boldt county, numerous of his countrymen having already come to this 
part of the United States to seek their fortunes. 

Switzerland is the native land of Mr. Ambrosini, and his birth occurred 
on December 11, 1855, in the town of Lodrino, in the Canton of Ticino. where 
his father, Peter, was a farmer and dairyman. The father, and also the 
mother, who was formerly Petronella Martinolli, are now both dead, and of 
their five children, Martin, the youngest, is the only one now living. His 
boyhood was spent on his father's farm in the Alps region, and he received 
his education in the local public schools. At the age of twenty years, re- 



978 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

spending to the law of his country, he entered the infantry regiment, where 
he served his time until honorably discharged, after which he continued to 
assist his father upon the home farm, until the determination to try his 
luck in the new country led him to leave his home for California, a change 
which he has never found cause to regret. May 1, 1882, saw him in Eureka, 
Humboldt county, Cal., and he commenced his career with humble employ- 
ment in dairies on Bear River Ridge and near Ferndale. When he had accu- 
mulated considerable means by faithful work and wise economy, Mr. Ambro- 
sini looked about for an investment and in 1895 purchased twenty acres 
on the Island, two and one-half miles from the town of Ferndale. This he 
improved to a great extent, and has engaged in the dairy business there since 
that time, owning a herd of fifteen cows. The land consisting of rich soil, 
he is enabled to raise large crops of hay and green feed, so that all the fodder 
for his cattle is supplied by his own ranch. At a later date he added to his 
property by the purchase of thirty additional acres on the county road, but 
this he does not make use of individually, but has rented it for dairy pur- 
poses to another party. 

Among the oldest Swiss citizens of the county, Mr. Ambrosini is well 
known here as a man of integrity and steady purpose, one whose residence 
here is a benefit to the community where both he and his wife are known 
for their geniality and hospitality. Mr. Ambrosini's marriage took place in 
Ferndale, on November 3, 1894, his wife, formerly Miss Filomina Giulieri, 
having been born in Cognisco, in the same canton in Switzerland as Mr. 
Ambrosini, and having lived in Humboldt county, since February, 1893. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ambrosini are the parents of three children, Lillian, now Mrs. 
Biondini of Ferndale ; and Ida and Sadie, who make their home with their 
parents in Ferndale. In his political interests Mr. Ambrosini is an Inde- 
pendent. 

JOHN LARSEN. — Among the prominent dairymen of Humboldt 
county, Cal., who have come from other lands to make their home in this 
country, should be mentioned John Larsen, who operates the ^^'illow Brook 
dairy near Beatrice, Cal. 

The native land of Mr. Larsen is Denmark, where his birth occurred 
xA-pril 22), 1874, at Kjedeby, Langeland, and there he attended the public 
schools and. was brought up in the dairy business on the dairy farm of his 
father. In 1893 John Larsen removed to America, settling first in Marin 
county, Cal., where he was employed as a butter maker on a dairy farm until 
the year 1899, at which time he came to Ferndale, in Humboldt county, work- 
ing here a year upon a dairy, and then, having saved sufficient money for 
the purpose, he determined to go into business for himself. He therefore 
in 1900 leased his present place, the Willow Brook ranch near the town of 
Beatrice, on the main road from Eureka, and ten miles south of the latter 
place. Here Mr. Larsen has been in business independently ever since, 
milking a dairy herd of fifty cows, mostly of Jersey stock, and, on his land of 
over two hundred acres, more than half of which is rich bottom land, he 
raises plenty of hay and green feed for his herd, and enjoys the advantages 
of springs and streams of running water. The interest which he takes in 
the dairy and creamery business is shown by the fact that he was one of 
the original stockholders in the Eclipse Creamery, which ships all its butter 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 979 

to San Francisco, and likewise a director of the same company from the 
time of its organization, as well as having at one time been its president and 
now its secretary. He is also a member of the Humboldt County Dairy- 
men's Association and the Humboldt County Farm Bureau, while the Dan- 
ish associations with which he is connected are the Dania and the Danish 
Brotherhood. In his religious interests he is a Lutheran, and politically 
he is a member of the Republican party. By his marriage in Ferndale to 
Miss Maria Christiansen, a native of Aero, Denmark, he is the father of one 
son, John Larsen, Jr. 

A man who has grown up in the dairy business and has in later years 
made a conscientious study of the same, it is not strange that Mr. Larsen 
has attained the success in his chosen line of work which has been his ; and 
aside from his business interests he is a great reader, and blessed with a 
retentive memory, so that he is a well informed and interesting conversa- 
tionaUst as well as a practical and successful business man. 

ARTHUR ALEXANDER ROSS.— Though at present giving his time 
to the duties of his office as deputy sheriff of Humboldt county, Mr. Ross, 
until he assumed that position, was engaged in mechanical work, being a 
high-class boilermaker and expert in construction work. He has been 
engaged on many notably important structures, his reputation extending all 
over this section of the state. In his public service he has given evidence of 
the same efficiency which has characterized all his work. Coming to Eureka 
in boyhood, he has resided here much of the time since, and is a credit to the 
community. He was born in Humboldt county May 3, 1882, son of Stephen 
H. Ross, a resident of Eureka, born in Charlotte county, New Brunswick, 
in 1849. The father came to California when about sixteen years of age, 
and followed logging in the woods of Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt 
counties, becoming an expert driver of ox teams, which occupation he fol- 
lowed until they were superseded by steam power, since which time he has 
been woods foreman, and is at present foreman in the woods for the Pacific 
Lumber Company at Scotia. The father returned to New Brunswick, and 
at Saint Stephen, was married to Miss Mary Amanda Armstrong, who was 
a native of Charlotte county. New Brunswick. They have had two children, 
Ethel J. and Arthur Alexander, the daughter now the wife of E. C. Lang- 
ford, a boilermaker, formerly connected with the Eureka Boiler Works at 
Eureka, but now manager of the Eureka News Company. 

Arthur Alexander Ross was four ye.ars old when his parents moved to 
Fortuna, where he lived until 1894. He had good public school advantages 
in his boyhood, and on January 1, 1899, when in his seventeenth year, entered 
the Eureka Boiler Works, where he served a thorough apprenticeship, re- 
maining there for a period of six years. ^Meantime he had supplemented his 
early education with a course in the Eureka business college, which he 
completed in December, 1906. He continued work at his trade as boiler- 
maker and general machinist, doing outside construction work for Mr. Lang- 
ford, of the Eureka Boiler Works, in all for about five years, after which 
he went to Portland, Oregon, in 1905, where he became outside foreman for 
the Marine Iron Works. He also did work at his trade along the line of 
the Oregon River & Navigation Company in Oregon and Washington, and 
at West Berkeley, Cal. He again worked for Mr. Langford in the Eureka 



980 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Boiler Works in 1907-08, and in 1908 took a position with the Western 
Steel Plate & Construction Company, of Portland, Oregon, for which he 
was engaged as foreman of construction in the state of California. In this 
connection he erected oil stills and cooling boxes at Oleum, near Crockett ; 
put up acid tanks for the DuPont Powder Company; did work for the Union 
Oil Company at Fresno, Cal., where he put up four oil tanks; put up a large 
tank for the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company near Port 
Costa, its diameter being one hundred fifty feet and it being thirty feet in 
height. Returning once more to Eureka he resumed work with his old 
employer, Mr. Langford, until he took the position of deputy sheriff, to 
which he was appointed January 1, 1910, under Sheriff R. A. Redmond. His 
chief appreciates thoroughly the system and efficient methods which this 
capable young man has helped to introduce into the conduct of the sheriff's 
office, and the people have found him as trustworthy and public spirited as 
they expected, when his appointment was recommended. Personally he is 
a young man whose fine traits have appealed to all who have come in contact 
with him. The sheriff's office has never been in better condition than it is 
today or more ably conducted, a condition for which Mr. Ross should receive 
his share of credit. As a representative of substantial Humboldt county 
citizenship, and a man of exceptional qualities as proved by his conduct in all 
the relations of life, he deserves the high place he holds in the esteem of the 
people he is serving so faithfully. He is a member of the B. P. O. E. and 
I. O. O. F. lodges at Eui-eka, and of the Eureka Development Association. 
Politically he is a Republican. 

On Adarch 17, 1907, Mr. Ross was married at Eureka to Miss Nettie 
Vreeland, a native of that city, daughter of John and Harriet (Stagg) Vree- 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Ross live with her parents at No. 815 N street. Eureka; 
they have one child, Helen Catherine. ^ 

CHARLES C. GIULIERL— Since the year 1888, Charles Celeste 
Giulieri has made his home in California, having come here from Switzer- 
land, whence two of his brothers had preceded him to the United States. 
Born in Cognasco, Ticino, Switzerland, February 15, 1872, Mr. Giulieri was 
the son of Dominic, a farmer of that place, where his death occurred in the 
year 1913, and Rosa (Calzascia) Giulieri, who died in 1892. The family of 
four brothers and one sister are all at present residents of the state of Cali- 
fornia, and are namely: Stephen, who is a dairyman, of Salmon Creek; 
John, following the same occupation at Cock Robin Island, in Humboldt 
county ; Filomena, now Mrs. Martin Ambrosini, of Ferndale ; Charles Celeste, 
a dairyman of Beatrice ; and Enos, a dairyman at Table Bluff. Like his 
brothers, Charles Giulieri grew up on the home farm in Switzerland, receiv- 
ing his education in the local public schools, when he was sixteen years of 
age removing to California, where two of his brothers were already living, 
his first employment in the new country being at a dairy in Calistoga, Napa 
county, where he remained for a period of nine months. Removing to 
Humboldt county, he was engaged in the same line of occupation at Bear 
River Ridge until 1891, when he went to Santa Barbara county, working 
at a dairy there for three years, after which he spent about five years in the 
same work in Plumas county. January of the year 1899 saw his return to 
Humboldt county, where, having saved his money, he engaged in the dairy 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 981 

business on an independent basis, with his brother Stephen purchasing a 
one-half interest in the Tierney ranch, two years later buying out his brother, 
since which time he has continued in business alone, meeting with much 
success in his occupation and becoming well and favorably known in that 
community. The estate is one of one hundred and twenty acres, situated 
on Salmon Creek, seventy acres of which are rich bottom land, whereon i\Ir. 
Giulieri is enabled to raise all the green feed necessary for his fine dairy 
herd which consists of forty-five cows, mostly of the Jersey breed. He is 
also the owner of forty acres located about three miles northeast of Fern- 
dale, which property he rents ; and together with his brother Stephen owns 
sixty acres on Salmon Creek where his brother conducts a dairy. Mr. Giu- 
lieri was one of the organizers of the Eclipse Creamery, and for many years 
a director therein, where his practical experience and fine success in the 
dairy business made him a valued assistant. In 1903 he made a trip to his 
old home, revisiting the scenes of his boyhood, a town which was also the 
childhood home of his wife, formerly Miss Albina Piini. Mr. and Mrs. 
Giulieri are the parents of four children, Rinaldo, Walter, Alfred and Emma 
Giulieri. In his political interests Mr. Giulieri is a member of the Repub- 
lican party and fraternally he is allied with the Woodmen of the World in 
Loleta, Cal. 

NIELS J. HANSEN. — A very interesting man, one who has sailed 
around the world, is well traveled, well read and a good conversationalist, 
Niels J. Hansen, of Ferndale, Cal., came to this country from far away Den- 
mark, where he was born in Bagenkop, Langeland, July 15, 1860, the son of 
Hans Hansen, a farmer of that fertile little island, who also owned a sloop 
and was engaged in the transportation of freight and followed the coasting- 
trade for many years, the last part of his life being spent with his son Niels 
in Humboldt county, Cal. 

The education of Niels Hansen was received in the public schools of 
his native land, and at the age of fourteen, having always been interested 
in sailing, he went to sea, visiting many different parts of the world, in the 
trade along the western coast of South America rounding Cape Horn several 
times in the German sailing vessel Mexico, sailing around the Cape of Good 
Hope also, and in the northern trade making trips to Iceland, in all following 
the sea for a period of eight years. Giving up this life, Mr. Hansen decided 
to make his home in California, and coming to Humboldt county, he arrived 
in Eureka on April 1, 1883. His first employment in this country was with 
Niss Nissen for a year, after which he was engaged in fishing in Eel river 
for a season, then working on the Bunker Hill ranch for a couple 
of years. In the year 1886 he purchased his present ranch of seventy-five 
acres on Cock Robin Island, in Humboldt county, which for some years he 
devoted to the purposes of dairying. In 1898 renting the place and selling his 
stock, Mr. Hansen joined the rush to the Alaska gold fields, going by the 
Stickeen River route to Tesland Lake at the head of the Yukon River. From 
the mouth of the Stickeen river to Telegraph Creek they hauled their provi- 
sions on hand sleds and from the latter place to Tesland Lake, one hundred 
fifty-six miles, where his company constructed boats by which they came 
down the Yukon to Dawson. The party wintered at Dawson, doing pros- 
pecting for others and also some logging, but the logs stranded and their 



982 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

work in that line was lost, their work at Dawson likewise not proving a 
success, on account of the failure of their employer, and although they 
brought suit, nothing was gained thereby. Leaving then for St. Michael's, 
they stopped at different places along the Yukon, finally taking a schooner 
for Seattle, Wash., arriving in Eureka, Cal., after a hard trip of two years' 
duration in the frozen north. Mr. Hansen then went to San Francisco, and 
secured work at Harbor View Baths, of which he had the management for 
seven years, resigning there in order to return to dairying once more, and 
is now the owner of a fine herd of fifty cows, mostly high grade Jerseys, 
and on his ranch on Cock Robin Island, which consists of very fertile soil, 
he is enabled to raise all the hay and green feed necessary for his herd. 
Besides his business interests, Mr. Hansen is also one of the original stock- 
holders of the Valley Flower Creamery, is a member of the Ferndale Dairy- 
men's Association, the Danish Brotherhood and Aurora Lodge No. 51, 
Knights of Pythias at Ferndale, of which he is past chancellor. He was 
married in Oakland, Cal., to Miss Harriet Boyd, who was born in St. 
Louis, Mo. 

CHARLES FREMONT GOFF.— Among the pioneer families in the 
region around Petrolia, in the Mattole valley, the Goffs have been well known 
for over fifty years, the family having resided there since 1859. Mr. and 
Mrs. Stephen Goff, parents of Charles F. Goff, the present postmaster at 
Petrolia and otherwise prominently associated with public affairs at that 
place, lived to see the locality reach its modern state of development, both 
having attained the ripe age of ninety years, passing away only a few years 
ago. They were widely known among the early residents, and even in the 
days when hospitality was almost a necessary virtue were noted for the 
cheer and kindly welcome given to all who came to their door, their 
generosity and liberality reflecting the best sentiments which prevailed in 
the locality. 

Stephen Goff was a Southerner, born in Guilford county, N. C, January 
17, 1811. When a young man he moved out to Wisconsin, where he lived 
until some time after his marriage, and during that period he served in the 
Black Hawk war, from the time of his enlistment to the end of the-trouble; 
in his later years he received a pension for this military service. By occupa- 
tion he was a carpenter. In the year 1849 he came across the plains to the 
Pacific coast with a train of ox wagons, leaving his family in Wisconsin. 
Going up to Oregon, he was engaged in the stock business there for the next 
five years, and returned to the east by way of the isthmus. The voyage from 
Aspinwall (now Colon) to New York City was made in a United States 
mail steamer, and was marked by at least one exciting incident. A Spanish 
war vessel fired two shots across the bow of the ship to halt her, and a Spanish 
officer came aboard and made a hasty examination, the ship being allowed to 
proceed as soon as he retired. Mr. Goff rejoined his family in Wisconsin and 
in 1855 set out with them for the west by the plains route. Their first stop 
in California was in Shasta county, and in 1857 they came to Humboldt 
county, living about one year at Rohnerville before removing to Petrolia, in 
the Mattole valley, where they settled in 1859. The Indians were active and 
hostile at the time, and after several white men had been killed the government 
troops at Eureka were sent down to protect the settlers. The Goffs were 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 983 

here throughout the primitive period, and have done their share toward the 
opening up and improvement of the country, not only from a material point 
of view, but through their support and encouragement of the best influences 
set on foot in the vicinity. Mr. Goff bought the property on the Mattole 
river known as the old Goff ranch, and there he made his home to the end 
of his long life. He worked industriously to rear his large family in comfort 
and to provide them with the best the times afforded. His progressive spirit 
made him the recipient of public honors in the early days. Even during his 
short residence in Oregon he had been elected to represent his district in the 
state legislature, and about 1862 he was elected assessor of Humboldt county, 
serving two successive terms; his deputy was William H. Wallace. He 
always took an interest in the welfare of the county and in seeing good men 
in office. 

At White Oak Springs, Wis., Mr. Goff met Miss Mary Deborah Hinton 
(born April 3, 1818), whom he married there, April 3, 1837, and who survived 
him six years, his death occurring March 11, 1902, hers in 1908, at their home 
place on the Mattole river. As previously mentioned, both lived to be over 
ninety years old. Mrs. Goff was a famous nurse in the early days, and prob- 
ably as popular and well known for her kindliness and sweet disposition as 
for her more practical qualities. In her professional capacity she was called 
upon to minister among all classes, and never lost an opportunity to relieve 
suffering and pain, or to do a generous or gracious act, especially among the 
poor and needy. She attended many births, and being a woman of intelligent 
mind realized the necessity for records and their value and took the pains to 
record births and deaths in the valley for a long period. Her benign and 
helpful character endeared her to a wide circle which appreciated the good 
she did in her unselfish life, and she is held in loving memory all over the 
territory where so many years of her life were spent. To Mr. and Mrs. Goff 
were born twelve children : Elender married William Edington, of Sioux 
Falls, S. Dak., and died leaving three sons : Anna A., the widow of Joel 
Benton, lives at Oakland, Gal. ; James H. married Mary Patrick, and died 
leaving five sons; Silas M., a stockman, of Baker City, Ore., married Miss 
Sarah Crank ; Stephen T., who lives at Heppner, Ore., married Clara Patter- 
son ; Thomas H. married Sarah Goodman, and both are deceased ; John B., 
a stockman, is located at Lone Rock, Ore. ; Mary is the wife of Frank Gouthier, 
of Coquille, Ore., a stockman; Charles F. is mentioned below; Harry C. 
deceased ; Lillie M. died when sixteen years old ; the eldest child was a son 
that died in infancy. 

Charles F. Goff' was born February 9, 1860, at Petrolia, on the old Goff 
ranch down the Mattole river, and grew up there. He received a good public 
school education in Petrolia district. Remaining with his parents until after 
he attained his majority, he went to Oregon in the year 1882 and lived there 
over ten years, principally in Grant county. In 1893 he returned to his 
native county and resumed work on the homestead ranch, where he remained 
until he took the agency of the Pacific Telegraph & Telephone Company at 
Petrolia, being local manager. He is associated with all such enterprises in 
the vicinity, being a stockholder, director and manager of the Petrolia Tele- 
phone Company, which is the exchange for the Upper Mattole Telephone 
Company. His duties with the various concerns combine to their mutual 
advantage, for having a line on all the facilities in the locality he is able 



984 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to see that it has the best service possible, there being no elements to conflict 
under the present arrangement. On March 1, 1914, he was appointed post- 
master at Petrolia, another arm of service in which he has proved very capable, 
looking after the best interests of his fellow citizens with his customary 
fidelity. His businesslike methods and executive ability fit him admirably 
for all his responsibilities, and his prompt attention to every duty has called 
forth much favorable comment, of which his sincere desire to please makes 
him worthy. 

Mr. Goff was married during his residence in Oregon, Julv 15, 1884, to 
Miss Mary Lightfoot, born in Salem, Ore., the daughter of Samuel and Maria 
(Salisbury) Lightfoot, born in Indiana and Ohio respectively. They crossed 
the plains overland and were married in Oregon. For a time they farmed 
in Marion county and later were stock-raisers in Umatilla county, where the 
father died in September, 1913, and the mother in October, 1914. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gofif have a remarkably pleasant home. Of the four children born to 
them, Agnes died when twelve and Grace when eight years old. The eldest 
living child is Maude May, now the wife of Gilbert Langdon, a resident of 
Petrolia, and the mother of two children, Mildred and Charles Elsworth. The 
other child, Elva Elaine, is now twelve years old. Mr. Gofif, although not a 
member, attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Petrolia. The congrega- 
tion has just erected a new house of worship and Mr. Goff served very 
efficiently as a member of the building committee ; he is a trustee of the 
church and a willing helper in all its activities. Fraternally he is a member 
of the Woodmen of the World. 

CELSO PEDROTTI. — Among the enterprising and successful young 
men engaged in the dairy business in Humboldt county, Cal., may be men- 
tioned Celso Pedrotti, who, though of foreign birth, was attracted to this 
country by the success of several of his relatives who had preceded him to 
the new world. Many years previous, his father, John Pedrotti, had come to 
California when a lad of about fifteen years of age, and had spent many 
years on the Pacific coast, in Marin, Sonoma and Humboldt counties, being 
engaged in the mercantile and livery business in Rio Dell and afterwards in 
Scotia. Returning to his native Canton Ticino in Switzerland, Mr. Pedrotti 
was there married to Delfina Sartori, and devoted himself to the hotel 
business in Giumaglio, in Canton Ticino. Of the thirteen children of John 
and Delfina Pedrotti, Celso is the next to the oldest. He received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of the town of Giumaglio, where he was born 
August 7, 1891, and in the fall of 1907 removed to Ferndale, in Flumboldt 
county, Cal., where he was employed for three years on the ranch of his 
uncle, Elvezio Pedrotti, and for two years more on the estate of his cousin, 
Horace Pedrotti, and for a time on various other ranches in the vicinity, 
until finally starting in business for himself. 

Leasing his present place of seventy acres of bottom land, which he has 
stocked with a dairy herd of forty cows, where he likewise is enabled to raise 
sufficient hay and green feed for his herd, Mr. Pedrotti, with the experience 
gained while in the employ of other ranchers, and with the practical abilit}' 
which is characteristic of him, is making a success of his chosen line of work, 
and is well liked by all with whom he has dealings. In his political interests, 
he is a supporter of the Republican party, and in fraternal circles is well 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 985 

known as a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. His marriage 
was solemnized in Eureka, Cal., his wife, formerly Miss Sunta Gnesa, being 
a native of the same canton in Switzerland as Mr. Pedrotti. 

DAN DUSINA. — Among the progressive sons of other lands, who have 
made their home in California, after a few years of employment by others 
starting out in business for themselves and reaping success in their chosen 
lines, may be mentioned Dan Dusina, who, after securing employment and 
practical experience in several dairies in Humboldt county, Cal., for a time, 
is now the successful operator of a ranch of one hundred and thirty acres 
stocked with a large herd of cows, where he also engages in agricultural 
pursuits. 

The son of Bartol Dusina, a stockman and farmer of Italy, Dan Dusina 
was born in that country, at Ona Degna, in the province of Brescia, December 
6, 1881, where he was educated in the public schools and until 1904 assisted 
his father on the farm and in the business of stock raising. In the latter year 
he removed to California, in order to try his fortunes in the New World, of 
which such glowing reports had been brought by others of his countrymen 
who had met with success there. In March of that year, Mr. Dusina went 
to Eureka, Cal., finding his first occupation in working in the woods at 
Philbrook, in the same county, but this not being to his liking, he removed 
to the town of Ferndale, a month later obtaining employment with Martin 
Pedrezini at Loleta for a period of eight months. His next employment was 
with De Carli for ten months, after which he was engaged at different dairies 
in the vicinity of Loleta and Ferndale, and this being the line of occupation 
which appealed to him most strongly, it being the one to which he was 
accustomed in his home in Italy, Mr. Dusina concluded to start in business 
for himself, he now having received practical experience in the methods of 
carrying on this work in the new country. He therefore, in October, 1909, 
leased the Frazer place of one hundred twenty acres, for a period of seven 
years, where he successfully carried on a dairy consisting of forty-five cows, 
but in 1912 sold his interest to his partner, Mr. Flocchini, after which he 
rented the Peterson place of eighty acres for three years, having there a herd 
of sixty milch cows. Again making a change in his location, Mr. Dusina in 
November, 1914, leased the present ranch, the Kelly place near the town of 
Waddington, and here he now operates one hundred and thirty acres of 
rich bottom land, which he has stocked with a dairy of eighty cows, being 
also engaged here in the raising of alfalfa, corn, clover, carrots and beets in 
large quantities. At his new location, Mr. Dusina is making a decided suc- 
cess of the business, thoroughly understanding every part of the work, both 
from his early experience in his boyhood's home and from his employment 
upon various dairies when he first came to California. A Republican in 
principles, he is well known in the community as a liberal and enterprising 
man, and holds the esteem of everyone with whom he is associated. 

JAMES F. WORTHINGTON.— The father of James Fulton Worth- 
ington was a California pioneer, located at Worthington Prairie, now a 
suburb of the city of Eureka. Born in Wisconsin, William Worthington was 
there married to Elizabeth Johnson, a native of New York state, and fol- 
lowed the occupation of farming in Wisconsin until in 1854 he crossed the 
plains by ox team, with his wife and two children, and came to Humboldt 



986 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

county, Cal., where he cleared and farmed the land on Worthington Prairie 
and engaged in stock raising. After a few years he removed to Table Blufif, 
and from thence to Waddington, Cal., where he purchased a farm and engaged 
in the dairy business. There his death occurred in April, 1910, at the age of 
seventy-eight years, his wife's death taking place two months later, the cause 
of the death of each being typhoid fever. Of their family of eight children, 
seven are living, James Fulton Worthington being the fourth oldest. He 
was born at Table Blufif, Nov. 20, 1859, receiving his education in the public 
schools, and until twenty-one years of age remained at home assisting his 
father on the farm. At that time he purchased ninety-four and one-half 
acres, a portion of the ranch where he was born, and for nine years was 
engaged in the dairy business there, with a herd of thirty-three cows, mak- 
ing butter which he sold in the city of Eureka. Selling this ranch in 1889, 
he rented a place at Waddington for six years, consisting of forty acres, then 
leased one hundred acres from John T. Pollard on Coffee creek, where for 
twenty years he ran a dairy of sixty cows. As early as 1903 Mr. Worthing- 
ton bought the old Charlton place of one hundred and twelve acres, located 
on the coast, to which in 1911 he added the ninety-four acres adjoining it 
on the south, and the next year forty-seven acres more, all adjacent, making 
in all an estate of two hundred fifty-three acres, situated on the coast with 
a half mile of coast line, and devoted to pasture land and the raising of hay 
and green feed for dairy purposes. For a period of twelve years Mr. Worth- 
ington has operated both this ranch and the Pollard place on CofTee creek, 
but in 1914 disposed of the latter lease and moved his stock to his coast 
ranch, where he now milks a herd of forty cows and is also engaged in the 
raising of stock, and resides a part of the time upon this extensive ranch, and 
a part of the time at his Ferndale residence. 

Politically, Mr. Worthington is a member of the Republican party, 
while his religious associations are with the church of the Latter-Day 
Saints. In fraternal circles he is known as a member of the Woodmen of the 
World, while the interest he takes in educational matters is shown by the fact 
that he was a school trustee of the Waddington district for many years, nine 
years of which time he was clerk of the board. He was married in Eureka, 
in May, 1881, to Miss Elizabeth Pollard, born in Dixon, Solano county, Cal., 
the daughter of John Pollard, a pioneer of Solano county and then of Hum- 
boldt county, where he purchased the Pollard ranch on Cofifee creek. Mt. 
and Mrs. Worthington are the parents of eight children, namely; John, an 
electrician in Southern California ; Margaret, now Mrs. Rogers, of Fern- 
dale ; Clarence, who died at the age of twenty-one years ; Joseph, who resides 
at Ferndale; Mabel, now Mrs. Robinson; June, now Mrs. Benjamin Gofif, of 
Ferndale ; and Myrtle and Josephine, who still make their home with their 
parents. 

PANCRAGIO MORANDA.— The early life of Pancragio Moranda was 
spent in Switzerland, where he was born at Vogorno, Canton Ticino, January 
4, 1861, and grew up on the farm of his father, Bartol Moranda, attending the 
public schools of Vogorno. Desirous of trying his fortune in California, 
as he had heard from returning countrymen of the great opportunities there, 
Mr. Moranda in 1880 came to San Francisco, the first employment he secured 
being on a dairy farm near Petaluma, his next engagement being in San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 987 

Francisco. In February, 1883, he removed to Humboldt county, Cal., secur- 
ing employment here on a dairy farm near Ferndale until August, 1883, 
when on account of his health he returned to Switzerland. Restored in health 
by the conditions of climate in the Alps, Mr. Moranda in 1886 came once 
more to California, continuing in the dairy business here until 1901, when he 
purchased his present place at Loleta, Humboldt county. At the time of his 
purchase of the forty-nine and three-quarters acres, the land was a wilderness, 
thick with spruce, willows and underbrush, but by hard work Mr. Moranda 
has cleared the ground until his property is now one of the finest modern 
sites in the county, and here he successfully operates an up-to-date dairy 
consisting of twenty cows, by continued endeavor having cleared the property 
of debt as well as of the wild underbrush which at first covered it. In his 
political interests Mr. Moranda is a supporter of the principles of the Repub- 
lican party. Since 1886 he has made two trips to Switzerland, once in 1912 
and again in 1913 and 1914, the last time remaining fifteen months, when he 
returned to take charge of his ranch. 

JOHN P. MULLEN.— Although not a native son, John P. Mullen has 
been in the state since he was six months old, and this is the scene of his first 
recollections. He was born in Virginia City, Nev., March 18, 1868, the son 
of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Sullivan) Mullen, born in County Cork, Ireland, 
where they were married. They migrated to the Pacific coast in pioneer 
days, coming via Panama to San Francisco. Jeremiah Mullen was engaged 
in mining at Virginia City, Nev., and from there in September, 1868, he 
came to Humboldt county, Cal., and on Lawrence creek homesteaded one hun- 
dred sixty acres of land twenty-two miles east of Eureka. It was wild land, 
but he cleared and improved it and converted it into a valuable farm. He 
first built a log house, afterwards a frame house, which was burned, and 
the third house which he erected is still standing. By purchasing adjoining 
land he became the owner of a ranch of eight hundred acres, upon which he 
raised cattle until he died in April, 1898. His wife had preceded him two 
years, her death occurring in 1896. Of their four children there are three 
living, as follows: William H., a rancher on Lawrence creek; John P., of 
whom we write; and Timothy J., also a stockman on Lawrence creek. 

As stated above, John P. Mullen was reared in Humboldt county from 
the age of six months. He grew up on his father's ranch, and was educated 
in the public schools. F"rom a lad he learned the stock business and riding 
the range. As did all the sons, he remained home on the home farm helping 
his parents, and after the father died he and his brother William H. bought 
a ranch of eight hundred acres from their uncle, David Mullen, and ran it 
in connection with the home ranch for four years. John P. then sold his 
interest in both ranches to his brother William. In 1903 he bought the two 
ranches which he now owns, the Tom Bulger ranch of three hundred sixty 
acres and a part of the old Charles Roberts ranch, five hundred ninety-one 
acres. The latter has two sets of buildings, while the former has good 
buildings and improvements ; about one hundred acres are under cultiva- 
tion. He engages in cattle-growing, raising the Short Horn Durham stock, 
his brand being J P. It is a splendid cattle ranch and can feed about one 
hundred fifty head of cattle. He also takes contracts for getting out tan 
bark for the tannery, a business he has followed for six years. 



988 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Mullen was married in Eureka November 7, 1891, being united with 
Miss Etta Phelan, born in San Francisco, the daughter of Young Phelan, 
born in Arkansas. When a young man Mr. Phelan came to San Francisco, 
from there coming to Eureka, where he engaged in hunting for the Fort 
Baker Company with his pack of hounds, following it as a business until 
he retired to Eureka. His wife died in 1914. Of their four daughters, ]\lrs. 
Mullen is the third oldest, and is a woman of natural ability and charm. 
Mr. Mullen was for several terms trustee of the Kneeland school district, 
being clerk of the board. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Aerie No. 
130, F. O. E. He believes in the principles of the Republican party. 

ELVEZIO PEDROTTI.— In the Eel river valley there is no more 
enterprising and highly respected citizen than Elvezio Pedrotti, a native of 
Switzerland who has carved out a fortune for himself since coming to this 
country as a youth. Born in Giumaglio, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, in 
December, 1867, he was the son of John, a farmer of that district, and Ma- 
riana (Adami) Pedrotti, both of whom died in their native land. Of their six 
children, three sons are now living, the youngest of whom is Elvezio, who 
was brought up on the farm and received his education in the public schools, 
at the age of sixteen years coming to California, whither his brothers had 
preceded him and sent back good reports of the opportunities for advance- 
ment and success in the new country. On October 24, 1884, Elvezio Pedrotti 
left home and came to New York, whence he continued his journey to San 
Francisco, going to Eureka, in Humboldt county, Cal., the latter part of 
November of the same year, in which town his brother Victor had estab- 
lished a dairy farm. For a time Elvezio remained with his brother in Eureka, 
then finding employment in the dairy of the Russ Company on Bear River 
Ridge, where he remained a couple of years, after which he continued in the 
employ of other dairymen in the vicinity of the town of Ferndale for a 
period of ten years, save for four months spent in a trip to his old home in 
Switzerland in the year 1892. In 1896 he rented a dairy ranch on Bear 
River Ridge from Mr. Russ, his former employer, conducting it in partner- 
ship with G. La Franchi for two years, then renting two small ranches near 
Ferndale which he managed independently for four years, his herd con- 
sisting of sixty cows. Later, Mr. Pedrotti rented the Steinhoif place near 
Fern Bridge, which he ran for ten years, with a herd of about eighty cows. 
Purchasing his present place of eighty-one acres at Waddington, Cal., in 
1906, he has since that time been engaged in the dairy business there with a 
herd of fifty cows, raising on his own land hay, grain and alfalfa, as well as 
such green, feed as carrots and beets for his stock, for which he also has fine 
pasture land. 

In his political preferences, Mr. Pedrotti is an upholder of the principles 
of the Republican party, and with his wife is a member of the Court of Honor, 
she also being a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. His mar- 
riage was solemnized in 1896, uniting him with Mrs. Attelia (Grande) 
Giacomini, who is also a native of the Canton of Ticino in Switzerland, and 
they are the parents of three children, Alphonso E., who assists his father in 
the dairy business, Mary and Agnes. By her former marriage, Mrs. Pedrotti 
has two children, Carrie Giacomini, who makes her home with her mother, 
and Henry Giacomini, a grocer in business in Ferndale. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 989 

CARLO MAFFIA.— The native home of Carlo Maffia, now a prominent 
hotel man of Humboldt county, Cal., was beside the beautiful Lake Como in 
Italy, and there he was born on January 25, 1871, the son of Isidor Maffia, a 
farmer in that district. After receiving a good education in the public schools 
of his native land, Carlo Maffia, or Charles Maffia, as he is now known to his 
friends, came to the United States, arriving in San Francisco on February 12, 
1891, when he was a young man of twenty years. Going immediately to 
Duncan's Mills in Sonoma county, Cal., Mr. Maffia secured employment there 
and at Occidental, in the same county, for a period of five or six years, after 
which he removed to Gualala, in Mendocino county, being employed on a 
ranch there for a year. His next move was to Usal, where for a while he 
worked in the woods for the Dollar Lumber Company. February of the year 
1900 saw his removal to Humboldt county, his present home, where, after a 
few months spent at the town of Scotia, he went to Bayside, remaining there 
for the space of three and one-half years. Determining- to start out in a new 
line of business, Mr. Maffia in 1903 entered into partnership with Agostino 
Brambani in the purchase and management of the Italian Swiss Hotel on 
First and C streets, Eureka, and the two continued for several years as suc- 
cessful proprietors of the hostelry, when Mr. Maffia sold out his interest to 
his partner and removed to San Francisco, there to engage in business for 
four years, a business which he still owns. At the end of that period he 
returned to Eureka and bought back his former interest in the Italian Swiss 
hotel from his old partner, the two at present conducting it together under the 
partnership of Brambani and Maffia. Recently they have taken into the part- 
nership Mr. Maffia's brother Isidor, and have branched out in their chosen 
industry, in 1911 having erected the new Flor de Italia Hotel on Second street, 
between B and C streets. Eureka, which is a four-story building with base- 
ment, and is modern and up-to-date in all its equipment. 

The marriage of Mr. Maffia to Marie Albini was solemnized in Eureka, 
his vi'ife also being a native of Italy, and they are the parents of four children, 
of whom only two are living, namely, Siro and Rinaldo. Mr. Maffia holds 
membership in the Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 of San Francisco. 

ANTONE ENOS. — Humboldt is a county which is well adapted to the 
success of dairymen and farmers and this section of the state of California is 
glad to welcome from foreign shores men who are expert in this line of occu- 
pation. It is therefore not remarkable that among her citizens are many 
from Southern Europe, since the mountainous regions of those European 
countries are inhabited so generally by shepherds and owners of dairy herds ; 
and Mr. Enos, a well known dairyman of Humboldt county, is a representa- 
tive citizen in that industry, he having been born at Manadas, St. George, in 
the Azores Islands, September 27, 1877, where his father, also named Antone, 
is a farmer and stockman, and where the death of his mother, Maria (Ceu) 
Enos occurred. 

The Azores are islands of which perhaps less is generally known than of 
the other European countries, but they hold a high place among health and 
pleasure resorts, and their Portuguese atmosphere and place-names possess a 
little of the local color which the Spanish have given to our own California. 
One rarely hears their name without recalling Longfellow's line which refers 
to "some far-off, bright Azore." It was there that Antone Enos grew up on 



990 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

his father's farm, received his education in the pubUc schools and remained 
at home until the age of twenty years. At that time he removed to Humboldt 
county, Cal., in 1897, and secured employment at the dairy of Frank Peters, 
at Capetown on Bear river, working there intermittently for three years, and 
during a part of this time embraced the opportunity of attending the public 
school at Capetown. After 1900 he continued in the same line of employment 
at other dairies in the vicinity of Ferndale, Cal., and by 1.904 had sufficient 
money accumulated to permit of his starting out independently. Accordingly 
he leased the ranch of C. O. Morrow, which comprised thirty-five acres, 
thereon conducting a dairy of twenty cows for a period of three years, which 
he gave up in order to lease the Hicks place, a larger estate, of one hundred and 
sixteen acres. Here Mr. Enos established a dairy of. sixty cows and has con- 
tinued to operate the place ever since, though in the meantime purchasing 
thirty-one acres on the Island, three miles from Ferndale, which he has im- 
proved greatly and where he has built his new residence, barns, etc., and has 
a fine herd of twenty cows, all high grade, of the Guernsey breed. Through 
his interest in the dairy business, Mr. Enos was led to become one of the 
organizers of the Valley Flower Creamery Company, a stockholder and 
director of the same from its inception, and at present the vice-president of the 
company. 

The marriage of Mr. Enos took place in Ferndale, his wife having been 
formerly Miss Wilhelmina Peters, a native of the same town as himself, and 
niece of Frank Peters, a pioneer of Humboldt county, and daughter of Wil- 
liam Peters, who was also an early settler of this district. Mr. and Mrs. Enos 
are the parents of two children, by name Cedric and Frank. In political prin- 
ciples a strong Republican, Mr. Enos is known in fraternal circles as a member 
of the Woodmen of the World and the U. P. E. C, in Ferndale, he being sec- 
retary of the latter order. 

JOHN BATTISTE ZANOTTI.— California has been the leading induce- 
ment which has brought many of the sons of Italy from their beautiful native 
land to the more prosaic and matter-of-fact United States, where, however, 
they find place names of no less beauty than those with which they are 
familiar, though these in California are of Spanish origin, and where, in the 
southern part of the state, the climate and scenic setting of the country have 
won for it the name of "the Italy of America." 

The son of Francisco Zanotti, a farmer and stockraiser of Italy, John Bat- 
tiste was born in Ono Degno, in the province of Brescia, on the twenty-first 
of December, 1869, and, the oldest of a family of seven children, was educated 
in the local public schools and brought up on his father's farm, where he fol- 
lowed the trade of his father until removing to California in the year 1900. 
It is only natural that the newcomers from Italy should follow the occupa- 
tions of dairying, farming and stock raising, since in their native land many 
of them have in childhood tended their father's flocks upon the mountainsides 
and in the sheltered valleys ; and Mr. Zanotti found his first employment in 
America on a dairy ranch near Ferndale, Cal., which occupation he continued 
for a period of seven years, during that time being employed on only three 
different ranches. About the year 1907 he went into business independently 
along the same line, renting the L. Petersen ranch of forty acres, whereon he 
conducted a dairy for four years. In 1911 he rented a ranch from George 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 991 

Sweet near Waddington, Cal., comprising one hiindred and thirty acres of 
rich bottom land, where he is today doing well in the business, being an 
energetic and ambitious man, and 'one who is bound to advance. On his 
ranch he milks seventy cows, likewise raising stock which he pastures in the 
hills in that vicinity, and in his business achievement is a shining example, to 
other youths of his homeland, of what can be accomplished by one who is 
willing to start out for himself and make his way in a new country. 

In his political interests, Mr. Zanotti is a member of the Republican party. 
By his marriage in Brescia, Italy, with Miss Anna Flocchini, also a native of 
that place, he is the father of five children now living, namely, Francisco, 
Louis E., Margarita, Katherina and John Battiste. 

RUEL RUSS. — As the owner and occupant of a ranch near Carlotta, 
Mr. Russ is a prominent figure in the locality and is here engaged in general 
farm pursuits. Much of his life has been passed in California, as he was 
only seventeen years of age when, in 1869, his father brought the family to the 
west on one of the first transcontinental trains. Ruel remembers well the 
journey and the settlement in the then lonely town of Eureka, far removed 
from congenial associates. His boyhood was one of constant work. His 
advantages in an educational way were meager, but being a man of observa- 
tion he has overcome to a great extent the lack of thorough schooling. Ruel 
Russ was born in Waldo county, Mie., October 15, 1855. His father, William 
Russ, also a native of that state, was an own cousin to Joseph Russ, known 
throughout Humboldt county as one of its most prominent and wealthiest 
citizens. The grandfather, Lott Russ, was a lumberman in Maine and, while 
he never amassed a fortune, prospered to a moderate extent. The mother 
of Ruel Russ was Orilla Turner, also a native of Maine. She lived to be 
eighty-five years of age, while the father passed away in his seventy-second 
year. Their family numbered five children, of whom Ruel was the third in 
order of birth. 

The marriage of A^tr. Russ and Miss Etta Allen was celebrated in Eureka, 
September 5, 1885. Miss Allen was' born at St. Stephen, New Brunswick, 
and met her future husband in this county, whither she came with her sister 
Leora (now Mrs. J. M. Francis, a resident of Placer county, this state), to 
join their father in Eureka in 1881. She is a daughter of Robert and Julia 
(Arbuckle) Allen, natives of New Brunswick and Liverpool, England, re- 
spectively. The mother passed away in St. John, New Brunswick, and about 
1875 the father came to Humboldt county, where he followed lumbering; 
he died in Eureka in March, 1910. Mrs. Russ was educated in the public 
schools of Eureka. Mr. and Mrs. Russ are the parents of four children, of 
whom Ruel, Jr., married Josephine Ohlendick, and they make their home at 
Fortuna, with their two sons, Harold R. and Leland I. Gracia is the wife of 
Ja mes F. S now, engineer with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and with 
their three daughters, Florence, Evelyn and Eulilee, make their home in 
Eureka; Eulilee married Julian Baumrucker, in the employ of the Newell 
Lumber' Company, the family residing in Carlotta ; Glen Allen makes his 
home with his parents and will graduate from the Fortuna high school with 
the class of 1915. The Russ ranch comprises forty acres on Van Dusen river 
about one-half mile from Carlotta, all rich bottom land devoted to farming 
and dairying. Mr. Russ also has a small commercial orchard of apples and 



992 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

cherries. The latter are of fine quality and find a ready sale at a good figure 
on the place. 

HORACE PEDROTTI.— The present state of cultivation to which the 
county of Humboldt, Cal., has attained, is due in large measure to the initiative 
of its foreign-born citizens, many of whom have purchased and improved 
ranches in that section of the state, where they carry on agriculture or stock- 
raising extensively. Among these natives of a distant country who are adding 
materially to the progress and welfare of California by their industrious and 
practical methods of carrying on their business, should be mentioned Horace 
Pedrotti, a very successful dairyman, who has made a fortune for himself in 
this new country, and now owns land near Colusa, Cal., where he is raising 
alfalfa successfully by the aid of irrigation. 

The father of Mr. Pedrotti, Philip Pedrotti, came to California in the 
early days, and after a few years spent on the Pacific coast, returned to his 
native canton of Ticino, in Switzerland, where his family grew up and where 
his death occurred in 1913, his wife, formerly Caroline Sartori, continuing to 
live at the old home. Of their four children, Horace, the next to the oldest, 
was born on the farm in Ticino in August, 1878, received his education in the 
public schools of his native country, and in 1893 removed to California, spend- 
ing the first ten years of his residence in this state in the counties of Sonoma 
and Marin, where he was employed on dairy farms. In 1903 he went to 
Ferndale, in Humboldt county, where six months later he entered the dairy 
business for himself, leasing the old McGuire ranch of fifty acres, where for 
five years he conducted a dairy consisting of thirty cows. The Ragles place, 
which comprised eighty acres of land near the town of Waddington, was also 
leased by him for four years, where he ran a dairy of forty cows ; likewise 
his present place, formerly known as the Frank Kelly place, which consists of 
one hundred thirty acres situated one-half mile north of Waddington, whereon 
he conducts a dairy of sixty cows, also raising hay and green feed such as corn, 
beets and carrots. This lease was retained by Mr. Pedrotti when he sold the 
lease on the Ragles property to his brother, Walter Pedrotti, a resident of 
Glenn county, Cal. A'Vith his brother, he owns two ranches in Glenn county, 
one consisting of one hundred sixty acres, situated four miles from Willows, 
the other of eighty acres, nine miles from the same town, both estates being 
under irrigation and devoted to the raising of alfalfa and to dairy and farming 
purposes. In July, 1915, Mr. Pedrotti purchased a dairy ranch of forty acres 
near Grizzly Blufif, where he intends making his residence. 

The wife of Mr. Pedrotti, formerly Bridget Barca, is also a native of 
Canton Ticino, Switzerland. Their marriage took place in Eureka, Cal., and 
they are the parents of four children, namely, Nellie, Katie, Janey and George. 
In his political preferences, Mr. Pedrotti is a member of the Republican party. 
He is an intellectual and energetic man, who brings to his work in the New 
World his best endeavor, and holds a high place in the esteem of all who 
know him. 

BEN SANTI. — Another of the natives of Switzerland who ha^e come 
to America to make for themselves a home in the new country, and who, 
having grown up in farm surroundings at home as youths, have followed the 
pursuit of dairying and farming with much success after coming to California, 
should be mentioned Ben Santi, an enterprising and liberal young man who is 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 993 

making a success of dairying in Humboldt county, Cal., like many others of 
his countrymen. 

The birth of Mr. Santi took place on September 21, 1890, in the Canton of 
Grissons or Graubunden, Switzerland, where he was brought up on his father's 
farm and received a good education in the public schools. In the year 1911 he 
came to this country, settling in Humboldt county, Cal., where he found his 
first employment on a dairy farm at Ferndale. Having gained sufBcient exper- 
ience and means to permit of his going into business independently, Mr. Santi 
in 1913 leased a forty acre ranch north of the town of Waddington, in this 
county, where he has since that time been carrying on dairying successfully, 
milking a herd of twenty-seven cows. Recently he has taken a new lease, 
this time of the Nissen dairy ranch at Areata, an estate of one hundred and 
sixty acres on the Areata Bottoms, where he intends to operate a ranch of 
eighty milch cows. It will thus be seen that, entirely by his own endeavor 
and industry, Mr. Santi is coming to the front in his chosen line of work, 
making a success of the same and increasing the extent of the property 
whereon he conducts his business. In his political interests he favors the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, while fraternall}^ he is associated with the 
Druids in Ferndale, and his religious affiliations are with the Catholic Church 
of the same town. 

OBADIAH CYRUS HOOPER.— -As postmaster at Holmes, where he 
also conducts a general merchandise store, and in addition engages in stock- 
raising, Obadiah C. Hooper is one of the best known men in the community, 
and also one of the most influential and popular. He has been in the mer- 
cantile business a large part of his life and is also an experienced farmer and 
stockman. His appointment as postmaster was received in 1912, and his 
service in this capacity has given the greatest of satisfaction. His store is 
the principal one in Holmes, and the service rendered there is of the best. 
Mr. Hooper has never been married and his aged mother resides with him, 
sharing the comforts of his home, and adding greatly to its cheer. 

Mr. Hooper is a native of California, born in Yuba county, November 21, 
1863. His father, William Watson Hooper, was a native of Fanning county, 
Texas, born there when the Lone Star state was a part of Mexico. He crossed 
the plains with ox-teams in 1854, locating at Wheatland, Yuba county. He 
was in Oregon' for a time, where lie engaged in farming, and while in Portland 
he met and married Miss Mary J. Hull, a native of Pittsfield, Illinois. She is 
the daughter of Rev. C. B. and Nancy (Shin) Hull, born in New York and 
Illinois, respectively. Her mother was the first white child born on Illinois 
river. In 1852 they brought their family by ox-teams over Oregon trail and 
settled in Portland. She was reared in Washington county, Ore. Mrs. 
Hooper bore her husband five children, three sons and two daughters. The 
father died in Glenn county, this state, at the age of forty-four years. Obadiah 
C. Hooper grew to manhood in Yuba and Glenn counties, his father having a 
homestead and a pre-emption claim in the latter county. He attended the 
public schools of his district, and remained at home with his father, assisting 
with the care of the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, and later 
engaged in farming for himself. When he was thirty-five he engaged in the 
mercantile business at Chrome, now Millsap, Glenn county, where he remained 
for two years. In 1898 he came to Hum.boldt county, where during the first 
winter he followed the hotel business as manager of the Dyerville Hotel, and 



994 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

also conducted the livery barn, remaining for a year. Later, after four years 
of farming at Camp Grant, he returned to Dyerville and managed the hotel 
there for an additional year. He then moved to Lolita, where he conducted a 
millinery store for a year, and then went to Pepperwood where for fourteen 
months he conducted the Lucas Hotel. Following this he ranched for three 
years, having rented for that time the Pedrotti ranch at Holmes, this being 
the property that he is now conducting as a stock ranch. In 1912 he leased 
his present store building and put in a first-class stock of general merchandise, 
and since that time has been conducting this enterprise, with marked financial 
success, as well as being postmaster. 

In his political preferences Mr. Hooper is a Socialist' and is a well-read, 
well-informed man, and a careful thinker. He takes a keen interest in all that 
goes on about him, and is one of the progressive men of the community, 
standing squarely for improvement along sane and permanent lines, and for 
any movement that is for the general welfare of the community. He is a 
member of the Woodmen of the World at Holmes. The business interests of 
Mr. Hooper are well looked after by him, and his ranching interests as well 
as his mercantile interests are prospering. The ranch which he rents from 
V. Pedrotti, who is his brother-in-law, contains forty-two acres, and is one of 
the best in the vicinity. There Mr. Hooper is engaged in breeding a high 
grade of dairy cattle, the Jersey strain being developed. These cows are 
much sought by the dairymen of the region and find a ready market. Mr. 
Pedrotti is himself a well-known figure in local affairs and his sketch appears 
elsewhere in this edition. 

Both Mr. Hooper and his mother are well liked in Holmes, and are 
deservedly popular. Mr. Hooper is a booster for his home city and for the 
county as well, and his mother is one of the finest type of the pioneer women 
of a day gone by, gentle, qviiet, and full of a thousand kindnesses for all who 
come her way. 

JOHN HOFFMAN.— It was in 1907 that John Hoffman came from 
Eureka, where he had been employed in the Bendixsen shipyard for the pre- 
ceding seven years, and purchased his present place of forty acres on Holmes 
Flat, near what is now the village of Holmes, Mr. Hoffman being the first 
rancher to improve property at this point and make a home there. He paid 
$4,500 for the tract and has cleared and improved it in a most praiseworthy 
manner, and with the general increase of property valuation in this part of 
the county, together with the improvements that have been made, the place 
is now considered as valuable as any of its size in the county. The land is 
especially rich and five crops of alfalfa can be cut without irrigation. Mr. 
Hoffman is engaged in general farming and dairying, milking from twenty to 
thirty cows. He has a large modern barn and comfortable dwelling-house, 
and has utilized the natural resources of the place in his improvements in 
such a manner as to combine beauty and utility in a striking manner. For 
instance, he has hollowed out a great redwood stump and made it do service 
for a cellar and storehouse, and another of about twenty feet in height is 
mounted with a windmill and reservoir and makes a splendid tower. 

Mr. Hoffman is a native of Finland, born near Wasa, April 22. 1876. His 
father, John Hoffman, was a farmer in Finland and especially well-to-do, 
owning four hundred acres. He died in 1914. The mother was IVTain Lisa 
Rien, also a native of Finland, where she is still living, at the age of seventy 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 995 

years. Young Mr. Hoffman spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, 
where he assisted with the farm labor while attending school. When he Avas 
twenty years of age he was married to Miss Mary Rusk, also born near Wasa, 
after which he rented a farm from his father-in-law. Matt Rusk, where he 
engaged in farming for a year. He was ambitious, however, and the oppor- 
tunities for advancement in his native land were small, under the hated domi- 
nation of Russia, and he and his yoving wife determined to come to America 
and seek their fortune there. Accordingly they came to Pennsylvania in 1897, 
and for a time Mr. Hoffman was employed in the coal mines at Bitumen, 
Clinton county, that state. The same year, in the fall of 1897, they came to 
California, locating at first in Mendocino county, where for a year Mr. Hoff- 
man was employed in the woods, near Gualala, and later went to Greenwood, 
where he was with the L. E. White Lumber Company for two years. In 1900 
he came into Humboldt county and located at Eureka, where he entered the 
employ of the Bendixsen Shipyards, being employed by this company for 
seven years. He began at the bottom and was steadily promoted, and at the 
time of his resignation was an expert ship carpenter. This is a line of work 
that he especially likes, and often- even now, when the farm work is slack, 
and the ship-building season is at its height, he goes over to Eureka and 
works for a month or two in the shipyards where he is always certain of a 
welcome because of his efficiency. 

It was a very fortunate move when Mr. Hoffman resigned his lucrative 
position in the shipyards to take up farming, for it led to his purchase of land, 
at low figures, in the richest section of the county, a veritable garden spot, 
which has since then greatly increased in value. 

In addition to the management of his farm, Mr. Hoft'man also contracts 
for the hauling of gravel in road work, and similar construction work, and 
thus adds materially to his annual profits. His wife has borne him six chil- 
dren, four daughters and two sons, as follows : Vendla Matilda, Oscar R., 
Alvar v., Mabel E., Olga A. and Alice. The mother of Mrs. Hoffman died 
in Finland about six years ago, and her father has since sold his farm in the 
native land and moved to Humboldt county in 1903 and now makes his home 
with his daughter and son-in-law on their farm. 

In his political views Mr. Hoffman is a Republican and is a stanch sup- 
porter of the principles of his party. He is keenly interested in local affairs 
and especially in educational matters, and gave half an acre of land for the 
present site of the Englewood school. 

VICTOR PEDROTTL— The sturdy little republic of Switzerland has 
given to the United States many citizens of ability and worth. Among those 
who have given us so high an estimate of the character and capabilities of 
the Swiss, Victor Pedrotti is an excellent representative. He has been a 
resident of California since he was a lad of fourteen years, having come to 
Humboldt county when he was eighteen. He has done exceptionally well, 
and is now one of the leading men of Dyerville and vicinity. He is at present 
the proprietor of the Dyerville Hotel, is owner and operator of a first-class 
blacksmith shop in Dyerville, and also owns a good forty-five acre ranch at 
Holmes, on what is known as Holmes Flat- in the rich bottoms of the Eel 
river, about three miles above Shively. In addition to this Air. Pedrotti rents 
a large stock-ranch on the Inglewood range, where he has a large number of 
cattle. He is a man of excellent business ability, and executive force, and is 



996 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTS 

well known through the southern part of the county. The Dyerville Hotel 
is a well known landmark of this part of the county, and is growing in 
importance. The coming of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad into Dyerville 
has greatly increased the importance of this place as a commercial center and 
wth this increase has come a corresponding growth in all business enterprises. 
There is a handsome steel bridge across the South Fork of the Eel river just 
below the South Fork station, on which this line crosses the river, and at 
Dyerville there is another handsome steel structure spanning the river, on 
which traffic on the state highway and the county road crosses, going from 
San Francisco to Eureka, and the country above. The Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany owns many thousands of valuable acres of redwood timber in this 
vicinity, there being one famous giant redwood that is more than twenty-one 
feet in diameter and which is said to contain more marketable lumber than 
any other tree in Humboldt county. Mr. Pedrotti was the manager of the 
Dyerville Hotel many years ago, and then gave it up, several other persons 
having been in charge after his resignation, including Col. Dyer and Mrs. 
Garland. About two years ago he again took charge of this hostelry and has 
made a great success of it since that time. 

Mr. Pedrotti was born in Giumaglio, canton Ticino, Switzerland. March 
29, 1862. His parents were also natives of Switzerland, where they lived and 
died. There were six children in their family, four sons and two daughters, 
of whom but three sons are now living. Of these the eldest, John, is now 
residing in Switzerland, on the old Pedrotti home place, having returned to 
the land of his birth a few years ago. For many years he was a resident of 
California, running a large dairy farm in Marin county, where he was very 
successful. Since returning to Switzerland he has been engaged in the raising 
of goats, sheep, and cattle, dairying and making cheese, growing fruits and 
chestnuts, and keeping a few guests at his quaint old Swiss chalet. The other 
brother, Alvitio, is a well-to-do dairy farmer at Waddington. From his earliest 
childhood Victor Pedrotti had wonderful dreams of coming to America and 
making a fortune, and he is working out the fulfilment of these dreams with 
wonderful accuracy. AVhen he was fourteen he came to America, joining his 
brother John in Marin county, Cal., where he worked first on his ranch for a 
year, then was with an uncle for two years, and for an additional two years 
was employed on various ranches in the neighborhood. He was ambitious 
and industrious, and willing to learn, and at the age of fourteen he was doing 
a man's work. He was eighteen years of age when he came to Humboldt 
county and settled at Rio Dell, where he rented a dairy farm, and when he 
was twenty-one he was running a dairy of twenty cows. At this time he 
married Miss Amanda Gould, by whom he had six children, all well known in 
Humboldt county, where they were reared and educated. They are : A'^ictor, 
who is in the hotel business at Garberville ; Ray, residing at Fort Bragg, and 
married to Miss Frances Whipple ; Myrtle and Gertrude, twins, and attending 
the Normal school at Areata ; Delia, employed in a store at Areata ; and Roy, 
employed at Alderpoint. Mr. Pedrotti was divorced from his first wife and in 
1900 was married a second time to A'liss Josephine Hooper, a native of Dayton, 
Butte county, Cal., their marriage being solemnized on July 6. Mrs. Pedrotti 
is a Avoman of great ability and splendid character, and has borne her husband 
six children : Iris, Giovanni, Pearl, Orlifif, Patrick and Philip. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 997 

For several years Mr. Pedrotti continued to conduct his dairy farm at Rio 
Dell and then rented a place on Bull creek, which he operated for a few years, 
in the meantime conducting a stage line from Scotia to Garberville. He 
obtained the United States mails' contract and carried the mails between these 
and intervening points. Dyerville was a sort of central point and Mr. Pedrotti 
opened a blacksmith shop there to care for his horses and stages, hiring a man 
to take charge of it. Circumstances, however, forced him to the forge and 
anvil, and being apt at learning he soon became an expert in many lines of 
smithing. He has given up the running of the stage line several years ago, 
but still .maintains the blacksmith shop for general work. 

Mr. Pedrotti was well educated in his mother tongue, and although he 
has neve^ attended school in America, he speaks, reads and writes the English 
language with fluency and ease, and is well informed on all current topics. 
He is progressive in his political views and has taken an active part in local 
affairs for many years, being many times a delegate to county conventions 
before the days of primary elections. He is an active member of the Odd 
Fellows, being a member of the Ferndale Lodge, No. 220, L O. O. F., and 
takes a prominent part in all the affairs of this order. 

WILLIAM LUCAS. — Prominent among the leading men of Pepper- 
wood is William Lucas, veteran hotel-keeper of the county, and pioneer of 
California and Oregon. He is an ideal hotel man, having the details of the 
business always at his finger tips, and takes exceptional care for the com- 
fort and welfare of his guests. He is the proprietor of the Lucas Hotel in 
Pepperwood, and also owns and operates a forty-acre ranch at this place. 
In all his undertakings his helpmeet and close associate is his wife, who is a 
woman of much ability, a native Californian and of Humboldt county. 

Mr. Lucas is a native of Illinois, born at Junction City, November 30, 
1863, the son of Christopher and Celia (Hoover) Lucas. When he was nine 
years of age he removed with his parents to California, locating twenty-five 
miles east of Stockton. His father was a farmer and owned property at that 
point, where he died seven years ago. The mother died in Stockton two 
years ago. She was a native of Illinois, where she was reared and educated 
and where she met and married Mr. Lucas. There were ten children in 
their family, AVilliam being the eldest. He was reared and educated on the 
farm near Stockton and later worked at farming, being employed first on 
his father's farm, and later on the various places in the neighborhood. He 
was also interested in dairying, and in saw-mill work and the work of the 
woods generally. Mr. Lucas has been twice married. The first time lo 
]Miss Lena Rogers, by whom he had two children, namely: Orville, who is 
in the United States navy, being stationed on the supply ship which runs 
from Apha to Hong Kong; and Lena May, married to James Larson, a 
farmer of Rio Dell. The first wife died in Oregon, at Coquille City, where 
Mr. Lucas was engaged in logging. Later he returned to California and 
located in Humboldt county, where he was married to Miss Rhoda May- 
field, the daughter of one of the oldest pioneer families of this county, her 
father, John Mayfield, being now deceased. After this marriage Mr. Lucas 
went to Dyerville, where he conducted the Dyerville Hotel for a year, at the 
same time running the ferry and the Dyerville livery stable. Following 
this he went to Mendocino county, where he was employed in the saw-mills 
for two years, and then came back to Humboldt county and located at Pep- 



998 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

perwood, where he has since resided. He has built up and improved his 
place- here and now owns a very valuable property. The hotel building- is a 
comfortable, modern structure, containing seventeen rooms, which was 
erected by Mr. Lucas in 1904. From 1904 to 1908 he served acceptably as 
postmaster of Pepperwood. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lucas are both well known in Pepperwood and vicinity. 
Mr. Lucas is a Progressive in his political views and takes an active interest 
in local affairs, being especially interested in educational matters. He has 
rendered valuable service as a member of the local board of school trustees, 
of which he is at present a member. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have six children, 
namely : Truman, Gladys, McKinley, Alta, Theda and Irene. 

JOSEPH RUSS.— No history of Humboldt county, Cal., would be com- 
plete without a mention of Joseph Russ, now deceased, who was perhaps the 
most extensive cattleman and land owner who has ever lived in the county; 
a miner, freighter, stockman, merchant and lumber manufacturer, having 
risen from a young man without means to the opulent estate of a millionaire 
cattleman and land owner in Humboldt county. Among other things, he 
established the Russ meat market at Eureka, the largest of its kind in that 
city and one* of the largest in northern California. He made his money by 
taking advantage of the low price of grazing lands in Humboldt county and 
by attending personally to the details of his business, being an untiring 
worker, one who rode the ranges himself and saw that his stock received the 
best of care. By always dealing on the square he made and held the friend- 
ship of all with whom he was concerned. His estate in Humboldt county 
comprises more than fifty thousand acres, whereon are kept thousands of 
cattle and sheep as well as horses and mules. Mr. Russ was a native of the 
state of Maine, having come west in 1849, attracted by the discovery of gold 
in California, where, after a prosperous career of almost forty years, he died 
October 8, 1886. His wife is Mrs. Zipporah (Patrick) Russ, who was born in 
Pennsylvania, the daughter of Nehemiah Patrick, a pioneer of Humboldt 
county who crossed the plains to California in 1852 and settled in Humboldt 
county the following year. Mrs. Russ still lives at Fern Cottage ranch at 
Ferndale, the summer home of the Russes. 

The son, Joseph Russ, is a worthy descendant of the industrious pioneer 
of the county, being the youngest of thirteen children and having been born 
November 27, 1876, at Fern Cottage ranch, where his early life was spent. 
He attended the schools at Eureka, after which he attended Hopkins Acad- 
emy, Oakland, and later Belmont Academy in San Mateo county, after which 
he entered Anderson's Private Military Academy at Alameda, from which 
he was graduated in 1895. 

When a mere lad Joseph Russ often rode his pony alongside his father 
in his extensive cattle business. In 1896 he began active operations himself 
as a cattle man, and at present is the owner of three ranches, the Mayflower, 
consisting of about fourteen hundred acres, the Woodland Echo, of about 
twelve hundred acres, both adjoining and in the Wildcat District about twelve 
miles from Ferndale, and the Ocean View ranch of twenty-one hundred acres 
below Cape Mendocino, which he purchased in 1899, and which extends nearly 
two miles along the ocean front. The two former places are run as dairy 
farms, the third as a cattle ranch, and all receive the careful attention of their 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 999 

owner, his business interests centering about these three prosperous ranches. 

The marriage of Mr. Russ to Miss Sadie A. Flowers, a native of Fern- 
dale, and the daughter of William J. Flowers, Sr., a pioneer of Humboldt 
county, took place in San Francisco in 1902, and to them were born six chil- 
dren, of whom only two sons, Joseph and Herbert, are at present living. The 
family reside at their handsome bungalow at Ferndale. In her religious 
belief Mrs. Russ is a Catholic. Mr. Russ is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 
652, B. P. O. E., also of Ferndale Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., and of Ferndale 
Encampment, I. O. O. F. 

GEORGE R. YOUNG. — As proprietor of the principal general merchan- 
dise store at Pepperwood.and ex-postmaster of that thriving little burg, George 
R. Young is one of the best known, as well as one of the most popular men 
in the vicinity. He has lived a most interesting life throughout the west, 
being a pioneer in half a dozen states west of the Missouri, having made his 
first trip to Denver in 1862, when he was but eighteen years of age. Later 
he drove stage from Denver to Cheyenne and on to Salt Lake for a number 
of years, and also from Salt Lake City westward, meeting during these years 
such men as Buffalo Bill (Col. Cody ), Capt. Jack Crawford, and others of early 
day fame. Later he went with an expedition into the mountains of Idaho and 
Montana, where they established forts in the back districts, and was also en- 
gaged in mining for many years through Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. 
Mr. Young came first to California in 1881, and has been a permanent resident 
of this state since 1884. He came to Pepperwood in 1903 and has been in the 
general merchandise business here since that time. 

Mr. Young is a native of Illinois, born at Danville, Vermilion county, 
January 10, 1844. His father was David Wallace Young, a native of Dayton, 
Ohio, and started the first plow factory in Illinois, at Bloomington, in 1851, in 
partnership with James Bunn. The mother was Miss Elizabeth Mills, in her 
girlhood, a native of Frankfort, Ky., and descendant of an old Southern family. 
The parents came later to Iowa, and at a still later date moved to Sterling, 
Kan., where they both died, the father at the age of sixty-six years, and the 
mother at the age of eighty-six, her death occurring in 1896. There were 
fifteen children in their family, nine sons and six daughters, George R. being 
fourth son, and the sixth child born. He lived in Danville, 111., until he was 
eight years old and then moved with his parents to Bloomington, where he 
grew to young manhood. He remembers having seen Abraham Lincoln once, 
at Bloomington. He started out for himself when he was fifteen years of 
age, but returned in 1864 to Iowa where his parents were then living. In 
1865 he left home again, this being the last time he ever saw his father, although 
he visited his mother in Sterling, Kan., in 1892. 

In 1862, on his first trip into the Rocky mountains, Mr. Young drove a 
six-yoke team of oxen to Denver for Ben Haliday, the man who established 
the overland stage. The wagon was loaded with corn for the feeding of 
the stage horses. In 1865. he again drove a similar outfit to Denver for 
Haliday, and on his arrival in Denver was given employment by the com- 
pany for two years in that city. Later he drove the Overland stage from 
Cheyenne to Denver, in 1868. In 1867 he went with the supply train of the 
Wells Fargo Express Company, with one hundred fifteen mule teams with 
government supplies to the Big Horn mountains and estab-lished two forts : 



1000 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Fort C. F. Smith, on the Big Horn river, and Fort Phil Kearney, at the head- 
waters of the Crazy river fork of the Powder river, the expedition being in 
command of Col. C. F. Smith. The Wells Fargo Express Company bought 
out the Overland stage from Ben Haliday in 1866, and in 1869 the coming 
of the railroad caused the stage line from Cheyenne to Denver to be dis- 
continued, and Mr. Young went into the mines, continuing in this line of 
occupation for a number of years. He was for a time at Silver City, Idaho, 
and there he met and married Miss Camelia Kuhr, a native of Hamburg, 
Germany. In the spring of 1876 he came with his wife to Virginia City, 
Nev., where he was employed in the Consolidated Virginia mine, the richest 
silver mine known up to that time, where he continued for twelve years. 
Later he was made foreman of the Mt. Como mine near Virginia City. Giv- 
ing up the life of the miner after a time, Mr. Young came to San Francisco, 
and for a number of years was in the employ of the Market Street^ Railway 
Company, as gripman on the Market Street cable road. Following this he 
engaged in the theatrical business, being manager for the Bob McGinley 
theatrical troupe, and traveling all over the coast, from Gray's Harbor to the 
Mexican line of Lower California, and eastward to Denver, making all of his 
journeys with a horse and buggy, and continuing in the theatrical business, 
intermittently for twelve years. He then went to Dakota, Alameda county, 
where he engaged in the general merchandise business, and served as post- 
master imder McKinley. In the fall of 1903 he came to Pepperwood, where 
he established himself in the general merchandise business, and has so con- 
tinued since. He was made postmaster under President Taft and served 
with great satisfaction for four years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of ten children, who are all well 
known in California, where they occupy, or have occupied, various positions 
of responsibility and trust. They are : Nettie, now the wife of Frank 
Suzie, a hotel keeper in San Francisco ; Chester, foreman of the shipping 
department of the Smith Premier Typewriter Company, residing in Syra- 
cuse, N. Y. ; George Bruce, residing in San Francisco; Frank Partlow, elec- 
trician at Mare Island, in the employ of the United States government, 
married and with one child; Robert Blaine, a commercial salesman residing 
in Oakland ; Luella Belle, the wife of George Mattieson, butcher, at Center- 
ville, Alameda county, Cal. ; Roy Albert, in the hospital corps of the United 
States government in the Philippine Islands ; Clarence and Raymond, residing 
at home, and employed in their father's store ; and Ira Dakota, aged twelve, 
and attending school at Pepperwoc5d. 

In addition to his interests in the general merchandise store, known by 
his name, Mr. Young is also a partner in the Happy Camp Shingle ^lill 
Company, with a mill at Holmes. The partnership consists of himself and 
John Helms, under-sheriff at Eureka, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
edition. Mr. Helms is president, and Mr. Young is secretary. Besides 
shingles, they manufacture fruit box shooks. This mill was built at Holmes 
Flat in 1912, and has a capacity of one hundred thousand shingles per day. 
In his political views Mr. Young is a Republican, his father being an old line . 
Whig. He takes a keen interest in all that pertains to the welfare of the 
community, and is a man of more than ordinary business ability and judg- 
ment. Outside of his commercial interests, however, his chief interest is in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1001 

the days gone by, and nothing is more delightful than to listen to the tales 
of early days as they are related by Mr. Young. 

MRS. LYDIA MILLER GODFREY.— To the pioneer women of a 
state, no less than to the men, is due honor and credit for carving a great 
commonwealth out of the wilderness, and it is they, in reality, who make 
the establishment of new governments possible, for without homes there 
would be no stable government, and without women there can be no per- 
manent homes. Often, too, the hardships in new lands weigh more heavily 
upon them, and this is especially true where marauding savages are a con- 
stant menace, for in addition to her own peril, the danger to her children 
was an ever-present care. One of the best known of the pioneer women of 
Humboldt county is Mrs'. L. M. Godfrey, now the proprietress of Travelers' 
Inn, at Cuddeback, on the road from Carlotta to Bridgeville. Mrs. Godfrey 
is a woman of much charm and in her youth was very beautiful, and still 
possesses much of her former grace and attractiveness, although now well 
along in years. She is the widow of J. P. Godfrey, who was a gold miner 
in Yuba county in an early day, and who is well known in that part of the 
state. He was a native of Vermont, born at Bennington, September 18, 
1844. He came to California in 1859, when he was a lad of but fifteen years. 
His father and an older brother had made the journey to the coast by way 
of the Isthmus of Panama in 1850, and his mother, who was Achsaph 
Sibley, made the journey in 1860. She also was a native of Vermont, and a 
descendant of an old Massachusetts family. J. P. Godfrey was engaged in 
gold mining near Comptonville, Yuba county, for eighteen years, and while 
there he met his future wife, who was then Miss Lydia Miller Eddy, the 
daughter of John E. and Anna (Cooper) Eddy. The father was a native of 
Rhode Island, and the mother was an Englishwoman. They were married 
in Massachusetts, where they lived for a number of years. They were mar- 
ried in 1846, and in 1849 the father came to California, around the Horn, 
making the journey in the steamship Hopewell, sailing from Warren, R. I., 
January 17, 1849, and arriving at San Francisco, August 3, of that year. 
Two years later the mother came, being accompanied by her brother Solo- 
mon Cooper and his wife, who were also well known Humboldt county 
pioneers, Mr. Cooper having settled in Humboldt county in 1857, engaged 
in educational work in Eureka, then being for two years in the customs 
office, and then for twenty-two years was receiver of public money in the 
United States Land Office, at Eureka. The party sailed from" New York 
City in the Anna Kimball on December 2, 1852, and arrived in San Fran- 
cisco, April 13, 1853. Mrs. Eddy at once joined her husband at Downie- 
ville, Sierra county, where he was then engaged in mining. He was at that 
time a partner of Mr. Downey, a famous California pioneer whose cabin was 
reproduced in facsimile at the Midwinter Fair at San Francisco, in 1894. 
The mother died at the home of Mrs. Godfrey several years ago, at the age 
of seventy years, the father having passed aAvay in Marysville in 1869. Mrs. 
Godfre}^ was the only child of her parents who grew to maturity. She was 
born at Comptonville, Yuba county, June 18, 1854, and attended the country 
schools during her girlhood years. She was married to Mr. Godfrey, June 
15, 1871. and for ten years they continued to reside in Yuba county, where 
Mr. Godfrey was then engaged in farming. In 1881 they came to Hum- 



1002 HISTORY OF HUAIBOLDT COUNTY 

boldt county, and immediately purchased the property which is now the 
family home, and there Mrs. Godfrey has since resided. They at once im- 
proved the place, and the apple orchard was planted at that time, and still 
is in bearing. The ranch is eighty acres, all meadow land. Since her hus- 
band died she manages the place, carrying on the farming and stockraising 
and running the Travelers' Hotel. Mr. Godfrey died January 23, 1912, and 
was buried in the I. O. O. F. cemetery at Hydesville, he having been for 
many years a prominent member of the Odd Fellows at that place, and 
passing through all the chairs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey became the parents of twelve children, three of 
whom they lost in infancy, the other nine are still living, and are well and 
favorably known in Humboldt county. They are : Clara F., now the wife 
of F. P. Cooper, of Oakland, where Mr. Cooper is deputy state insurance 
commissioner, they have three children, Fay I., Charles P., and Eula L. ; 
John E., a blacksmith at Scotia in the employ of the Pacific Lumber Com- 
pany, he is married to Miss Mable Smith, of Blocksburg, and they have two 
children, Dari-ow E. and Frances E. ; James R., residing at Cuddeback and 
married to Miss Ethel Wilkinson, a native of Humboldt county, they have 
five children, Beryl E., Clara J., Velda M., Ross E., and Nola : Samuel W., 
residing in Eureka and married to Miss Jennie Langdon, who has borne him 
two children, Lydia V. and Heletta F. ; Bertha A., now the wife of John E. 
Kemp, a merchant at Ferndale, where Mrs. Kemp acts as bookkeeper for the 
Hatch Hardware Company ; Fred W., who has charge of his mother's ranch ; 
Elleanora G., the wife of George H. Ackerman, a resident of Oakland, and 
the mother of three children, Bertha G., Malloa F., and Oliver W.; Wallace 
W., married to Miss Doris Bates, and residing in Oakland ; and George H., 
who is employed on the home farm. 

Mrs. Godfrey takes an active interest in all that concerns the welfare of 
the county, and especially of her community. She has been a member of 
the Rebekahs at Hydesville for many years, having joined with her husband 
soon after they came to Humboldt county. She is also a member of the 
Farm Center at Carlotta. 

WILLIAM H. WAR. — Among the younger men of Blocksburg and 
vicinity there is none more highly esteemed than William H. War, the capable 
manager and operator for the local office of the AA^estern Union Telegraph 
and Telephone Company. He has been in charge of this office for the past 
two years and has made many friends during that time, both because of his 
genial, pleasant personality, and of the efficiency of his service. Mr. War 
understands the telegraph business in every detail, having entered upon 
this line of work when he was twelve years of age, becoming at that time 
a messenger boy in the service of the company at Port Townsend, Wash., 
where his father was then manager of the AA'^estern Union office. Since then 
he has climbed upward through the various departments of the work, and is 
today one of the most trusted employes of this great company. 

Mr. War is a native of Oak Point, Wash., born July 1, 1887, the son of 
Charles and Lena (Baber) War. His father has been in the service of the 
Western Union for more than thirty years in Oregon and California, and is 
still in their employ, having charge as overseer of the line from Ukiah to 
Eureka with headquarters at Laytonville. When he was twelve years of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1003 

age William H. learned the famous Morse code and began his career as a 
telegraph service man. After his father left Port Townsend he removed with 
the family to Laytonville, Mendocino county, and there William H. took a 
position as equipment man for the Willits Telephone and Telegraph Com- 
pany, remaining in that place until 1909, at which time he went to Lovelocks, 
Nev., as manager for the Western Union, remaining there for about a year. 

The marriage of Mr. War took place in Eureka, June 2, 1913, the bride 
being Miss Paula Thomas, of Eureka, but born in Gordon,, Neb., and the 
sister of Robert Thomas, who was the city engineer of Eureka. Mrs. War 
was engaged in teaching school in Humboldt county until her marriage. 
They have become the parents of one child, Thomas Lloyd, born October 9, 
1914. Both Mr. and Mrs. War have many friends in Blocksburg, and are 
very popular socially. Mr. A¥ar takes an interest in fraternal and benevolent 
affairs and is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose at Eureka. He is pro- 
gressive and public spirited and is an enthusiastic booster for Humboldt 
county, and especially for Blocksburg and Vicinity. 

WILLIAM HENRY MULLEN.— A western man, born in Virginia 
City, Nev., March 26, 1869, AMUiam H. Mullen, when about iifteen months 
old, was brought by his parents to Humboldt county, where he grew up on 
the old homestead on the old laqua road, near Lawrence creek. His father, 
Jeremiah Mullen, a native of Ireland, went to sea, going on a sailer as man 
before the mast, to Australia, thence to Boston, returning from there to 
Ireland. Next he came around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he left 
the ship. While working in the Woodward Gardens in San Francisco he 
married Elizabeth Sullivan. Following their marriage they went to Virginia 
City, Nev., where Mr. Mullen was employed at mining on the Comstock and 
other lodes. He worked on the eleven hundred foot level. Wishing to en- 
gage in ranching, he came to Humboldt county with his family in the fall 
of 1870 and homesteaded one hundred sixty acres on Lawrence creek, 
twenty-five miles east of Eureka, where he engaged in stockraising. Encour- 
aged by his success, he bought land adjoining and acquired nearly a thou- 
sand acres. He died April 16, 1898, his wife having died April 20, 1896. 
Of their fo,ur children the eldest, Mary, died of black measles in Virginia 
City, Nev., when eighteen months old. William H. is our subject; John P. 
is a farmer at Kneeland ; and Timothy J. is a farmer on Lawrence creek. 

William H. Mullen spent his childhood on the old home farm, where he 
acquired a knowledge of stockraising and farming. He was educated in the 
public schools of the district, and in Eureka, and remained at home, assisting 
his father until the latter's death. His brother Timothy was then in Alaska, 
and so Vv^illiam and his brother John ranched in partnership and purchased 
their Uncle David's ranch of about eight hundred acres adjoining the old 
home, operating both places. Four years later William bought John's inter- 
est in the two ranches, and since then has operated them alone. 

For a while he ran both sheep and cattle, but later he sold the sheep and 
devoted his time to cattle growing. He at one time had sixteen hundred 
fifty acres, but sold off some, still owning, however, over twelve hundred 
acres. "Highland Acres," as the ranch is known, is well watered by Law- 
rence creek and Booth's run, as well as by numerous springs and creeks. 
It is wooded with redwood, pine, oak and madrone — and makes a splendid 
cattle ranch. His brand is his father's old brand, O O. Of Highland Acres 

.^9 



1004 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

about three hundred acres can be cultivated, the balance being stock range. 
There are four different orchards on the place. In May, 1914, his residence 
was burned and he has since built a new one, a large two-story bungalow, 
with basement. By his industry and energy Mr. Mullen has a well im- 
proved and valuable place, on which he can carry two hundred head of 
cattle. 

Mr, Mullen was married in Eureka February 11, 1915, being united with 
Jennie Furman, a native of Tennessee. Fraternally he is a member of 
Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., in Eureka. 

For twelve years he served as road overseer in Supervisorial district No. 
3, doing efficient and valuable work in his district. Politically he espouses 
the principles of the Republican party and is a man with a host of friends, 
who admire him for his uprightness, integrity and worth. 

RODNEY BURNS REDWOOD NOVELTY CO.--About the beginning 
of the twentieth century Rodney Burns established a wholesale business in red- 
wood novelties and built a factory at Eureka, where in February of 1911 he 
formed a co-partnership with J. Earl Clark and established a retail depart- 
ment for local sales and for a mail-order business that since has maintained 
a satisfactory growth. The history of the business is an epitome of con- 
tinuous success most gratifying to the proprietors and to all the people of 
Eureka. At the San Francisco Land Show held in September, 1913. the com- 
pany had a large exhibit and received a gold medal, while their famous bowl 
has received awards at the California state and local fairs. A specimen of 
their products may be seen in the Field museum at Chicago as well as in 
the Ferry building, San Francisco, while department stores and curio shops 
in many of the Pacific coast cities carry a full line of their novelties. 

The Stump House which was conceived and created by Rodney Burns and 
his associates in Eureka is a structure resembling a mammoth redwood log as 
it lies in the forest after being felled. A unique entrance adds to the attractive- 
ness of the institution. AVithin the strange building is an array of manufac- 
tured articles such as can be found nowhere else except in establishments 
directly supplied from the Stump House. All tourists visiting Eureka visit 
the factory and purchase a redwood burl souvenir, which they state is, in 
its varied forms, the most useful and least expensive of any souvenir to be 
found throughout the country. Magazines frequently publish articles descrip- 
tive of the interesting enterprise on the corner of Broadway and Clark street. 
Perhaps no story of the place has roused a wider interest than that by Harriet 
Williams Myers published in the St. Nicholas of June, 1913, from which we 
quote as follows : 

"One of the most interesting natural deformities is the so-called burl, a 
growth found on the walnut and other trees, among them the redwood trees 
of Northern California. It is said to be the result of disease and makes an 
ungainly lump on the tree. The largest that has ever been found grew around 
the base of the tree and measured twenty-five feet in circumference and 
eighteen feet in height. It was hollow, the walls being from two to six feet 
thick. The tree itself was only about six feet in diameter. A burl of this 
size is of rare occurrence. Only one tree in every four or five hundred in the 
forest is thus affected and only about one burl in every thirty-five is perfect, 
these perfect forms being beautifully marked with darker veins and spots, in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY IOC'S 

circular patterns, reminding one somewhat of the curly birch or maple. The 
wood is susceptible of a high polish and is made into table tops, picture- 
frames, bowls, plates, napkin-rings, vases and other objects. There is in 
Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., a unique house made for the sale of these 
burl articles. It consists of the stump and log of a giant Sequoia. The log, at 
the end of which one enters, is forty feet long and sixteen feet in diameter, 
while the stump standing beside it is twenty feet in diameter. From the log- 
room one enters the work-room of the establishment, while the big, circular 
stump-room contains the finished articles for sale." 

An injury to the trees, such as forest fires, insect attacks, gnawing of 
animals or excessive pruning, stimulates the growth of dormant buds or 
gives rise to a great many new ones which cannot develop into branches, but 
do form a gnarly and interwoven mass of woody tissue of very intricate 
design. The wood thus formed is very dense and hard. Inside the bark the 
burl is covered with spiny warts at the points where the buds emerge. The 
largest and most beautiful of all burls occurs on the redwood tree. At rare 
intervals in a redwood forest is found a tree bearing this growth, either 
around the base of the tree or high up on the trunk. Most of these are plain 
grained wood and but a small proportion possess the beautiful figure that 
makes the burl so valuable. The beauty of the redwood burl lies in its 
diversity of grain and richness of color. The variety of figuring in this wood 
is remarkable. Nearly every burl has a distinct pattern and this varies 
greatly in dififerent parts of the same burl. The color varies from a rich dark 
red to a light pinkish shade. Much of the burl has a strong brownish cast 
resembling walnut, but some parts are light in color and others will match the 
deepest shades of mahogany. Redwood burl is handled and sold by board 
measurement and each one averages as a rule from five hundred to fifteen 
hundred board feet, but occasionally there is found a very large burl. In 
1911 the Rodney Burns Redwood Novelty Company cut one scaling over 
ten thousand board feet. On account of the irregular shape and the small 
size of the ordinary burl, it is very difficult to get large pieces, and when 
found they are valued very highly. The products of the company include nut 
bowls, serving trays, fruit bowls, vases, cribbage boards, gavels, candle sticks, 
natural edged picture frames, pedestals, tabourettes, tables, match holders, 
napkin rings, pin cushions, cigar jars, pin trays, canes, pipes, ash trays, 
darners, paper weights and darning eggs, all of them very ornamental and 
many of them also to be valued for their practical utility. 

JEFF PETERSEN NISSEN.— The earlv settlers of California's counties 
are frequentlv composed of men from the countries of Europe, and thev are 
good, hard-working, substantial people and loyal to the land of their adoption. 
This is particularly true of Humboldt, whose citizens point with pride to Jeff 
Petersen Nissen, a native of Germany. Mr. Nissen was born in Schleswig, 
Germany, and is a son of Christian and Katrina (Jeffsen) Nissen, the former 
a native of Germany and the latter a native of Denmark. Christian Nissen 
spent the greater part of his life in farming in Germany, dying there in 
1878. Jefif Nissen attended the public schools of Germany up to the age of 
fifteen years, when his mother decided he should begin to help with the 
care of the family. He found employment and continued in it for two years. A 
brother had heard the call of America and had come to Ferndale, Cal., and 
had been writing such glowing accounts of the opportunities for the man 



1006 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

who was willing to undertake the trip to California, the land of promise. He 
seemed favorably impressed with Humboldt county, and so wrote his family 
to join him there. Jefif Nissen started directly for Ferndale in ]\Iarch, 1889, 
arriving there shortly after his brother. They saw the possibilities of dairy- 
ing, so Mr. Nissen obtained employment on a neighboring ranch, continuing 
in the service of others until 1901, when he decided to go into business for 
himself. He had gained a practical knowledge of the business by closely 
observing the methods of those with whom he came in contact, so he rented 
two hundred acres of land at Pleasant Point near Ferndale and entered the 
dairying and farming business. In the seven years that Mr. Nissen managed 
this ranch he was unusually successful. He next leased one hundred fifteen 
acres of fertile bottom land near Areata, where he moved all his stock from 
Ferndale and continued dairying. The farm consists of one hundred fifteen 
acres of rich land and he milks about sixty head of cows. 

In politics Jeff Nissen is a stanch Republican, entering whole-heartedly 
into anything for the advancement of the county. He is a member of the 
Danish Lutheran church in Areata and is actively engaged in all good work 
pertaining to his church. 

Mr. Nissen married Miss Christina Johansen, a native of Schleswig, Ger- 
many, who was born July 1, 1878. Of this union there have been born seven 
children, of whom five are now living : Raymond, Arnold, Cecilia, Clyde and 
Jeff Petersen, Jr. Mr. Nissen is a progressive, intelligent farmer, alert for the 
advancement and upbuilding of his business. He has devoted his entire time 
to his dairying and farming interests, and his success may be attributed to 
his own hard, painstaking labor and indomitable perseverance. 

CAPT. PETER JENSEN.— Since 1897 the lighthouse off Cape Mendo- 
cino has been under the care of Captain Jensen, well known to mariners along 
the northern California coast for many years, who had the honor of being 
appointed by the government to take charge of the lighthouse exhibit at the 
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition held at Seattle, Wash., in 1909. A lifelong 
seaman, his experience as a mariner included voyages to all the waters of 
the globe and visits to well known and obscure seaports in all its quarters, and 
he gave up sailing for his present calling in 1891. His courage no less than 
his efficiency make him one of the most trustworthy men in the dangerous 
coast service. 

A Dane by birth, Captain Jensen is a native of the seaport of Aarhuus, 
Jutland, born March 9, 1856. His father, Capt. Cort Jensen, of Copenhagen, 
was a Danish sea captain, and was lost while piloting a ship into Aarhuus 
during a heavy snowstorm, in 1857, being shipwrecked and drowned. His 
wife, Marie (Weil), was left with a family of four children: Elizabeth, Mrs. 
Flemming, who died leaving two children; Ernestina, widow of Christian 
Jensen, who was a mason contractor and builder of Copenhagen (she has 
three children) ; Emma, Mrs. Christensen, a widow, living at Aarhuus ; and 
Peter. Fortunately the mother had some means and was able to give her 
children good advantages and rear them well. She remarried, but had no 
children by her second union. 

Peter Jensen has no recollection of his father. He attended excellent 
public schools until fourteen years old, at which time he shipped as a cabin 
boy on a sailing vessel, spending the next six years on the water in minor 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1007 

capacities. Meantime he visited ports in England, Spain, Russia, and on the 
Mediterranean and Black seas ; had been around Cape Horn, up to San Fran- 
cisco ; around the Cape of Good Hope ; to Sydney and other Australian ports, 
and cruised in the South seas. ' When twenty years old he entered the Danish 
navigation school at Aarhuus to supplement his practical training with 
scientific study, to which he devoted himself four years, graduating in the 
year 1880. He resumed sailing as second mate on the Danish steamship 
"Frederick," of the United Danish Steamship Company, became first mate in 
a year and a half, and eventually captain, having a number of responsible 
commands. He made voyages to the various ports of the Baltic, North and 
Mediterranean seas, and in 1886 came to San Francisco, engaging with the 
Charles Nelson Company. He was assigned to the bark "Forest Queen" as 
first mate and subsequently made captain, and during the last five years of 
his experience on the water made twenty-two voyages to Honolulu, in the 
Hawaiian islands, which he visited long before they came under United 
States rule. 

In the year 1891 Captain Jensen was appointed assistant keeper of the 
light station at Fort Point, Golden Gate, off San Francisco, where he re- 
mained for fifteen months, at the end of that period being transferred to 
the Point Bonita lighthouse, where he was first assistant keeper for four 
years. In 1897 he received his present appointment, beginning his duties at 
the Cape Mendocino lighthouse June 15th of that year, and he has held the 
position continuously since, except for his absence during the exposition of 
1909. A trusted and faithful employe during his sea-going years. Captain 
Jensen has proved equally reliable in the important work he is doing now, 
safeguarding lives and marine property along this perilous stretch of coast. 
His high sense of the responsibility and intelligent comprehension of the 
many services he can render to shipping are grateful security to those familiar 
with him and with the duties intrusted to him. The lighthouse is located 
ofif the west slope of Cape Mendocino, in latitude forty degrees, twenty-six 
minutes, twenty-six seconds north, and longitude one hundred and twenty- 
four degrees, twenty-four minutes, twenty-one seconds west, and the 
seventy-eight-thousand-candlepower flash is visible in clear weather for 
twenty-eight miles. The height above mean high water is four hundred and 
twenty-two feet, and there is a white flash every thirty seconds. This station 
was built in 1868, at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. There is only one 
lighthouse in the United States situated farther west, that on Tatoosh island, 
on the south side of the entrance to the strait of Juan de Fuca, at Cape Flat- 
tery, Wash., the longitude of the latter being one hundred and twenty-four 
degrees, forty-four minutes, six seconds. Captain Jensen is widely known 
among seamen, and he has made many warm personal friends among them, 
his knowledge of navigation and exemplary record of service commanding 
the confidence and sincere respect of all who have had occasion to be inter- 
ested in his ability. He and his good wife extend a hearty welcome to all 
who visit their snug quarters, visiting sailors, neighbors and many strangers 
to the coast enjoying a trip out to the light and a friendly call on the keeper. 
The scenery at this point is wild and romantic, but the severe, cold winds 
have no terrors for the fearless captain and his companion. 



1008 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Captain Jensen was highly compUmented by the government for his 
services during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition, which he found a 
welcome diversion from the routine of his duties at the light, having the 
opportunity of greeting hundreds of his former comrades among seafaring 
men as well as other visitors, all of whom appreciated the courtesy he ex- 
tended as well as his intelligent assistance in inspecting the exhibit. 

In 1888 Captain Jensen was married in San Francisco to Miss Rosina 
Mentz, a native also of Aarhuus, Denmark, and they have three children: 
Margaret is a graduate of the San Francisco normal school and is now teach- 
ing at AVillits, [Mendocino county, Cal. ; May is attending business college in 
San Francisco; William, the second born, is an electrical engineer by pro- 
fession, a graduate of the Pacific Technical College, at Oakland, Cal., and is 
now engaged in buying and selling cattle. Captain Jensen has endeavored to 
give his family proper educational opportunities, and his children have appre- 
ciated his concern. He is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Active Lodge No. 379, 
Ferndale, Humboldt county. 

WILLIAM EDGAR JOHNSON.— Though of Danish descent, WiUiam 
Edgar Johnson is truly a native son of California, having been born in Car- 
lotta, Humboldt county, this state, August 12, 1887, where his father, Frank 
Johnson, had come from Denmark as a young man and engaged in sheep 
raising, and later in farming and fruit raising at Carlotta, owning the site 
where the town stands, until he sold the property to John M. Vance. The 
mother, Mary Jensen, is also a native of Denmark, having come to Humboldt 
county with her mother, and both she and her husband are now living, their 
three sons being Fred, a rancher and dairyman on the Island; William Edgar, 
a dairyman at Ferndale, and Guy, who assists his brother William in the 
management of his ranch. 

The parents of Mr. Johnson moved into the Ferndale district when Wil- 
liam Edgar was about eight years of age, and there he attended the public 
schools and remained at home on the farm until nineteen years old when he 
secured employment in farming and dairying for others. Determining to go 
into business independently, in the autumn of 1909 he started in the dairy 
industry at Centerville, on the Jesperson place of sixty acres, in partnership 
with Niss Jepsen, under the firm name of Johnson and Jepsen, for two years 
conducting a dairy there consisting of forty cows. Then, in 1911, they leased 
the McDonough ranch, which comprises one hundred and eighty acres, located 
two and one-half miles north of Ferndale, and here he milks from ninety to 
one hundred and ten cows, having lately installed three units of Empire 
milking machines, which he finds of great assistance. It is the wish of Mr. 
Johnson to have his herd one of Jerseys exclusively, and he is gradually 
working toward that end, increasing the number of that stock from time to 
time as he makes additions to his herd. 

Although his dairy interests take up much of Mr. Johnson's time and 
thought, he is yet active in fraternal circles, where he is well known as a 
member of the Ferndale Lodge No. 379, I. O. O. F., and also of the Rebekahs, 
being also a member of the Humboldt County Dairymen's Association, and in 
political activities a Republican. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1009 

ANTONE ZANA. — An enterprising and energetic dairyman of Grizzly 
Bluff, Cal., Antone Zana, who has come to the United States from the distant 
land of Italy, has brought with him business ability and perseverance which 
have given him a high place among the men engaged in the dairy business in 
this part of the state. 

The father of Mr. Zana was Julio Zana, a farmer of Domodossola, Novara, 
Italy, where Antone was born on January 13, 1870. The boy received his edu- 
cation in the local public schools, and assisted his father upon the farm until, 
having heard and read of the good opportunities in California, he determined 
to try his luck in that faraway land, a decision which he has never regretted. 
On June 2, 1892, he arrived at Petaluma, Sonoma county, Cal., and soon 
secured employment on a farm at Lakeville, at which place he remained four 
years, but on account of the death of his employer and the consequent failure 
of the payment of a note, he gained nothing but experience from the four 
years of hard work. His next employment was as butter maker for three 
years at a dairy ranch on Sonoma mountain, after which he was engaged at 
various other ranches in the vicinity until the year 1899, when he removed to 
Jackson county. Ore., renting a stock ranch at Gold Hill, which he conducted 
for almost two years. Returning to California, in December, 1901, Mr. Zana 
secured employment in Humboldt county, upon the dairy ranch of Martin 
Pedrezini for nine months, after which he decided to go into business for him- 
self. Accordingly he rented the Roper place at Loleta, where he carried on a 
dairy farm for three years, later renting the Jens Clausen estate on Paradise 
island whereon he conducted a dairy farm for seven years, and the Holbrook 
place on Coffee creek for two years. The next venture of Mr. Zana was the 
purchase of sixty-three acres located at Port Kenyon, which he stocked with 
a dairy herd, at the end of a year selling the stock, since which time he has 
leased the ranch. His present place he bought in the year 1913, which con- 
sists of sixteen acres of bottom land situated in the Eel river valley, in the 
Grizzly Bluff district, and here he carries on dairying at the present time, 
having all along met with much success in his farming and dairying 
operations. 

A member of the board of directors of the Valley Flower Creamery at 
Port Kenyon, Mr. Zana is also a stockholder in the same. In his political 
interests he is a Republican, while fraternally he is associated with the Druids 
Lodge No. 99 at Ferndale, Cal., and the Loleta Lodge, No. 56, of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family are members of the Cath- 
oHc Church at Ferndale. His marriage took place in Eureka, Cal., uniting 
him with Miss Irminia Del Grosse, a native of Locarno, Switzerland, and they 
are the parents of five children, namely, Alphonzo, Lillie, Tuvigi, Florence 
and Felix. 

AGOSTINO BRAMBANI.— Until fourteen years of age, Agostino Bram- 
bani, now a well known resident of Eureka, Cal., continued to make his home 
in his native land of Italy, where he was born in 1872 at Garzeno, on Lake 
Como. His father was John Brambani, a builder and cabinet-maker, who 
was born in the same town in 1845 and removed .to London, England, where 
he engaged in the restaurant business as proprietor of the South London Cafe 
for many years until he retired from business, his death occurring in Italy in 
1913. Since the death of his father, the son John has been the proprietor of 



1010 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the cafe in London. The mother, Madelina (Poncia) Brambani, was born in 
1846 and still lives at the old family home in Italy. The son Agostino, when 
fourteen years of age, accompanied his father to London where for five years 
he assisted him in the cafe, coming thence to Chicago, 111., in 1892, being in 
that city at the time of the World's Columbian Exposition. For ten months 
he was employed at the Wellington Hotel, Chicago, coming thence to San 
Francisco, whence he removed to Sonoma county, Cal., and was employed in 
a dairy at Occidental, in that county, for four months, then in a saw mill for 
the Dollar Lumber Company, where he remained for five years, removing 
then to Usal, Mendocino county, in the employ of the same firm. The next 
year he spent working in the Fort Bragg woods, and then went to Santa 
Cruz, Cal., where he remained over a year, in 1903 removing to Eureka, where 
he formed a partnership with Carlo Maffia, under the firm name of Brambani 
and Mafifia, the partners purchasing the Italian Swiss Hotel in that city and 
continuing in business together three years, when Mr. Maffia sold out his 
interest to Mr. Brambani who carried on the hotel alone for five years until 
his former partner returned to Eureka and bought his interest in the business 
again. Since that time, the two have continued under the old firm name as 
proprietors of the Italian Swiss Hotel, having also purchased a lot on Second 
street, Eureka, between B and C streets, where they erected a large new 
hotel in 1911, a four-story building, forty by one hundred and ten feet in dimen- 
sions, with all modern improvements, and this hotel, which they have named 
Flor de Italia Hotel, (the Flower of Italy), is a great addition to the city. 

The marriage of Mr. Brambani with Miss Rosa Maffia, also a native of 
Italy, was solemnized in Eureka, and they are the parents of four children, 
John, Agostino, Dante and Madelina. After having been away from his old 
home in Italy for twenty-six years, Mr. Brambani, in April, 1912, returned to 
his childhood's home for a visit to his father and mother and other relatives 
and friends, also visiting London, and returned to California in August of the 
same year. In his political preferences he is a member of the Republican 
party, while fraternally he is a member of the Eagles, also of the Druids of 
which he is past president. 

CHARLES C. BRYANT.— In conducting his farming enterprises in 
Humboldt county, ]Mr. Bryant has encountered the average number of draw- 
■ backs and it is to his credit that he has profited by his failures and built thereon 
a solid foundation for the future. He rents a large ranch of three hundred 
acres near Carlotta and with his son, Clarence E., is engaged in stock-raising 
and dairying. While the care of so great an acreage, together with a dairy of 
about forty cows, necessitates constant labor and untiring energy, the returns 
have justified the procedure and at the same time have added further proof 
concerning stock-raising and dairy possibilities of the county. The locality 
in which he now lives has for Mr. Bryant an enduring claim upon his youth- 
ful remembrances and latter-day accomplishments, for he was born at Alton, 
on the old Dinsmore ranch, April 1, 1864, and has passed his entire life within 
the confines of Humboldt county. He is a talented musician, as was his 
father before him, and has been a leader in musical circles for over thirty 
years. At the present time he is director of the Bryant orchestra at Carlotta, 
which consists of five pieces. His special qualifications for this position have 
brought the orchestra into wide prominence and its services are in great 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1011 

demand throughout the county. The entire family of Mr. Bryant evinces a 
high degree of musical abiUty, while Miss Ruby Bryant is an accomplished 
pianist and a great credit to her profession. 

The name of Bryant is a familiar one in this part of the state, having been 
associated with many of its important happenings in its early history. The 
first to remove hither was Calvin Bryant, a native of Vermont and the father 
of Charles C. In the early days the Bryant Bros, followed mining in Yuba 
county : later they settled in Humboldt county, where Calvin Bryant took 
part in several Indian campaigns as a volunteer. He married in this county 
Harriet Clayton, whose birth occurred in Iowa, and they located on a ranch 
at Sandy Prairie, between Fortuna and Alton, where the father successfully 
farmed for many years. He was a musician of marked ability and had the 
honor of organizing one of the first orchestras in the county, of which he was 
the leader. His services were in great demand at Masonic dances and it was 
not uncommon for him to receive one hundred dollars for his services for a 
single evening's performance, while the other three members of the orchestra 
received seventy-five dollars each. Calvin Bryant lived to the advanced age 
of eighty-three years. He taught the first dancing school in the county. His 
brother, RoUa Bryant, also lived at Alton and was a violinist and violin-maker. 
He was a fine mechanic in any line and made the first wagon built in Hum- 
boldt county. 

Charles C. Bryant, who was the only child of his parents, was married 
to Miss Evelyn Strong, in 1884, and to them have been born eleven children : 
Calvin married ]\Iamie Jesscn and resides at Rohnerville ; Clarence E. assists 
his father in the management of the home place ; Charles T., Ruby, Lula 
May, Annie, Ethel Miranda, Edna, Leland, Earl and Loris are at home. Mr. 
Bryant is a member of Alton Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West, and 
politically is a Republican. 

THOMAS MONROE TOBIN.— As the efficient manager of the Garber- 
ville Mercantile Company, which is the largest general merchandise establish- 
ment in southern Humboldt county, Thomas Monroe Tobin is recognized as 
one of the leading men of the thriving little city, and a citizen of character 
and worth. He has been in the employ of this company since its organization 
in 1911, and since 1914 has been the general manager. Under his capable 
administration the enterprise has prospered and is today one of the best 
established of its kind in the county. They handle a complete and compre- 
hensive line of goods, carrying an up-to-date and modern stock, meeting the 
demands of the highest class trade. He is a man of integrity and honesty 
of purpose, which, coupled with his business ability, makes him a capable 
manager. 

He was born near Louisville, Kentucky, January 18, 1877. His father, 
Napoleon Tobin, was engaged in farming near Louisville for many years. 
His mother, Mariah (Shacklett) Tobin, was also a native of Kentucky, where 
she was reared and married. She bore her husband eight children, only three 
of whom are living at this time. She died in Kentucky in 1886. Besides 
Thomas M., the living members of the family are AVilliam, now in the general 
merchandise business at Guston, Ky., and Robert, a traveling salesman, 
residing in Los Angeles. 



1012 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The boyhood days of Thomas M. were passed on his father's farm near 
Louisville, where he attended school and assisted with the farm work in his 
spare time and during vacation. After completing the public schools he 
entered Kenyon College at Hodgenville., Ky., where he continued his studies 
for three years and then taught school in Hardin and Larue counties for a 
period of two years, at which time he came west as far as Chickasha, Okla- 
homa, where he accepted a position as bookkeeper with Swift & Co. Later 
he was employed at Fort Smith, Ark., doing similar work, finally resigning 
this position to go to Carnegie, Okla., and engage in the grocery business for 
himself. He remained there for almost two years and it was in 1903 that 
he finally came to California, locating at Garberville, Hurhboldt county, 
where he was clerk and bookkeeper in the employ of Conger & Hamilton, 
dealers in general merchandise, remaining with this house for seven years. 
At that time (September, 1911) the Garberville Mercantile Company was 
organized and Mr. Tobin accepted a similar position with the new concern, 
and in 1913 became their manager, which position he now occupies. 

The marriage of Mr. Tobin took place in Garberville July 12, 1905, 
uniting him with Miss Margaret Robertson, a native of Garberville. She is 
the daughter of Alex and Belle Robertson, pioneer residents of Garberville, 
and well and favorably known in this vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Tobin have two 
children, Margaret Ruth and Thomas Monroe, Jr. 

Aside from his interests in the mercantile business, Mr. TobiU; having 
faith in land values in Humboldt county, has not overlooked investing in 
land on the south fork of the Eel river. 

JAMES FRANKLIN THOMPSON.— One of the sturdy characters of 
Eureka whose impress in educational, business, social and political lines has 
been felt is James F. Thompson, for many years editor and proprietor of the 
Daily Humboldt Standard. The descendant of a family long resident in the 
east, he was born May 29, 1844, the son of Josiah Thompson, a Quaker, and 
a direct descendant of one of the old colonists that came over with William 
Penn. His paternal grandfather, Job Thompson, was born in Philadelphia, 
Pa., while his great-grandfather, Abel Thompson, was a native of New 
Jersey. Born in Erie county. Pa., in 1818, Josiah Thompson lived there until 
about 1855, in that year immigrating to Grant county. Wis., where until his 
death he was successfully employed as a contractor and builder. His mar- 
riage united him with Cementha A. Darrow, who was born in Jefferson 
county, N. Y., which was also the birthplace of both of her parents. She came 
of patriotic Holland-Dutch stock, one of her great-uncles, General Van 
Rensselaer, having served as an officer in the Revolutionary war. 

James F. Thompson was a lad of twelve years when with his parents 
he went to Wisconsin, in which state he first attended the common schools, 
and later attended Tafton Collegiate Seminary. Determined to acquire a still 
better education, at the. age of seventeen he began teaching in the district 
schools in order to secure the means to pay the expenses of a course at Bryant 
& Stratton's Commercial College, and in due time he was graduated there- 
from. Following this he taught school in AVisconsin for seven or eight years, 
of which time he was for four years principal of the schools of Cassville and 
Lone Rock, Wis. From that state he went to Clayton county, Iowa, in 1869, 
and for two years was principal of the schools at Monona, then of the Elkader 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1013 

high school for the same length of time. In 1873 he was elected superinten- 
dent of the Clayton county schools, a position which he filled very satisfac- 
torily for two terms, but which he resigned to take up his old position as 
principal of the high school, filling this for three years more. In 1876, at the 
State Teachers' Association, he was elected president of the County Superin- 
tendents' Association of the state. 

Mr. Thompson's entrance into the journalistic field dates from the year 
1880, when he purchased the Clayton County (Iowa) Journal, managing this 
for one year. Having been elected clerk of the courts he served two terms 
of two years each, when he was admitted to the bar. Later he was admitted 
to practice in the supreme and federal courts, and for three or four years 
thereafter was one of Iowa's noted attorneys. His election to the state legis- 
lature took place in 1885, and by his reelection in 1887 he served two full 
terms. Chance brought him to Eureka on a visit in 1888, and so favorably 
was he impressed with the outlook that he decided to make it his future 
home, and in August of that year he purchased a half interest in the Daily 
Humboldt Standard. Two years later he bought out his partner, thereafter 
managing the paper alone for twelve years, during this time increasing the 
circulation of the paper and making it altogether one of the best news 
mediums in the county. After about fourteen years as proprietor of this 
paper, on December 1, 1902, ]\Ir. Thompson sold it to W. N. SpeegJe and 
George Coleman. Since then the Standard has again been acquired by mem- 
bers of his family, now being owned by his daughter, Mrs. F. W. Georgeson, 
and his son-in-law, W. N. Speegle. 

In 1894, during the presidency of Grover Cleveland, Mr. Thompson was 
appointed receiver of the United States land office, and two months later, in 
July, 1894, after finishing his term as grand master of the Grand Lodge of 
California Odd Fellows, he assumed the duties of the office. At the close 
of his four-year term as receiver of the land office he was reappointed by 
President McKinley, and again reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1902. 

Mr. Thompson's marriage occurred in August, 1864, and united him with 
^Minerva J. Drake, a native of Wisconsin, and they became the parents of 
five children, as follows : Ella T., the wife of F. W. Georgeson, of Eureka ; 
Cora T., the wife of W. N. Speegle, editor of the Eureka Standard ; Charles 
F., who when seventeen years old was accidentally shot and killed by a 
friend; Minerva M., the wife of Prof. W. E. Powell, of Eureka; and Edith 
R., who completed her education in Hopkins Art Institute of the University 
of California. Originally a Republican in his political belief, Mr. Thompson 
subsequently supported the Democratic party until the nomination of Bryan, 
when he gave his vote and the support of the Standard to President Mc- 
Kinley, and throughout the remainder of his life continued to support Repub- 
lican candidates and principles. He was well known in fraternal affairs, 
having served as grand master and as grand representative of the Grand 
Lodge of Odd Fellows in California. For five years he was one of the board 
of trustees foi* the Odd Fellows Home in Butte county, being president during 
the last year of his term, and for twelve years before coming to California 
he had been representative of the Iowa Grand Lodge. He was also active 
in jMasonic circles, having joined that order in Beetown, Wis., when he was 



1014 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

twenty-one years old, and as a Royal Arch Mason was at one time one of 
the grand officers of the Grand Chapter of that state. He passed away in 
1905, at the age of sixty-one years, leaving behind him a record of usefulness 
and good works which might well serve as an example for young men just 
starting out in life. 

LUCIUS CASE TUTTLE.— Although retired from active business life, 
and living in retirement at Eureka, Lucius Case Tuttle retains the ownership 
of his ranch of about ten thousand acres, situated on the South Fork of Eel 
river between Garberville and Harris, where he was successfully engaged 
in stock raising for many years, the management of which is at present 
carried on by his only son, Frederick A. Tuttle. At seventy-eight years of 
age Lucius C. Tuttle is still hale and hearty, an energetic man who attends 
personally to all his loans and investments and keeps strong and well by 
constant work in his gardens, which are marvels of neatness and thrift in 
which he justly takes much pride. He and his wife are well content with 
the success which he has made of his life, and by reason of the progress which 
he has achieved during his long residence in this state he is enabled to say, 
as did ex-president Harrison after crossing the Sierras into California, "There 
is but one California, and California is the poor man's home." 

The father of Lucius C. Tuttle was F. B. Tuttle, a native of Rutland, 
Vt., and of Scotch descent, who married Lucia Case, of Irish and English 
ancestry, who was born in Connecticut, and removed to Dutchess county, 
N. Y., where the son Lucius Case was born at Brookport, April 29, 1837. 
The boy was only about four years old when his parents moved to Chicago, 
111., a year later settling at Plainfield, in AVill county, and there he obtained 
his education in the public schools and academies, in young manhood learn- 
ing the carpenter's trade, which was to prove extremely useful in his later 
experience in California. The father was one of the pioneer gold seekers in 
California, making the journey across the plains in the year 1850, and follow- 
ing mining in the western state, where he built one of the first quartz mills 
in the state and the first in Eldorado county, later returning to Illinois, where 
he spent the remainder of his life. 

On May 29, 1860, the son Lucius was married to Miss Leah J. Rutan, 
who was born in Paterson, N. J., August 17, 1837, and in 1862 they likewise 
started across the plains to California, as the father had done, fitted out with 
two wagons, sixteen horses, four yoke of oxen and four milch cows, one 
wagon being drawn by the oxen, the other by four horses, a change of horses 
being made at stated periods. Leaving Illinois on April 1st, and journeying 
via Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Salt Lake City, Utah, the party arrived in the 
Sacramento valley, California, on September 11th of that year, having been 
exactly six months on the journey. After working at his trade a short time, 
Mr. Tuttle engaged in farming along the Cosumne river, on November 17, 
1864, removing to Mendocino county, where he settled on a stock ranch of 
five hundred forty acres in the Sherwood valley, continuing to make his home 
there for the fifteen years following and engaging in the raising of short-horn 
cattle and merino sheep, his nearest trading place being Ukiah, about forty 
miles distant, until the town of Willits was started at Little Lake. Mean- 
time, in 1867, he was appointed postmaster at the Sherwood Valley office in 
Mendocino county, being the first to hold the office at that point, and also 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1015 

owned thirteen hundred acres on the Outlet, where he carried on stock 
raising, selling both his ranches in ]\Iendocino county, however, in 1882, when 
he purchased his present place of ten thousand acres in Humboldt county. 
Here he spent a number of years in the improvement of the valuable property 
which he had acquired, and met with enviable success in stock raising upon 
his new estate, which, since his retirement from business cares, has been 
creditably conducted by his son, Frederick A., who is represented elsewhere 
in this book. The buildings on the place, all constructed under the direction 
of ^Ir. Tuttle, are notably substantial and convenient in arrangem.ent, so 
well finished that they have needed little repairing in all these years, and 
so suitable for their various purposes that they attract attention at once as 
eminently fitting in every particular. They have been erected on solid stone 
foundations, and the forethought and extreme care which ^Ir. Tuttle gave 
to their construction have been more than repaid in the years of service 
already had, and the many years for which they will undoubtedly be sound. 
The large frame barn, built of hewn native timbers, and splendidly framed, 
mortised and joined together with wooden pins (after the fashion of Mr. 
Tuttle's New York ancestors), is the principal farm building, and has its full 
complement of ranch buildings, sheds, smokehouse, etc.; the sheep shearing 
department, wool compress and warehouse, all one large building, is most 
commodious, having room for twelve shearers to work at once. The dwelling 
house is roomy and equipped with modern plumbing throughout for hot and 
cold water service, supplied from a nearby spring which was walled up and 
provided with a hydraulic ram, throwing an abundance of pure spring water 
into a large tank whence it is drawn for household use. The surplus water 
is diverted to the vegetable and horticultural gardens, which afford a 
luxuriant supply of berries of all kinds and choice vegetables for the home 
table. In this mountain section cherries, peaches, apples, plums, grapes and 
pears reach an exceedingly high standard of flavor and color, and the forty 
acres of the ranch under cultivation yield abundantly. About four thousand 
sheep is the average amount of stock kept on the Tuttle ranch, and large 
quantities of wool and mutton on the hoof are sold annually. The bountiful 
provisions for home comforts as well as business arrangements on this place 
are reminders of the old days when ranchmen were dependent almost entirely 
on the products of their own estates. The choicest home cured hams and 
bacons are on hand all the year round, and it is not uncommon for the host 
to treat his visitors to a feast of venison, for deer in considerable numbers 
still frequent the vicinity. 

Since the year 1901 ^Ir. Tuttle has resided in Eureka, leaving the man- 
agement of his ranch to his son, and purchased J. W. Henderson's interest 
in the Humboldt County Bank and the Home Savings Bank, afterwards 
selling half this interest to John M. Vance, who became president of the 
Humboldt County Bank, while Mr. Tuttle held the presidency of the other 
institution. Some years later he bought back Mr. Vance's interest in the 
two banks, giving his attention to their management until selling out to the 
Crockers of San Francisco, since which time Mr. Tuttle has devoted his 
attention to the care of his personal investments and loans. A man possessed 
of an exceptionally bright mind and wonderful business acumen, Mr. Tuttle 



1016 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

is rich in valuable experience and interesting reminiscences of the early days 
in this part of the state, his interests having covered many and varied matters. 
A'Vhile in Sherwood Valley he served as school trustee for a period of fourteen 
years, and while on his ranch became interested in the Humboldt County 
and the Home Savings Banks in Eureka, serving as director therein before 
his more prominent connection with them in later years. On his estate in 
Sherwood Valley Avas located an Indian rancheria, where he was instrumental 
in teaching many of the Indians to perform farm work, much as the padres 
of the old Spanish days instructed the Indians at the California missions. At 
the fatal election feud between the Coats and Frosts, it happened that Air. 
Tuttle was present in the town of Willits during the Little Lake tragedy, 
and he with Messrs. James and Fenton laid out the five or six corpses for 
burial. A member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., Mr. Tuttle is 
well known in local political circles as a stanch Republican, firm in his belief 
that under Republican rule will come the greatest prosperity for our country 
and for the western state where he has for so many years made his home. 

JOSEPH BONOMINI.^One of the sons of Italy who has come to 
California to make his home and has here won success in business as well as 
the esteem of all who know him, is Joseph Bonomini, a wideawake business 
man who is making a success of the big dairy which he and his brother operate 
at Orick, Cal. 

Born in Livemmo, Brescia, Italy, December 1.^, 1881, Mr. Bonomini is 
the son of a brick manufacturer in Livemmo, Mark Bonomini by name. The 
education of the son was received in the public schools, after which, until the 
age of eighteen years, he remained at home, assisting his father in the brick- 
yard and likewise learning the trade of stone mason. Removing then to 
Canton Basel, Switzerland, he worked at his trade in that place until Feb- 
ruary, 1901, when he came to California to seek his fortune, as many others 
of his young countrymen had done. Locating at Point Arena, in Mendocino 
county, he entered the employ of the L. E. White Lumber Company, working 
in the woods as a swamper and a maker of ties for three years, subsequently 
going to Flumboldt county and securing employment at Philbrook as head 
swamper in a shingle mill, continuing in this work for six years. At the end 
of that time Mr. Bonomini made a trip to his native land in the autumn of 
1910, spending five months in a visit to his old home, on February 28, 1911, 
being united in marriage with Miss Mary Paccini, a native of the same place, 
and they are the parents of three children, Mark, Katie and the baby. Re- 
turning to Humboldt county two months after his marriage, Mr. Bonomini 
was engaged for a year in running a milk wagon in Eureka, being employed 
thereafter as head swamper in Thompson's shingle mill at Bayside until the 
failure of the mill in 1913, when he removed to Orick, and in partnership with 
his brother John began the dairy business in which he is still engaged, under 
the name of Bonomini Brothers. Leasing a two hundred acre ranch from 
Robert Swan, the brothers operate a prosperous dairy, where they milk 
seventy cows and also raise hay, carrots, beets and corn, and have made for 
themselves the reputation of good business men, upright and liberal in their 
dealings. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1017 

JAMES BONOMINI.— Among- the numerous sons of Italy who have 
come to this country to make for themselves a home, and have, by persistent 
effort and unflagging energy, attained a high rank in their chosen line of 
occupation, must be mentioned James Bonomini, w^ho was born in Livemmo, 
in the province of Brescia, Italy, on December 13, 1881, the son of Joseph 
Bonomini, a stone mason engaged in contracting and building in that section 
of Italy. James, the son, grew up in his native town, and attended the public 
schools of that place, which is situated in the beautiful Alps region. After 
completing his studies at the local schools, he was apprenticed to the black- 
smith's trade in Calleo, Italy, and after learning this business thoroughly by 
practical experience, he continued in that line of industry until leaving his 
native land in the year 1903. 

The month of February, 1903, saw the removal of Mr. Bonomini to the 
city of San Francisco, Cal., where, not finding work at his trade immediately, 
he secured employment at the Hotel Del Monte, in Monterey, Cal., where he 
remained two years. On April 17, 1906, he started work at the Union Iron 
Works in San Francisco, which was the very day before the great earthquake 
and fire in that city, and as soon as work was once more resumed at the iron 
works he continued with them as blacksmith, in 1907 being sent by the com- 
pany as foreman at Christie, in Contra Costa county, and after thirteen 
months at that place returned once more to the company's works in San 
Francisco. A letter from his brother Joseph, who was located in Loleta, 
Humboldt county, asking him to join him in engaging in the dairy business 
there, found favor with Mr. Bonomini, who accordingly, in the year 1908, 
removed to Loleta, where, with his brother, he rented three hundred twenty 
acres of the Herrick place, which they stocked with a dairy herd, consisting 
of one hundred ten cows. The brothers continued to operate the ranch until 
October, 1914, when they gave up the place and dissolved partnership, Joseph 
going to Blue Lake, to follow the same business, and James removing to 
the Big Lagoon, Cal., where he leased his present ranch on the shores of the 
lake and established himself in the dairying business on an independent 
basis. Here he now has a fine herd of thirty-two cows, a number which he 
is constantly increasing, being likewise engaged in raising the necessary feed 
for them and in improving his pasture lands. His dairy business, however, 
is not the only interest which absorbs Mr. Bonomini's time, although he has 
attained a high grade of success therein, for by his fraternal associations he 
is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, where he is well and 
favorably known, and in his political preferences upholds the principles of 
the Republican party. 

PATRICK E. GARLAND.— Prominent among the well-known mer- 
chants of Humboldt county may be mentioned Patrick E. Carland, manager 
of the Eel River Mercantile Company, a subsidiary company of the Pacific 
Lumber Company, with branch stores wherever the parent company has 
large interests. Mr. Carland has been associated with this company since 
1909, when it purchased his general merchandise store at Dyerville, where 
he had been conducting a very successful business for a number of years, and 
made him manager of its mercantile interests. He is of the true Irish type, 
a native of the Emerald Isle, bright, good-natured, large-hearted, and no man 
at Scotia, where he makes his headquarters, has a wider acquaintance, or is 



1018 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

better liked. He is a man of the strictest integrity, with a splendid capacity 
and will for work, and has been singularly successful. He is a prominent 
member of the Catholic church and of the Knights of Columbus, and is 
popular with all with whom he comes in contact. 

The Eel River Mercantile Company has its main offices at Scotia, where 
it also has a large general merchandise store, while its branch stores are 
located at Dyerville, Shively and Field's Landing. These stores are located 
wherever the Pacific Lumber Company has a mill, wharf, lumberwood, or 
other large interest, and practically everything is carried that the employes 
of the company may need, either in their business, or in their home and social 
life. This company has two large sawmills at Scotia and is one of the largest 
lumber companies on the Pacific coast. In addition to carrying a splendid 
line of general merchandise the Eel River Mercantile Company also buys 
farm produce, hay, grain and livestock, and has its own slaughter house, 
refrigerating system and meat markets. 

Mr. Carland was born in Strabane, county Tyrone, Ireland, January 8, 
1862. His father, Hugh Carland, had been in America for a number of years, 
having been engaged in business at New Orleans in 1830. He became a man 
of means through the success of his business there, and returned to Ireland 
with a considerable sum of money. There he found that his father had be- 
come seriously involved, and the fortune made in America was used to 
liquidate the mortgaged indebtedness on the estate. He then became inter- 
ested in the conduct of the estate, married and reared a family in his native 
county, although all the time he was desirous of returning to America and 
constantly made his plans toward that end. Fate, however, seemed to decree 
otherwise, for one thing after another prevented the culmination of his plans, 
and when at last he had sold his farm and was ready to make the journey, he 
was suddenly stricken and died before he left his native land. He was married 
to Ellen Farrell, also a native of county Tyrone, and they were the parents of 
ten children. The wife died in 1874, at the age of forty-three years. Patrick 
E. was reared and educated in his native county, attending first the Christian 
Brothers' school, and later taking a thorough business training in a com- 
mercial college. Following this he was employed in a large wholesale and 
retail establishment in his native town, where he acquired a thorough 
knowledge of the grocery and meat business and became an expert judge 
of meats, fish, poultry and game, and also of various dairy products. 

It was in 1883 that Mr. Carland finally came to America, New York 
being his point of entry. For a year he was employed as steward at the 
Pleasant View House, a resort hotel in the Catskill Mountains, and from 
there went to Chicago, where he was clerk at the St. James hotel for eighteen 
months. He then went to Buffalo Gap, S. Dak., where he became manager 
for the B. C. McCrossan Commission Company, at that place. Later he went 
to Rapid City, S. Dak., where McCrossan owned another commission busi- 
ness, and at a still later period went to Sundance, Wyo., where he engaged 
in the general merchandise business in partnership with McCrossan, meeting 
with much success, and remaining until 1887. He then disposed of his inter- 
ests, returned to Chicago, and became foreman of the Aldrich Bakery, which 
later became the National Biscuit Company, remaining with this company 
in the same capacity for fourteen years. In March, 1903, Mr. Carland came 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1019 

to California and for a time was traveling salesman for the National Biscuit 
Company, with headquarters in San Francisco, covering the territory of 
northern California. While thus engaged he purchased the interests of E. S. 
Townsend, general merchant of Dyerville, in 1903, and immediately took 
charge of his new business. There was a bar in connection, when he took 
over the business, and it was freely predicted that at least one-half of the 
business would be lost if this bar was closed. Air. Carland, however, im- 
mediately closed the bar, and it is well worth recording that his business 
doubled within a remarkably short time. He built up a flourishing trade and 
prospered far above even his own expectations. Later he met C. W. Pen- 
noyer, president of the Pacific Lumber Company, with residence in San 
Francisco, and in October, 1909, he sold his business to the Pacific Lumber 
Company, and since that time the Dyerville store has been conducted as a 
part of the Eel River Mercantile Company interests. This company does a 
very extensive business, amounting to over $250,000 per year, and its capacity 
has been materially increased under the capable management of Mr. Carland. 

Quite aside from his business prominence, Mr. Carland is a favorite in 
many circles, both socially and fraternally. He is a Republican in his political 
preferences, and is progressive and broadminded, standing firmly for all 
movements which tend toward the upbuilding of the community. He is a 
strict temperance advocate, has never taken a drink of liquor in his life, and 
has given his hearty support to the cause of temperance reform for many 
years. 

The marriage of Mr. Carland was solemnized in Deadwood, S. Dak., in 
1887, uniting him with Miss Louise Knight, the daughter of Charles Knight, 
of Fairfield, Iowa. Mrs. Carland, like her husband, is well known socially 
in Scotia, where she is a prominent member of the Catholic church and of 
the various ladies' societies of that denomination. 

CHARLES C. COTTRELL, M. D.— As assistant surgeon at the Scotia 
Hospital for the past six years, and general practicing physician of Scotia 
and the surrounding country during that time. Dr. Charles C. Cottrell enjoys^ 
a wide circle of friends in his part of the county. Dr. Cottrell is a native of 
California, having been born in Eureka, February 20, 1883, the son of A. 
Cottrell, who has for many years been engaged in the grocery business in 
Eureka. The young Charles C. grew to manhood in Eureka, attending the 
public and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1903. During his boy- 
hood he was a well known figure in Eureka, where he assisted his father in 
the grocery store when not in school. After his graduation from the local 
high school he matriculated, in the fall of 1903, at the Stanford University 
Medical College, in San Francisco, and took a four years' course there, 
graduating in 1907. He then accepted a position in the Lane Hospital and 
served as an interne for a year, acquiring much valuable experience. At the 
end of that time he returned to Humboldt county and joined his brother in 
general practice at Fortuna, under the firm name of the Drs. Cottrell. 

It was in September, 1909, that Dr. Charles C. Cottrell took up his 
residence in Scotia. The brothers ' are also emergency surgeons for the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad, at Scotia. 

The marriage of Dr. Charles C. Cottrell took place in Scotia, in 1910, 
uniting him with Miss Marion Hotchkiss, the daughter of L. L. Hotchkiss' 

40 



1020 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. They have become the 
parents of two children, Helen E. and Emett M. Dr. Cottrell is also well 
known in fraternal circles. He is a member of the Odd Fellows at Fortuna, 
and of the Weeott Tribe, I. O. R. M., at Scotia, being past sachem of the 
tribe. In his political preferences he is a Republican and is well informed 
and keenly interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the community. 

JOHN STEVEN LYSTER.— Tracing his genealogy back through many 
generations of Irish and English ancestry, John Steven Lyster, himself a 
native of Canada, proves himself to be descended from the blood of kings of 
the thirteenth century, or even earlier. He is, however, a true son of the 
Western World, a pioneer and a patriot of the truest type. For many years 
he has been engaged in business enterprises on the Pacific coast, principally 
in Oregon, and in 1906 he came to Humboldt county, and on a date early in 
January of that year he purchased the business of L. Feigenbaum, the pioneer 
merchant of Rohnerville, the business itself dating from the very beginning 
of the little trading post of Rohnerville, and being the first store to be opened 
here, long before the coming of the railroads, and even when the wagon- 
roads were few and difficult, and most of the traveling was done with horses 
and pack mules. In those days, about 1856, Rohnerville was the scene of 
much activity, an average of forty pack mules per day finding their way into 
the trading post from the mountain and farm districts farther back. Originally 
there was a sawmill near the present site of Rohnerville, and later Henry 
Rohner, a native of Switzerland, opened his first store where the farm house 
of William Degnan now stands. A grist mill soon followed, and there was 
the nucleus of a thriving commercial center. Some time later one Benjamin 
Feigenbaum bought a half interest with Henry Rohner, and they erected 
another building for their store near the lumber and grist mill, which were 
some quarter of a mile from the original site of the store. This house has 
since that time done business here continually, with never a closing of its 
doors, and never any serious financial reverses. It has always paid cash, and 
has enjoyed the best of credit and a flourishing trade. Later still Joe Feigen- 
baum bought the Rohner interest and the firm became known as Feigenbaum 
Brothers. Several further changes of ownership followed and eventually the 
firm became L. Feigenbaum, of whom Mr. Lyster purchased it. The store 
now carries a first-class stock of general merchandise and is thoroughly 
modern and progressive in every sense of the word. 

Mr. Lyster was born at Montreal, Canada, May 14, 1865. This family 
traces back to Queens county, Ireland, where they were flour millers and 
farmers. The Irish Lysters are a branch of the English Listers of Yorkshire, 
and are descended from Walter Lister (or Lyster), of Milltown, county Ros- 
common, who was born at AVestby, county York. He was the son of Anthony 
Lister of Newsholme Gisburn, Yorkshire, the seventh in descent from John 
Lister de Derby, who was married in 1312 to Isabel, the daughter and heiress 
of John de Bolton, bow-bearer of Bowland, lineal descendant of the Saxon 
kings of Mercia. He, Walter Lyster, came to Ireland in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, with Osbaldestone, Judge of Connaught, his father-in-law, and 
obtained a grant of land from James I, in county Roscommon. He died 
January 28, 1622, and is buried in Camden churchyard, Roscommon, where 
his tombstone may still be seen. The Irish branch of the family spell their 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1021 

name Lyster, while the English retain the "i." The progenitor of the family 
in America was of the Irish branch, and they have mostly continued to reside 
in Canada. He was one Philip Lyster, born in 1764, at or near Mountmellick, 
Queens county, Ireland, and emigrated to Canada in 1820, settling in Durham, 
Drummond county, province of Quebec, where he died in 1822. He was a 
farmer and landowner and his descendants have largely followed in his foot- 
steps. The father of John Steven Lyster, the subject of this article, was 
Philip, the son of Richard, the son of Philip, the progenitor of the American 
branch of the family, and was born at Durham, Drummond county, Canada, 
in 1832. In 1858 he was married to Eliza Stevens. He is a farmer and still 
resides at Durham, Drurnmond county, Canada, and has but recently been 
the guest of his son at Rohnerville. The mother died at the family home 
in Canada twenty years ago. There were seven children in the family, of 
whom John Steven was the fourth born. They are: Annie Ruth, Findley 
Murdock, Benjamin Edward, John Steven, Mary Elizabeth, James Edmound 
and Lily A. 

John Steven Lyster passed his boyhood on his father's farm in Canada, 
and at the age of fifteen he commenced to clerk in the general merchandise 
store at Ulverton. Later he attended business college, where he pursued a 
commercial course, at Richmond, province of Quebec. In 1889 he came to 
Coos Bay, Ore., and entered the general store owned by the Simpson Lumber 
Company, as a clerk. Later he went to San Francisco, where he was married 
to Miss Mary Elizabeth Lyster, and in 1894 he returned to Canada, where 
for four years he ran his two hundred acre farm, at Durham. He then re- 
turned to Gardner, Douglas county. Ore., and assumed the management of a 
general store owned by Senator Al Reed, retaining this position for almost 
nine years. At the expiration of that time he came to Humboldt county and 
purchased his present business in Rohnerville, that being in 1906. The motto 
of the business has always been, "Short accounts make long friends," and 
Mr. Lyster is following the policy laid out by the former owners and is meet- 
ing with his customary well-deserved success. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lyster are both very popular in Rohnerville, where they 
are prominent in religious, fraternal and musical affairs of their home city. 
They have two children, a daughter, Gladys Ruth, and a son, Merton Solomon. 

REV. THOMAS HICKMAN STEPHENS.— After a long hfe of active 
service in the pastorate of the Baptist church, both in the east and west, 
Rev. Thomas Hickman Stephens is retired from active professional labors, 
and is living in peace and quiet enjoyment on his beautiful little farm on 
Jameson creek, a half mile from Rohnerville. This is an ideal spot for a 
home, the location being especially beautiful. There are four bubbling 
springs of mountain water, and the improvements of the forty-acre ranch 
are very attractive, including a charming cottage, with orchards, gardens, 
meadows and cultivated fields. Mrs. Stephens is a splendid helpmeet to her 
husband and is his close companion in all his interests and labors. They have 
appropriately named their home Mill View Gardens, it being immediately 
below the Feigenbaum & Masson shingle mill. 

Mr. Stephens is a native of Missouri, having been born in Cooper county 
in 1851. He attended the AVilliam Jewell College in Clay county, Mo., and 
there took an A. B. in 1880 and an A. M. in 1882. He had been engaged in 



1022 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

preaching for some time before his graduation and as soon as he had com- 
pleted his studies in theology he became pastor of the Baptist church at 
Lick Fork, Mo. His marriage occurred in 1880, uniting him with Miss Mary 
May Sweeney, a native of Clay county, Mo., and descended from an old 
Kentucky family. It was in 1885 that M^r. Stephens first came to California, 
leaving his charge at Lick Fork to accept another at Wheatland, Yuba 
county, Cal., remaining in that charge for eight years. He then accepted the 
pastorate of the Baptist church at Medford, Ore., for two years and in 1894 
returned to Wheatland. His next charge was at Chico, this state, and from 
there, in 1897, he came to Humboldt county, and for seven years was in 
charge of the Baptist church at Eureka. For the past few years he has been 
on the retired list, and has only been called upon to fill pulpits on special 
occasions, and when a supply is needed. 

Mr. Stephens has accumulated an appreciable amount of property, having 
several desirable residence properties in Eureka, which he rents, in addition 
to the farm on Jameson creek. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens have one child, a son, 
William Jewell, who is an express messenger on the Northern Express, at 
Seattle, Wash. He is married to Miss Catherine Caywood. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Stephens have many warm friends throughout California, where their 
work has brought them in close contact with the people of their denomina- 
tion. In Eureka they are especially popular, having endeared themselves to 
the members of their charge during their many years of devoted and loving 
labor there. 

GEORGE W. PERROTT.— As the manager of the meat market depart- 
ment of the Eel River Mercantile Company, at Scotia, George Perrott is 
one of the best known and best liked men of that part of the county. He has 
occupied his present responsible position for many years, nine general super- 
intendents having come and gone since he first assumed charge of this depart- 
ment of the work at Scotia, the Eel River Mercantile Company being a sub- 
sidiary of the larger corporation and designed to care for the wants of its 
employes. Mr. Perrott is particularly well fitted for this work, having learned 
the details of meat market business when he was a boy, and for some ten 
years being so employed by Lamb Bros., in Rohnerville. He is thoroughly 
familiar with the handling of meats and provisions, and his long incumbency 
of his present position is proof of his ability to discharge his duties in an 
efficient manner. His department is noted for the thorough and careful 
systematization of all work and for the scientific sanitary condition which 
prevails. Its importance may be the better understood when it is known 
that the Pacific Lumber Company is the largest in the county and one of 
the largest on the coast. Their interests at Scotia are very extensive and 
valuable, their buildings, machinery, tracks, wharves, etc., having cost some 
S14,000,0G0. E. P. Carland is the superintendent of the Eel River Mercantile 
Company, which maintains a branch store at the various points where the 
Pacific Lumber Company has interests, the main distributing station being 
at Scotia. 

Mr. Perrott is a native of California, born in Marin county, January 21, 
1862, the son of Mathew and Sarah A. (Miller) Perrott. His father was. 
a native of New York state and came to California in 1849, locating in Marin 
county, where he engaged in farming. When George was six years of age 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1023 

the family removed to Humboldt county and located near Rohnerville, where 
the father again engaged in farming and stock raising. He owned and im- 
proved a farm of three hundred acres. He also had several trades, one being 
that of wagon maker, and he was engaged in the manufacture of heavy 
wagons, and also owned and conducted a livery stable. The son George 
attended the public schools of Rohnerville and assisted with the farm work 
at home. His first work for others was when he entered the employ of A. 
Lamb, of Rohnerville, in the meat market, where he learned the trade which 
has since stood him in such good stead. He has a splendid record of fifty- 
five months in this business without the loss of a single day. He was also 
interested in the training of trotting horses and became very expert in this 
work, being in the employ of A. and Winfield Lamb as a trainer of fast- 
horses for several years, remaining with these brothers altogether for ten 
years, from the time he was twenty-four until he was thirty-four. He then 
went to the Santa Clara valley and drove fast horses for George P. Mclninny, 
a millionaire and a great fancier of trotting horses, Mr. Perrott being his 
trainer for five months. In 1896 he came to Scotia and at the special request 
of his former employer, A. Lamb, took charge of his meat market here. Since 
that time he has remained here, the market of which he was in charge being 
later taken over by the Eel River Mercantile Company and Mr. Perrott being 
put in charge of the department which he has since so ably handled, except 
for a brief period of nine months, when he acted as manager of the Scotia 
hotel for the Pacific Lumber Company. 

Mr.. Perrott has been twice married, the first time being in 1891, when 
he espoused Miss Kathryn Davis, the daughter of John B. Davis, of Rohner- 
ville. She bore him two children, George Leland, now a machinist in the 
employ of the Pacific Lumber Company, at Scotia, and Lyle Preston, a 
resident of Metropolitan. Mr. Perrott was married a second time in 1906, 
being united with Miss Daisy Leonora Rickart, of Scotia. 

In addition to his popularity in the commercial world, Mr. Perrott is 
well known and especially well liked in fraternal and social circles, where 
he takes an influential part in affairs generally. He is a member of the Odd 
Fellows, Rohnerville Lodge, and is past grand of the same. He is also a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, Scotia Lodge, and of the Weeott Tribe 
No. 147, I. O. R. M., at Scotia, and has been through all the chairs twice, and 
a delegate to the grand lodge six times. He is also a charter member of both 
these last named orders. He is also prominent in politics and has been a 
member of the Republican County Central Committee. 

The family of Mr. Perrott's parents was a large one, he being one of nine 
children, eight of whom grew to maturity and are still living. The living 
members of the family are : Frank Mathew, residing at Haywards, Cal. : 
WilHam, of Fortuna; Charles E., of Rohnerville; Benjamin, also of Rohner- 
ville; George W., our subject; Dr. W. L., of Eureka; May, Mrs. T. J. Smith, 
of Fortuna ; Harry A., deceased, and Sadie, Mrs. Starks, of Fortuna. 

E. LESTER COTTRELL, M. D.— Dr. E. Lester Cottrell has been 
physician and surgeon of the Scotia Hospital since November 1, 1909. The 
attending surgeon is constantly called upon to perform operations of minor 
and major importance in cases of accidents, of which there are bound to be 
many. 



1024 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Dr. Cottrell is a native of California, born in Eureka, August 14, 1874, 
the son of A. Cottrell, a grocer of that city, whose sketch appears elsewhere 
in this edition. He passed his boyhood days in Eureka, where he attended 
the public and high schools, and later entered the San Jose State Normal, 
graduating in 1896. For several years he taught school, being principal of the 
grammar school at Petrolia for a year, and then for three years teaching in 
the grammar schools of Eureka, being principal of the Grant school for two 
years of that time. He bid good-bye to the pedagogical profession with the 
old century, and in the fall of 1899 matriculated at the Cooper Medical College 
in San Francisco, where he remained for a year. He then went to Washing- 
ton, D. C, where he filled a position with the census bureau for a year, at 
the same time completing his second 3rear of medical study. The third and 
fourth years of his course were taken at the Jefferson Medical College, at 
Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1903. He then became resident physician 
at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, in Pittsburg, during 1903-4, at the 
close of which time he returned to Eureka, where he practiced for three 
months. He then went to Fortuna, where he succeeded Dr. S. M. L. 
Dougherty. For almost five years he remained at Fortuna, and then accepted 
the post which he occupies at present, and removed to Scotia, where he has 
since resided. 

Dr. Cottrell has taken an active part in the medical affairs of Humboldt 
county since his return here from his studies in the east, and was president 
of the County Medical Society in 1914. 

Aside from his splendid reputation in a professional way, Dr. Cottrell 
is also popular fraternally and socially and enjoys the widest acquaintance 
among the people of his part of the county. He is a prominent Mason, a 
member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, of Eureka, and is also 
a Shriner, being affiliated with Islam Temple, San Francisco. He is also a 
member of the Knights of Pythias at Scotia. In his political preferment Dr. 
Cottrell is a Republican and is keenly alive to all that pertains to the best 
interests of the community, following the line of his own judgment on men 
and measures in all local issues, rather than confining himself to party lines. 

The marriage of Dr. Cottrell and Miss Ethel Williams, of Fortuna, was 
solemnized at the latter city June 12, 1906. Mrs. Cottrell was for some years 
engaged in educational work in Humboldt county, and is past president of 
the Sequoia Club of Scotia. 

LEWIS LARSON. — One of the best known manufacturers of shingles 
and shakes in Humboldt county is Lewis Larson, who lives on a splendid 
eighty-acre ranch between Rohnerville and Hydesville and operates his 
shingle mill, which is three miles beyond Cuddeback. He is one of the very 
few operators in this line who have not closed their mills during the de- 
pression of 1913-14, and this is largely due to the splendid cooperation of the 
Larson family, the sons and daughters being in the employ of their father, 
and giving their best effort toward making a success of the undertaking. 
They are all energetic, enthusiastic and hard working, and the product of 
their mill is a superior grade of shingles. 

Mr. Larson is a native of Sweden, born at Engelholm, January 10, 1864. 
His father was a farmer and owned a ninety-acre farm in the mother country, 
where he died at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother lived to be seventy. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1025 

The boyhood days of the son Lewis were passed on his father's farm and his 
education was received in the public schools of the district. In 1882 he came 
to America, locating first in Kansas, where he worked as a farm hand in 
Wilson county. In October, 1883, he came to California, spending a brief 
time in San Francisco, and then coming up the coast to Eureka. He was 
with the California Redwood Company for a year and then entered the 
employ of John Vance, veteran lumber man, in his lumber mills, first as a 
sawyer, and later became a filer. After the death of his father he inherited 
$2500 from the estate, and this he invested in property, purchasing a fine 
ranch of eighty acres on the road between Hydesville and Rohnerville, forty 
acres of which is bottom- land. His first venture in the making of shingles 
was on the Van Dusen river, where he built a shingle mill on the Irvine 
place, four miles further up than his present property. This he ran for twelve 
years, with great success. His present mill he built in 1912, and has operated 
it continuously since that time. It has a capacity of fifty thousand shingles 
and ten thousand shakes per day. 

The marriage of Mr. Larson took place in 1890, when he was united with 
Miss Hannah Person, a native of Sweden. They have become the parents 
of nine children, all of whom have been born in Humboldt county, where the 
elder members of the family have been educated, and where they all reside 
at this time. They are : Roland, a sawyer in the shingle mill ; Elsie, now 
the wife of Arthur Johnson, who is employed in the moulding mills at 
Eureka ; Emma, who is employed at the shingle mill ; Lloyd, also employed 
at the mill ; Allen, Elsa and Eva, all attending school in Rohnerville ; and 
Sophus, Benjamin and Arthur, younger members of the family. 

Mr. Larson takes a keen interest in all public questions and is deeply 
interested in the local and political affairs of the state, but as a non-partisan. 
He is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and is well known in that 
order. Among business men with whom he is brought in contact he is known 
as a man of ability and strength of character, honest, industrious and upright, 
and well above the average in native ability. 

GEORGE F. WOODCOCK.— It is a noteworthy fact that the average 
pioneer is a stronger man at an advanced age than is the product of a modern 
and more complicated civilization, and one of the splendid evidences of this 
is George F. Woodcock, of Rohnerville, who, although almost eighty years 
of age, conducts a thrifty little ranch of some twenty odd acres between 
Rohnerville and Fortuna, where he may be found hard at work every day in 
the year. He is capable of doing as hard a day's work as a man half his years, 
and is not in the least distressed thereby, rather enjoying the exhilaration 
of the strenuous exercise. For more than half a century he has resided in 
California, being variously engaged during that long and eventful period, 
although for twenty-seven years he was in the employ of one company, being 
one of their most trusted and trustworthy men. 

Mr. Woodcock is a native of Charlotte county. New Brunswick, having 
been born March 20, 1837. His father, David Woodcock, was a native of 
Maine, as was his paternal grandfather, also David Woodcock. Both lived 
and died in New Brunswick, although they were essentially American in their 
sympathies and ideas. The father was married in New Brunswick to Miss 
Sarah Thomas, a native of that province. He was a shoemaker by trade, the 



1026 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

grandfather being a carpenter, and both were industrious and prosperous, 
although neither ever accumulated riches. There were nine children in the 
family of David Woodcock, six boys and three girls, George F., the subject 
of this sketch, being the eighth child. The eldest member of the family was 
a daughter, Ann Woodcock, who later married Elias Smith and is living in 
New Brunswick at the age of almost ninety years. One of the brothers, James 
Woodcock, was a teamster and bridge builder in Humboldt county, for many 
years, where he died. George F. Woodcock received very few educational 
advantages, there being opportunity for attending school only a few brief 
months in the winter. He began work as a lumberman when a boy in his 
native province and became at an early age inured to hardship and severe 
manual labor. He came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, 
going at once into the gold mines on the American river in Placer county, 
arriving there the latter part of September, 1859. Times were then very hard 
and he secured the necessary outfit for the wood chopper, laid in a simple 
supply of food and "batched'' while he chopped wood, receiving in wages $4 
per day. Later he engaged in gold mining, but did not find that the returns 
were satisfactory, and so gave that up. He tried to enlist in the Civil war, 
but was unable to get into the company that he desired, and so went north 
into Humboldt county, going to Eureka, where he went to work in the lumber 
woods. He was employed by the D. R. Jones Company and for twenty-seven 
years remained with them, during the last fifteen years of that time being 
in charge of their outside work, and much of the time running three teams 
and one hundred twenty meii. He was married in Eureka, in 1880, to ^liss 
Mary Wilson, the daughter of Eli G. Wilson, a stone mason by trade, a 
minister in the L^nited Brethren Church, and well known in Eureka. Three 
years after his marriage Mr. Woodcock determined to engage in farming 
and so came to Rohneryille and purchased his present home property three- 
quarters of a mile from town. Here he has established a pleasant home and 
keeps the property under a high state of cultivation through his own indus- 
trious application and splendid judgment. 

Mr. and Mrs. Woodcock have become the parents of eleven children, all 
except one of whom have grown to maturity. They are all well known in 
Humboldt county, where they were born and educated, and where they now 
make their homes. They are all industrious and prosperous, having in- 
herited the splendid traits of character that distinguish both their parents. 
They are : Lillie, the wife of the late L. M. Nason, a school teacher, who 
died in Eureka in 1914; George, a woodsman for the Eel River Valley Lum- 
ber Company ; Fred, residing at home ; Frank, a teacher ; Gladys, the wife of 
Ed Baxter, a woodsman, and residing in Rohnerville ; James, attending 
school in Eureka ; Percy, a teacher on the Klamath river ; Clara, Blanche and 
Grace, residing at home. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Woodcock are exceptionally interesting people and 
both are interested in many things outside their immediate home. Thej^ are 
particularly active in church work and are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church of Rohnerville, of which Mr. Woodcock is a trustee, while Mrs. 
Woodcock is the superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Woodcock is a 
Progressive in his political preferences and personally he is all that the term 
implies, especially on questions of local import, and is always to be found in 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1027 

support of any movement that tends for the religious, educational or social 
betterment of the community. In his home life Mr. Woodcock has been 
especially happy. 

J. L. JOHNSON. — The responsible position of foreman of the machine 
shops for the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia is at present held by J. L. 
Johnson, a young man of much ability and high integrity of character, who 
has occupied- this position since June, 1911, and is giving the greatest of 
satisfaction. He came to Scotia and entered the employ of the Pacific Lum- 
ber Company fifteen years ago, when he was a youth of but nineteen years, 
and has steadily made his way upward through sheer ability and pluck. He 
is a natural born machinist, no doubt having inherited this tendency from his 
father. He always delighted in machinery and was apprenticed to learn the 
blacksmith's trade when he was sixteen, giving three years of time to the 
mastering of this trade. He was not able to secure schooling beyond the 
grammar schools owing to pressure of financial necessity, he being the eldest 
of a large family, and so obliged at an early age to shoulder his share of the 
responsibility. When he first went to Scotia he was put to work in the black- 
smith shops, but after a comparatively short time there he was transferred 
to the machine shops, where he has been since that time. 

Mr. Johnson is a native of New Jersey, having been born at Jersey City, 
September 28, 1881. His father was J. B. Johnson, and is now a pattern- 
maker and car-builder for the Caspar Lumber Company, at Caspar, Mendo- 
cino county, Cal. He is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, and served as a 
corporal in the Danish army and became a pattern-maker and car-builder in 
his native land. He came to America when he was twenty-two years of age, 
locating in New Jersey, where he was married to Miss Lena Price, a native 
of Schleswig Holstein, Germany. After some five or six years in New Jersey, 
the family removed to California, locating at Navarro, Mendocino county, 
and going from there to Caspar, where he has since resided,- being for this 
entire time in the employ of the Caspar Lumber Company. The mother is 
still living. There were seven children in the family, one of whom died in 
childhood, the others, three sons and three daughters, living to grow to 
manhood and womanhood, the sons all following mechanical lines. 

As foreman of the machine shops of the Pacific Lumber Company, J. L. 
Johnson holds a very responsible position, for the repairing of the engines, 
rolling stock and stationary machinery of this great company is a large 
undertaking. He is possessed of a mind of rare judgment and poise, and his 
estimates on work are phenomenally accurate. He is pleasant, congenial and 
well liked by those who come in contact with him, either as workmen under 
his direction, or as superior officers of the company. 

The marriage of Mr. Johnson was solemnized in Eureka, May 18, 1905, 
uniting him with Miss Zella Maude Rickart, of Scotia, the daughter of 
Edmund L. Rickart, who is now employed as foreman of the yards for the 
Holmes-Eureka Company (lumber) at Eureka, but who was with the Pacific 
Lumber Company, at Scotia, for nineteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have 
become the parents of three children, two daughters and a son : Mildred D., 
Melvin and Dorothy. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have many friends in 



1028 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Scotia, where they are favorites in their social circle. Mr. Johnson is a 
member of the Odd Fellows, Hydesville Lodge No. 250. In his political 
preference he is a Republican and takes an interest in all that pertains to the 
welfare of Scotia and community. He is progressive and broadminded and 
is known as a citizen of sterling qualities. 

J. A. TRAVIS. — Blessed with a buoyant spirit, a splendid intellect and 
a superb manhood, J. A. Travis is well fitted for the position which he occupies 
as manager of the Fortuna yards of the Eel River Valley Lumber Company, 
which is the distributing point for this place and Ferndale, and the rich coun- 
try surrounding these places. He has won this position by the force of his 
own ability and application, his promotions following one after another until 
in 1909 he assumed the duties of manager of the yards, which he has since 
filled. He has done much for the business during that time, the volume being 
constantly on the increase and a splendid patronage having been built up 
throughout the community. 

Mr. Travis was born in Fonistell, St. Charles county, Mo., but removed 
from that place to Benton City, Audrain county. Mo., when he was a small 
child, his father thereafter conducting a general merchandise store at Benton 
City. They remained at this place until the son was twelve years of age and 
then migrated to California, in 1889 locating at Oakland. Here he attended 
school and later took a commercial course, continuing his studies by attend- 
ing night school, after he had secured a position as clerk. In the spring of 
1902 he came to Fortuna and entered the employ of the Eel River Valley 
Lumber Company in the yards at Newburg, working up from that to his 
present position of trust and responsibility. Mr. Travis is the son of C. W. 
and Nannie (Kinney) Travis, his father being a well known farmer of the 
Rohnerville district at this time. 

The marriage of Mr. Travis and Miss Ada Lafferty, of Coquille, Ore., 
was celebrated in 1904, and of this union has been born a daughter, Arietta, 
aged three years Both Mr. and Mrs. Travis have a host of friends in 
Fortuna. Mr. Travis is a member of the Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., 
of Fortuna, and is deservedly prominent in Masonic circles. He takes an 
active part in the general afifairs of the town and is regarded as an influential 
and progressive citizen. 

AMOS MADISON CUMMINGS.— A young man who is rapidly coming 
to the front as an orchardist and rancher in the justly celebrated Bull creek 
district is A. M. Cummings. He it was who took the gold medal on King 
apples at the San Francisco apple show in 1914, and his orchards are a de- 
light to the eye as well as being particularly profitable to their owner. He 
is the son of a, Humboldt county pioneer, and was born and reared in the 
Mattole valley. He is industrious and energetic and is making a decided 
success of his farming enterprise. He maintains a hotel, or resort, on his 
ranch on Bull creek, and is well known and highly esteemed throughout this 
part of the cotmty. 

Mr. Cummings was born in the Mattole valley, February 5, 1876. His 
father, Louis J. Cummings, was a pioneer in the valley, locating there in 
1867, and making his home continuously in the county until the time of his 
death in 1892. He was married in the east to Miss Elizabeth Miner, a native 
of Ohio, who is still residing in this county, making her home at Eureka 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1029 

with her daughter, Mrs. J. S. Burnell. The parents came to California in 
the early part of 1862, settling first at Marysville, where they lived for five 
years, coming to Humboldt county in 1867. There were four children in 
the family, of whom Amos Madison was the youngest born. Of the others, 
the eldest, George A., is a justice of the peace and a rancher, living on the 
old Cummings homestead in the Mattole valley; F. J. is ex-principal of the 
Ferndale High school, and is now secretary of the Dairy Association of 
Humboldt county, and a very well-to-do rancher living near Ferndale ; Phina 
is the wife of J. S. Burnell, attorney-at-law, and extensive land owner, resid- 
ing in Eureka. 

The youngest member of this splendid family, Amos M., was reared in 
the Mattole valley, attending the public schools at Petrolia, and completing 
his education at the business college in Eureka. Following this he returned 
to the Mattole valley and assisted with the care of the home place until his 
marriage to Miss Eunice Hazleton, of Pepperwood, which occurred Febru- 
ary 8, 1902. He then rented a ranch in the Mattole valley and engaged in 
the stock business for a number of years, and in 1907 came to Bull creek, 
where he purchased his present home place of three hundred acres. He has 
cleared some of the land and enlarged the orchard, there being but four 
acres of orchard at the time of purchase. He now has ten acres. He is a 
booster for his home community, which is one of the finest apple producing 
sections of the state, and took an active part in the planning and arrange- 
ment of the Humboldt county exhibit at the San Francisco apple show in 
1914, carrying away a gold medal therefrom, the entire exhibit taking the 
first prize. Mr. Cummings exhibited Kings and Jonathans, the former being 
his prize exhibit. He will also exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International 
Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have four children, three sons and one daugh- 
ter, namely: Laurence, Laurel, Curtis and Lisle. Mr. Cummings takes an 
active part in local affairs and is recognized as an influential citizen. His 
property lies about seven miles from Dyerville, on Bull creek, and is very 
valuable. It was formerly the property of N. P. Endicott, who sold it to the 
present owner in 1907. Mr. Cummings is a Progressive in his political pref- 
erences and is all that the word implies in the best sense, being wide-awake, 
and always ready to give his support to movements which stand for the up- 
building and development of the general welfare. He has rendered valuable 
service on the local school board, and has taken prominent official positions 
on election boards and other similar positions. 

AMOS HANSELL. — As one of the enterprising and prosperous orchard- 
ists of the Eel river valley, Amos Hansell is today well known throughout 
his part of Humboldt county, and his orchard is one of the finest in the 
vicinity. He is a true pioneer, having come to this county when he was but 
little more than a babe in arms, and having spent his lifetime here. His 
specialty in the horticultural line is apples, and he handles an extensive 
variety, including such kinds as Spitzenberg, Jonathan, King, Rhode Island 
Greenings, Bellflowers and Pippins. He has been engaged in the nursery 
business since he was a boy and is an expert in this line. In addition to his 
apples he also raises cherries and tomatoes, both of which do well in this 
vicinity. His ranch is located on the left bank of the Eel river, opposite 



1030 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Camp Grant, — about two miles above Dyerville, and is of a rich, sandy- 
loam, sub-irrigated, and is very productive. The residence is especially at- 
tractive, its architecture being in harmony with the setting in which it is 
placed. It was erected by Mr. Hansell's father, who was a carpenter and 
joiner, and most of the finishings were prepared by hand, and are exquis- 
itely done. The doors are two inches thick, and are made from selected 
redwood, as also are the door and window casings. 

Mr. Hansell is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born April 21, 
1852. His father was also Amos Hansell, a pioneer of Humboldt county, 
who died in Rohnerville, January 25, 1911. He came to Eureka in 1851 
under an engagement to build the old Picayune mill, which was the first 
saw-mill built in Humboldt county. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born 
at Philadelphia, in 1824, and enlisted from there in the Mexican war, serv- 
ing throughout the war on board the sloop Dakota, as the captain's cock- 
swain. After the close of the war he returned to Philadelphia, and was 
there married to Miss Abigail Fox, and spon thereafter started for Califor- 
nia, making the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He had learned his 
trade of carpenter and joiner in his home city before going to the Mexican 
war, serving an apprenticeship of live years, and becoming a master of his 
trade. Arriving at Panama in the fall of 1851, he found thousands of miners 
stranded there awaiting the coming of the steamer to take them on to 
California. Mr. Hansell took employment as master carpenter on the erec- 
tion of a large store building for a wealthy old Mexican, receiving $16 per 
day for his work. Upon arriving at San Francisco, he was soon engaged at 
his trade until the spring of 1852, when he was engaged by his cousins. 
Captain and Charles May, to come up to Eureka and build the old Picayune 
mill, before mentioned. Finishing this work, he went down to San Fran- 
cisco to meet his wife and son, the subject of this article, and then returned 
to Eureka, where he continued to work as contractor and builder. At this 
time several prominent men in this section organized and employed Mr. 
Hansell as their builder. He employed a large force of men, and had 
erected a number of residences and mills when the company failed, owing 
him about $7,000. The matter was ready for court, when they compromised 
with promises to pay, and he received enough to pay his men off at 100 
cents on the dollar, but he himself received but a few dollars for many 
weeks of hard work. He continued, however, to follow his trade as con- 
tractor and builder, meeting with much success. He was a friend of Colonel 
Pratt of old Fort Humboldt, and erected several of the buildings at the fort. 
He served as deputy sheriff for two terms, and was justice of the peace for 
many years. He was well informed on all points of law and jurisprudence 
and could easily have gained admittance to the bar. 

In 1855 a second son, Harry, was born, and in 1859 his wife died, leav- 
ing him with these two small boys, aged respectively four and eight years. 
They were put to board in the home of Charles Wiggins on Humboldt Hill 
for two years, and then Amos was put with Jacob Showers, at Rohnerville, 
where he remained until 1872, working on the farm, and attending school 
for a few brief months each year, the average school term being three 
months. In 1872 both the brothers came down to Camp Grant, to join 
their father, who had just taken a homestead near that point, and two miles 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1031 

south of Dyerville, on the Eel river. Here the father and sons cleared up 
thirty acres and planted it to apples, pears, prunes and peaches, and also 
established a nursery. There is now on this place, where Mr. Hansell 
makes his home, a black walnut tree with a spread of ninety feet, and a 
diameter of three feet and three inches. Here the father and two sons con- 
tinued to do a flourishing nursery business, until the father retired, in the 
early '90s, and removed to Rohnerville, where he continued to reside until 
the time of his death. In 1905 he was married to Mrs. Gutherie, of Rohner- 
ville, who died there in 1913. 

In 1904 Amos Hansell bought the interest of his brother in the business 
and in 1906 he bought out his father's interest, and since that time has con- 
ducted the ranch and orchard as an independent enterprise. His marriage 
occurred in 1906, uniting him with Mrs. Frances Randle, the widow of 
George Randle, and the daughter of Willis and Menah (Hurlston) Whitaker, 
both natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Hansell was born in Hazleton, 111., and was 
but three years of age when her mother died, and but seven when she lost 
her father. She was then taken by an aunt up to Wisconsin, and was 
reared in Grant county, that state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hansell have many 
friends in their community, and take an active part in all that pertains to 
the welfare and inprovement of the valley. They are both keenly inter- 
ested in the progress and development of Humboldt county and are recog- 
nized as citizens of ability and worth. Mr. Hansell is a member of Eel 
River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., at Rohnerville, and in his political prefer- 
ences he is a Progressive Republican, and is all that the name implies in 
progressiveness. 

TOSALDO JOHNSON.— Undoubtedly the foremost citizen of the Bull 
creek country is Tosaldo Johnson, pioneer of that locality, and the one who 
has done more than any other to demonstrate the adaptability of the Bull 
creek country to the production of apples and other fruits, for which it is 
now justly famious. He has been prominent in Humboldt county politics 
for many years and is still looked upon as a leader. He is looked up to 
as an authority and is highly respected, as is also his estimable wife. They 
are very hospitable and have many warm friends in their part of the county. 

Mr. Johnson is a native of Missouri, born in Newton county, 1843. His 
father, James Johnson, was a Kentuckian, and died when Tosaldo was a 
babe of eighteen months. His mother was Martha Hamilton, a relative of 
Alexander Hamilton, and died in California, having lived in Butte county, 
Colusa and Sierra counties. Tosaldo was the youngest of a family of three 
children, there being one sister, Eliza, who became Mrs. French and re- 
turned to Missouri to reside; and a brother, James. In 1850, when Mr. 
Johnson was a lad of some seven years, his mother crossed the plains 
with her family, and after a journey of six months, located in Butte 
county in the fall of that year. There were one hundred eighteen 
wagons in the train as far as Fort Bridges, where they separated, some 
going on to Oregon, while others continued to California. The brother, 
James, was then a man grown, and Tosaldo went with him to El Dorado 
county, where they remained for two years, after which he was with 
various other families until he was thirteen years of age, when he began 
to work out for himself. Previous to that time he had acted as chore 



1032 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

boy with the families where he had lived and had never been allowed to 
o-o to school. Later he entered school, although many years behind his 
fellows, and within four months he was at the head of his classes. He 
showed a great desire for learning and was a splendid student. When 
he was seventeen he enlisted in the Kibby Rangers under Gen. Kibby, 
and served five months and was honorably discharged. He then went 
to Nevada and Idaho, where he engaged in prospecting, and later went 
to Texas after cattle. While in Texas he met and married Miss Addie 
Stewart, remaining in that state for several months. He then went to 
Idaho, Montana and Eastern Oregon, where he followed the cattle busi- 
ness, and also prospected for gold and silver, his wife accompanying him 
from place to place. 

It was in 1872 or 1873 that Mr. Johnson came from Idaho to Cali- 
fornia and located in Humboldt county, renting property at Eagle prairie 
for a year. Following this he homesteaded a claim of one hundred sixty 
acres on Bull creek, known to this day as the Johnson homestead. Two 
children were born to them there: Birdie, now the wife of William A. 
Smith, a farmer and dairyman at Vancouver, B. C, Canada; and Georgine, 
the wife of F. C. Lane, contractor and railroad builder, also residing at 
Vancouver, B. C. Mrs. Johnson lived here for six or seven years before 
her death, which occurred on the homestead. At the time that Mr. John- 
son located in this district there was an abundance of wild game, and he 
holds a record for the number of bears, panthers, deer, and other such game 
that he killed. There were also a few Mad river Indians, but they were 
not troublesome. Mr. Johnson was one of the first men to engage in the 
sheep business on Bull creek. He had about two thousand head, and the 
bears, panthers, and other such beasts of prey killed oflf a thousand head 
in one season. This led him to engage in hunting, and many and inter- 
esting are the tales that he can tell of his experiences while in pursuit of 
big game. 

The second marriage of Mr. Johnson occurred some three years after 
the death of his first wife, uniting him with Miss Roxanna Jane Hanlon, 
a native of Iowa. She bore her husband two children: Martha M., who 
became the wife of Herman Matlock, both being now deceased, leaving 
two children, Harold and Cora, whom Mr. and Mrs. Johnson reared from 
childhood and have recently adopted ; and Grace, the wife of Arle Baxter, a 
rancher on Bull creek. 

Mr. Johnson was one of the first men to demonstrate the adaptability 
of the Bull creek country to the raising of apples, and has prospered ex- 
ceedingly in his ranching enterprises, and especially in his interests as an 
orchardist. He now owns three fine ranches, comprising in all some three 
hundred twenty acres, one hundred eighty-four being in the homestead, 
one hundred thirteen in the property known as the Look place, where he 
makes his home, and twenty-three up on the creek bottom, where he has 
a fine orchard of apples, peaches, pears and prunes, with a splendid variety 
of small fruits, such as berries, etc. He is enthusiastic over the possi- 
bilities offered to the orchardist in this vicinity, and is certain that there is 
no other locality that can compare with it. Besides his orchard interests 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1033 

Mr. Johnson is engaged in diversified farming, and has about forty head 
of cattle, a hundred hogs, and several horses. 

The political affairs of the district have always interested Mr. Johnson 
and he has taken a prominent part in all the concerns of his party. He 
is a Jefl'ersonian Democrat, of the old school, but is well informed and 
an independent thinker, and in all local matters gives his support and co- 
operation to the best man for the place. He served as deputy sheriflF and 
constable for fourteen years and has a splendid record for efficient ser- 
vice. He was very conscientious in the discharge of his duty, and never 
allowed a law-breaker to escape him. He made many arrests and was 
especially keen on all measures that acted as a prevention of crime. He 
has also served as a member of the Democratic Committee for the county. 
He is a member of the Odd Fellows, at Hydesville, and of the Encamp- 
ment and Veteran Odd Fellows, and is also an influential member of the 
Farm Center at Dyerville. 

JOSEPH O. BRANSTETTER.— Well known in Rohnerville and 
vicinity as a carpenter and builder, farmer, and business man, Joseph O. 
Branstel-ter is descended from one of the old pioneer families of the county, 
his parents having crossed the plains in 1849, and in 1854 located in Hum- 
boldt county, where they resided until the time of their death. They were 
among the most highly respected of the early settlers, and their children are 
well known and honored citizens of the county. The home estate was 
located near Capetown, and is still in the possession of the family. Mr. 
Branstetter is also connected with another pioneer family through his mar- 
riage, his wife having been Miss Elizabeth Williams, the daughter of Mrs. 
Thomas Williams and the granddaughter of J. H. Decker, of Rohnerville, 
one of the oldest pioneers of the valley, and a man of splendid character 
and reputation. 

Mr. Branstetter was born at Ferndale, Humboldt county, Cal., July 28, 
1874, the son of Martin and Rachael (Kerry) Branstetter, the father being- 
a native of Missouri, and the mother, of Switzerland. His parents were 
married in Missouri and came to California at the time of the gold excite- 
ment in 1849, crossing the plains with a party in charge of Oswald Kerry, 
a brother of Mrs. Branstetter. He was a soldier in the Mexican war and 
an experienced Indian fighter, and it was largely due to his care and ability 
that the party escaped serious difficulties with the Indians, coming off 
victorious in their numerous skirmishes with the redskins; He settled in 
California and lived to be eighty-three years of age. Locating in Bear 
River valley in 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Branstetter, Sr., improved a large ranch 
of government land, which they located, and engaged in general farming 
and stock-raising. They experienced the customary exciting and dangerous 
times of the early settlers in this vicinity, but prospered and both lived to 
a good old age, the father dying at the age of sixty-five years, while the 
mother lived to be seventy-six, passing on in 1906. 

Joseph O. Branstetter is the youngest of a family of twelve children, 
all of whom are living save Walter, who died in 1913, and all well known 
in Humboldt county, Daniel A. Branstetter, of Ferndale, and Louis P. 
Branstetter, of Capetown, being especially prominent in their localities. 
Joseph O. grew to manhood on his father's ranch at Capetown and after- 



1034 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ward on a farm near Ferndale, receiving his education in the public and 
high schools of Ferndale. He has been especially successful in business' 
and is prosperous, energetic, and progressive. He is one of the best known 
carpenters and builders of the vicinity of "Rohnerville, where he makes his 
home, being especially engaged in the building of barns. He also owns a 
splendid twenty-eight acre farm near Rohnerville, which he operates as a 
grain and dairy ranch, where he is meeting with success. He also owns the 
garage in Rohnerville, which is equipped with machinery for the repair of 
cars, and also deals in gasoline, oils and automobile supplies. 

The marriage of Mr. Branstetter took place in Rohnerville, in Decem- 
ber, 1904, and his wife has borne him three children : Maxine, Clifton, and 
Van, the two oldest of whom are attending the public schools, where they 
are proving to be exceptionally bright and studious. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Branstetter are popular with a wide circle of friends, and take an active 
part in social and fraternal affairs. Mr. Branstetter is an influential mem- 
ber of the Odd Fellows, and is noble grand of Eel River Lodge No. 210, 
I. O. O. F., at Rohnerville, there being an active membership of ninety-six 
members. Both he and Mrs. Branstetter are members of the Rebekahs. 
In politics Mr. Branstetter is a Progressive, and the broadest meaning of 
the term is exemplified in his life and activities. He takes a keen interest 
in whatever is for the welfare of his home town, the community or the 
state, and is broad-minded and fair in his judgments and opinions. He 
owns a comfortable home in Rohnerville, which he maintains in a manner 
that is a credit to the community and to himself. 

EDWIN JOSEPH INMAN.— For more than forty years a resident of 
Humboldt county, and during all that time actively engaged in pursuits 
that have been developmental in their character, Edwin Joseph Inman has 
been an active factor in the affairs of his community and is closely asso- 
ciated with the history of the county since the time of his coming to Cali- 
'fornia, in 1874. He built the first house in Blue Lake and moved his 
family there when there was no thought of a town. He has been associated 
with several of the big lumber companies and has built many of the saw^- 
mills and shingle inills throughout the county. At the present time he is 
managing his dififerent interests and is living in Blue Lake, where he -has 
a host of friends of long standing. 

Mr. Inman is a native of Vermont, having been born in the town of 
Peacham, Caledonia county, June 22, 1852. His father was Joseph Inman, 
born in Bangor, Me., in 1823 and died in 1873. He followed the occupation 
of working in the woods and the sawmills for the greater part of his life, at 
first in the forests of Maine and Vermont. A son, Jerry Inman, had come 
to Humboldt county about 1860, and had been engaged in contract logging, 
so in 1870 the elder Inman came to California and took charge of his son's 
logging business in Humboldt county for two years and then returned to 
. Vermont, where he died the next year. He was a veteran of the Civil War, 
having volunteered in a Vermont regiment in response to one of the first 
calls of the president for troops. His son Charles was also in the Civil 
war, and was wounded on three dififerent battlefields. Mr. Inman's mother 
was Sylvia Martin, a native of Vermont; she died in Peacham. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1035 

The early life of Edwin J. Inman was passed in his native state, where 
at that time his parents resided on a ranch. He attended the district 
schools until he completed the grammar grades and then went into the 
village several miles distant and attended the high school. During vacation 
times he worked in the sawmills to pay a part of the expense of his educa- 
tion. At the end of a year and a half in Peacham Academy, he returned 
home and worked with his father on the ranch until the time of the latter's 
death. 

It was in 1874 that Mr. Inman determined to come to California in an 
endeavor to better his condition. Learning through his father and brother 
Jerry that there were greater opportunities on the coast for a young man 
than in New England, he accordingly made his way west and located in 
Humboldt county. For two years he worked for Joseph Russ in the butcher 
business in Eureka, at which time he went to Klamath river district to work 
in the mines, he having bought considerable stock in these same mines. 
Here he remained for two years, but the mining venture was not a success 
and the investors, Mr. Inman included, lost everything that they had in- 
vested, which with Mr. Inman was all that he had. The next year he 
Avent to work for John Vance in the lumber mills and remained with him 
for four years. Later he helped build the shingle mill for Fay Brothers. 
In 1883 this company moved to Blue Lake and Mr. Inman was sent for to 
help install the machinery in the new saw mill. He arrived, expecting to 
remain but a short time, but was employed by the company as their mill- 
wright and later built himself a home there, this being the first house 
erected on the present site of Blue Lake. Later this company removed 
their interests to Riverside and Mr. Inman again took charge of their mill 
there. 

At this time the company changed hands and was thereafter knoAvn as 
the Jackson-Graham Company. They retained the services of Mr. Inman, 
and ten of the seventeen years of his employment there he was foreman 
of their mill. Later he removed his family from Blue Lake to Riverside 
and for many years they made their home there. In 1900 he purchased 
property in Blue Lake and again built a home there for his family. That 
year he left the mill at Riverside and went to work for Isaac Minor, con- 
tracting for the building of houses and mills throughout the county. For 
four years he continued thus and during that time erected four shingle 
mills on Warren creek and on Little river. He was also employed on the 
construction of the Knights of Pythias hall and also of the Catholic church 
in Areata. Soon after that time he sold his home place in Blue Lake, this 
being the fourth house that he had built and sold there. 

Mr. Inman has been twice married, the first time to Ella Mallory, a 
native of Iowa, born February 21, 1863. She bore him three children: Ida 
May, Jessie Louise and Ralph Eugene. Their mother passed away in Jan- 
uary, 1885. The second marriage took place in Oakland, Cal., October 27, 
1907, to Evelyn N. Bunker, a native of California, born in Ukiah, Mendocino 
county. She is the daughter of Charles Albert Bunker, born in Maine in 
1847, and who came to California via Cape Horn in 1860. He followed 
contracting and building. The mother, Amelia Fields, was born in Illinois. 
They are both deceased. 



J 036 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. Inman has been very successful 
in his various business enterprises. He has always taken an active part 
in public affairs in Blue Lake and is known as a progressive and public 
spirited man. He is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 17 , L O. O. F., 
in Eureka, and has also affiliated with other local organizations of a pubhc 
nature. 

DAVID WILSON TEEL.— There is no profession which brings a man 
more closely into touch with the actual conditions of the country, its 
topography and its possibilities, than does that of the surveyor, and as 
David Wilson Teel has been a surveyor for practically all the years of his 
manhood, and as he has been engaged in the pursuit of his profession very 
extensively throughout California, Oregon and Washington, there is scarcely 
a man to be found who is more thoroughly versed in accurate information 
concerning the resources of these states, and especially of the localities 
where he has been engaged in running property and government lines. He 
came to California in 1875, and has lived in this state since that time, with 
the exception of seven years spent in Washington; and for the greater 
portion of that time he has resided in Humboldt county, which he unre- 
servedly declares is the garden spot of the west, and one of the richest 
counties in the state in natural resources, many of which have not yet been 
touched. He has also been engaged in farming and stockraising, both in 
this state and in Washington, and at present owns valuable farming lands 
in Humboldt county. He now makes his home in Garberville, having leased 
his farms some time ago, and being engaged only in surveying and in timber 
cruising, in which he is also an expert. 

Mr. Teel is a native of Indiana, having been born in St. Joseph county, 
August 31, 1846, near South Bend. His father was also David Wilson Teel, 
a native of Pittsburg, Pa., and his mother was Mariah Louisa Mallett, a 
native of Medina county, Ohio. They were married in Medina county, 
Ohio, the elder Teel being engaged in farming at that time. Later they 
moved to Indiana, into St. Joseph county. In the pioneer daj^s the father 
was employed as an Indian interpreter at Fort Dearborn, -Chicago. In the 
late '30s from Fort Dearborn they renioved to Fort Madison, Iowa, while 
Iowa was yet a territory, they crossing Illinois by teams and wagons, 
following the furrow plowed by government dragoons as a mark for the 
road. Crossing the Mississippi river there, they located on Skunk river, 
Washington county, and farmed for a time. Later Mr. Teel laid out the 
town, of Brighton, and after living here for four or five years, returned to 
Mishawaka, Ind., and bought an interest in the Studebaker foundry, in the 
early '40s. Later still (in 1852) the family migrated back to Lee county, 
Iowa, and there the present citizen of Garberville grew to manhood. He 
was but six years of age when this move was made, and so all his early 
recollections are of the Iowa farm. There were eight children in the family, 
all of whom are deceased save David Wilson and an elder brother, William 
H. Teel, who resides at Spokane, Wash. 

David Wilson Teel received his early education in the public schools 
of Iowa, later attending the best select schools which the state afforded at 
that time. From 20 to 22 years of age he studied surveying and civil engi- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY ■ 1037 

neering under Orrin Baldwin at Keokuk, Iowa, and did some practical work 
there. 

The marriage of Mr. Teel took place in St. Francisville, Mo., April 2, 
1871, uniting him with Miss Sarah Alma McCormick, a native of Lee cotmty, 
Iowa, and the daughter of Joseph and Lucinda (Stephens) IMcCormick, 
natives of Ireland and Indiana, respectively, and wdio were pioneers of 
Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Teel were born six children, namely : John Ernest, 
a rancher of Kern county, married Gertrude Logan, of Humboldt county, 
and they have one child; Ida, wife of John A. AYeeks, a rancher at Bear 
Butte, Humboldt county, is the mother of three children ; Amy and Maimie 
are twins, the former now Mrs. Charles Combs, of Garberville, and the 
mother of three children, while the latter is Mrs. Frederick Duckett, of Coos 
county. Ore., where her husband is engaged in farming, they have two chil- 
dren; Jesse, a rancher of Kern county, married Katie Smith, of Garberville; 
and Otto Edwin, teamster, residing in Garberville, married Verna Herman, 
they have one child. 

Shortly after his marriage Mr. Teel came to California, making the 
change in 1875, and locating in Butte county, where he remained for a short 
time, and then went north, locating in Whitman county. Wash. He worked 
as a surveyor in Butte county, and later in AVhitman county, Wash., at the 
same time being engaged in farming and stock raising. He came down 
from Washington in 1886 to Humboldt county, locating at that time on the 
south fork of the Eel river, in the Bear Butte section, near Phillipsville. 
In the spring of 1886 he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land, which 
he still owns. He resided on this place for many years, raising cattle, and 
farming and raising- fruit. He also rented a tract of one hundred twenty 
acres adjoining, which he also farmed. In the fall of 1912 IMr. Teel gave up 
the care of his farm, leasing the property, and moved into Garberville, wdiere 
he has since resided. He now gives his entire time to surveying and to 
timber cruising, in both of which professions he is an expert. 

Mr. Teel is a splendid man, and a fine type of California pioneer. He 
has lived an exceedingly active and useful life and is still full of strength 
and vigor. His children are all grown and in homes of their own, and there 
are only himself and his wife left in the home-nest. Mr. Teel has seen more 
of the coast country than the majority of men, and is unusually well informed 
on conditions and resources of the country. He has surveyed and cruised 
for timber and land owners of Chicago and other eastern centers, throughout 
many of the counties of California, and has been in every county in Oregon 
but one, and has been professionally employed in most of them. He has been 
in all the coast counties of California, and has been as far south as Tehachapi. 
In all his travels, he stanchly avers, he has found nothing Avhich compares 
with Humboldt county, and it is needless to say that he is a stanch booster 
for Humboldt. In his opinion there is nothing that compares with the Hum- 
boldt county redwoods. Humboldt county stands first in the dairying indus- 
try, and the mineral resources of the county have not been touched. 

In this latter phase of county development Mr. Teel is peculiarly well 
fitted to speak. On his farm on Eel river there is natural gas escaping in 
such quantities and of such a quality that it can be easily ignited by means 
of a lighted match. He is satisfied that the southern end of the county will 



1038 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

yet form a gas and oil field of great importance and wealth. He has surveyed 
and cruised over almost every portion of the county, and is satisfied that the 
county is rich in minerals as well, especially in copper. In the Horse Moun- 
tain district, he avers, the outcroppings and showings of minerals are exten- 
sive and the ore is very rich in copper, platinum and gold. 

Mr. Teel is regarded with the greatest respect and admiration wherever 
he is known, and his word is accepted as thoroughly trustworthy. He is 
an Abraham Lincoln Republican, but has never been actively associated with 
the affairs of his party. He is progressive and in favor of advance legislation, 
and stands for civic betterment and social progress in all lines. 

OSCAR L. KNUDSEN.— In 1908 Oscar L. Knudsen, member of the 
firm of Knudsen & Lundblade, Eureka, started the business to which he has 
since devoted practically all his attention, and a year and a half later joined 
fortunes with Mr. Lundblade. Mr. Knudsen has charge of the automobile 
agency at No. 317 Fifth street, in the Eagles' building, while his partner 
looks after the bicycle and motorcycle end of the business, established at 
No. 332 Fifth street. Their operations cover a wide range, and their ener- 
getic management has resulted in building up a large trade in the various 
branches which they combine so satisfactorily. Mr. Knudsen passed most 
of his boyhood at Eureka, and returned to the town in 1905, since which 
time he has resided there. He is a native of Norway, born February lO, 
1884, at Haugesund, from which port his father, Capt. L. J. Knudsen, sailed 
for many years. 

Captain Knudsen was also born at Haugesund. He married in his native 
land, and came to Eureka when his son Oscar was four years old, the family 
residing there until 1896. Captain Knudsen commanded vessels sailing out 
of Stavanger and Haugesund, Norway, for years, and having visited Eureka 
on several of his voyages decided to make his home there, its many attrac- 
tions and advantageous location appealing to him strongly. After settling 
there he commanded several vessels sailing out of Eureka, but when he 
was transferred to a boat which did not call at Eureka any more he con- 
cluded to move to Oakland, where he has been living since 1896. He is 
now captain of the schooner "Virginia," which is in the lumber trade, 
making trips to the west coast of South America. Three children were 
born to him and his wife, Oscar L., Helen and Kenneth, the daughter and 
younger son being natives of California. Helen resides with her parents 
at Oakland. Kenneth is proprietor of the Sequoia Tire & Oil Company, 
of Eureka, doing business at No. 319 Fifth street. 

Oscar L. Knudsen lived at Eureka from the age of four years until 
the family removed to Oakland in 1896, and received his early education 
here, completing his course in the Oakland high school, from which he 
was graduated in 1899. For four years afterward he followed his father's 
calling, and he rose to the position of second mate, in which capacity he 
sailed on the "Manila," a schooner in the lumber trade, to Chile, South 
America. Mr. Knudsen had received some training in the Polytechnic 
high school at San Francisco, supplemented with study at Macy, in evening 
schools. In 1903 he entered the machine shop of Murray Brothers, San 
Francisco, to learn the machinist's trade, working there until he came to 
Eureka in 1905 to take a position with the Eureka Foundry Company. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1039 

He became thoroughly familiar with casting and general machine work, 
and remained with that concern until he began business on his own account, 
in April, 1908, at first handling bicycles and motorcycles and doing general 
repairing. On December 9, 1909, the firm of Knudsen & Lundblade was 
formed, Mr. Knudsen selling a half interest to Mr. Lundblade, as the busi- 
ness was increasing at such a rate that there were opportunities too good 
to be neglected. They deal in Hudson and Overland automobiles, while 
the shop at No. 332 Fifth street is conducted almost exclusively in the 
interest of the motorcycle and bicycle trade and repair work. They deal 
in most of the popular makes of wheels, including the celebrated 'Tndian" 
motorcycles. They make a specialty of motorcycle and general bicycle 
repairing, for which their establishment has attained considerable local 
prominence. The business has shown steady expansion, due entirely to the 
close attention the young men have given their work, their reliability both 
as salesmen and machinists, and their integrity in all business transactions. 

Mr. Knudsen is a music lover and a talented performer, having at one 
time been a leading member of the Eureka Military Band, but since his 
business has required so much attention he has given up active participation 
in such matters. He is an honorary member of the Norden Singing Society 
of Eureka. Socially he holds membership in the Elks and the Eagles. 

In 1905 Mr. Knudsen was married at Eureka to Miss Selma Johansen, 
daughter of Samuel Johansen, a rancher at McKinleyville, this county, and 
they have four children : Lucile, lone, Beatrice and Claude. Mr. Knudsen, 
being optimistic for the future of Eureka, has invested in real estate and is 
a booster for the city. 

NIELS P. A. GRUNDT.— Since coming to Eureka in 1892, Mr. Grundt 
has made good, thereby proving his own force of character and sagacity of 
judgment, as well as the possibilities afforded by this section of the country 
to a foreign youth endeavoring to secure a financial foothold in a land 
whose people and resources were unknown to him. His own birth in Den- 
mark and a long line of ancestry identified with the same country mark him 
as a Dane with the fine, sturdy traits for which the people of that land 
are noted the world over. Born April 16, 1867, he was twenty years of 
age at the time of first coming to America and during that first association 
with the new world he worked on a farm near Oshkosh, AA'is., later at 
Duluth, Minn., and finally in the state of Washington, arriving on the Pacific 
coast in 1888. Going back to Denmark, he remained for a time, but the 
newer country had cast its magic spell upon him and he again sought its 
shores in the hope of establishing a permanent home. This time Wisconsin 
was his objective point, but soon he proceeded west to Oregon and found 
employment at Portland. AA'hen he landed at Eureka in 1892 he was with- 
out means, but he had a splendid capital in his rugged physique, stalwart 
frame and tireless energy. AA'ith these assets he has forged his way to the 
front ranks of business men. 

After being employed three years on the Buhne ranch, I\Ir. Grundt 
bought a small farm outside Eureka, close to what is now Sunnyside, and 
engaged in raising garden truck, later driving a milk wagon for the Buhne 
dairy. Next he bought a small grocery at 2100 California street. In a 
more than ordinary degree he seemed well adapted to business affairs. 



1040 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

From the first he had the confidence of customers, and after a conple of 
years he sold his first store, and in 1900 he built a two-story, modern and 
substantial block at the corner of Myrtle avenue and R street, and here he 
has since utilized the lower floor for the display and storage of his large 
grocery stock. It has been his custom to take advantage of every oppor- 
tunity to increase his sales and enlarge the business. During 1911 he pur- 
chased the Lohide store, at Fifth and B streets, one of the oldest stores in 
the county, selling a part of the stock at the original place of business, 
removing the balance to his establishment at No. 535 Myrtle avenue and 
selling to private customers at a fair profit. In fact, he took advantage oi 
bargains in any line and always seemed equal to an emergency, disposing 
of them quickly, giving the people an opportunity to buy at a low figure, yet 
making a reasonable profit for himself. After coming to California he 
married Anna Halvorson, a native of Port Kenyon, Humboldt county, and 
a daughter of the well-known pioneer, H. J. Halvorson. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Danish Brotherhood. 

Mr. Grundt, since the second day after his arrival in Humboldt county, 
has had but one employer, namely, the Buhne dairy, since which tmie he has 
been in business for himself. However, prosperous identification with com- 
mercial affairs does not represent the limit of the association of Mr. Grundt 
with Hvimboldt county, for in addition he has been a sagacious real estate 
dealer and investor. He has purchased several tracts of acreage in and 
around Eureka, which he has subdivided and sold in lots. He owns valviable 
property in the heart of Ferndale. ]\Iore recently he purchased the old 
Whitmore ranch of fourteen acres, south of Eureka. It lies on a beautiful 
elevation, overlooking the bay and having a splendid view of the mountains. 
He now makes his residence on the place and has plans for laying out the 
rest in city lots. Adjoining his residence is a grove of spruce which he has 
left in its natural state for a park. All of his purchases have been made 
with discretion and careful thought and their profitable management indicates 
his own keen discrimination as a real estate buyer, as well as the possibilities 
offered by this county to all sagacious purchasers. 

PETER ELWOOD FERRARA.— Prominent among the young business 
men of Plumboldt county, who are making fame and fortune for themselves 
by their industry and application, may be mentioned Peter Elwood Ferrara. 
On his father's side he descended from an old Italian family, and is the 
son of Giuseppe Ferrara, well known as the "Salmon King of Humboldt 
County," and the pioneer in the fish industry of this section of the state. 
On his maternal side he descended from an old eastern family; his grand- 
father, Elwood Hammitt, crossed the plains to California in the '50s and 
became a prominent pioneer of Humboldt county. Young Mr. Ferrara is 
also in the fish business, having succeeded to his father's interests several 
years ago, and is making a splendid success of his enterprise, doing from 
$75,000 to $200,000 worth of business each year, the variation depending 
upon the run of the fish. He is also one of the stockholders in the Diamond 
Fruit Company of Eureka, and is the manager of the wholesale department 
and the traveling salesman for the company, giving his time to this enter- 
prise during the off seasons for fishing. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1041 

Mr. Ferrara is a native of California, having been born in Eureka, Hum- 
boldt county, March 14, 1881. His father, Giuseppe, is a native of' Sicily, 
Italy, M'here he was reared and educated. His grandfather was a fisherman 
and fish dealer, with an extensive shipping and commission business in 
Rome, where Giuseppe Ferrara received his first business training. There 
were also extensive vineyards, where much wine was manufactured and 
sold directly in the larger Italian cities. The father left his native land to 
escape the compulsory military service, coming to America in 1870, and 
landing at Boston. For several years he was employed at different places 
in the east, being for a time in Philadelphia and in Chicago, and in 1873 he 
came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at San Fran- 
cisco in the spring of the year. For two years he was engaged in fishing 
in the Sacramento river, and in 1876 he came to Humboldt county, where 
he immediately engaged in fishing, being especially interested in the salmon 
fishing on the Eel river, although he also had boats on Humboldt bay and 
• on the Pacific ocean. He had retail shops in Eureka, and also did an exten- 
sive wholesale business in San Francisco, Sacramento, and other large Cali- 
fornia cities. He married Henrietta Hammitt, a native of Oregon, at Eureka, 
in 1876, and of this union were born four children, of which Peter Elwood 
is the second in order of birth. 

Peter E. Ferrara began his career in the fishing business when he was 
but four or five years of age, commencing at that time to go out in the boats 
with his father on Eel river. He received his education in the public schools 
of Eureka, and also graduated from the Eureka business college. Later 
he went to Alaska, and was in the employ of the Alaska Packers' Associa- 
tion, at Loring, Alaska, for four years, from 1898 to 1902, having signed a 
contract for that time and remaining during the designated period against 
great odds. Shortly after his return to Eureka he was married to Miss 
Sadie Carmichael, a native of the San Joaquin valley (California), and 
located at Loleta for seven years, being variously employed during that 
time. For a time he was with the Wheat, Pond & Herald company, milk 
condensers, then with the Colebrook Creamery, also milk condensers, then 
with the Farmers Creamery, in the butter-making business, and lastly as 
foreman for the Libby, McNeil & Libby Company, milk condensers, all being 
situated at Loleta. While thus engaged he purchased his first business 
in 1905 and has continued the business ever since. 

Since returning to Eureka Mr. Ferrara has been exceedingly prosperous. 
His fish business is very extensive, and his wholesale trade in San Francisco, 
Sacramento, Oakland, and other large cities is very large. He makes a 
specialty of the famous Eel river salmon, doing an exclusively wholesale and 
commission business. During this time he has enlarged the business four- 
fold. As part owner of the Diamond Fruit Company, and traveling sales- 
man for the company, he has another growing interest which yields a 
handsome profit yearly, and is constantly increasing in value. Fraternally 
he is a member of the K. of P. and the W. O. W. and politically he is a 
Repubhcan. He owns a fine residence on F street, handsomely improved, 
where he makes his home. He is more than ordinarily popular in Eureka,' 
Avhere he is acknowledged to be a man of superior worth and integrity. 



1042 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

EDWIN AUGUSTUS LIGHT.— A Native Son of the Golden AVest, 
and also of Humboldt county, and after spending almost twenty years in 
Eastern Oregon, where he met with great financial success, Edwin Augustus 
Light, feeling the lure of the home-call, which eventually is certain to reach 
all true Californians when they wander away from the land of their birth, 
returned a few years ago, and has since been engaged in the hotel business 
amid the scenes of his early boyhood. Born in Union Town (now Areata), 
October 30, 1851, the young Edwin received his education in the public and 
high schools of his native village, graduating when he was nineteen. He 
immediately secured employment with John Bull, who was the leading 
butcher near Areata, working with him in the stock business of supplying 
his market, and remaining with him for ten years without the loss of a 
single day. From here he went northward, when he was about thirty years 
of age, finally locating in Eastern Oregon and engaging in the cattle busi- 
ness. For eleven years he bought and sold for a San Francisco wholesale 
house, supplying beef for the H. Morfett Company. For eighteen years 
Mr. Light remained in Oregon, extending his interests in the stock business 
and accumulating an appreciable fortune by his industry and application. 
But home was calling, and he returned to San Francisco, from there finding 
his way into Humboldt county, where he possesses a multitude of lifelong 
friends. Once here he determined to engage in the hotel business and 
secured the lease on a resort hotel on Bear river ridge, which he conducted 
with much success until 1904, when he disposed of it to an advantage to 
John Dowd. 

Mr. Light, having become interested in the resort business, sold 
one piece of property to purchase another, and from Bear river ridge he 
came to Carlotta and leased the Carlotta Hotel, a popular resort hotel, 
located at Van Dorn and Carlotta streets. Since December, 1911, Mr. Light 
has conducted the business, meeting with great success. He is well fitted 
for the management of a summer resort of this type, being a man of genial 
disposition, kindly and cordial in his manner, while at the same time being 
fully alive to all business interests, and keeping himself thoroughly con- 
versant with all the details of its management. His hotel interests, how- 
ever, do not absorb his entire attention, and he owns and operates a line 
of teams which handle all the hauling and freighting between Carlotta and 
Harris, on the south. He is also an active member of the Republican party, 
and is vitally interested in all political questions of the day, especially in 
their influence on local and state issues. He is a member of the Central 
Republican committee, and has served his party in various capacities of 
importance in days gone by. 

Another of the varied activities of Mr. Light is his interest in fraternal 
organizations of which he is a member. He is prominent in the Eureka 
Lodge, B. P. O. E., and has been a delegate on eight different occasions 
to the Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, of which he 
has been an influential member for many years. 

Mr. Light was first married in Areata to Susan Yocom, born in Shasta 
county, Cal. ; she died at Carlotta, leaving him three daughters : Carrie, Mrs. 
Bolt of Gridley; Mary, Mrs. Harrow of Alturas; Ida, Mrs. Norman, a resi- 
dent of Napa. He was married again at Ferndale, being united with Miss 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1043 

Daisy Kemp, a native of Ferndale, who is of a pioneer family and has been 
engaged in educational work for many years. She is a very prominent 
member of Ferndale Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West, as well 
as of the Ferndale Woman's Club. 

JOHN CONRAD MONROE.— Descended from old eastern families, 
John C. Monroe was born in Carroll county, Iowa, October 19, 1870, and is 
the son of Joseph Warren and Julia (Gyzlehart) Monroe. Joseph Monroe 
was a native of Logan county, Ohio, and here he attended the subscription 
schools for a short time, leaving to engage in farming with his father. 
Later his parents moved to Carroll county, Iowa, in 1850. They were among 
the first settlers in this, section and here he engaged in farming. In 1861, 
at the opening of the Civil war, he enlisted in an Iowa regiment, serving in 
the army of Tennessee for four years and eight months, taking active part 
in over thirty battles, notably the battle of Lookout Mountain and the 
battles on the march through Georgia. After the close of the war, he re- 
turned to Iowa in 1865 and again engaged in farming, following this for 
ten years. In 1875, leaving his family in Iowa, he decided to come to 
California, and, coming direct to Humboldt county, he remained here one 
year, returning home at the news of his wife's death. Then, taking his 
seven-year-old son, John C, he again started for the west, coming by rail 
to San Francisco, and located the second time in Humboldt county, and 
here he was employed by the Falk & Hawley Lumber Co. in the woods for 
a number of years. Later he purchased two claims and engaged in ranching 
and stock-raising and for twelve years he was very successful. While living 
in loAva he served as Justice of the Peace, and here he became a member 
of the Masonic order. He has now retired from active life and is living on 
his son's ranch in Eureka, with his daughter, Mrs. Jennie Sellers. John C. 
Monroe attended the public schools of Areata until the age of fifteen, when 
he left school to earn his own living. He was first employed in a shingle 
mill and later contracted for himself in the making of shingles. In 1899 
he rented his father-in-law's ranch of ninety-six acres of highly cultivated 
bottom land located at Bayside and engaged in farming and dairying, and 
he now possesses a fine herd of Guernsey cows. He is a member of Blue 
Lake Lodge No. 347, I. O. O. F., and is an ardent Republican, and although 
he has never sought office he has always been interested in all movements 
for the good of the community. He entered into marriage with Marguerite 
I. Smith, a native of Eureka, Humboldt county, and of their union there 
are four children : Wilber, Ernest, Curtis and Bertha. Mrs. Monroe's father 
was John Smith, a native of New Brunswick, and while in the east he was 
actively engaged in farming. In 1856 he came to California via the Isthmus 
of Panama, locating in Humboldt county, and here he engaged in logging 
for a number of years and later purchased the home place of ninety-six 
acres at Bayside. He returned to New Brunswick and there married Mar- 
guerite Isabel McKinsey, in 1869, and together they returned to Bayside, 
California, and located on his ranch, where he resided until the time of his 
death, December 10, 1913; his wife had passed away six years previously. 
Mr. Monroe has been very successful in his dairying and farming interests 
since taking charge of the Smith ranch, and is a progressive, enterprising 
man, respected by all in the community. He was one of the original stock- 



1044 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

holders and builders of the United Creameries, Inc. This company began 
business about eight years ago and has built up a large business. The main 
plant is near Areata, where all the manufacturing of butter and casein is 
done, and from here it is shipped out. There is a skimming station at Bay- 
side and one on Mad river on Areata bottoms, the cream being then brought 
to the. Areata creamery. Mr. Monroe has been a director of the company 
for the last five years and has served as president of the board. Mrs. 
Monroe is a member of the Presbyterian church at Bayside, Mr. IMonroe 
being a member of the board of trustees. 

JOHN HENDERSON BROWN.— Cahfornia has always pointed with 
pride to her native-born children, and one of these is John Henderson Brown, 
who was born at Grizzly Bluff, Humboldt county, January 13, 1856. Mr. 
Brown's father, Thomas Brown, was born in Tennessee, thence removing 
to Missouri, and in 1849 he crossed the plains with ox-teams to the gold 
fields of California. He spent some years in the mines and then came to 
Humboldt county, about the year 1852, and engaged in farming at Grizzly 
Bluff, being one of the first to locate in the wilds. He had to go to Eureka 
for provisions and during the early years many a trip was made on foot. 
He went through the Indian troubles, his family being in continual danger 
of being massacred, a fate which befell others on the Eel and Van Dusen 
rivers. The father took part in rounding up some of the Indians and in 
taking them to the Hoopa reservation. He died at Centerville. The mother 
was Sarah Dean, born in Missouri. She also crossed the plains with her 
parents in the pioneer days. She died at Grizzly Bluff. She was the 
mother of seven children, six living, of whom John Henderson is the second 
oldest. 

John Henderson Brown attended the public schools until sixteen years 
of age, remaining at home for a few years after finishing his education, 
working on the home place at general farming. Going to Rohnerville when 
nineteen years old, he apprenticed himself to learn the blacksmith's trade, 
serving three years in the shop of Fred Leach, but in 1878 he gave this up 
and, going to Centerville, he there engaged in farming for two years. Then 
he went to Fortuna and again opened a blacksmith shop for himself and 
ran it for four years. Selling out the business and all his interests in 
Fortuna in 1885, he moved to Rio Dell, where again he engaged in his trade 
and continued in the same until 1908, his shop being the only one in Rio 
Dell. For twenty-eight years he successfully conducted the business in Rio 
Dell, the farmers coming for miles around to have their work done by him. 
He sold this business to H. Hansen. During 1894 and 1895 he was engaged 
in the hotel business. In 1896, his health beginning to fail him, he went to 
the Mark West springs, in Sonoma county, and remained there one year 
and was greatly improved in health. He then returned to Humboldt county, 
but practically retired from active business, leasing his shop for short terms 
to others. In April, 1901, he purchased a ranch of forty acres in Rio Dell 
and engaged in dairying, but for the last three years he has leased his ranch 
and has retired to his home place to rest from the many cares of his active 
life. In national politics he is a stanch Republican and is a member of the 
Alton chapter, N. S. G. W. He was married in Rohnerville to Christina 
Ellen Smith, a native of Jefferson county, Iowa, having been born there 



HISTORY OF HUiAIBOLDT COUXTY 1045 

September 6, 1860. Her father, James Smith, came to California and en- 
gaged in the mines in Nevada county for a few years, later coming to 
Humboldt county and locating on the Van Dusen, where he engaged in 
farming. His ranch was located on the South Fork at Bear Buttes and 
was a fine place of seventeen hundred acres, well adapted to stock-raising. 
He was a very successful farmer and stock-raiser and was one of the pioneers 
of the county. "To Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Brown have been born three chil- 
dren: Sarah Ellen, deceased; Thomas H., engaged in dairying on the home 
place; and Lloyd, engaged in the livery business at Rio Dell. J. H. Brown's 
success is entirely due to his own unceasing efforts and labors and he is a 
man whom every one is proud to call a friend. 

THOMAS WILLIAM POWER.— There is no other profession which 
gives to a man or a woman so great an opportunity for influencing the life of 
a community as does the profession of school-teaching. This is particularly 
true of the teacher in the country school, or in the village or small city, 
where the contact between pupil and teacher is constant and direct both in 
the school room and in the social life of the community. Judging by this 
acknowle_dged standard, it is safe to say that there is not a man in Humboldt 
county who has had more to do with the shaping of its destinies than has 
Thomas William Power, pioneer educator, who for nearly forty years has 
been actively associated with the educational life of the county, and for the 
past ten 3^ears a member of the county board of education, and having just 
been reappointed for the sixth term. 

Mr. Power was born in Guilford township, near Galena, Jo Daviess 
county. 111., March 1, 1849. He was a country lad and received his early 
education in the schools in the neighborhood of his home. The story of his 
entrance into his chosen profession well illustrates the keen, wide-awake 
quality of mind that has made him a factor in the educational life of his 
chosen county. While he was in the last year of the grammar school, the 
teacher was taken sick and was obliged to give up the school. Young 
William immediately conceived the idea that he might pass the teacher's 
examination and take the place of the former teacher. Thought was at once 
followed by action. The examination was successfully passed and the youth 
found himself installed as teacher where he had so lately been a pupil. 
His ambitions were high, however, and he later completed his studies and 
fitted himself for his life work by a course at the State Normal School at 
Plattville, Grant county. Wis. This he accomplished by attending school 
during the summer and teaching during the winter months. 

The first school that Mr. Power taught was in Guilford school district, 
Jo Daviess county, Illinois. For the next few years he taught in his native 
county, also teaching one winter in southeastern Dakota and another in 
Wisconsin. In 1875 he came to California and located in Humboldt county, 
and March, 1876, began teaching on Dows Prairie. In the fall of 1876 he 
returned to his native state and that winter taught again in the same school 
which he had attended as a boy. During that winter he wooed and won 
Mary A. Collins, also a native of Jo Daviess county, having also been born 
in Guilford township. They were married May 8, 1877, and that same year 
Mr. Power returned to California with his bride, locating at Blue Lake. 
Humboldt county. Here he purchased a ranch on Mad river, on the 



1046 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

opposite side from Blue Lake, and engaged in farming. Though he did not 
give up his profession, for he taught school at the same time, he carried on 
farming for ten years on two different farms. In 1879 he taught for a few 
months in Redwood district and later went to Orleans for a short time, 
returning the following year to resume his duties in Redwood district. 
Since 1880 he has been constantly engaged in teaching in Humboldt county 
and today there is scarcely a section of the county which has not felt his 
direct influence, while the boys and girls whom he has helped to guide in 
paths of usefulness are scattered far and wide. A brief resume of his work 
will give some idea of the extent of his influence in local affairs: In 1881-82 
he taught in Bald Hill district; in 1883-84, in Mad River school district; from 
1885 to 1888 in the West End district; from 1889 to 1893 in the Maple school 
district; in 1894 one term in Blue Lake; from 1894 to 1896 in laqua; from 
1897 to 1899 in Trinity; from 1899 to 1904 in the Eel river district; in 1904-05 
in Grant school district ; from 1905 to 1912 he taught in Weitchpec on 
Klamath river, and in 1912 he began teaching in the Little River school 
district, continuing until May, 1914, when he retired from teaching, making 
his home at his residence in Blue Lake, where he is serving as president of 
the Board of Trustees of the city of Blue Lake, where he is guiding the 
destinies of the city of his adoption, having resided on his ranch across the 
river before Blue Lake had sprung into existence. 

Mr. Power has preferred teaching to all other occupations, and is a man 
well fitted for the work he has chosen. He has always taken a keen interest 
in all public affairs and has ever been active in all movements for the uplift 
and general welfare of the county. During his almost forty years of teach- 
ing in California he has witnessed many changes, not only in his own im- 
mediate locality, but throughout the entire state as well, and he has the 
satisfaction of knowing that he has done his full share in the accomplish- 
ment of all worthy progressive movements in Humboldt county. 

In addition to his educational work, Mr. Power was supervisor of the 
third district from 1885 to 1893. He is a Democrat in political affiliation, 
and has always been interested in local politics from a broad standpoint. 
He is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. 

Four children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Power, namely: 
William, Mary Helen, Florence and Emily. Of these, two have followed 
in their father's footsteps. Mary Helen, now the wife of F. M. Broderick, 
was before her marriage a teacher in the public schools for six years, first 
at Cedar Springs, and the remaining five years at Blue Lake. Emily is at 
present a teacher in the grammar school at Blue Lake, where her parents 
make their home. 

JENS E. CLAUSEN. — For more than forty years a resident of the 
United States, and for almost that length of time located in Humboldt 
county and engaged in general farming and the dairy business, Jens E. 
Clausen is today one of the best known and most honored citizens of Hum- 
boldt county. He is one of the genuine old pioneers, and his steady applica- 
tion to business and his splendid judgment and natural business ability have 
placed him in a position of wealth and influence in the valley. He now 
makes his home on the island in Pacific township, this county, where he 
owns about one hundred seventy-four acres of well improved dairv land. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1047 

He is the eldest son of a German banker, Paul Henry Clausen, his mother 
being Margareta, the first wife of Paul Henry Clausen. She died when 
the present honored citizen of Humboldt county was five or six years of 
age, and left four small children, the youngest an infant. Of these, Jens ' 
Edward, the subject of this article, and Frederick, now retired, and residing 
at Husum, Schleswig, Germany, which is the family home, are the only ones 
living, the third and fourth born having died when very young. The father 
married a second wife, Louisa Backsen, also of Husum, Schleswig, and by 
her had eight children, two of whom are now dairymen in Humboldt county, 
they being Henry and Martin Clausen. The father died at the family home 
at Pellworm six years ago. 

Mr. Clausen was born November 29, 1845, on the island of Pellworm, 
Schleswig, Denmark, but since 1871 a part of Germany, although his parents 
were true Germans. He was educated in the German schools and confirmed 
in the German Lutheran Church. His boyhood was spent on a farm in 
Germany and he early mastered the rudiments of farm life and labor. It 
was in 1871, when he was just past twenty-five, that Mr. Clausen resolved 
to come to the United States. With him, then as now, to resolve was to 
execute, so at an early date he set sail from Hamburg for the new land, 
arriving in New York, and after a brief stay there going on to Davenport, 
Iowa, where he found employment on the farm as a general farm hand, but 
later he rented a dairy farm for two years, but met with ill success at the 
time, which was followed by illness brought about by unsatisfactory 
climatic conditions, and so determined to seek the brighter land of Cali- 
fornia. Accordingly he came to Dixon, Solano county, in August, 1875,. and 
was soon employed in a meat packing house in San Francisco. It was in 
1876 that Mr. Clausen finally came to Humboldt county, and on his arrival 
there his world wealth consisted of but $10. He soon secured employment 
on a farm, however, and saved his money. Then he entered into partner- 
ship with three other young men and they rented and operated an eighty- 
acre farm together. This was the rather inauspicious entrance of the pros- 
perous farmer into the business of which he has since made so great a 
success. It was in 1882 that he made his first purchase of land, buying at 
that time a tract of forty acres, which formed the nucleus of his present 
large farm. Later he purchased an additional tract of one hundred forty- 
eight acres on Eel river, known as the Herrick ranch. For some years he 
was interested in running the ferry across the Eel river, known as Singley's 
Ferry, and it was a financial success which was due to his foresight and 
management, and an account of the operation of the ferry during the storms 
and floods would make a volume in itself. 

The marriage of Mr. Clausen occurred at Eureka in 1884, uniting him 
with Miss Marie Rumpf, a native of Kemnitz, Brandenburg, Prussia, about 
twenty-five miles from Berlin. Her father was August Rumpf and her 
mother Carolina Wolf in her girlhood, both of them being natives of Prussia, 
where they lived and died. Mrs. Clausen is the youngest of seven children, 
six girls and one boy. She came to California in 1881 with an older sister, 
Fredrika (Rumpf) Schoenemann, and located in Humboldt county, the sister 
now residing on a farm at Table Blufif. Mr. and Mrs. Clausen are the 
parents of four children, three daughters and one son. Of these the son 



1048 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Henry August, is the eldest born, being now eighteen years of age. He 
is engaged in dairying his father's ranch on Paradise Island in partnership 
with Anton Tedsen. Of the daughters, the eldest, Gertrude Louisa, keeps 
house for her brother ; Anna Blanche is a Junior in the Ferndale high school, 
'and Lena Marie resides at home, attending the grammar school in their 
district. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Clausen are well known and generally liked in their 
community. They are both members of the German Lutheran church at 
Ferndale and take an active part in the affairs of that denomination. They 
are also members of the Fraternal Brotherhood, and Mr. Clausen is a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Pythias, while his wife is a prominent member of the 
Pythian Sisters. Mr. Clausen has served the interests of the farmers in 
the county in many ways during his long years of residence here. He was 
for eight years the president of the Excelsior creamery, and was one of the 
first men to take an active part in the organization and establishment of 
this creamer^^ In the course of events the enterprise reached a point where 
five hundred dollars more were necessary for the completion of the plans, 
and, although he had then invested as heavily as he felt he cared to do, 
Mr. Clausen had the interests of the undertaking so closely at heart that he 
added the necessary amount to his previous investment. For many years 
this creamery was one of the most successful in the county, and was 
eventually sold to Mr. Jensen, of the California Central Creamery Company. 
He is a Republican in his political views, and has been closely associated 
with the affairs of his party for many years. He has also been influential 
in school matters of Ferndale, having served as a trustee of the grammar 
school, and also as a director of the Ferndale high school. Within recent 
years Mr. Clausen has been afflicted with a degree of deafness which has 
necessitated his resignation from both these educational bodies, and also, 
to a very large extent, his withdrawal from political life and from many 
lines of comrnercial enterprise. This is greatly regretted, not only by him-^ 
self, but also by his friends and associates in his various lines of activities, 
for he is a man of splendid abilities and with a great natural aptitude for 
the successful handling of large business undertakings, and his cooperation 
and support are greatly missed. 

In his home life Mr. Clausen is especially happy. He is hospitable and 
cheerful, and his wife is a pleasant hostess, white his daughters are musi- 
cians, both charming and well bred. 

NATHANIEL BULLOCK.— The material upbuilding of the city of 
Eureka, Cal., during the early era of its growth was in large measure pro- 
moted by Nathaniel Bullock, one of the most prominent citizens of the place, 
and a man who has always been ready to give of his time and means to the 
betterment of the city and the advancement of the interests of its residents. 
Skilled in the substantial carpentering of the old school, a master of his 
craft, Mr. Bullock was the builder of some of the pioneer houses and business 
blocks that still stand, visible monuments to his painstaking care and mas- 
tery of his craft. A few years later, but still in the pioneer period of local 
development, he embarked in the lumber business and continued in that 
work for many years. Nor did such lines form the limit of his energy and 
helpful spirit. On the Other hand, he was public spirited in an exceptional 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1049 

degree, filling a number of offices faithfully and well, and even now, though 
retired from the strenuous struggle of earlier days, he keeps posted con- 
cerning every matter of importance and favors with unabated zeal every 
progressive plan for the further development of city and county. 

The Bullock family is of English descent, and the grandfather, Hezekiah 
Bullock, served in the War of 1812, afterward removing to Michigan, where 
he spent his last days. The father of Nathaniel Bullock, Benjamin R., was 
born near New York City, and became a farmer at Yates Center, Orleans 
county, in the same state, later removing with his family to Michigan, 
where he cleared and improved a farm and was successfully engaged in 
business until settling in Detroit, where he died at the age of eighty-four 
years. His wife was formerly Cynthia Barry, of Scotch descent, and also 
born near New York City, her death occurring in Orleans county before the 
family moved west. She was the mother of nine children, of whom Na- 
thaniel is the third oldest, he having been born at Yates Center, Orleans 
county, N. Y., September 26, 1831. He was a lad of but six or seven years 
M^hen the father removed to Lansing, Mich., and in that place he received a 
public school education and was afterwards apprenticed to the carpenter's 
trade. From Lansing, he came to California via the Nicaragua route, almost 
a decade before the transcontinental railroad was in operation, and on the 
17th of July, 1860, arrived in Uniontown, now Areata, in Humboldt county, 
where for a year he rented land, the following year coming to Eureka, in 
the sartie county, where he has made his home ever since, and is now the 
owner of residence property at No. 314 H street, where he lives in retirement 
after years of activity spent in carpentering and the manufacture of lumber. 
In this latter occupation he was associated with Joseph Russ, well known 
as one of the prominent pioneers of the county, and with others, under the 
firm name of Russ, Pickard & Co., on Humboldt bay, of which firm Mr. 
Bullock was the manager for over twenty years. During that time he was 
also manager of the Russ Market for Joseph Russ for more than twenty 
years, after which he held the office of postmaster, having been appointed 
thereto by President McKinley, and was for many years director in the 
Humboldt County Bank and the Home Savings Bank. As county coroner 
and public administrator he was also actively helpful to certain departments 
of the county work, and through his capable services as road overseer he 
promoted the building of highways in Humboldt county, none having been 
laid out before the time of his arrival in the district, Mr. Bullock recognizing 
from the first the vital importance of well-built roads through this section 
of the country. 

Always stanch in his allegiance to the Republican party, Mr. Bullock 
has been one of its local leaders and has accomplished much in its interests. 
His fraternal associations are with the IMasons, he having been made a 
member of the Humboldt Lodge No. 79. Since his retirement from active 
business life, Mr. Bullock has devoted his time to the administration of his 
own interests in the California city where he has made his home. By his mar- 
riage to Sarah M. Huestis, who was born at Buckingham, Va., the daughter 
of Hon. A. J. Huestis, a pioneer judge of Humboldt county, Mr. Bullock 
has a family of seven children, namely : Mrs. Minnie Sevier, Mrs. Nellie 
Libby, Mrs. Blanche A. Snow of Santa Ana, Cal.; Mrs. Gertrude McMurray 



1050 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of San Francisco, Bertram N., Russ R., a physician in San Francisco, and 
Miss Edna Bullock, all of whom are residents of Eureka except Mrs. Snow, 
Mrs. McMurray and Dr. Russ Bullock. 

GIACOMO FLOCCHINI.— One of the enterprising and successful 
dairymen of Humboldt county, Cal., who has won his success by close 
application to the industry he has chosen for his life work, is Giacomo 
Flocchini, a native of Italy, who has become well and favorably known 
in the California county where he has made his home. 

Born in Ono Degno, in the province of Brescia in northern Italy, Sep- 
tember 22, 1875, Mr. Flocchini is the son of a farming and teaming con- 
tractor, Francisco Flocchini, who died in his native land, and Dominica 
(Dusi) Flocchini, who still lives in Italy. Of their family of nine children, 
Giacomo is the second in age, the names being as follows : Andrea, who 
remains at the old home ; Giacomo, of this review ; Anna, now Mrs. J. B. 
Zanotti of Waddington ; Francisco, who lives at Fortuna ; Giovanni, who is 
in the employ of his brother Giacomo; Nicola, a resident of Crescent City; 
Marie, now Mrs. Bacchetti of the last-named city; Celeste B., who is a 
partner of his brother Giacomo ; and Amato, who also lives at Crescent City. 
It will thus be seen that all the children except the oldest have made their 
home in California. Growing up on his father's farm in Italy, Giacomo 
Flocchini received his education in the local public schools until the age of 
nine years, after which he spent his time assisting with the work upon the 
farm, until March, 1904, at which time he removed to California, locating 
at Eureka. In the same month he went to work on the Dinsmore ranch, 
where he continued for a period of three years and nine months, at which 
time, in the autumn of the year 1907, he started in business for himself, leas- 
ing the place where he had formerly been employed, which consisted of 
one hundred twenty-five acres of rich land, where he carries on a successful 
dairy business, milking a herd of seventy cows, and raising a sufficiency of 
hay and green feed for his stock. In April, 1915, Mr. Flocchini's brother 
Celeste became his partner, and in the same year they also leased the old 
Lynch place at Grizzly Blufif, in Humboldt county, which comprises one 
hundred ninety acres, and here it is their intention to operate a dairy with 
a herd of about eighty cows. The interest taken by Mr. Flocchini in his 
chosen occupation is in part shown by his active membership in such local 
organizations as the Ferndale Dairymen's Association and the Ferndale 
Cow Testing Association, and in his political preferences he is a member 
of the Republican party. 

At Ono Degno, Italy, Mr. Flocchini was married on January 10, 1903, 
to Miss Lucia Dusi, also a native of that place, and they became the parents 
of four children, by name, Francisco, Dominica Beatrice, Anna A., and 
Marie. 

EUGENE SULLIVAN.— A well known and highly respected citizen of 
the Eel River valley, Eugene Sullivan has made for himself a reputation 
there as a successful farmer and dairyman, standing high among men in that 
industry in Humboldt county, Cal. 

Born in County Cork, Ireland, January 15, 1867, Mr. Sullivan was the 
son of Patrick, a farmer of that county, who died in 1912, and Ellen (Demp- 
sey) Sullivan, who still resides at the old home in Ireland. Of the family of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1051 

eight children, seven are still living, Eugene being the eldest and brought 
up on the home farm and educated in the national schools of his country. 
He remained at home until the year 1889, when he removed to San Francisco, 
Cal., where he was employed for a short time in teaming, in March of the 
next year coming to Humboldt county, there finding employment in a dairy 
near Ferndale. Deciding to go into this business independently, he in 1895 
purchased his present place on Cock Robin Island, where he commenced 
dairying on property comprising twenty-two acres, also renting twenty-two 
adjacent acres, and milking a herd of twenty-seven cows, for -^hich he 
raises on his own property an abundance of hay, grain, clover, carrots and 
beets. One of the original stockholders of the V^alley Flower Creamery, he 
was also for some years a member of the Feindale Cow Testing Association, 
and at present holds membership in the Ferndale Dairymen's Association 
Politically he is a strong and ardent Democrat, while his fraternal associa- 
tions are with the Knights of Columbus in Eureka and the Y. M. I. in Fern- 
dale. He is a member of the Catholic Church in the same city. 

The wife of Mr. Sullivan was formerly Miss Mary Conway, who was 
born at Sacramento, Cal., but grew up near the city of Ferndale. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sullivan are the parents of four children : yiary P., Eugene P., John 
D. and Leo S. 

CORNELIUS THOMPSON.— The life of Cornelius Thompson, a pros- 
perous stock raiser and dairyman of California, has been spent in this state 
since infancy, Avhen he made the journey across the plains from Missouri 
with his mother and relatives. Born in Howard county. Mo., December 17, 
1850, he was the son of Joseph Thompson, a farmer in Howard county, who 
was born in Alabama, and Malinda (Banta) Yates-Thompson, the descendant 
of one of the prominent old families of Virginia, where she was left a widow 
Avith a little family before her marriage with Joseph Thompson. She was 
the mother of six children in all, the youngest of whom was Cornelius 
Thompson, whose father was killed by the Indians during a trip across the 
plains to California in 1849. Undaunted by this tragedy, however, his widow, 
with her children and a party of relatives, set out upon the same journey in 
the spring of 1851, traveling by means of ox teams, as was the usual custom 
in those days. In California she was again married, this time to Stillman 
Fales, a pioneer and farmer of this state, and after his death continued to 
make her home with her children, dying in Berkeley at the advanced age of 
one hundred and three years, having been well and strong up to the last. 
Her brother, Henry Banta, also attained a great age, living to be one hun- 
dred and four, exceeding by one year the age of Mrs. Thompson at her 
death. 

Brought up on the farm near Nicholson, Sacramento county, Cal., Cor- 
nelius Thompson received a good education in the public schools of that 
vicinity, and at the early age of twelve years began farming for himself, in 
partnership with his brother, M. J. Thompson, who was sixteen years old. 
Taking up a ranch near Nicholson, the two boys engaged thereon in farming 
and stockraising, doing well in their venture. Removing later to Colusa 
county, they rented land which they devoted to the raising of grain, there- 
after purchasing three hundred twenty acres, where Mr. Thompson continued 
to reside until his removal to Humboldt county in 1885, where he located on 

42 



1052 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the Klamath river, where his brother had preceded him. On April 23, 1887, 
Mr. Thompson was married in Eureka, Cal., to Miss Martha Shelton, and 
they became the parents of one daughter. Pearl F. Thompson, now the wife 
of William Peugh, who assists Mr. Thompson in the stock business. They 
have two children, Wilma Monroe and Neil Thompson. Like her husband, 
Mrs. Thompson is of a pioneer family, having been born on the Klamath 
river, the daughter of Abraham and Mary (Hopkins) Shelton, natives of 
Lynchburg, Va., and Humboldt county, Cal., respectively. Her father was a 
veteran of the Mexican war, who came to California in 1849 and engaged in 
gold mining, later becoming a merchant on the Klamath river. The mother 
died in Humboldt county, and in 1887 the father moved to British Columbia, 
where he died. For three years after his marriage with Miss Shelton, Mr. 
Thompson lived near Loleta, after which he located a homestead on Bald 
Hill, twelve miles east of the town of Orick, where he improved the farm and 
took up stock raising, also purchasing the adjoining land, thereby acquiring 
a fine ranch of six hundred forty acres, besides one hundred sixty acres of 
timber land which he owned, his wife also being the possessor of the same 
amount of timber land. In 1907 he sold his Bald Hill ranch, and later also 
the three hundred twenty acres of timber land, and purchased two hundred 
forty acres, two miles north of Orick, on Prairie creek, which he has trans- 
formed into a stock and dairy ranch, and together with adjoining land which 
he has leased, is now operating six hundred acres of property. In 1914 he 
rented for dairy purposes the lower portion of his lands which he had recently 
purchased, but still retained the stock ranch. The interest which he takes in 
educational affairs where he lives is proved by the fact that he was for 
four terms school trustee in the Bald Hill school district and three terms in 
the Orick district. Fraternally he is a member of the Humboldt Lodge, No. 
77, I. O. O. F., and of the Hoopa Tribe, No. 145, I. O. R. M., while in his 
political associations he is a supporter of the Republican party. 

JAMES M. LEAVER. — For the past six years the assistant manager 
of the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, one of the largest lumber com- 
panies on the Pacific coast, J. M. Leaver, Sr., is prominent in public affairs 
at Scotia, and is recognized as a man of ability and personal power. He is 
probably the greatest "system" man when it comes to handling lumber that 
there is now living on the Pacific coast. He has a peculiar ability for the 
discharge of large affairs, and keeps every detail in his mind at all times, 
and without apparent effort. He has charge of the construction of buildings 
and the installing of power engines and machinery connected with this 
enormous plant. He is an authority and expert in the operation of saw 
mills, and dry kiln plants. At this time the Pacific Lumber Company has 
large planing-mills at Oakland and Wilmington, but is now constructing a 
gigantic planing-mill at Scotia, and will close the mills at Oakland and 
Wilmington, and all this work will be done at the home plant, under the 
direction of Mr. Leaver, thus concentrating the work at one place. Since 
the completion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad into Eureka, the lumber 
is all kiln dried before it is shipped in order to save freight charges, and 
in this particular Mr. Leaver is an expert, having invented the Leaver 
system of drying redwood, which is patented by him, and which is a decided 
advantage over other methods. The plans of this great company include the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 105-^ 

building: of ten additional dry kilns, which will give them a total of thirty- 
eight, there being twenty-eight now in successful operation. This will give 
them a splendid equipment, and all lumber to be shipped by rail will be 
kilndried, thus working an enormous saving in freight rates. 

Mr. Leaver is a native of Scotland, born at Glasgow. He came to 
America when he was about thirty years of age, and made his first start 
in the lumber business at Buffalo, N. Y., commencing in office work, and 
working his way up to his present position of responsibility. He has been 
.engaged in this business now for thirty years, and is thoroughly familiar 
with its details. From Buffalo he went to Saginaw and Bay City, Mich., 
where he managed a large box factory, and sash and door plants, and from 
there came to the Pacific coast ten years ago. At first he was with a large 
lumber company at Sonora, Tuolumne county, and then in the service of 
the Pacific Lumber Company, starting the plant at Wilmington. 

The dry kilns and various other valuable devices for the manufacture 
of lumber are manufactured by the Leaver Manufacturing Company of 
Oakland, Cal., of which Mr. Leaver is president and his son James is 
manager. This company is engaged in introducing the Leaver patented dry- 
ing system, and is a partnership between father and son. Mr. Leaver, Sr., 
has invented many useful and valuable devices for various uses and in his 
work at the Pacific Lumber Company plant at Scotia he has accomplished 
remarkable savings with electrical and steam devices for the handling of 
lumber. . He is well liked in Scotia, both by his employers and by the men 
under his management, and has many warm personal friends. 

HON. B. H. McNEIL. — Capitalist, ex-member of the state legislature, 
and still active in business, the Hon. B. H. McNeil, of Rohnerville, is a well 
preserved man of keen intellect, splendid judgment and broad and generous 
outlook on life in general. His friendship is highly valued by all who know 
him, and his council and advice are often sought. He has served his home 
city, his county, and his state with honor and distinction in the law-making 
body of the commonwealth. He is interested in real estate in Humboldt 
county, especially near Rohnerville and Fortuna, where he also has varied 
commercial interests. It is interesting to know that originally Mr. McNeil 
was ordered to California by his physician for two years, and came reluc- 
tantly, determined to stay the necessary time and return at the earliest pos- 
sible moment to his home in Iowa. At the end of the two years, however, 
he was so thoroughly imbued with the California spirit that he has not 
cared to return to his former home state. 

Mr. McNeil is a native of Ohio, born in Adams county, near Ripley, 
March 6, 1848. His father. Nelson B. McNeil, was a land-owner and farmer 
in Ohio, and moved with his family to Iowa in 1855, settling at New London, 
that state, where he engaged in farming and in the grain business until 
within a few years of the time of his death at the age of seventy-five years. 
He was a native of Virginia, but of Scotch descent. His mother's maiden 
name was Miss Nancy Foster, who came of English and German ancestry. 
Her brother, Jeremiah Foster, of Kentucky, was a slaveholder and a Whig, 
a most contradictory combination. But he became convinced of the error 
of slavery and freed his slaves before the war. There were six children in 
the McNeil family, of which the present honored citizen of Rohnerville was 



1054 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the fifth born. One of the brothers, Samuel, enlisted in the Union army 
during the Civil War and was killed during the siege of Vicksburg. The 
oldest brother, Jeremiah, is still living at New London, Iowa, at about the 
age of seventy-five years, he being the only other living son. 

B. H. McNeil was seven years old when his parents moved to Iowa, 
and there he grew to maturity, attending the public schools and later taking a 
business course at Burlington, Iowa, where he learned telegraphy. He then 
became a telegraph operator on the line of the C. R. I. & P. Railroad, being 
in the train-dispatcher's office at Burlington. He worked very hard and, 
being ambitious to rise in his chosen line, overtaxed his strength and his 
health was broken. The attending physician ordered him to go to California 
and live in the open air for two years, and accordingly he came west, accom- 
panied by his wife, by way of the Northern Pacific and Central Pacific to 
Marysville, near Sacramento. There he went to work on his father-in-law's 
farm near Marysville, remaining for a year, and then going to Butte creek, 
where he preempted one hundred sixty acres, and after improving it, pur- 
chased an additional tract of the same size from the railroad company. He 
was located here at the expiration of the prescribed two years, but was by 
that time an enthusiastic booster for California, with no desire to return to 
Iowa and a telegrapher's desk. Mr. McNeil's ranch was near Gridley and 
he farmed there until 1882, when he disposed of his property and went to 
Los Angeles, where for a number of years he engaged in the building and 
contracting business, making a great success of his undertaking. In 1887 
he came north again, locating this time in Humboldt county where he 
bought the furniture and undertaking business then owned by Seth Crabtree, 
one of the pioneer settlers of the county. He also became postmaster at 
Rohnerville in 1887, serving in that capacity for ten j^ears. In 1903 he became 
deputy internal revenue collector of the fourth district, serving until 1912, 
when that district was merged with the first district. Mr. McNeil owns 
extensive property in Rohnerville and vicinity, and also holds stock in var- 
ious banks in Eureka. He is also half owner of the cigar factory at Fortuna, 
the firm being known as Smith & McNeil. They manufacture a line of well 
known and popular cigars, probably the favorite being the justly popular 
"Fortuna", a 5-cent cigar. Other brands are the "Large Americana", the 
"Small Americana", "Porto Rico", and "La Diesta." Mr. McNeil is himself 
on the road for the firm, selling to the Humboldt county trade, among whom 
he is a prime favorite. 

Mr. McNeil was elected to the state legislature in 1900, and served in 
the Assembly of 1901, and was re-elected in 1902, serving in the Assembly 
of 1903. He made an enviable record for himself and won the praise and 
appreciation of his constituency. He was particularly interested in the 
law which allowed the state to lease the China Basin, in San Francisco, to 
the Santa Fe Railroad Company, and it was through his strenuous support of 
this bill that it eventually was passed, although he was not its author. He 
introduced a bill for an appropriation for the Steel Head Hatchery at Wey- 
mouth, in Humboldt county, which became a law; and together with State 
Senator Selvage introduced jointly a bill for the riprapping of the banks 
of Eel river, which also was passed. It is a noteworthy fact that this ener- 
getic legislator succeeded in having passed every bill that he introduced, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY. 1055 

and as the interests of Humboldt county were very near to his heart it goes 
without saying that his home county profited by his service. He was rec- 
ognized at Sacramento as a man of ability and was placed on many important 
committees. Among these were the committee on Agriculture, of which he 
was chairman ; the committee on Commerce and Navigation ; and also the 
committee on Fish and Game, this being in 1901, while even more important 
posts were assigned him in 1903. Mr. McNeil was and is a loyal Republican, 
having unwavering faith in the Grand Old Party and its ability to steer the 
affairs of the state and nation in ways of prosperity and peace. He has 
always been interested in the cause of education and has served almost 
continuously as school trustee of Rohnerville district since 1887. 

The marriage of Mr. McNeil was solemnized in Iowa in 1868, uniting 
him with Miss Mattie Miller, born near New London, Iowa. A son was born 
to them in Iowa, William A., who is now postmaster at Rohnerville. He is 
married to Miss Mamie Reinhart, and they have one child, a son, Brice, aged 
twenty-one years, and an employee of the Pacific Lumber Company, at 
Scotia, where he has a clerkship in the office. This grandson is a favorite of 
Mr. McNeil, Sr., and they are great friends and companions. After coming 
to California a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. McNeil, she being Clara, 
now the wife of Fred Smith, a partner with her father in the cigar manu- 
facturing business, and also a partner in the hardware firm of Leach & 
Smith, at Fortuna. They have one child, a daughter, Reva. 

Mr. McNeil is a favorite throughout Humboldt county, and is one of the 
best known traveling men of that part of the state. He is prominent in 
Masonic circles, being a member of the Eel River Lodge, No. 147, F. & A. 
M., at Fortuna, of which he has twice been master. Both he and Mrs. 
McNeil are members of the Eastern Star and take an active part in the 
affairs of that order. Mr. McNeil is also keenly interested-in all that pertains 
to the welfare of Rohnerville and is always to be found in the van of any 
movement for the up-building and improvement of the city and community. 
He is an ardent advocate of education and has done much for the cause of the 
schools of the county. Mrs. McNeil is highly esteemed throughout the com- 
munity and is loved by all who know her. 

CHARLES D. BUCHANAN.— As master mechanic for the Pacific Lum- 
ber Company at Scotia, Charles D. Buchanan occupies one of the important 
positions with that great corporation, the wonderful smoothness with which 
the machinery in their various plants runs being largely due to the skill and 
efficiency of this man. This company has some $14,000,000 invested in its 
plant at Scotia and the care of all this vast machinery and the installation 
of the new machinery which is constantly being added is no mean task. 
To the lay observer it seems an almost impossible thing that one mind should 
grasp the multitude of intricate details that must be involved in so stupen- 
dous an undertaking, but to the clever master mechanic it is all in the day's 
business. He is a man of superior intellect, well trained and perfectly poised, 
with a knowledge of machinery that places him in perfect accord with every 
detail of his work. It is especially worthy of note that the larger of the 
company's mills, Mill "B," is known to be the most smoothly running mill on 
the coast, and that here as nowhere else the maximum of efficiency is realized 
from the minimum of outlay and labor. 



1056 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Buchanan is a native of California, born at Cuffey's Cove, Men- 
docino county, December 31, 1879. His father, Colin James Buchanan, was 
a native of Canada, born in Nova Scotia. He vv^as a lumberman there and 
later in Maine, vv^here he was known as the best axman in the state. He 
came to Point Arena, Mendocino county, in the early days and went to work 
in the lumber woods on the Garcia river. He was married to Miss Mary 
McMasters in Mendocino county, the bride being a native of Maine, where 
she had been the sweetheart of Mr. Buchanan before he came to California. 
After his marriage Mr. Buchanan, Sr., engaged in the livery business at Cuf- 
fey's Cove, and later at Greenwood. He retired from business at Green- 
wood, where he and his wife now make their home, two of their sons con- 
ducting the business. Mr. Buchanan also owns a large ranch near Green- 
wood which he now rents. There were seven children born of this union, 
five of whom grew to maturity and are now well known in Mendocino and 
Humboldt counties. They are : May, engaged in teaching school in Men- 
docino county; Charles D., the subject of this sketch; Colin J. Jr., engaged in 
the livery business at Greenwood ; Edward, who died in July, 1913, at the 
age of twenty-nine years ; Hugh, who was drowned seven years ago in the 
Navarro river; Flora E., a teacher at Albion, Mendocino county; and 
Frank, who is in the livery business in Greenwood, in partnership with .his 
brother, Colin J. 

The boyhood days of Charles D. Buchanan were spent in Greenwood, 
where he assisted his father in the livery business, and attended school until 
he was sixteen years of age. He then spent a year at the Sacramento Insti- 
tute, which is a branch of St. Mary's College, of Oakland. Following this 
he was apprenticed to learn the machinist's trade under James Britt, then 
foreman for the L. E. AVhite Lumber Company at Greenwood, where he 
served an apprenticeship and then became a journeyman machinist. He 
worked in different shops for various companies at San Francisco and in 
the lumber mills of Mendocino county, always with the greatest success. In 
1902 he was married in San Francisco to Miss Louise Elizabeth Meade, a 
native of Albion, Mendocino county, who was orphaned at the age of six 
years, and was reared by an aunt, Mrs. J. Conway, at Greenwood. For two 
years before and five years after his marriage Mr. Buchanan was a machinist 
for the Union Lumber Company, during which time he purchased a resi- 
dence property there which he still owns. In 1907 he went over to Albion 
and became machinist for the Albion Lumber Company mills, and in 1908 
was promoted to the position of master mechanic, which position he held 
until 1910, when he was offered the position of master mechanic for the 
Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, which he accepted, assuming his new 
duties in December of that year, since which time he has held this position 
of responsibility and trust. 

Mr. Buchanan is very popular in Scotia, both with his employers and 
with his co-workers in the mills and shops, and among his many personal 
friends. His work in the mills brings him ift contact with the employees of 
practically every department, and his own workmen are loyal to him, almost 
to a fault. He is possessed of wonderful executive ability and is a true leader 
of men. Both he and his wife are well known socially, and have many warm 
friends. They have three children : Delphine Ruth ; Charles D., Jr., and 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1057 

Colin E. Mr. Buchanan is a member of the Catholic church and an influ- 
ential member of the Knights of Columbus. In his political connections he 
is a stanch Republican, although in local questions he follows his own judg- 
ment as to the men and measures in question. He is progressive and broad 
minded and keenly alive to all that will benefit the community. 

JOSEPH C. BARKDULL. — Although a native of Oregon, Joseph C. 
Barkdull is a California pioneer of the truest type, having come to California 
from his native state with his parents in 1860, when he was but two years 
of age. They located in Humboldt county, in the Mattole valley, where his 
father became the owner of Barkdull ridge stock range, and since that time 
Mr. Barkdull has been a resident of this county, and is one of her most 
loyal and enthusiastic supporters. He owns much valuable property at this 
time, and is residing at Rio Dell, where he has a valuable farm of thirty 
acres. Other property includes two well improved ranches of forty acres 
each at Pepperwood, a stock range of one hundred sixty acres back of 
Pepperwood, and three hundred twenty acres in the upper Mattole valley. 

Mr. Barkdull was born at Butte Disappointment, near the city of 
Eugene, Lane county. Ore., April 29, 1858. His father, John L. Barkdull, 
was a native of Ohio, and crossed the plains to California in 1850, locating 
at Hangtown, of early day fame, and was one of the gold miners of that 
period. In 1853 he went to Oregon and settled at Butte Disappointment 
where he engaged in stock-raising. While there he met and married Miss 
Nancy Bagley, the daughter of Eli and Nancy (Belt) Bagley. The parents 
of Mrs. Barkdull were both natives of Indiana, who came first to Iowa, and 
later to Missouri, eventually crossing the plains and locating in Oregon. 
There were ten children in the family of Mr. Barkdull's parents of whom he 
was the second born. They were all well known in Humboldt county, 
where most of the living members have been, or are now, associated in bus- 
iness activities of various sorts. They are: (1) Enoch J., who died at the 
age of forty years, at Table Bluff, where he was engaged in ranching, he 
was married to Miss Delia Smith of Lake county, and they had five children ; 
(2) Joseph C, the subject of this sketch; (3) Mendocino, who was the first 
white girl born south of Cape Mendocino, in Humboldt county, and is now 
the wife of Mr. Breitweiser, a contractor, at Alameda, Cal. ; (4) Nancy, who 
died in San Francisco; (5) Mary, who died at the age of sixteen years; 
(6) Sarah, residing in Oakland, and the wife of Charles Hamilton, a car- 
penter; (7) E. R., residing at Eureka, where he is secretary and bookkeeper 
for the Humboldt Brewing Company; (8) Calvin, who is in Alaska, located 
near Petersburg, where he owns the hotel and valuable gold mines and is also 
engaged in raising silver, black and blue foxes, having five hundred in all, 
and having rented for the purpose two islands near Petersburg, and who 
is the first to have made a success of fox farming, and he is preparing a book 
on the subject for the government; (9) George, who was accidentally killed 
by a horse at the age of twelve years, and (10) Daniel, who died at the age 
of six. The father was engaged in farming until the time of his death at 
the age of seventy; the mother having passed away in 1885, at the age of 
forty-four years. 

It was in 1860 that the parents of Mr. Barkdull came to Humboldt 
county and located^ in the Mattole valley. During the years from 1862 to 



1058 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

1866 they ran a dairy farm, makitig butter and cheese which they sent over 
the mountains to the mines at Weaverville. They remained in the valley 
continuously up to 1874, save for a brief time when the Indians were on the 
warpath and Mr. Barkdull, Sr., was obliged to seek refuge for himself and 
family in Eureka. At this time the Indians killed Mr. McNutt and corralled 
all of the Barkdull cattle, killing all the calves and yearlings. Later the 
father bought a ranch at Table Bluff, where Loleta now stands. 

Young Joseph Barkdull attended the public schools at Table Bluff and 
later Forrester's Business College in Chico. When he was twenty-one years 
of age he went to Sacramento where he entered machine shops, but not caring 
for the machinist's trade, he commenced buying and selling cattle, horses 
and mules in the Sacramento valley, sometimes bringing them over into 
Humboldt county. He rented his father's farm on "Niggerhead", and fol- 
lowed this business until in 1892, when illness necessitated his leaving the 
low country around Loleta and he removed to Pepperwood, where he pur- 
chased forty acres which he cleared and imiproved. Next he bought the old 
J. H. Montgomery farm at Pepperwood, which he cleared and improved, 
and afterward bought the range land. While on the Pepperwood ranch he 
kept a stopping place for travellers and stock, known as the Travellers' 
Inn ; he ran this for ten years in connection with the farms and it became 
well known. In 1907 he located on his present place at Rio Dell, where he 
follows stock-raising. 

The marriage of Mr. Barkdull occurred in 1888, uniting him with Miss 
Minnie Brown, a native of Humboldt county, and the daughter of Thomas 
Brown, of Grizzly Blufif, one of the pioneers of the county, going through the 
Indian wars, having come to California across the plains in 1854. Mr. and 
Mrs. Barkdull live very quietly at their home at Rio Dell, where they dispense 
a charming, old-fashioned hospitality, and have many warm friends and ac- 
quaintances in their section of the county. In his political affiliations Mr. 
Barkdull is a republican and is one of the influential men of the vicinity. He 
is well informed on all questions of the day and is an independent and force- 
ful thinker, being especially well posted on all local issues of importance. 
He was made a Mason in Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., and with 
his wife is a member of Rohnerville Chapter, No. 76, O. E. S. 

JAMES THOMAS CLEARY.— The popular young manager of the 
Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company's store at Metropolitan, James 
Thomas Cleary, is a man of brain and brawn, clever, capable, and energetic, 
with a pleasant and genial manner which draws and holds friends and so 
adds greatly to his value to the company in his present capacity. His bus- 
iness ability is well above the average and his management of the company 
store is capable and efficient, it having been especially profitable under his 
supervision. He is also postmaster at Metropolitan, this office occupying 
space in the store building. Mr. Cleary received his appointment as post- 
master April 1, 1911, and since that time has discharged the duties of this 
office with ability and dispatch. Both he and his wife are deservedly popu- 
lar with a wide circle of friends and are among the most prominent people 
in this thriving little town. 

Mr. Cleary is a native of Tennessee, having been born at Aetna, IMarch 
17, 1888. He remained in Tennessee until he was six years of age, and then 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1059 

went with his parents to Marquette, Michigan, where they remained until 
he was sixteen. In 1904 they came to CaUfornia, locating first at Sacramento, 
Hving later for a time in Los Angeles, and eventually coming to Humboldt 
county and settling at Eureka. Young James Cleary attended school first 
in Michigan, and later in Sacramento and Los Angeles, completing his edu- 
cation by a course in the Eureka Business College. His ability as a stenog- 
rapher and bookkeeper secured him his first position with the Metropolitan 
Redwood Lumber Company, and his capabilities and careful application to 
business resulted in his promotion to his present position of responsibility 
and trust; Mr. Cleary has enjoyed some very unique experiences for a young 
man, being something of. an adventurer and having traveled extensively. In 
l906 he joined a whaling expedition bound for the Arctic, shipping from 
San Francisco for the Herschild Islands. They went a thousand miles into 
the Arctic and during their cruise of nine months secured six large bow-head 
whales. That the trip was one of thrilling experiences and narrow escapes 
goes without saying. 

The marriage of Mr. Cleary occurred in July, 1911, uniting him with 
Miss Alice L. Thompson, a native of Humboldt county, and the daughter 
of Robert Thompson, of Metropolitan, one of the. well known farmers of this 
part of the county, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cleary have two children, Leota Jane and James David. Mr. 
Cleary is a Democrat in his political associations, and takes an active and 
influential part in all local affairs. He is a man of sound judgment and 
advanced views and follows the dictates of independent thought rather than 
strict party lines, and is always to be found advocating local progress, social 
betterment and improvements of a permanent character, building for the 
future rather than for the present. He has always been active in fraternal 
affairs, and is a member of the Eureka Lodge of Elks, and also of the 
Knights of Columbus, at Eureka. 

ROBERT THOMPSON.— Although for many years prominently asso- 
ciated with the lumber interests of Humboldt and Butte counties, Robert 
Thompson turned farmer more than a quarter of a century ago, and since 
that time has been a tiller of the soil, meeting with splendid success. He 
purchased his first farm in this county in 1888 at Pepperwood, which he sold 
in 1892, and soon thereafter bought his present place near Metropolitan, on 
what was then known as McDiarmidt prairie. He is engaged in general 
farming and dairying, keeping a string of high grade Jersey cows, and a 
registered Jersey bull. He is a patron of the Grizzly Bluff creamery, and 
separates his cream at home. His home place is one of the most attractive in 
the vicinity, and all the improvements have been made by Mr. Thompson. 
At the time of purchase the land was entirely unimproved and largely cov- 
ered with a heavy growth of pepperwood trees. It is now under a high state 
of cultivation, with comfortable dwelling, barns, and other improvements. 

Mr. Thompson is a native of Canada, born in Huron County, Ontario, 
where he was reared and educated. His father was Robert Thompson, a 
native of County Antrim, Ireland, where he met and married Miss Sarah 
Morrow, also of Irish birth and parentage. They became the parents of 
seven children, three born in Ireland and four in Canada, Robert, the subject 
of this sketch being the fifth born. They were : Rachael, who was married 



1060 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to Andrew Elliott, and died in Canada in 1913, leaving six children; W. 
J., a carriage-maker and horseman, who owned several of the finest trotting 
horses in Canada, where he died in 1913 ; Margaret, who was the wife of 
John Thompson, and died, leaving a family of five children ; Dora, now the 
widow of Frank Sannigan, residing in New London, Canada; Robert; 
Samuel, a farmer of Huron County, Canada ; and Thomas, deceased. Robert 
was educated in the public schools of Ontario, where the parents continued 
to live during their lifetime, the father passing away at the age of seventy- 
two, the mother outliving him by ten years, and dying at the age of 
seventy-five. 

It was in the fall of 1875 that Mr. Thompson finally left Ontario and 
came to the United States, coming at once to California and locating in 
Butte county, where for nine years he was identified with the lumber inter- 
ests of that section. While there he was married to Miss Augusta Lemm, 
the daughter of Charles and Mary (Stealman) Lemm, both natives of Ger- 
many. Her parents were married in New York state and came to California 
about 1858, locating in Butte county, where her father engaged in teaming 
and freighting over the mountains, going from Butte county to Nevada. Her 
father died in Butte county at the age of fifty-eight years, her mother living 
to be sixty-five. There were ten children in their family, only three of 
whom are now living, Mrs. Thompson being the fifth born. She has borne 
her husband three children, all now residing in Humboldt county, where 
they are well and favorably known : Albert, married to Miss Bertha John- 
ston, is engaged in dairying on the home place ; Charles is a partner with 
J. C. Brunner in the Elite Garage at Ferndale ; and Alice is the wife of James 
T. Cleary, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this edition, he being the 
manager of the Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company's store, and also 
postmaster at Metropolitan. 

After his marriage Mr. Thompson came to Humboldt county, where 
he was in the employ of John Vance in the lumber business on Mad river, 
until 1887, when he came to Scotia, his being the first family to settle there. 
He was with the Pacific Lumber Company in various positions of respon- 
sibility for many years and was well acquainted with the early men of 
the company, including Messrs. Curtiss, Rigby, Paxton, and others. In 
the spring of 1888 he bought the BarkduU place at Pepperwood, this being 
his first ranch in Humboldt county. He improved this property and con- 
tinued to make it his home until 1892, when he sold it and bought twenty 
acres on the McDiarmidt prairie, which, together with an additional five 
acres bought later, form his present home place. He usually votes the 
Republican ticket, but is essentially independent in his inclinations, and forms 
his own opinions as to what will be most beneficial to the community. 

ROLLA BRYANT, SR.— The Bryant family is one of great refinement 
and Rolla Bryant was of the same blood as the famous poet, William Cullen 
Bryant. He was born in Richmond, Vt., July 15, 1828, and was the son of 
Seth Thomas and Lodoski (Pierce) Bryant. Until the age of twenty, he 
lived on his father's farm and then followed the carpenter's trade until 1852. 
With his eldest brother, Calvin, he then started west, sailing from New 
York on May 2, 1852, and landing at Aapinwall on May 14. Traveling by 
train, flat-boat and on foot, they reached Panama, where they remained 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1061 

three days, leaving there on a steamship which brought them to San Fran- 
cisco on June 16. 

Mr. Bryant engaged in mining at the North Yuba River, tv\'elve miles 
below Downieville. It was here that he met Chris Luther who became his 
hfelong friend. Together they went to Camptonville, Yuba county, where 
they operated a hydraulic mine, in those days a dangerous business, and 
Mr. Bryant and a companion once almost lost their lives by the caving in 
of the banks while engaged in this work. Mr. Bryant could claim the dis- 
tinction of being the builder of the first tunnel for hydraulic mining in the 
state of California. This tunnel was five hundred feet in length and sup- 
ported by heavy timbers to prevent accidents w-hich were of common 
occurrence. 

In 1856 Mr. Bryant married Elizabeth Josephine Mallory who was born 
in Pennsylvania and had spent some of the earliest years of her life in 
Tazewell county. 111. Here her father, William Mallory, had practiced law 
and engaged in farming, dying when his little daughter was only five years 
old. Her mother, jNIalissa Stephens Mallory, left her in a school in Jefiferson, 
Grant county, AVis., and crossed the plains to California in 1852, settling at 
Camptonville, in Yuba county. Here her daughter joined her in 1854, 
having traveled across the plains at the age of fourteen with a brother and 
a number of friends. In 1856 the mother moved to Humboldt county, 
where she was married to Seth Chisholm, an old-time supervisor of the 
county. 

Mr. and jNIrs. Rolla Bryant were the parents of eleven children : Cyrus 
Edwin, a farmer, owns a part of the old Bryant place ; William Mallory, 
blacksmith and dairyman, lives at the Bryant homestead, and has three 
children and three grandchildren, his children being Mrs. Eva Garner of 
Ferndale, Rolla Theodore of Alton, and Maimie Bryant Frost of Fortuna; 
George Ralph, the third child of Rolla Bryant, died at the age of six years ; 
Albert B., farming part of the old homestead, married in Kansas City, Mrs. 
Louise AA'ilson; Adelinda Isabel, died at the age of nineteen; Orlena Malissa 
married E. E. Cornell of Ferndale, foreman on the state highway, and 
mechanic and filer, they have two children, Edwin Bryant and Lathor ; 
Delia Josephine, wife of Charles Luther, manager of Russ Market, Eureka; 
Stella M. died at five years of age; Seth died in infancy; Rolla, Jr., and 
Edna Leona live at home. 

After his marriage Mr. Bryant continued to live in Yuba county for two 
years. Then in 1858, with his wife and one child, he sailed from San Fran- 
cisco for Humboldt county. Owing to rough weather, they were landed at 
Trinidad, whence they went at once to the Eel River Valley, and Mr. Bryant 
bought the farm which continued to be his home until his death. He died 
at his home at Alton, on the ninth of April, 1911, and is survived by his 
widow and seven children. Mr. Bryant also left a sister, Mrs. Eliza Drew, 
of Boston, Mass., and three brothers, George E. Bryant of Lowell, Mass. ; 
James H. Bryant of Williston, Vt., and William K. Bryant of Richmond, Vt. 

Mr. Bryant was charitable and just to his fellow men, and in business he 
was the soul of honor. His is a name that will be remembered and respected 
by his friends and by the dwellers in this western country which he helped 
to build. 



1062 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

SHERMAN A. MILLER.— Although a resident of Scotia but a com- 
paratively few years, Sherman Miller, now justice of the peace, is one of 
the best known men in the township and exceptionally popular. He is a 
Republican and takes an active interest in the affairs of his party, whether 
local, state or national, and is an acknowledged power in the political sit- 
uation at Scotia. He is also well known in a business way and stands very 
high in commercial circles. 

Mr. Miller is a native of Tennessee, born at Blue Springs, Hamilton 
county. May 5, 1865. When he was three years of age his parents removed 
to Kansas, locating in Wyandotte county, where the father engaged in farm- 
ing. There Sherman grew to young manhood, attending the public schools 
of the district and assisting his father on the farm. In 1887, when he was 
twenty-two years of age, he came to Oregon, in company with his father, 
and there found employment as a farm hand for a time, and later went into 
business for himself in Portland, where he owned and conducted a barber 
shop, which he opened in 1889. Later, in 1891, he went to Hillsboro, where 
he also owned and conducted a barber shop, meeting with great success, and 
remaining until 1895. He has been at various places on the coast for periods 
of varying length, generally working at his trade of barber, having spent 
some time at Seattle and Ellensburg, Wash., Portland and Hillsboro, Ore., 
San Francisco, Oakland and Scotia. Mr. Miller came to California in 1900, 
and has spent most of the intervening time in this state. He owns a fine 
residence property in Oakland, where he made his home for some time, and 
where he was married to Miss Zua Guider, of San Francisco, in 1907. Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller have five children as follows : Pearly, Edith A., Arvilla, Ila 
and Sherma. 

When Mr. Miller first came to Scotia he engaged in the barber business, 
opening a small jewelry department as a side line. In this latter line he 
prospered, and in 1906 he went to San Francisco and learned the watch 
repairing business, and on returning he enlarged his stock of jewelry and has 
since that time made this his specialty. He now carries a complete line of 
jewelry, silverware and watches and also handles the Eastman kodaks. His 
stock is all high grade and every article that he sells is guaranteed to be up 
to standard and quality. This stock is valued at more than $4,000. 

Mr. Miller is very popular with his many friends and political constit- 
uents, and is especially well liked in his official capacity. He is a member 
of the Woodmen of the World, being affiliated with the lodge at Seattle. 

J. O. PERMENTER.— Descended from old Southern families on both 
his paternal and maternal side, and a native of Texas himself, J. O. Permenter 
has won his way up in the lumber industry in California through sheer force 
of character, industry and application. He now occupies the responsible 
position of mill foreman for mill "B", of the Pacific Lumber Company, at 
Scotia, where he has been employed for a number of years, his present posi- 
tion being the result of the splendid service rendered by him in minor capac- 
ities for this company, his promotions following each other with unfailing 
regularity. Mill "B" is one of the largest lumber mills on the coast, having 
a capacity of 200,000 feet per ten-hour day. It is also one of the most thor- 
oughly modern and best equipped of the coast mills, and acknowledged to 
be the best managed and smoothest running as well. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1063 

Mr. Permenter was born in Moody, Bell county, Texas, September 20, 
1883. His father, M. F. Permenter, was a native of Mississippi and descended 
from an old South Carolina family, while his mother, Sarah E. Barefoot, 
was a native of Arkansas, her family being originally from Mississippi. They 
were the parents of a family of seven children, six sons and one daughter, 
the subject of this sketch being the eldest born. The father was killed in 
an accident at Bakersfield, February 20, 1914, at that time being a resident 
of Lerdo, Kern county, this state, where the mother still makes her home. 
He was fifty-seven at the time of his death. The boyhood days of J. O. 
Permenter were spent in Texas, and when eighteen years of age he removed 
with his family to New Mexico where they engaged in farming. When 
he was twenty years of age he left the family environs and came to California, 
locating in Humboldt county, where he engaged in the lumbering industry. 
He was first with the Northern Redwood Company at Korbel, and later 
went to Glendale where he was with the Minor Mill and Lumber Company 
until November, 1904, when illness in his family necessitated his return to 
New Alexico. He remained there until August, 1905, when he returned 
to California, locating at Bakersfield, where he found employment in the 
machine shops at Kern, working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 
April of the following year, however, he returned to Humboldt county and 
again was engaged by the Northern Redwood Company at Korbel where 
he went to work in the lumber mill. From that time until he came to Scotia 
and entered the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company in April, 1910, Mr. 
Permenter was variously occupied in different capacities with different lum- 
ber companies of Humboldt county, always being promoted for the quality 
and quantity of his service and leaving one position only to accept a better 
one with another company. He was with the Hammond Lumber Company 
in 1908, at Sonoma, with the Minor Mill and Lumber Company at Glendale, 
then with the Little River Valley Lumber Company, at Little River, from 
which position of manager of the wharves, he came to Scotia and entered 
the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company, first as night foreman of the 
old mill yards, and when mill "B" was completed in the fall of 1910 he was 
transferred to that place, where he has since remained. For a time he was 
at the sorting table, and after two and one-half years he was made foreman, 
which position he has since filled with more than ordinary satisfaction to 
the management, and also to the men employed under him. Mr. Permenter 
knew no one when he came to Humboldt county, and his success has been in 
no way due to influence or preference, but has been based alone on ability 
and application to business. 

The marriage of Mr. Permenter took place in Eureka, January 1, 1911, 
uniting him with Miss Bea Bolsen, of that cit}^ They have become the par- 
ents of one child, a daughter, Muriel. Mr. Permenter is very popular in 
Scotia where he has many warm friends. He is an influential figure in the 
fraternal life of the community, being a member of several of the most im- 
portant lodges, including the Knights of Pythias, Scotia Lodge, No. 310, of 
which he is chancellor-commander, and also Odd Fellows, in Blue Lake 
Lodge, No. 347, of which he is past noble grand. In his political views he is 
a Democrat and a strong party man. He is broad minded and progressive, 
is deeply appreciative of any movement that will work for the betterment 



1064 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of the community, and in all local questions of public interest he gives his 
aid to the right men and measures rather than the strict party endorsement. 

ROBERT McINTOSH.— A native of Restigouche county, New Bruns- 
wick, where he was born July 24, 1859, Robert Mcintosh is of Scotch de- 
scent, the son of John Mcintosh, a native of Perthshire, Scotland, and his 
wife Catherine (Dutch) Mcintosh, who was born in New Brunswick, of 
Scotch parents. The grandfather, Robert Mcintosh, was a ship builder of 
Scotland, who brought his family to New Brunswick when the father of 
Robert Mcintosh was but eighteen years of age. Having learned his father's 
trade, the young man continued in that occupation with his father in the new 
country, continuing alone in the business for many years after his father's 
decease, during the latter part of his life being engaged in farming. His 
wife, coming to California in later years, died in Eureka, this state. 

Of the family of seven children, Robert Mcintosh was the third oldest, 
and was brought up on the home farm and educated in the public schools of 
the neighborhood. In the autumn of the year 1879 he came to Wisconsin, 
where he secured employment in the woods, and also across the line in the 
Michigan woods. In 1880 he removed to Atchison county. Mo., and in' the 
spring of 1881 to Placer county, Cal., later going to Sacramento in this state, 
in the fall of the same year moving to Eureka, Cal., where he was employed 
in logging in the woods, for many years holding the place of head log fixer. 
Meantime he had located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres on Prairie 
creek, above Orick, in the same county, where he has since made his home, 
and began at that time to make improvements thereon ; finally proving up 
on the property about ten years ago, he resigned his work in the woods and 
has since spent his time on his ranch, which consists of one hundred fifty-two 
acres, he having sold eight acres of the estate. Mr. Mcintosh is a busy man, 
for besides having improved his homestead, he has erected a blacksmith's 
shop on his land, where he does much work in that line, as well as engaging 
in the raising of stock upon his ranch. Political interests also occupy a part 
of his time and attention, he being well known as a loyal supporter of the 
principles of the Republican party, and he enjoys the esteem and good will 
of all with whom he comes in contact. 

GIOCONDO CELLI.— A native of Italy, where he was born in the city 
of Pescia, province of Lucca, in Toscano, January 18, 1876, Giocondo Celli, 
now the proprietor of the New Colombo Hotel, at Eureka, Cal., an enterpris- 
ing man, liberal and well liked in the California town where he has chosen 
to make his home, was the son of Riccardo Celli, an Italian farmer, and was 
brought up as a farmer's boy in that country, receiving his education in the 
public schools and working on his father's farm until mustered into the 
Italian army. There he served the required time and was honorably dis- 
charged, and, having heard good reports of better opportunities in America 
from countrymen returning from the United States, Mr. Celli was seized with 
a desire to try his fortune in the new world. 

In 1902, therefore, Mr. Celli came to Chicago, 111., where he was em- 
ployed on railroad construction work, three years later removing to San 
Francisco, Cal., thence going to Eureka, where he immediately found work 
with the Santa Fe, now the Northwestern Pacific Railroad company, and for 
the three years following was engaged in construction work on the Scotia 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1065 

bluff, which has a record of being a very dangerous piece of work for the 
men employed thereon. Mr. Celli himself had several narrow escapes from 
being buried by the sliding of the overburden during the construction work, 
when slides thereabouts rendered the safety of the men most precarious. 
For a while Mr. Celli ran a hotel at Shively, Cal., and then made a trial of 
ranching, but deciding on hotel management as the most profitable occupa- 
tion for himself, in 1913 he purchased the New Colombo Hotel, on First 
street. Eureka, of which he has since remained the proprietor, and in his 
chosen line of business has met with the success due his endeavors and 
enjoys the esteem of his townspeople. 

The marriage of Mr. Celli took place in his native land, uniting him with 
Miss Ida Fantozi, who was also born in that country, and they became the 
parents of seven children, namely, Renato, Inez, Annie, Argia, Riccardo, 
Giocondo and Ida. 

BATTISTE TOMASINI.— Having been born and brought up on his 
father's farm in Italy, where he became thoroughly conversant with dairying 
as it is carried on in that country, it is small wonder that Battiste Tomasini, 
now a resident of Trinidad, Cal., has brought to the new country with him a 
proficiency in that art which has easily placed him at the head in that line 
of occupation in his district. The father of Mr. Tomasini is Pietro Tomasini, 
a farmer and dairyman in the Alps, where he is still actively engaged in the 
making of butter and cheese on a large scale, also serving as one of the town 
trustees, his wife being Santa Bachetti Tomasini. Of their nine children, 
Battiste is the third in age, and until he had passed his seventeenth birthday 
he remained in his native country, where he attended the local schools and 
learned the dairying trade from his father. 

In 1903 Mr. Tomasini removed to San Francisco and came on imme- 
diately to Humboldt county, upon his arrival finding employment in a dairy 
at Areata, after which he came to Eureka. For two years he worked in the 
woods, but determining to carry on the dairy business independently, this 
being the occupation in which he felt the greatest interest, he rented a ranch 
at Loleta, Cal., where for a )^ear he conducted a dairy consisting of fifty 
cows. Selling the lease on this property, he returned to Italy for a visit to 
his old home, remaining there nine months, during which time he was mar- 
ried, on July 27, 1910, to Miss Regina Bonomi, also a native of Brescia and 
a daughter of Bartolo Bonomi, a farmer in that district, Mr. Tomasini him- 
self having been born in Liverno, Brescia, on February 27, 1885. In Sep- 
tember, 1910, taking with him his bride, he left his native land for California 
once more, coming direct to Humboldt county, which had been his home 
during his former stay in California. Here, in December, 1910, in partner- 
.ship with Paul Grazioli, he leased the John Plitsch place at Stone Lagoon, 
where the two partners are now operating a large dairy, milking eighty cows, 
and also carry on stockraising to a large extent. Here, on the ranch of 
twenty acres, which is nearly all bottom land, they are meeting with much 
success in their business, being enterprising men provided with the best 
modern means for carrying on the same. The milk from their ranch is 
separated by gas engine power, the cream being shipped to the California 
Central Creamery Company at Eureka. 



1066 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

In his political interests Mr. Tomasini is a supporter of the Republican 
party. He is the father of two sons, namely James and Peter, and in his 
adopted home in California is well liked and respected as a progressive man 
in his chosen line of business. 

EDWIN HORACE CAMERON.— Although a resident of CaUfornia 
since the year 1868, having made his name well known in the lumber indus- 
try in this state, Edwin Horace Cameron is of Canadian birth and, as his 
name implies, of Scotch ancestry, the name of Cameron being one that is 
prominent in the history of Scotland. In that country his father, George W. 
Cameron, was born in the town of Thurso in 1818, his grandfather, John 
Cameron, also of Thurso, having been an adjutant in the English army, 
stationed in Canada, where he resided with his family until the time of his 
death. His son, George W., was only a lad at the time of his coming to 
Canada, where he received his education in the public schools and followed 
lumbering, first as superintendent of one of the Gilmour Company's mills at 
the town of Hull, and later, with his brother, John O., building a saw mill 
and engaging in the manufacture of lumber at Thurso, Que., a place which 
they named from the town of their birth in Scotland, and where they made 
their home, also erecting and operating a mill at North Nation, Que. A 
large lumber manufacturer for his time, George W. Cameron continued in 
that business until his death, amassing what was considered a fortune in 
those days. He was known as a kind, liberal and enterprising man, philan- 
thropic, in that, besides educating his own children well, he also provided 
many other young men with the means of securing a college education. In 
his religious associations, he was a member of the Baptist Church. The 
wife of George W. Cameron was Frances Baldwin, a native of the state of 
Connecticut, and they were the parents of six sons and one daughter, of 
whom only three are now living, Edwin Horace being the only one of the 
family making his home in California. 

The third in order of birth, Edwin Horace Cameron was born in Hull, 
a suburb of Ottawa, Can., on July 30, 1848, and grew up in Thurso, receiving 
his primary education in the local public schools. He then spent two years 
in the Department of Arts at Woodstock college, Woodstock, Ont., prepara- 
tory to entering McGill University in 1865, where he continued his studies 
until the close of his sophomore year. During that time he also attended 
the Military college at Montreal, where he was graduated September 21, 
1867, being commissioned ensign in the Thurso Infantry Company, later be- 
ing promoted to the position of lieutenant, and still later to that of captain. 
At odd times during these years Mr. Cameron acquired a working knowledge 
of the Morse code of telegraphy, he being a person who never let slip an 
opportunity for increasing his fund of practical knowledge. In 1867 he 
entered the employ of the Ottawa River Navigation Company as purser, and 
it was about this time that he became interested in California, through his 
acquaintance with D. W. McCallum, superintendent of the Caspar Lumber 
Company at Caspar, Mendocino county, Cal. Determining to come to the 
Pacific coast, Mr. Cameron made the trip by way of the LTnion Pacific Rail- 
road, the extreme connections being made by means of a hand car, whereby 
he arrived in San Francisco in July of the year 1868. The first employment 
of Mr. Cameron after coming to California was with the Caspar Lumber 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1067 

Company, at the town of Caspar, where he spent a year in their store, after- 
ward accepting a position in the store of WiUiam H. Kelly, in Mendocino 
City, where he remained for some time. During the building of the Pacific 
Telegraph Company's lines from Petaluma to Eureka, Cal., Mr. Cameron 
was in the employ of that firm., at first on the survey, coming to the city of 
Eureka with the survey corps in 1870, after which he became electrician on 
the line, later being made operator at Mendocino, then at Navarro, and then 
at Cuffey's Cove, during which time he was also engaged in teaching begin- 
ners in that branch and installing offices. In the summer of 1874 Mr. Cam- 
eron was stationed at Eureka, and later spent two years as line repairer, 
with his headquarters at. Usal, Cal. About the year 1880 he severed his 
connection with the company, and secured employment as a clerk for George 
S. McPhee at Westport, in 1881 forpiing a partnership with T. H. Smith in 
that town, under the firm name of Smith & Cameron engaging in general 
merchandise, also as contractors of ties and bark, which were shipped in 
schooners to San Francisco and southern points. Six years later the part- 
nership was dissolved, Mr. Cameron retaining the store while Mr. Smith 
assumed charge of the outside business, and in 1890 Mr. Cameron sold the 
store to assume the duties of deptity county assessor for northern Mendocino 
county under W. P. McFaul, his district comprising the territory from Fort 
Bragg to the Humboldt county line. This position he held for a period ot 
eight years, during this time, in 1892 and 1893, also being bookkeeper for the 
De Haven Lumber Company, afterwards holding the same position with the 
Cottaneva Lumber Company at Rockport, and for a time being in charge ol 
the wharf and store of Ray Brothers at Shelter Cove. Removing to Eureka 
in 1899, Mr. Cameron there became salesman in the yard for McKay & Com- 
pany, at the Occidental Mill, later accepting a position with the Hammond 
Lumber Company, where for some years he had charge of the telephone 
lines, resigning there in order to become bookkeeper for J. A. Cottrell's 
moulding mill, a position which he filled acceptably for five years, since 
which time he has been engaged as salesman for the Oregon Nursery Com- 
pany. 

While engaged in mercantile pursuits at Westport, Mr. Cameron was 
married, on December 25, 1884, to Miss Nettie Hickman, a native of Monte- 
cello, Ind., the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Hickman, who was born in 
Jasper county, Ind., December 6, 1840, the son of Hiram and Eleanor (White) 
Hickman. Previous to the Civil war, Benjamin F. Hickman had removed 
to Grant county. Wis., and there he was among the first to respond to the 
call for troops, enlisting in Company K of the Twentieth Wisconsin Regi- 
ment of Volunteer Infantry, serving three years and being wounded at the 
battle of Prairie Grove, Mo. He was married in Rosedale, Ind., on Novem- 
ber 22, 1864, to Jennie B. Fisk, the daughter of John J. and Elizabeth A. 
(Page) Fisk. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Hickman came to California with their 
two little daughters, Nettie and Nona, in 1872, the father thereafter following 
the trade of harnessmaker at Bloomfield, Sonoma county, till 1882, when he 
located at Westport, where he engaged in contracting and building until the 
time of his death, which occurred on December 1, 1896. A violinist of much 
ability, his services were continually sought for parties and dances, where he 
enjoyed much popularity. Since his death, his wife resides in Eureka. Their 



1068 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

daughter, now Mrs. Cameron, a cultivated and refined woman, was brought 
up and educated in Westport. Mr. and Mrs. Cameron are the parents of 
four children, namely, Edwin Franklin, who took a four years' course in 
civil engineering at the University of California, and is now in the employ 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad, making his home in Berkeley ; Mrs. Agnes 
B. Carlson; Mrs. Vreda E. Hess; and Guy O. Cameron, who is with the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, and, like his two sisters, makes his 
home in Eureka. 

GEORGE MURDOCK SCOTT.— One of the upbuilders of the city of 
Trinidad, in Humboldt county, Cal., is George Murdock Scott, who, since the 
year 1880, has been a resident of this part of California, whence he came 
from his home in far-away Nova Scotia. 

It was in May of the year 1880 that Mr. Scott arrived in California, 
making his home for some time thereafter with John Vance, in Essex, Hum- 
boldt county, in 1894 removing to Trinidad, where he bought out the Tom 
Fitz blacksmith shop and continued in business there for eight years. After 
selling out his business in that line, Mr. Scott gave up blacksmithing, and 
since April 7, 1907, when his wife was appointed postmaster at Trinidad, he 
has acted as assistant, and takes an active part in the affairs of the office, 
being also a member of the board of city trustees of Trinidad and president 
of the board, or mayor of the town. When he came to Trinidad, there was 
no public water supply in the place, the water being brought from springs 
and pumps by the residents, and he realized the great need of a water sys- 
tem. He and his wife are now the principal owners of the Trinidad Water 
and Supply Company, a company which was incorporated on June 29, 1908, 
of which Mr. Callstrom is president, Mr. Scott vice-president and superin- 
tendent, and his wife secretary, and by the efforts of this company the waters 
of old Mill creek have been brought to the city, providing a sufficient water 
supply with a pressure of sixty pounds. In order to do this, it was neces- 
sary to buy a right of way across the Hammond Lumber Company's land, 
and a galvanized iron pipe line was laid, one and three-quarters miles in 
length to reach the city. It will thus be seen that Mr. Scott is a public- 
spirited man who takes an intense interest in the welfare of the district where 
he has chosen to make his home. He is also the owner of property at 
Trinidad, and he and his wife are known for their enterprise and liberahty. 

The grandfather of Mr. Scott was a Scotchman, who brought his family 
with a colony from his native land to Nova Scotia, where he became a land- 
owner and farmer, his son James, the father of Mr. Scott, having been born 
in Edinburgh, Scotland, and come with his family to the new country, where 
he was a farmer and also blacksmith. Mr. Scott's mother, formerly Margaret 
Nicholson, was born in Gallowayshire, Scotland, and removed with her par- 
ents to Nova Scotia at the same time with the Scott family ; her parents died 
there, and there also took place her marriage to James Scott. Of their eight 
children, George Murdock Scott was the youngest, and was brought up on 
the farm, educated in the public schools and learned the blackmith's trade 
under his father, working with him until seventeen years of age. At that 
time he left home, going to Spring Hill Junction, where his sister, Mrs. Har- 
rison, lived, and where he became a brakeman on the Inter-Colonial Railroad, 
but eighteen months later met with an accident which resulted in the loss of 
his left foot. It was a few years after his recovery from this operation that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1069 

Mr. Scott removed to California, where he has continued to make his home 
ever since. From Nova Scotia, where his birth occurred in the town of Pug- 
wash, in Cumberland county, January 19, 1859, to Humboldt county, Califor- 
nia, where he has spent the latter part of his life, is indeed a long journey, 
and one which has taken him through varied scenes on the American conti- 
nent, but that Mr. Scott has never regretted the change is proved by the 
active interest taken by both himself and his wife in the affairs of the Cali- 
fornia city where they make their home. 

PAUL GRAZIOLI. — From Italy to California is a long journey and a 
complete change in modes of living for a boy of eighteen years, but this has 
been the experience of Paul Grazioli, an ambitious Italian youth who left 
his native home to see what life held for him in a new country, whither many 
of his countrymen had preceded him to seek their fortunes. Mr. Grazioli 
was born in Liverno, Brescia, Italy, on April 28, 1888, the son of Stephen 
Grazioli, a farmer of that district, and received a good education in the pub- 
lic schools of that country. Leaving home in 1906, he set out for San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., where he arrived, as numerous of his compatriots had done before, 
to seek employment in a new land. After two months spent at Petaluma, 
Cal., he went to Monterey, in the same state, where he was employed as a 
gardener upon the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Del Monte, an establish- 
ment which is famous the country over as a favorite resort for tourists. Re- 
turning to San Francisco, Mr. Grazioli worked there for eight months in a 
paint factory, in June, 1908, removing to Humboldt county, where he was 
employed in dairying at McKinleyville, and later at Bayside, after which he 
was employed for a period of eighteen months by two different dairies at 
Loleta. Having acquired the necessary experience for independent work 
and also saved his money during the years of his employment by others, 
Mr. Grazioli, in the autumn of the year 1910, formed a partnership with 
Battiste Tomasini, a native of the same country as himself, and also making 
a success of his business endeavors in California, and the two men, under the 
firm name of Tomasini & Grazioli, rented the John Plitsch ranch at Stone 
Lagoon in the same county, where they have since that time been engaged 
in conducting a large and prosperous dairy of eighty cows. Aside from 
being an industrious and energetic dairyman and making a success of this 
line of business, Mr. Grazioli also has engaged in stockraising upon the ranch 
with his partner, the two being the possessors of a fine herd of cattle. 

Although actively engaged in his business, with a faithfulness of endea- 
vor which is bringing him a large measure of success, Mr. Grazioli yet finds 
time to interest himself in the political affairs of his adopted home, and in 
this connection is an upholder of the principles of the Republican party. 

JAMES EMANUEL MATHEWS.— To an exceptional degree the youth 
of James Emanuel Mathews represented a contest against obstacles, a strug- 
gle with hardships and a constant familiarity with privation. When only four 
years of age he was orphaned by the death of his father, and thus was added 
to New York City, where he was born on the 22d of February, 1845, another 
poor boy, orphaned and friendless, illy prepared to cope with the difficulties 
of existence and deprived of any satisfactory educational advantages. As a 
newsboy selling the Brooklyn Eagle he earned his first money and he con- 
tinued with that paper for a number of years. It was the custom of the 



1070 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

boys, while waiting for the Eagle to be issvied each day at three o'clock, to 
go to the Columbia street hill aiid play "shinney." It was also the custom 
of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, then at the height of his fame, to pass along 
the street about that hour of day. One afternoon in 1858 Mr. Mathews 
accidentally struck the famous minister with a shinney block. At once Mr. 
Beecher seized the boy by the coat collar and hurried him to the top of the 
hill, where he put him into the hands of a policeman, under arrest for the 
offense. However, the officer released him and dropped the charges, upon 
hearing from witnesses an account of the affair and learning that it was 
entirely the result of accident. 

During the Civil war Mr. Mathews was employed on steamers running 
from New York to Havana, Vera Cruz, Aspinwall, New Orleans, Galveston 
and Charleston, S. C. While in Havana in 1864 a lady offered him the situa- 
tion of overseer of her plantation in Matanzas, Cuba, but he declined, feeling 
that the position entailed too much responsibility for one of his youth and 
lack of experience. As his ship cruised on the coast of Florida early in 1865 
a gunboat, painted lead color, was sighted and passed. On returning from 
Havana the same boat was seen, but this time it was painted black and car- 
ried its flag at half-mast. Investigation as to the reason gave the first news 
of the assassination of President Lincoln to the crew of the vessel homeward 
bound. On casting anchor in the harbor of New York they found an im- 
mense throng of people forming a line that extended from the City Hall to 
the Battery, all eager for a last glimpse of the face of their martyred presi- 
dent, then lying in state in the City Hall of the metropolis of the east. 

An uneventful period of employment as a glassblower in a factory did 
not quench the love of adventure innate in the young New Yorker, so that 
he was ready, at an hour's notice, to set sail from his city December 10, 
1867, on a steamer bound for Panama. Thence he sailed up the Pacific on 
the steamer Constitution, which landed in San Francisco January 23, 1868. 
For some time he was employed on steamers out of San Francisco to other 
ports of the Pacific ocean. Later he engaged briefly in selling charts of 
Grant and Colfax and Seymour and Blair. From San Francisco he came to 
Eureka in March of 1871. Early experiences around newspaper offices and 
later adventures in the world peculiarly adapted him for the book business, 
in which he has since engaged. Recently he celebrated his fortieth anni- 
versary of business association with Eureka. Although his stock is mainly 
books and stationery it is not limited to these lines, but is so varied that one 
in search of some unusual novelty, not to be found elsewhere, is frequently 
advised to inquire at his store, with the result that the article desired is 
often found there. The first name of the shop was The Little Store Around 
the Corner, which came to Mr. Mathews through early familiarity with the 
historic church around the corner in New York City. Later the business was 
referred to as The Old Curiosity Shop, but with the frequent accessions to 
the stock and a change of location to the Gross block, one of the substantial 
and modern buildings of Eureka, the name of the business has been changed 
to The Home of Music, Song and Story. The shop ranks as the pioneer 
piano house of Humboldt county, and the sale of pianos has been an impor- 
tant accessory of the business for many years. Recently Mr. Mathews came 
into prominence through the fact that, after having represented the San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1071 

Francisco Examiner in Eureka for twenty-seven years or more, as a reward 
for continued and faithful service he was presented with a handsome en- 
graved gold watch by William Randolph Hearst. Politically he is a life- 
long Democrat, devoted to the party. Interest in his adopted locality ap- 
pears in the fact that he is a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce. 
His fraternities are the Eagles and Foresters. Besides his business property 
and home in Eureka, the family own four thousand acres of timber land, 
mostly located north of Eureka. His marriage was solemnized in San Fran- 
cisco, his bride being Delia Lineger, who was born in Australia but has lived 
in California from the age of six months. They are the parents of three 
children, Ellenor Rose, Mary Gertrude and Florence Catherine, all of Eureka. 

ISAAC MOXON.— Although not a native of the United States, Isaac 
Moxon has for the greater part of his life been a resident here, and for almost 
thirty-five years has lived in Humboldt county, Cal. He is as stanch and 
loyal a son of the Stars and Stripes as may be found in any place, and during 
his years spent on the coast has been an active factor in the building up and 
development of his community, where he is today one of the foremost citi- 
zens. His undertakings have prospered greatly, and although he arrived in 
Humboldt county with only $700, he now possesses hundreds of acres of rich 
lands, many head of stock and wide fields of grain, and his wealth cannot be 
estimated in dollars and cents, so rapidly are his holdings increasing in 
value. 

Mr. Moxon is the son of Henry and Abigail (AVhite) Moxon. His 
father, a native of Nova Scotia, born in 1826 at Shipanacady, of English 
descent. He followed farming and lumbering in Carleton county. New 
Brunswick, the greater part of his life, and in both enterprises was very suc- 
cessful. His mother was a native of Hudson, Me., but removed to New 
Brunswick with her parents, where she married, the officiating clergyman 
being Parson Harton. She became the mother of fourteen children, four of 
whom died very young, and ten living to grow to manhood and womanhood. 
Of these six are living at the present time (1914). Isaac, the fourth oldest 
in order of birth, was born in Shipanacady, Nova Scotia, June 15, 1857, but in 
the fall of 1858 removed to New Brunswick with his parents. He resided on 
his father's farm near Woodstock, New Brunswick, where as a child he at- 
tended the public schools. Later he attended the best private school in the 
neighborhood, until he was sixteen years of age, when he stopped school 
and worked with his father on the farm. When he was twenty-one, he de- 
termined to come to the LTnited States, where reports led him to believe con- 
ditions were better and wages higher. Accordingly he went first to Minne- 
apolis, and from there went to work in the sugar pine woods logging, on 
the Moose river, remaining for three or four years. The demand for men on 
the Pacific coast was very great at that time, and the wages paid were even 
better than those received along the Northern Mississippi, and so in April, 
1881, Mr. Moxon determined to again move westward, this time choosing 
California as his stopping place. He arrived in Humboldt county. May 31, 
1881, and went immediately to work in the woods, logging in the lumber 
camps, where he remained for a few years. The first year he was in the 
employ of Kirk, Minor & Culberg on Warm creek, and also worked for 
Frank Graham, all pioneer lumbermen of Humboldt county. 



1072 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

In 1884, Mr. Moxon met with a serious accident, which changed the 
trend of his Hfe, determining him, as it did, to give up the life of the woods 
and take to agricultural and farming pursuits. A heavy log slid and crushed 
his leg, making active work in the lumber camps out of the question for a 
long time. It was then that he purchased thirty acres of bottom land near 
Areata, which is at the present time his home place. This tract is beautifully 
situated on the higher bottom, and so is absolutely free from danger of floods, 
being well above the high water line. At the time of the great flood in 1860 
this property was the only one in that region that was not touched by the 
high waters, most of the surrounding places being completely submerged. 

After purchasing this place, Mr. Moxon improved it and engaged in 
farming. In 1895 he began dairying with a herd of twenty-five milch cows, 
which he has since materially increased. AVhen he first began farming he 
made a specialty of raising potatoes and grain ; has raised as high as one hun- 
dred sacks of potatoes to the acre, and as high as one hundred forty-seven 
bushels of barley to the acre. 

Later, his business enterprises prospering, he was enabled to make addi- 
tional investments, and he has always chosen to put his surplus capital back 
into the soil. In partnership with Ralph Bull, in August, 1911, he purchased 
six hundred eighty acres of land on Big creek, in Trinity county, known as 
the Big creek ranch, upon which the partners are engaged in raising live- 
stock, grain and alfalfa. In 1913 they cut three crops of alfalfa from their 
fields, averaging over five hundred tons. Since purchasing this property they 
have improved the land and brought it under a high state of cultivation, 
while at the same time they have added to their equipment all manner of 
modern implements and buildings, until at the present time they have the 
most thoroughly modern ranch in Trinity county. 

On the home place of Areata bottom land great improvements have also 
been made. Also to the original thirty acres additions have been made from 
time to time until now it comprises one hundred twenty acres, all highly im- 
proved, lying two miles west of Areata. This place is devoted to dairying 
(stocked with Holstein cattle), and like the larger place, has proven to be a 
great financial success. The place is well improved with three residences and 
two sets of barns, and a family orchard, and it is the consensus of opinion 
that these buildings are among the best and most modern in this section, 
and the ranch is the cleanest from weeds, in fact the only one that is free 
from mustard. The original $700 which Mr. Moxon brought with him to 
Humboldt county has grown and doubled and redoubled itself so many times, 
and so often, that there is no semblance of the original nest-egg left in the 
vast holdings of the former lumberman. Mr. ]\Ioxon is interested vitally in 
the dairy and creamery interests of Areata, having been an" active factor in 
their upbuilding, and is a stockholder in the United Creamery. 

The marriage of Mr. Moxon and Miss Emma Amelia Nelson took place 
at the home of the bride in Areata, December 14, 1884. Mrs. INIoxon was 
born at Little River Beach, Humboldt county, Cal., May 22, 1859, the daugh- 
ter of Christian and Augusta (Bayreuther) Nelson, among the oldest settlers 
of Humboldt county. They came to Areata from Little River Bridge, 
where they were driven and burned out by the Indians. Mrs. Moxon became 
the mother of five children, four sons and one daughter, all living at present 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1073 

save the eldest, Chris Christian, who passed away in 1887. The other mem- 
bers of tiie family are Isaac Leland, now operating the home ranch ; Leslie 
Augustus, and Clarence Hector, managing the Big creek ranch ; and Gertrude 
Elaine, who is now Mrs. Axel Anderson of Areata. All are well and favor- 
ably known in Areata, where they were born and reared, and where they now 
have many warm friends. The sons are all members of several prominent 
lodges and are well known in business and social circles. All three 
are members of the Masons, and I. Leland and Leslie also belong to the 
Odd Fellows. Isaac Moxon, Sr., is himself a prominent lodge man, and is 
well known as a member of the Odd Fellows and also of the Woodmen of 
the World. He is a veteran Odd Fellow and a member of Anniversary 
Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F. 

In politics Mr. Moxon is a Republican, as are his sons, bvit he has never 
taken an active part in political affairs. He is interested in all matters 
which pertain to the welfare of the community. In all his business dealings 
Mr. Moxon has an established reputation for honesty and square dealing that 
.places him high in the scale of business standards and gives him a place in 
the affairs of his city and county that is without a superior. He is one whom 
young men would do well to emulate. 

ARTHUR EARL CARTWRIGHT.— The popular fire chief and fire 
warden of Scotia is one of the important men in the city, and on his shoulders 
rests the grave responsibility of preventing the devastation of the town by 
fire, this being a constant danger in the lumber town, where the means of 
conflagration are unusually plentiful. Mr. Cartwright was elected as fire 
chief by the members of the various volunteer fire companies of Scotia, and 
was appointed fire warden by the Pacific Lumber Company, in whose employ 
he had been for a number of years, holding positions of trust and responsi- 
bility, and in every instance proving himself well worthy of their confidence. 

Mr. Cartwright is a native of California, born in Yuba county, January 
25, 1882. His father, Harry B. Cartwright, was a native of Pennsylvania, 
and came to California at the time of the gold rush in 1849, making the trip 
by way of the Horn. For a time he followed placer and quartz mining in 
Sierra county, and then went into Yuba county and took up a claim of 
government land and engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mining appealed 
to him far more strongly than farming, however, and he continued to engage 
in the more hazardous occupation from time to time, whenever he could be 
spared from his farm, for many years. He was married to Miss Maria 
Frances Seth, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to California via Isthmus 
of Panama, in 1851. They became the parents of six children, as follows: 
Phoebe, now the wife of Emmett Gleason, a rancher, residing on the old 
Cartwright place in Yuba county; Wallace, who died at the age of eight 
years ; Elizabeth, who died at the age of two years ; George W., a contractor 
and mill builder, at present engaged with the Buhne Hardware Company 
of Eureka ; Edna, Mrs. Davis, residing in Seattle, Wash. ; and Arthur Earl, 
the subject of this sketch. The parents came to Eureka when Arthur Earl 
was seven years of age, and there he passed his boyhood days, attending the 
public schools and high school. Later he went to Everett, Wash, where he 
was engaged with a real estate and insurance firm, and while in their service 
he also studied typewriting and stenography. After a year spent at Everett 



1074 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

he returned to Eureka in 1903, and went to work as a millwright under his 
brother George. At the same time he joined fire company No. 5, in Eureka, 
and commenced to take a great interest in the subject of fire protection. 
While with his brother he assisted in the building of the Holmes-Eureka 
mill, at Eureka, and of the Little River Redwood Company's mill at Little 
River, in Humboldt county. It was in November, 1910, that Mr. Cartwright 
eventually came to Scotia, and entered the employ of the Pacific Lumber 
Company as millwright superintendent, being in this position until May 1, 
1914, when he assumed his duties as fire chief and fire warden, which he has 
since discharged with efficiency. 

Mr. Cartwright was interested in the work of the fire department from 
the time that he came to Scotia, and is thoroughly familiar with the plans 
and requirements of its work. He was a charter member of the fire depart- 
ment known as the Scotia Volunteer Fire Department, organized in 1910, 
with Charles Wescott as fire chief. He became foreman of Company No. 1 
in 1912. He is now carrying out the plans originally laid out by the com- 
pany and hopes to prevent another such disastrous fire as that which occurred 
in 1912 destroying the dry kilns at mill "B". New fire proof kilns have since 
been built, and other modern means of fire protection have been adopted 
by the Pacific Lumber Company recently. The fire department consists of 
five hose companies of twenty men each, one engine company of eight men 
and eight fire policemen. Each company has a foreman and an assistant 
foreman, and each Jaas its own hose cart and hose house. The arrangements 
for the water supply are very complete and modern, and with the capable 
supervision of Mr. Cartwright there should be no great difficulty in handling 
any situation which might arise. 

The marriage of Mr. Cartwright occurred in Eureka, February 23d, 
1911, uniting him with Miss May Cameron, born in Eureka. Mr. Cart- 
wright takes an especially keen interest in all that pertains to the general 
welfare of Scotia, and any movement for its betterment, educationally, so- 
cially, or commercially is given his instant and hearty endorsement. He is 
a man of great ability, ingenuity, popularity and force of character, and is 
a power in the local afi^airs of his party, he being a stanch Republican. He 
is also prominent in fraternal affairs and is a member of several beneficial 
orders, among which may be mentioned the Odd Fellows, his membership 
being claimed by the Fortuna Lodge. ]Mr. Cartwright is also well known in 
Eureka, where his mother still makes her home, and where he is a frequent 
visitor; His father died in Yuba county a number of years ago, at the age 
of seventy years. 

GUST RICKTER.— As road overseer for one of the largest road districts 
of this county, and one in which the road conditions are of the very best, 
Gust Rickter has made for himself a warm place in the hearts of the people 
of his district. He resides at Rio Dell, where he owns two fine farms, and 
his road district includes, amon-g other places, Scotia, the principal lumber 
town of Humboldt county, which is admittedly the best ordered and ar- 
ranged, the most orderly and beautiful of all the lumber towns in this part 
of the state. To be road overseer in such a district gives evidence of a 
scientific knowledge of road-making, and above all, of not being afraid of 
hard work. Mr. Rickter comes from a highly respected family of Sweden, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1075 

where his father, Lars Anderson, was -a well-to-do farmer, owning three 
valuable ranches. He is a man of great ability, a capable financier and man- 
ager and is very prosperous. He is liberal and public spirited and contributes 
freely, both in time and money, to what is for the best interests of his com- 
munity. His sons now manage his two farms. Gust Rickter has recently 
erected a handsome residence at Rio Dell where he resides with his wife, 
who is a woman of ability and charm, and a delightful friend and hostess. 

Gust Rickter was born in Skaane, Sweden, March 20, 1869, the son of 
Lars and Louise Anderson. Like many others of his nationality he took 
an old family name, Rickter, on taking naturalization papers, instead of the 
name Larsen. He received a common school education in his native place 
and when he was sixteen was apprenticed to learn farming, dairying and 
cheese-making, receiving a diploma as a cheese and butter-maker. His 
father was engaged in the nursery business, and lived to be seventy-two 
years of age. Gust was the youngest of a family of eight children, and when 
he was eighteen years of age he determined to come to America, making 
the journey directly from his native land to California, and going at once 
to Eureka, where an elder brother, Lewis Larsen, was already established. 
He was for a time employed at Fay's Shingle Mill at Eureka, but soon re- 
turned to his former occupation on the dairy farm, and was employed on 
various places in the county for a number of years. 

The marriage of Mr. Rickter and Miss Matilda Youngberg was sol- 
emnized in San Francisco, October 5, 1889. Mrs. Rickter is a native of 
Sweden, like her husband, born in Skaane, and is the youngest of a family 
of twelve children. Her father was a farmer and owner of valuable property 
in his native land. She has borne her husband three children, two sons and a 
daughter : Lillie Aurora, now a graduate nurse in the county hospital in 
Eureka; Gustav E. and Oscar, the two sons being farmers and now engaged 
in the conduct of their father's two ranches at Rio Dell. This property con- 
tains about two hundred forty acres, and they are following diversified farm- 
ing, and are raising large numbers of cattle, sheep and hogs for the market. 

Mr. Rickter has been road overseer in the Rio Dell and Scotia districts 
for a number of years, and has made for himself an enviable record for eflfi- 
ciency and thoroughness. He has brought the condition of the roads up to 
a high standard, under very adverse circumstances, by much labor, time and 
careful thought. He is a Republican in his political views, and takes a 
deep interest in all that concerns his home district; he is a member of the 
Humboldt County Farm Bureau, and of the Farm Center at Eureka. In 
fraternal circles he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Scotia Lodge, 
No. 310, of which he is a charter member. Mr. and Mrs. Rickter have been 
married over twenty-five years, and on October 5, 1914, they celebrated their 
silver-wedding anniversary, attended by a large number of invited guests, 
among friends and relatives, being entertained by a big dinner, and the 
silver couple were recipients of many valuable presents and remembrances. 
He has by his industry and ability accumulated a snug fortune and his 
place shows evidence of refinement and wealth. 

FRANCIS MARION BRUNER, M. D.— The descendant of genera- 
tions of keen and talented ancestors, including men and women of unswerv- 
ing integrity, strong individuality, high culture and not a little literary ability. 



1076 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

types of the best class of the pioneers of the east and the middle west, 
Francis Marion Bruner, M. D., of Ferndale, Humboldt county, was born in 
the city of Monmouth, county of Warren, in Illinois, September 21, 1865. 
Possessing the keen desire for intellectual development that came as a her- 
itage from past generations, he was not satisfied with such advantages 
as common schools and academies made possible, but aspired to university 
training and classical studies. Partly through his own efforts it was pos- 
sible for him to spend two years in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor 
and the completion of the literary course marked the beginning of profes- 
sional studies. Of these he enjoyed the very best, for he is a graduate of 
Bellevue Medical College in New York City, one of the most famous 
'schools of the kind in the world. 

The year subsequent to graduation from Bellevue was passed by the 
young doctor in professional work at El Paso, Texas, whence in 1891 he 
removed to St. Louis, there to engage in private practice, as well as in special 
professional labors in the interests of the health department and the Asso- 
ciated Charities. Between 1894 and 1899 he was located in Des Moines, Iowa, 
going there to be near his father during the last years of his life, after whose 
death he fulfilled a long-felt desire to come to California and removed to 
Santa Ana, Cal., where for eleven years he enjoyed a growing patronage. 
Meantime he assisted in the organization of the Santa Ana hospital and 
became a physician on its staff. During a service of two years as health 
officer he drafted a new health ordinance for the city for the care and preven- 
tion of contagious and infectious diseases ; this law is now being enforced and 
is proving a great benefit to the city. 

Arriving in Ferndale, Humboldt county, on the 2nd of January, 1911, 
Dr. Bruner has since built up an important practice in the community and in 
addition, since July of 1913, he has owned one-half interest in the Ferndale 
general hospital, a well-known institution of great value to this section of 
the county. 

Dr. Bruner was first married in St. Louis to Miss Sadie E. Murray, a 
.native of Rochester, N. Y. She died on their return to St. Louis two years 
later, leaving an only daughter, Frances, a graduate of Drake University, 
Des Moines, and now engaged in kindergarten work in the Ferndale gram- 
mar school, making her home with her father. After coming to Ferndale 
Dr. Bruner married Mrs. Lela Worthington, a native daughter born in Blue 
Lake, Humboldt county. She is a graduate nurse and is ably assisting the 
Doctor in the conduct of the Ferndale Hospital. In the different places of his 
residence he has been prominently identified with county, state and the 
American Medical Associations. Shortly after his removal to the west he 
became attached to the National State Guard of California as a surgeon with 
the rank of major and he continued in that office for five years. During the 
latter part of the time he filled an appointment as major-surgeon of the Sev- 
enth Infantry, N. G. C. to which he was appointed by Governor Gillett. He 
was made a Mason in Santa Ana Lodge F. & A. M., but is now a member 
of Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M. He is also a member of Ferndale 
Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., and Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., transferring 
to all of these bodies from Santa Ana. He is a member of Active Lodge, 
I. O. O. F., m Ferndale, and is past grand of the order. Although he has 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1077 

not been long established in Ferndale, his reputation for skill in diagnosis and 
accuracy in the use of remedial agencies had preceded, him here, so that he 
has been fortunate in quickly winning the confidence of the people. Years 
of painstaking preparation, followed by practice in various centers of popula- 
tion, have qualified him to fill a high position in the medical profession and 
to maintain a deserved reputation for skill and proficiency. 

DANIEL JAMES TURNER.— One of the prosperous and respected 
citizens of Humboldt county is Daniel James Turner, thrifty and energetic 
farmer of Areata, whose handsome home place four miles northwest of town 
is one of the attractive as well as one of the most profitable farms in the 
valley. Mr. Turner is a native of the county, having been born in Eureka. 
His father was one of the pioneers of early days, coming to Eureka when it 
was only a straggling street with a few rough shacks, and settling in the 
midst of the towering forests. The enterprises of both the father and the 
son have been successful, and today Mr. Turner is one of the prosperous 
men of the community, with property of appreciable value, well improved 
and well stocked, and constantly increasing in its value. 

Born September 4, 1862, the boyhood days of Mr. Turner were passed in 
Eureka on the home farm, and he attended the public schools in Eureka. 
After finishing his schooling, at the age of sixteen, he began to assist his 
father on the farm. This comprised several hundred acres, and most of it 
was unimproved, being thickly covered with trees and brush. Father and 
son cleared this land and brought it under cultivation. It was exceedingly 
rich and farming thereon was profitable. Mr. Turner remained at home and 
assisted his father in managing the ranch until he reached the age of thirty- 
three years, when he married and purchased one hundred and forty acres of 
the home place from his parents. This land he cleared and improved and 
started the first farm crops. In 1895 he engaged in dairying and stock raising 
and has followed this special line since that time. He is also interested in 
the creamery business and is associated with the affairs of the United 
Creamery of Areata. 

Although one of the successful farmers of the region and a man who is 
liked and trusted by all who know him, Mr. Turner has never taken an active 
part in the public aflrairs of the community, but has devoted himself ex- 
clusively to the care of his business interests. He has, however, a wide circle 
of warm friends who fully appreciate his splendid qualities and with whom 
he is justly popular. He is also a prominent member of the Knights 
of Pythias. 

The marriage of Air. Turner with Sarah Jane Robinson occurred at 
Eureka, October 23, 1895. Mrs. Turner is a native of Sierra county, Cal., 
born April 26, 1866. She is the daughter of John and Eliza (Rudd) Robinson, 
natives of England. The father came to the United States, where he fol- 
lowed the blacksmith trade in the east until he came to California in the 
early '50s. He followed his trade in Sierra county, where he became well 
known for his method of sharpening and hardening picks. In Sierra county 
he married Eliza Rudd, who had come to California in 1849. She died in 
Sierra county in 1892 and the father died in Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Turner have four children, Mary Eliza, Ephraim Stimpson, Edna Hazel and 
Sophia Hannah, all of whom are well known in Areata. 



1078 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The father of Mr. Turner was a native of St. John, New Brunswick, 
Canada, where he was born May 17, 1819. He was Ephraim Turner, as was 
his father before him, and was descended from a long line of English ancestry, 
of which he was justly proud. The father attended school but six weeks in 
all his young life, as in that period the teachers went from house to house, 
there being no regularly established schools. At an early age he went to 
work on his father's farm near St. Stephens, and later worked on the farms 
of the neighborhood in the summer and in the winter hauled logs. He varied 
this by other work in the woods, but either that or the farms claimed his 
attention until he came to California. He was twice married, the first time 
to JuUa Laskey, of New Brunswick, in 1839. She bore him three children, 
but she died while they were very small. In 1845 he married again, this time 
to Mary Brown, born in New Brunswick, September 3, 1820. 

It was in 1853 that Ephraim Turner determined to leave the east and 
come to California, as the wages were better and the opportunities for the 
establishment of a home greater on the Pacific coast. He left his wife and 
family (six children) and came to California alone, making the trip by way 
of the Isthmus, and landing in San Francisco March 4, 1854. From there 
he sailed north to Trinidad (Humboldt county) and from Trinidad he walked 
down the coast toward Eureka. At that time the land was in a wild state 
and in crossing the Mad river Mr. Turner stopped under a large spruce tree 
to rest, one of the largest trees that he had ever seen, it measuring over forty- 
five feet in circumference. Remembering the location of this great tree, 
several years later he returned and bought the land where it stood. In 1854 
he proceeded down the coast, through Eureka, then the merest village, to 
Elk river, where he went to work in the woods logging. Later he spent some 
time at work in the mines, but he was principally engaged in the lumbering 
industry, and was the first man to haul logs on wheels in the county, 
about 1857. 

LTp to 1873 Ephraim Turner followed logging in the Areata bottom 
lands, and after accumulating a sufficient fund began purchasing land for 
farming purposes. His first venture was a purchase of two hundred eighty 
acres of land where the big spruce grew, after which he engaged exclusively 
in farming, always with fair success. In 1859 he went back to New Bruns- 
wick for his family, and returning with them settled on the home place. From 
time to time he purchased property and at one time owned seven hundred 
forty acres of bottom land and much range land. This he sold ofl^ at various 
times, and at the time of his death owned three hundred acres of land. An- 
other venture was in running a butcher shop, which he conducted for a few 
years, but soon gave up the idea to engage more extensively in farming. He 
was a very successful farmer and business man and was highly esteemed in 
Humboldt county as one of the splendid old pioneers. He was active up to 
the time of his death, which occurred in New Brunswick, August 23, 1900. 
After his retirement from business he desired to return to the home of his 
boyhood and made the trip east. There he met with an accident, and tiever 
returned to his California home again, passing away at last where he had 
played as a happy boy. His wife survived him by three years, she passing 
away February 3, 1903. Mrs. Mary Turner was a very remarkable woman, 
industrious, brilliant and capable. Her son has inherited some of her splendid 
traits of character. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1079 

CHARLES PRYDE CUTTEN. — One of the native-born sons of Hum- 
boldt county in whom she has reason to take pride is Charles Pryde Cutten, 
now of San Francisco, a descendant of one of the little group of men who 
laid out the town of Eureka. He is wearing a respected name worthily, for 
his achievements in his profession and in public life have strengthened its 
connection with the early history of this region, the usefulness to society 
of the present members of the family reflecting credit on their honored 
ancestors. Mr. Cutten's parents were David Page and Katherine (McGrath) 
Cutten, and it is a matter of family interest that his maternal grandparents, 
Hugh and Jane (Gibson) McGrath, first met at the Admission Day ball in 
San Francisco September 9, 1850. They were married soon afterward, and 
removed to Humboldt county, Mr. McGrath having been one of the men who 
"discovered" this region. In company with James T. Ryan and Samuel 
Brennan, of San Francisco, he laid out the town of Eureka, and he and his 
descendants in turn have from that time to the present been prominent in 
the most substantial enterprises advanced for its upbuilding. 

Charles Pryde Cutten was born May 8, 1875, and received his prepara- 
tory education in the schools of his native county. Then he took a course 
at Leland Stanford University, graduating in law in 1899 with the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts. He was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of 
California in June, 1901. Returning to Eureka he began the practice of law, 
maintaining an office there until he removed to San Francisco in June, 1911, 
to enter a wider field. During those ten years he reached a position which 
few may hope to gain in so short a time. From 1904 until 1909 he was 
associated in practice at Eureka with Senator T. H. Selvage, and afterward 
until June 1, 1911, with Governor Gillett and Judge F. A. Cutler. The mere 
fact that he was admitted to these partnerships shows how highly his ability 
was valued by those most competent to judge. His work justified their 
confidence. Meantime, in addition to attending conscientiously to the de- 
mands of a growing practice, he had taken some part in public affairs, and 
was welcomed as a candidate whose possibilities the community could not 
afford to overlook. In 1907 he represented the northern Humboldt district 
in the lower house of the state legislature, and soon after the completion 
of his term was returned to the state legislature as a member of the senate, 
in which he served during the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions, from 
1909 to 1911. Mr. Cutten has the distinction of having been a member of 
the legislative holdover committee which in 1908 drew up the present Cali- 
fornia bank act, which has been praised by bank examiners and financial 
experts generally as "the best bank act in existence." In 1911 Mr. Cutten 
was chairman of the finance committee of the state senate, an honor which 
he well merited. As a member of the assembly he was instrumental in secur- 
ing the first appropriation for the Trinity state highway and during his last 
session in the senate secured an appropriation of $50,000 to complete this 
road. This magnificent highway is the only connecting link between the 
northern coast counties and the Sacramento valley. It is of great benefit to 
Humboldt county and its importance will increase as coast and valley con- 
tinue to grow in population and wealth. On June 1, 1911, he located in San 
Francisco, having been appointed attorney for the state commission in lunacy, 
resigning in August, 1913, in order to devote more of his time to the duties 



1080 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

connected with his position as attorney for the Pacific Gas & Electric Com- 
pany of San Francisco, with which he became connected on March 1, 1912. 
Mr. Cutten's record needs no comment. The heavy responsibilities which 
have been confided to him at what may be practically regarded as the outset 
of his career have not dismayed him, rather they have brought out qualities 
which might have lain dormant for years under less strenuous conditions. 
The vigor of his intellect, his clearness of perception, and instant grasp of 
the important features of all matters which come into his care, are apparent 
even to those whose acquaintance with him is only casual. 

Mr. Cutten belongs to the Union League Club and the Commercial Club 
of San Francisco, and to Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., both of Eureka. He was married at Eureka 
September 18, 1906, to Miss Marjorie V. Barnes, by whom he has three chil- 
dren, Elizabeth, Ruth and Kathleen. 

FRED WILLIAM SMYTHE.— As the pioneer automobile agent and 
owner of the second motor car brought into Humboldt county, besides being 
for some time the proprietor of the garage on J street opposite the court 
house in Eureka, Mr. Smythe had considerable prominence and prestige in 
the business prior to embarking in auto-stage line enterprises, which he has 
developed into large and profitable proportions. Llaving exceptional ability 
as a machinist and being fond of mechanical work of every kind, he is well 
qualified to manage the system. The maintenance of a close supervision over 
his large and powerful cars reduces tire troubles and engine defects to a 
minimum, while at the same time it prevents the accidents that so greatly 
annoy passengers and delay the speed of the stage over the customary route. 

A native of Eureka, Greenwood county, Kan., born March 20, 1871, Mr. 
Smythe learned the trade of a machinist in Kansas City, Mo., where also he 
acquired skill in mechanical drawing. For a year after coming to California 
in 1888 he worked on mining machinery at Sutter creek in Amador county, 
after which he went to Benicia, Solano county, and engaged in drawing plans 
for ships in the drafting department of Captain Turner's shipyards at that 
place. More than once after he came to Eureka in the fall of 1892 he saw 
in the harbor of Humboldt bay vessels for which he had drawn the plans 
during the period of his employment at Benicia. For a time after his arrival 
in Humboldt county he engaged as a machinist with the Eureka Foundry 
Company. Later he started the California Iron Works, and after the concern 
had been incorporated he was chosen secretary and manager, but eventually 
disposed of his stock in the company for the purpose of attention to other 
lines of business. The first condensed milk factory in Humboldt county 
was built by him at Port Kenyon and later sold to Fred Smith, who removed 
the plant to Loleta. Meanwhile Mr. Smythe had become interested in a 
garage at Eureka, but this he sold in the spring of 1908 and then established 
an auto stage line, operating between San Francisco and Eureka, in time 
connecting with Northwestern Pacific trains at Fort Seward and Longvale, 
and there is probably no single enterprise that has been of more convenience 
and service to the people of Humboldt county and the bay section. The 
first year the line was developed from Eleanor to Harris in Humboldt county, 
where it connected with the horse stage. The next year the system was 
extended as far as Cummings, Mendocino county, on the south. During the 



HISTORY OF- HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1081 

third year the stage was run through from Holmes to Sherwood, Mendocino 
county, where connection was made with the railroad. In the following 
year a line was opened from Longvale to Holmes on the South Fork, during 
the spring and summer of 1913 the stage was run from McCann's to Longvale, 
and finally the stage was run from Fort Seward to Longvale. Meanwhile 
the business had increased from twelve hundred passengers during the first 
year to five thousand in 1913. At Fort Seward, the northern terminal, Mr. 
Smythe built a substantial garage and cottage and there he makes his head- 
quarters in the summer months, while in the winter he conducts the business 
from No. 1634 I street, Eureka. Both at McCann's and Fort Seward he has 
developed an electric lighting plant. For the convenience of his auto-stage 
line he maintains eight touring cars, mostly of the Pierce- Arrow high-powered 
type. These are equipped with telephones, so that in case of trouble it is 
possible to tap the wire at any place and secure the needed help from town. 
Although the road extends wholly through a mountainous country there has 
never been an accident and delays are very rare, this being due to the fact 
that only the most experienced and careful chauffeurs are employed, while 
at each end of the route the machines are carefully overhauled by expert 
machinists. Besides his large business interests Mr. Smythe owns a ranch 
of four hundred eighty acres on the Eel river near Fort Seward and is now 
developing the tract into a large apple orchard, certified dairy and sanitary 
hog farm. Fraternally he is identified with Fortuna Lodge, I. O. O. F. 
Through his marriage to Grace Morrison, formerly of the Ferndale district, 
and a daughter of Thomas IMorrison, an early settler of that section, he is 
the father of two daughters, Helen and Edith. 

DAVID D. PEEBLES.— Although a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, 
where he was born October 13, 1884, David D. Peebles came to Eureka when 
he was a lad of but sixteen years, and has since that time been well known 
here, although he has not always made this city his home. Since 1911 he 
has been established in business in Eureka, being a stockholder and taking an 
active part in the Pacific Oil and Fuel Company, in which concern he is 
heavily interested. Even in this brief time he has done much for the interests 
of the company and their business is rapidly expanding. 

Mr. Peebles is the son of Rev. David Peebles, whose death occurred 
in Los Angeles in 1913, aged eighty-six years. He was born in Madison 
county, N. Y., and graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio. He served as a 
member of Company A, First Michigan Cavalry, in the Civil war. He became 
a minister in the Congregational church, and at the time of the birth of the 
present respected citizen of Eureka he was pastor of the Congregational 
church in Salt Lake City. He removed with his family to Eureka in 1900, 
being retired from the clergy, but is remembered with much love and affec- 
tion by the people with whom he came in contact. Mr. Peebles' mother was 
Alice M. Conley, a native of Virginia, and she now resides in Los Angeles. 
David Peebles attended the Eureka high school, after which he went to San 
Francisco and became apprenticed as a machinist at the Union Iron Works, 
where he remained for four years. During this time he took a course at night 
school at the Humboldt School of Mechanics in San Francisco, where he 
completed a thorough course in mechanics. He then became a partner in 
the firm of Wilson & Peebles in an automobile repair machine shop at San 



1082 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Jose, continuing there until 1909, and meeting with much deserved success. 
At that time he became the traveling salesman for the California Compound- 
ing Company, carrying a general line of lubricating oils, and remaining with 
this firm for some two years. 

It was in 1911 that Mr. Peebles bought an interest in the Pacific Oil 
and Fuel Company, a corporation capitalized at $10,000. Since the association 
of Mr. Peebles with the company they have added an extensive line of lubri- 
cating oils, under his special direction, and are now supplying many of the 
boats at Eureka and also many of the sawmills in the vicinity. The company 
has acquired a large business in the sale of refined oils, carrying all grades 
of Pennsylvania lubricating oils, including Peerless automobile oils and Peer- 
less valve oils, as well as gasoline and kerosene. They also deal extensively 
in wood and blacksmith coal. They have extensive wharfage and railway 
switching facilities, which adds greatly to their ability to handle their trade 
and to give prompt and efficient service in the matters of delivery, thus 
adding materially to their business. The ofBces and warehouses are on the 
water front as well as on the line of the Northwestern Pacific Railway Com- 
pany, and are located at the foot of K street. 

Mr. Peebles is one of the most energetic and progressive young men in 
Eureka today. He is a loyal and devoted son of his adopted state and has 
an abiding faith in the future development of the commonwealth, and of 
Eureka and Humboldt county in particular. He is a thorough optimist, and 
with his bright and cheerful disposition makes friends readily and holds 
them always. While in business at San Jose he was married to Miss Lelia 
Turner, a daughter of the late J. W. Turner, a prominent attorney of Eureka. 
Mrs. Peebles has borne her husband one child, a daughter, Lelia Lois. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Sons of Veterans and the Modern Wood- 
men of the World. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Peebles are prominent in their social circle, in Eureka, 
as they also were in San Jose, while residing there. Mr. Peebles is closely 
allied with the progressive interests of Eureka and is taking a prominent 
part in all matters which tend to the general welfare of the city, its develop- 
ment and upbuilding. He is a member of several of the best known of the 
local fraternal organizations, and is well liked wherever he is known. 

GEORGE EDMONSTONE.— The Edmonstone brothers, Donald and 
George, are now ranked among the well-to-do landowners in the vicinity of 
Petrolia, Humboldt county, to which locality they came in the summer of 
1869, to take advantage of the opportunities offered to settlers in the stock- 
raising industry in this section. They are Scotchmen by birth and endowed 
with the sturdy characteristics of the Highland race from which they spring. 
For generatioias the family was established on the river Dee, about thirty 
miles north of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Donald Edmonstone, father of Donald 
aad George, was there engaged in the live stock business, dealing in cattle, 
sheep and wool. He was a thrifty and intelligent business man and in very 
fair circumstances. Born in Aberdeenshire, he passed all his life in his native 
heath, dying there at the great age of ninety-five years ; his wife, Jane (Mc- 
Pherson), a native of the same county, lived to be seventy-five years old. 
We have the following record of their seven children : John, a farmer, who 
died in Scotland, was married and reared a family of five children. James, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1083 

a farmer, also deceased in Scotland, had but one child, a daughter. Peter, a 
miller at Broxburn, died in Scotland in 1913, leaving eight children, two sons 
and six daughters. Jane married James Emslie, a turnpike road contractor, 
of Aberdeenshire, and died in Scotland leaving two sons and one daughter. 
Donald, born May 15, 1841, settled in Humboldt county in 1869 and became 
well known here, but is now living at Palo Alto, Cal. ; he was married in this 
county to Miss Maggie McCombie, and has two sons and one daughter. 
Alexander, the first of the family to come to America, died of yellow fever 
in 1867, at Galveston, Texas. George completes the family. 

George Edmonstone was born November 27, 1845, on the river Dee, 
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and obtained his education in the local public 
schools. Brought up on a stock farm, he naturally learned the business 
thoroughly, his experience proving very valuable to him in his later ventures 
in Humboldt county. In company with his brother Donald he came to 
America, the young men first locating in Canada, at Chatham, county of 
Kent, Ontario, where they were employed at teaming and farming for two 
years. Then they came out to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus, and 
on the trip north from Panama, made in a steamship, narrowly escaped ship- 
wreck by an immense waterspout which overtook the vessel. It was sighted 
in the morning off to the west, as they were approaching Manzanillo, Mexico, 
and several others made their appearance also, but the one which struck the 
vessel about noontime was exceedingly large and violent-. The boat shot into 
it when right opposite Manzanillo, and it broke just before reaching the ship, 
which was drenched and injured but not disabled, being able to continue on 
to San Francisco and land its passengers safely, in May of 1868. From that 
port the Edmonstone brothers proceeded north to Napa, where they found 
work on ranches and at teaming, hauling cordwood for Sam Brennan in 
Napa county during the fall and winter. In the spring they went up to 
Puget sound, where they found employment in sawmills and lumber camps 
until the summer of 1869, when reports that a new railroad was about to be 
built and plenty of land in Humboldt county made available for settlement 
attracted them southward again. They came down to Eureka, this county, 
and from there made their way to Petrolia, where each filed on a one hundred 
sixty-acre preemption claim on the north fork of the Mattole river, working 
out to make a living while proving up on the same and undertaking the 
expense of necessary improvements. 

From the time of their arrival in the county the brothers labored together 
to their mutual advantage, and as they became more extensively interested 
in ranching and cattle raising acquired possession of considerable land, now 
owning two tracts, one of fifteen hundred acres on Taylor's Peak, on the 
north fork of the Alattole river, and called the Taylor Peak ranch, and the 
other a ninety-acre tract on the Eel river bottoms between Fernbridge and 
Ferndale. Both are now rented, the tenants operating them as the owners 
did, the larger tract as a stock ranch for the production of beef, the other as 
a dairy farm. The Union oil well was sunk on their Taylor Peak ranch and 
oil was obtained and shipped in the '60s. It was necessary at that time to 
pack the oil out on muleback, but this being too expensive the enterprise 
was given up. The difficulty of transportion is the principal reason for the 
non-development of the Petrolia oil fields. This was one of the few wells 



1084 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

sunk in the vicinity which produced sufficient oil to justify further attempts 
at operating in the Petrolia field. 

George Edmonstone, with John McCombie, owns a thirty-five-acre ranch 
on the Mattole about half a mile west of Petrolia, which he operated until 
December, 1914. Though he still owns his interest in the ranch he now makes 
his home in Eureka, where he has just completed a modern bungalow at 
Ninth and N streets, where he resides with his wife. In maidenhood she was 
Georgia Fulmore, born in Nova Scotia, the daughter of Samuel Fulmore, 
who migrated to Humboldt county with his family in 1869. Mr. Fulmore 
is extensively engaged in dairying on Eel River Island, owning one hundred 
sixty acres of bottom land. Mrs. Edmonstone was educated in Humboldt 
county, having spent her life here from childhood. Mr. Edmonstone has 
always taken a public-spirited interest in the general welfare of his locality, 
and has rendered excellent service to his fellow citizens, being in a position 
to give time and attention to matters of importance to the community, and 
sincere in his intentions towards bettering conditions in the county. He is a 
Democrat in his political associations and an ardent party worker, and he 
is usually a member of the local election boards, on which he has served for 
thirty years. His influence is always given to worthy movements, and per- 
sonally he is well liked for his kindliness and trustworthy character, while his 
successful business career has helped very materially in the improvement ot 
his section of Humboldt county. 

REV. LAWRENCE KENNEDY.— The work of brave and worthy 
priests formed the foundation upon which the Catholic church stands today 
in Eureka and Humboldt county. In this pioneer work the name of Father 
Croke is worthy of mention. Father O'Reilly was the first resident priest 
and was followed by Father Maurice Hickey, he being succeeded by Father 
Crinnion, both of whom succumbed to the arduous and fatiguing work con- 
sequent upon their duties. Following these pioneer priests came Father 
Grace, the present bishop of Sacramento ; Fathers Henneberry, Kelly, Nulty, 
Lynch and Sheridan, the last as well as the first one named taking a vital 
part in building up the church which embraces the parish of St. Bernard. 
The present church edifice is large, 125x64 feet, with a seating capacity of 
seven hundred and fifty, being a great contrast to the first church, which was 
only 48x24. There is another church building in a growing part of the city 
seating about three hundred, adjoining which is a convent and school. In 
the early days the parish of Eureka consisted of Areata, Fortuna and Fern- 
dale, each of which is now a separate parish. 

The present rector of St. Bernard's parish is Very Rev. Lawrence Ken- 
nedy, V. G., a man of intellect and breadth of character who is well fitted 
to bear the title of "First Citizen of Eureka," a title which all (regardless of 
race or creed) agree to be a fitting one. As vicar of the diocese he holds 
the rank of Monsignor and is given recognition as a leader among the fore- 
most intellectual men of the church in the west. Forty years have brought 
their changes to Humboldt county since Father Kennedy came here, in the 
flush of young manhood, educated thoroitghly in the Roman Catholic institu- 
tions of learning, and consecrated to the work of the church. His has been 
a busy life, loyally given to the advancement of Catholicism, and now, in 
the afternoon of a helpful existence, with strength undimmed and energies 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1085 

unflagging, he is still in the forefront of every worthy movement and still 
leads his denomination in this section of the state. Father Kennedy made 
his preparatory studies for the priesthood in All Hallows College in the city 
of Dublin, Ireland, but the greater part of his ministerial work has been 
connected with Humboldt county. However, he had a previous experience 
as assistant pastor at Marysville, where he was ordained in 1867 by Bishop 
O'Connell, and also at Grass Valley, coming from the latter parish to Hum- 
boldt county in 1874 and engaging as pastor at Eureka. From 1878 until 
1892 he was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ferndale and since 1892 
he has held the pastorate of St. Bernard's Church in Eureka, at the present 
time receiving the helpful and capable assistance of two subordinate priests 
assigned to his parish in order that the heaviest burdens of the work may 
be somewhat lightened for his willing shoulders. 

It may be of interest to the general public as well as to the Catholics 
themselves to know that the first services of the church were held in Hum- 
boldt county as early as 1854. At that time the population of the county 
was very small and so few Catholics as yet had sought this section of the 
country that when Father Croke came up from San Francisco services were 
held in a private home in Bucksport, and the house, although small, was 
amply large to accommodate the few communicants present. It became the 
custom for a city pastor to come by boat to Eureka and hold services at least 
once a year. Thus the few members were kept united and interested. As 
their numbers increased they formed a congregation and erected a small 
house of worship on the site of the present church home, facing Sixth street. 

It was about 1870 that the first convent was established in Humboldt 
county. It was presided over by the Sisters of jNIercy, who purchased the 
old seminary building on a block of ground between G and F and Seventh 
and Eighth streets, where they carried on an academy until about 1904, when 
it was discontinued. Some six years ago, with a view to establishing and 
building a convent and academy, Father Kennedy purchased the present site 
of a block of ground between Henderson and Dollison and Williams and C 
streets. On June 22, 1912, a school was opened in the Y. M. I. Hall on Sixth 
and I streets by the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 1913 the present new convent 
and school buildings were erected at an expenditure of about $50,000, and 
for the convenience of the members of the congregation living in that vicinity 
he also built a church edifice where services are held regularly every Sunday. 
The convent and school buildings are modern, being equipped with up-to-date 
facilities, and opportunity is afforded for the most modern educational advan- 
tages to the two hundred boarding and day pupils. The curriculum also 
includes a regular graded high school course. The control of the institution 
is under Sister Bernard, formerly of Chicago, as Sister Superior, assisted by 
fifteen sisters trained in different departments of work and admirably quali- 
fied to cooperate in the progress of the convent from the standpoint of 
physical training and mental culture as well as spiritual uplift. 

SAMUEL WARTH. — One of the successful business men of Eureka, 
Cal., was Samuel Warth,- whose death occurred in January, 1913, and whose 
business interests since that time have been successfully carried on by his 
wife, under whose guidance and practical management they are attaining 
large proportions, and holding a high place among the industries of the town. 



1086 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Though the son of a native of Germany, John Warth, who came to Cali- 
fornia when but fourteen years old, in the early pioneer days, Samuel Warth 
was truly a native son of the state, having been born at Salinas, Cal., in 1871, 
and brought up at Salinas and San Miguel, receiving his education in the 
public schools of these towns. His entry into the business world was made 
in New York city, where for a time he followed the shoe business, on his 
return to the west spending some time in Los Angeles, Cal., and also in 
Arizona. He was married in San Jose, Cal., in 1899, to Ora Holloway, who 
was born in Gilroy, a daughter of Steadman and Salona (Miller) Holloway, 
who were also pioneers of California. About the year 1900 Mr. and Mrs. 
Warth settled at Fresno, Cal., where Mr. Warth started the Fresno City 
Towel Supply, a business which under his splendid management became an 
enterprise of importance and worth. In the year 1907 he removed to Eureka, 
where he organized the Warth Towel Supply, the first of its kind in the city, 
and built up for himself a large business in this line. Four years later, pur- 
chasing property at the corner of Tenth and I streets in Eureka, he built for 
himself a comfortable and pleasant bungalow home and also a large bunga- 
low building, in which he installed a modern laundry fully equipped for 
handling linen supplies. The business grew rapidly, and became a very suc- 
cessful enterprise, but the deatTi of Mr. Warth occurred while he was en- 
gaged in the active management of the establishment. Since then his wife 
has very successfully carried on the business, in this way proving herself a 
woman of fine business acumen and practical sense, well fitted to continue 
the work of her husband. A Republican in her political interests, her fra- 
ternal associations are with the Ladies of the Maccabees, her husband having 
been a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and both Mr. and Mrs. 
Warth have earned for themselves the esteem of all in the community where 
they made their home. 

JAMES HERNDON STILL.— As engineer at the Bayside mill, Eureka, 
where he has been engaged for the last six years, James H. Still has a 
responsible position for which he has proved well qualified. His experience 
in that line of work began about thirty years ago, and has been sufficiently 
varied to make him self-reliant and competent. Personally he is a man of 
high character, commanding the respect of his fellow citizens at Eureka, 
where he has lived for some years. The larger part of his life has been spent 
in Humboldt county, for he was but nine years old when he accompanied his 
parents from Missouri to the coast, the family making the trip overland. 

J. E. Still, father of James Herndon Still and a native of Kentucky, moved 
from that state to Missouri in the early days and thence to California in 1865. 
He followed farming in Humboldt county the rest of his life, owning a dairy 
farm at AVillowbrook which still belongs to his widow. His death occurred 
twenty-two years ago. He married Mrs. Susan (King) Marr, who was 
born in Tennessee and who still survives, well and hearty though now eighty- 
four years of age (1914), and makes her home at Eureka. James Herndon 
was the eldest of the three children born to this couple. His birthplace was 
Missouri, where he first saw the light July 22, 1855. Reared on his father's 
farm in this county, he followed agricultural work in his early life, about 
thirty years ago beginning to follow his present calling. For a period of 
about eleven years he ran a "donkey" engine in the woods, and he has been 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 1087 

employed as a stationary engineer for the last twelve years, six years ago 
taking his present place as assistant engineer at the Bayside mill, at Eureka, 
where he has gained the reputation of being a thoroughly dependable worker. 
He performs his duties with painstaking attention to every detail, and devotes 
himself untiringly to his work, rising at four every morning to be at his post 
in good season. He has charge of the steam engines at the mill, two of two 
hundred and fifty horsepower each, which drive the mighty machinery at 
the plant. Some years ago Mr. Still held the position of agent for the North- 
western Pacific Railway Company at Singley (Fern Bridge), Humboldt 
county, being thus engaged for five years. 

I\Ir. Still was married to Miss Emma Knight, of Detroit, iNIich., and 
three children have been born of this union : George, who is now employed 
as filer at the Occidental mill at Eureka ; ISlrs. Louisa McDirmid, who lives 
in Portland, Ore. ; and Vincent, who works in the filing room at Samoa. The 
family have a very pleasant home, ]\Ir. Still owning the residence they occupy 
at No. 1533 Dean street. Eureka. 

HARRY A. GRIES.— The celebrated Ocean House ranch, near Cape- 
town, Humboldt county, a valuable property belonging to ]Mr. Joseph Russ, 
of Ferndale, has been under the capable direction of Harry A. Gries since 
July, 1913, and in his excellent services on that place he is adding to a reputa- 
tion for reliability and trustworthiness which secured him the position. 

Mr. Gries is a native of Butte county, Cal., where his parents were 
residing at the time of his birth, September 23, 1870. They were old-time 
pioneers in this state, sharing the freedom and the hardships of the early 
days before th'e country was opened up to civilization. Eventually they 
settled in Humboldt county, where the father became the owner of a dairy 
ranch which he conducted for several years before his death. The mother 
is also deceased. Industrious, honorable people, they led worthy lives and 
by all who knew them were thoroughly respected for their thrift and estimable 
character. Of their three children, George now operates a farm in the state 
of Washington ; John resides in Ferndale ; and Harry A. is foreman of the 
Ocean House ranch. 

Harry A. Gries was a boy when his parents removed to Humboldt county. 
He had a common school education, and when old enough to begin work 
took employment in a humble capacity, being promoted as he acquired famili- 
arity with ranch work and showed himself responsible and willing to take 
hold of the more important duties. His intelligence, foresight and confidence, 
combined with a faculty for hard work which makes his executive qualities 
particularly valuable, have gained him a strong place in the esteem of his 
employer, who made him foreman of the Ocean House ranch in July, 1913. 
The ranch is very appropriately named, being romantically situated just 
south of Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point on the mainland of the 
United States, in full view of the majestic Pacific. The property comprises 
more than eighteen hundred acres, and all its operations are looked after in 
the most business-like manner by ]\Ir. Gries, who attends to his work with 
the utmost fidelity. Yet he is never too busy to lend a helping hand to a 
neighbor or do a good turn to any of his fellow men, and in public matters, 
as in his personal relations, is ready to show the right spirit whenever called 



1088 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

upon, supporting the best interests of his county and state with his ballot 
or influence as necessary. 

JUDSON WILLIAM GRAIN.— Eureka's superintendent of streets came 
to California from Illinois but claims Michigan as his native commonwealth, 
having been born in the city of Detroit, January 5, 1860, receiving fair advan- 
tages in the public schools and through the development of native ability 
becoming skilled as a mechanic and able to install and repair machinery of 
every kind. While yet a very young man he became a locomotive engineer 
and ran a locomotive on a railroad out from Saginaw. In the course of a 
few years he left the railroad and went to Illinois, where he alternated work 
on a farm with the running of an engine in a paper mill, continuing at such 
employment for a brief period. When twenty-two years of age, in the fall 
of 1882 he came to California and found employment with the great house 
of J. I. Case & Co., manufacturers of threshing machines. During the four 
years of his connection with the corporation he was engaged in installing 
machinery and setting up threshing machines in different parts of the state. 
When he first came to Humboldt county he ran a locomotive on the jetty. 
After two years at that work he went to Tuolumne county and engaged in 
work on the dam across the Tuolumne river, also aiding in building the 
irrigation sysT:em connected with the dam. Following that period of employ- 
ment he went to Trinity county and engaged in mining for about three years. 
The year 1898 found Mr. Crain a permanent resident of Humboldt county, 
where for some years he conducted a growing business in teaming and dray- 
ing. From the time of his arrival in the county he has been interested in 
its growth, and particularly has he been devoted to the progress of his home 
city. Recognition of his loyal citizenship and energy in work came with 
his election in 1907 as superintendent of streets. During his term crushed 
rock was first used for street work in Eureka and the new Vrooman state law 
became operative. After an interval of a few years he was again elected to 
the office in 1913, and has since devoted his entire attention to the duties of 
the position, which is one of great responsibility, demanding high qualities 
of character as well as the most tmwearied industry. His fraternities are 
the Eagles and the Woodmen of the World, and to each he has contributed 
when called upon to aid in their charities. Through his marriage to Annie 
Shafer, a native of Trinity county, he has fovir children, August, Louis, Ethel 
and Allan. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FLINT.— The present supervisor of the first 
supervisorial district of Humboldt county, Benjamin Franklin Flint is one 
of the most popular and capable men in the county, with a business record 
of which he may well be proud. He is discharging his new duties as super- 
visor with much ability and bids fair to make the same class of record here 
that he has always made in other undertakings. He has tried many occupa- 
tions during his lifetime and his varied experiences have given him a broad 
grasp of the aiTairs of men and an outlook on life that is at once sympathetic 
and comprehensive. Having been selected by Governor Johnson to fill the 
vacancy left by the death of his predecessor, George Hindley, his commission 
bears the date of March 18, 1914, when he assumed the duties of his office. 
In the fall of 1914 at the primaries he received the majority vote for super- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1089 

visor to succeed himself, and at the November election was elected without 
opposition. 

Mr. Flint is a native of Milan, Coos county, N. H., born January 19, 1862. 
His father, Benjamin Flint, was a native of Maine, and for practically his 
entire life was engaged in farming and lumbering. He came to Coos county, 
N. H., when a boy, and there he later met and married Miss Electa Lary, a 
native of New Hampshire, and now residing at Ferndale, at the age of eighty- 
five years, making her home with her daughter. The father came to Cali- 
fornia in 1865, locating in Humboldt county the following year, making the 
long trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. The family remained behind 
and joined him four years later, in 1869, at Capetown, Humboldt county, 
where he was engaged in farming. The father died near Ferndale in April, 
1893. There were four children in the family, all of whom grew to manhood 
and womanhood, and all are well known in Ferndale and Humboldt county. 
They are: Carrie, the wife of H. D. Smith, capitalist and rancher, residing 
near Ferndale; Benjamin Franklin, the only son, and the subject of this 
article; Phila, the wife of William Timmons, foreman of the slaughter house 
of Russ & Sons, of Eureka; and AHce, the widow of Robert McGlauchlin, 
residing in Ferndale. 

The large stock ranch was the scene of the boyhood days of Mr. Flint, 
and there at an early age he assumed his share of the family responsibilities, 
caring for the stock, milking cows and doing all manner of labor while he 
was still a mere lad. He attended the public schools of his district, com- 
pleting his education in a private school in Ferndale, at this place learning 
bookkeeping, which he has since found a most valuable accomplishment. In 
1890 he became foreman for the Russ and Robarts property, known as the 
Occidental Ranch, remaining in this capacity for five years. He then accepted 
a position as engineer and tester for the old Eel River Creamery, remaining 
with this concern for twenty-seven months. Subsequently he became fore- 
man for the Buhiie ranch of one thousand eighty acres, just south of Eureka, 
occupying this position for four years. Later he became interested in the 
steamship business as agent for the steamer Argo, and conducted the Port 
Kenyon end of this enterprise for four years. His services were again sought 
by the Buhne ranch at this time, and for two and a half years he was again 
foreman of this property. At a later date he acted as bookkeeper for the 
J. C. Bull, Jr., interests, at Areata, remaining there for eighteen months, since 
which time he has been variously employed at different undertakings, such 
as store keeping and carpentering. 

Mr. Flint has been twice married. His first bride was Miss Clara Crank, 
and three children were born of their union, all of whom are now grown to 
womanhood and happily married, their names being as follows : Madeline, 
now the wife of Alva BarkduU, a rancher near Zenia, Trinity county; Edna, 
the wife of Harland Stead, a wireless operator in the employ of the United 
States government and located at Oakland; and Carrie, married to Wallace 
Criley, a civil engineer at San Bernardino. The first wife died in 1893, and 
in 1895 Mr. Flint was married to Miss Mary Catherine Goble, the daughter 
of W. W. Goble, of Fortuna. The second Mrs. Flint is a woman of much 
charm and has a host of friends in Ferndale, where she is deservedly popular. 
The daughters of Mr. Flint were reared by her as her own and have for her 



1090 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

all the affection of daughters of her own blood. Mr. Flint is very popular 
in fraternal circles, and is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias 
and the Woodmen of the World. Mr. and A-Irs. Flint now make their resi- 
dence in a bungalow he has just completed in Ferndale. 

MRS. JOSEPH E. HARMON SMITH.— As proprietor of the Overland 
Hotel at Blocksburg, Mrs. Joseph E. Smith is especially well known to the 
traveling public. Her hotel enjoys well-merited patronage and is one of the 
pleasant hostelries of the county. Mrs. Smith herself is a splendid type of 
the broadminded, clever, capable California women who have succeeded 
largely in business, she being a native daughter, and one of the oldest living 
white women born in the state. She was in girlhood Frances Milsap, the 
daughter of Hiram and Ann (Montgomery) Milsap, who settled near New- 
ville, in what was then Colusa county, but now Glenn county, in 1857. Mr. 
Milsap came to California across the plains with ox teams in 1854, and en- 
gaged in farming. There were nine children born to himself and wife, Mrs. 
Smith being the fourth oldest. Her father died in Glenn county at the age 
of eighty years, and her mother is still living in the old locality in Glenn county 
at the age of eighty-four, and is very capable and efficient for her age. 

Mrs. Smith was born near Sacramento, but was reared and educated in 
Glenn county. In 1877 she came to Hydesville, Humboldt county, and in 
Eureka was married to Mr. Smith in 1881. 

Joseph Elisha Harmon Smith was a native of New York state and was 
reared in Will county. 111., where he enlisted and served during the Civil war, 
fighting for the preservation of the Union. He was honorably discharged 
and came to California in 1869. After his marriage with Miss Frances Milsap 
in 1881 the young couple located near Bridgeville, where they ranched on 
Chalk mountain. Later they moved to Garberville, where they also engaged 
m ranching and stock raising, and in 1891 they came to Blocksburg, locating 
on a ranch and engaging in stock raising. In 1907 Mr. Smith purchased the 
property known as the Overland Hotel, which he rebuilt into a modern 
hostelry. It is now conducted as a first-class house and receives the patron- 
age of the best- class of travel. Mr. Smith died in September, 1912, at the 
age of sixty-nine years, and since that time Mrs. Smith has continued to 
conduct the hotel and has been exceedingly successful in her management. 
.She is a woman of great capability and her judgment and business acumen 
are well above that of the average person. She is the mother of six children, 
all of whom are living and are well known in Blocksburg and vicinity. They 
are : Maude, the wife of George G. Burgess, of Blocksburg, and the mother 
of three children ; Mabel, the wife of J. E. Godfrey, of Eureka, and the mother 
of two children ; Josephine, the wife of E. I. Burgess, of Blocksburg, and the 
mother of five children; Gertrude, the wife of Charles H. Johnson, of xMder- 
point, and the mother of three children ; Frank J., a railroad man, residing at 
Bandon, Ore. ; and George E., residing at home. 

ELMER LESLIE DEVLIN.— Of Canadian descent, Elmer L. Devlin 
is nevertheless "a native son of California," having been born in Eureka, 
this state', August 1, 1877, his father having been Charles Leslie Devlin, a 
native of Perth, Ont., a shoemaker by trade, who came to Eureka in the early 
'60s, where he engaged in the shoe business on Second street, continuing 
there for many years until elected city assessor, a position to wdiich he was 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1091 

reelected for over eight years, until his death in 1899, having also been one 
of the councilmen of the city and a member of the Independent Order of 
Odd F"ellows and the Knights of Pythias. His wife was formerly Carrie F. 
Spaulding, born in Hartford, Conn., who joined her father in Humboldt 
county, Cal., about the year 1875, whither her grandfather, Lucius Spaulding, 
had come in the early days, as well as his wife, formerly a JNIiss Fay, and 
her two brothers, George and Nahum Fay, who engaged in the manufacture 
of shingles and shakes at Fay's Mill on the Peninsula in the early 'SOs. The 
death of Elmer L. Devlin's mother occurred in Eureka, where he, the eldest 
of her four children, was educated in the public schools and the Eureka Busi- 
ness College. 

The first employment of Air. Devlin was as a clerk for D. Barry on 
Fourth street. Eureka, where he remained for two years, thereafter entering 
the employ of the Humboldt Manufacturing Company as clerk in their store 
at Areata, Cal., where he later became manager of the store, resigning from 
their employ after ten years, to engage in business independently. In August, 
1913, removing to Orick, Cal., Mr. Devlin bought the small store of Robert 
Swan, where he continued the mercantile business which he enlarged until 
he has now an extensive, well selected line of general merchandise. During 
this time he built a hotel, known as The Orick Inn, which is commodious, 
well furnished and modern in every detail, being the largest and finest of 
its kind between Areata and Crescent Cit)'-, so that Mr. Devlin is well and 
favorably known as a hotel man as well as a merchant and postmaster, to 
which last office he was appointed at the time he took over the store from 
Mr. Swan. He is likewise a notary public and a trustee of the Orick school 
district, and in fraternal circles, also, is well known,' being a Mason in the 
Areata Lodge, F. & A. M. ; a member of the Anniversary Lodge No. 85, 
I. O. O. F., and with his wife holds membership in the Areata Chapter, O. E. 
S., and the Rebekahs at Areata. Politically Mr. Devlin is a supporter of the 
principles of the Republican party, while his religious associations are with 
the Episcopal Church. 

The marriage of I\Ir. Devlin occurred in Areata, uniting him with Miss 
Ethel Cates, a native of that city and daughter of Sewell Cates, who was 
born in the state of Maine. Mrs. Devlin is a woman of charming personality 
and enters heartily into her husband's enterprises, rendering him material 
aid in the success which he is achieving. They are the parents of two 
children, namely, Beatrice and Earl Devlin. Liberal and open-hearted, and 
progressive in the best sense of the word, Mr. Devlin has built up a good 
business in his chosen line, and with his family has won a high place in the 
esteem of all who know them. 

CELESTE FLOCCHINI.— The younger brother and partner of Gia- 
como Flocchini, of the firm of Flocchini Brothers doing a large dairy business 
at Alton, Humboldt county, Cal., Celeste Flocchini is an educated and well 
informed young man, who since 1907 has made his home in California. 

Born at Ono Degno, in the province of Brescia, Italy, Celeste Flocchini 
is the son of Francisco and Dominica (Dusi) Flocchini, his birth having 
taken place on May 26, 1891. The parents were farmers in Brescia, where 
the mother still lives, the father's death having occurred in July, 1914. Of 
the nine children, Celeste is the second youngest, and all but the eldest now 



1092 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

make their home in CaUfornia. Having completed the course of instruction 
obtainable in the local public schools, Celeste Flocchini after the age of 
eleven years was occupied with work upon the home farm until October of 
the year 1906, at which time he removed to the United States, his first 
stopping place being Pittsburg, Pa., where he was for a short time employed 
in the coal mines. This not proving to his liking, however, in March, 1907, 
Mr. Flocchini came to Alton, Cal., where for nine months he was in the 
employ of a Mr. Dinsmore, after that working on dairies in the vicinity of 
the city of Ferndale, and then for three years was employed by Mrs. R. Hill 
at Alton. After two more years spent in the dairy business, Mr. Flocchini 
decided to start out independently, and accordingly leased one hundred sixty 
acres at Waddington, in the same county, there for eighteen months operating 
a dairy consisting of twenty cows. In January, 1915, he purchased a half 
interest with his brother Giacomo in their present dairy, a short time later 
the old Lynch ranch being leased by them also, a place which covers an 
area of one hundred ninety acres, near Grizzly Blufif, Cal. Here it is the 
intention of the brothers to run a dairy of about eighty cows. Celeste to be 
in charge of this place, while Giacomo manages the property at Alton of one 
hundred twenty-five acres with a dairy of seventy cows. The two brothers 
are thus together operating one of the large dairies in Humboldt county, and 
the success with which they are meeting is notable and well earned. They 
have already made for themselves a worthy and enviable reputation in their 
chosen line of business, and are respected and well liked in the home of 
their adoption. 

Mr. Flocchini was married in Fortuna, Cal., on March 12, 1912, to Adelia 
Laffranchi, also a native of Italy, she having been born in the town of 
•Avenone, in Mr. Flocchini's native province of Brescia. 

JOHN JAMES CAIRNS.— As city attorney for Eureka and one of the 
leading citizens of Humboldt county, Cal., John James Cairns is widely known 
throughout this portion of northern California. To those who know his 
personal history and his long struggle to secure an education, his success is 
especially interesting and noteworthy, for it is recalled by his old friends that 
he was forced to make his own way in the world from the age of eleven years 
and his studies were carried on largely of evenings at the close of a day of 
manual toil. 

The father of Mr. Cairns, James A. Cairns, was born in Scotland, and 
with his brother Hugh migrated to Indianapolis, Ind., where he followed the 
occupation of farming, in 1869 removing thence to California, where he settled 
in Sarita Clara county and engaged in the business of farming and horticul- 
ture until the time of his death, which occurred in the year 1879. The wife 
of James A. Cairns was Annie Stanfield, a native of Belfast, Ireland, who 
came to Boston, after a few years spent in that city removing to California, 
via the Isthmus of Panama, until her marriage residing in Santa Clara 
county, where her brothers and sisters had made their home. She became 
the mother of three children, of whom John James Cairns is the eldest, and 
living until the age of seventy-nine years she was known to all the school 
children of the vicinity as Granny Cairns, for, although paralyzed for twenty- 
six years, in spite of her helplessness she was possessed of a sweet disposi- 
tion, which was shown by her kind words and greetings to all with whom 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1093 

she was associated, and she was loved and esteemed by all who knew her. 

Born near San Jose, Cal., February 17, 1873, John James Cairns, the son 
of James A. and Annie Cairns, is one of those native Californians whose suc- 
cess has come through their own determined efforts, his force of will having 
led him out of the unpromising life of a cowboy into the arena of professional 
usefulness, and his profound knowledge of the law, coupled with an unusually 
powerful mind, enables him to grasp with exactness the most intricate prob- 
lems brought into relation with any case. After he had gained a rudimentary 
knowledge of the law through evenings of study and during leisure days, Mr. 
Cairns left the cattle ranch where he had been employed, to complete his 
readings under more favorable surroundings in San Jose. Admitted to the 
bar of California during September of the year 1900, and for seven years a 
practitioner in his native city of San Jose, he came to Eureka in 1907 and 
here has built up a valuable practice, besides which he was for about three 
years referee in bankruptcy for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, resigning 
on May 1, 1915; he also served as city attorney for Blue Lake for a period 
of about four years, his resignation from the latter office being accepted on 
July 6, 1915. On June 21 of the same year he was elected city attorney of 
Eureka, receiving a handsome majority. Although not prominent in fraternal 
matters, Mr. Cairns is actively identified with the Woodmen, Red Men and 
Odd Fellows. By his first marriage he has two children, Cyril, who is now 
a law student, and Chispa. His present wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Amelia Bianchi and is a native of France, is a woman of broad culture and 
such linguistic ability that she has mastered all the Latin languages. 

JOHN ALEXANDER AGGELER.— Born on the old Aggeler home- 
stead near Ferndale, Cal., July 1, 1887, John Alexander Aggeler may truly 
be called a native son of California. His grandfather was well known among 
the pioneer settlers of the county, where he was a successful farmer until 
the time of his death, and his father resided here since the age of fifteen. 
The grandfather, Joseph, and his wife Mary came originally from St. Gallan, 
Switzerland, and settled at Pleasant Point, on the Eel river in Humboldt 
county, opposite the city of Fortuna, the grandmother still living in For- 
tuna, a wonderful woman for her age, and having sold the farm in 1915 after 
the death of her husband. Their son, John Bernard Aggeler, the father of 
John Alexander, was born in Nevada county, Cal., on March 26, 1857, at the 
age of fifteen years removing with his parental family to Humboldt county, 
where he continued to reside until the time of his death, having lived in the 
Grizzly Bluff section as well as at the Island, which was his home for the 
last twenty-seven years of his life. At Rohnerville he was united in marriage 
with Miss Margaret McDonald on January 1, 1880, the daughter of Martin 
McDonald, who operated ferries across the Eel river at Dungan's, Singley, 
Alton and Fortuna, and died in December, 1905. 

John Alexander Aggeler is one of a family of five : Mary, John Alexander 
and Constance, who live at the Island ; David, of Eureka ; and Ann Aggeler, 
of San Francisco. John Alexander was brought up as a farmer's boy, assist- 
ing his parents at .home and receiving his education in the public schools. He 
was the only member of the family who witnessed the death of his father, 
which occurred August 27, 1912, and was caused by runaway horses while 
Mr. Aggeler and his son were driving a load of wood to their ranch on the 



1094 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Island, and for the year following the accident John Alexander Aggeler 
assisted his mother in the management of the farm and dairy, in 1913 leasing 
the place himself, which he is now operating successfully as a dairy farm. 
The estate comprises forty acres of fertile land, which provides. ample pasture 
for his herd of about twenty-five cows, and also admits of the raising of an 
abundance of feed for them of various kinds. In his political preferences Mr. 
Aggeler is a Republican, while his fraternal associations are with the Knights 
of Columbus of Eureka and the Ferndale Parlor No. 94, Native Sons of the 
Golden West. His mother died here July 18, 1915, just after returning from 
a trip of two months on San Francisco bay. 

It is such families as the Aggelers which our country is glad to welcome 
from foreign shores and to watch grow up in the spirit of loyalty to their new 
home, and perhaps none others in Humboldt county have held a higher place 
in the esteem of all who knew them, or have done more by steady purpose 
and patient industry for the betterment of the land where they have chosen 
to locate, than have the father and grandfather of Mr. Aggeler, who are 
spoken of with admiration in the community where they made their home. 
His mother was endowed with wonderful business ability and an exceptionally 
fine personality, and the son, in his enterprise and liberal disposition, has 
proved himself a worthy descendant of his respected family. 

VICTOR AMBROSINI.— The firm of F. and V. Ambrosini, dairymen 
in Humboldt county, Cal., is one well known in this part of the state, where 
they hold a high place among the men engaged in that industry, the two 
brothers working together in perfect harmony since they began dairying. 

The birthplace of Victor Ambrosini was Lodrino, in the Canton of 
Ticino, Switzerland, where he was born August 28, 1875, the second oldest 
of a family of five children, his parents being Gervaso, the descendant of an 
old family of the place, and Maria (Sacchi) Ambrosini, both of whom are 
now deceased. Victor received his education in the public schools and on 
the home farm learned dairying and the manufacture of butter and cheese. 
His brother Ferdinand having gone to Humboldt county in 1892, his satisfac- 
tion with the new country and belief in the opportunities there offered en- 
couraged the brother Victor also to try his fortunes on the Pacific coast. 
Accordingly, on March 2, 1894, he arrived in Eureka, Cal., soon finding em- 
ployment at a dairy on the Bear River Ridge, following that line of work 
until he became foreman of the West Point ranch, a position which he held 
for two years. In 1903 he became associated with his brother Ferdinand, 
they forming the partnership of Ambrosini Brothers, which has lasted ever 
since. Leasing two ranches, the Woodland Echo and the Mayflower, they 
thus secured a combined acreage of twenty-six hundred acres, located on 
Bear River Ridge, where they conducted a large dairy, also engaging in stock 
raising. Here they milked a herd of one hundred seventy cows, and manu- 
factured butter, which they shipped in squares or kegs to Eureka and San 
Francisco, meeting with success and being rewarded for their hard work 
and close application to business by the gaining of good profits. Meantime 
they looked about for an investment for their surplus, and in 1910 pur- 
chased the old Gries place of seventy-two acres, adjoining Ferndale on the 
northeast, at which place Mr. Ambrosini now resides. Until 1913 they rented 
the place, at which time they moved there and commenced dairying, giving 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1095 

up the ranches on Bear River Ridge. Since then they have been continuously 
engaged in operating the Gries ranch, in addition leasing an adjoining thirty- 
eight acres, making a total of one hundred ten acres, where they raise an 
abundance of hay and green feed for their herd, which consists of seventy- 
five high grade Jersey cows and Shorthorn Durhams. They also rent a stock 
ranch of six hundred six acres in the Guthrie district, on the coast, about 
ten miles from Ferndale, where they carry on the raising of cattle. Ex- 
perienced and well-informed men in the dairy and cattle business, the Am- 
brosini brothers are among the leaders in these lines of business in Ferndale 
and vicinity, where they also take an active part in all movements for the 
best interests of the community. A Republican in politics, Mr. Ambrosini is 
a member of the Ferndale Dairymen's Association and the Ferndale Cow- 
Testing Association, through his membership in which he is active in for- 
warding the good of the dairy industry. 

His marriage took place in Ferndale in October, 1900, his wife having 
formerly been Miss Emma Tonini, a native of Petrolia, Cal., her parents 
having been Antonio and Sabina (Mattej) Tonini, born in Cavergno and 
Cevio, Ticino, Switzerland, respectively, and they were early settlers in 
Humboldt county, her father having come to California over forty years ago 
and become a prominent dairyman. Mr. and Mrs. Ambrosini are the parents 
of seven children : Mary, A'Valter, Florinda, Henry, Archie, Sadie and 
Clarence Weston. 

HAGBARTH NIELSEN.— A native of the distant country of Norway, 
Mr. Nielsen has chosen to make his home in northern California, where he 
has cleared and improved land, and in the cultivation of the soil and the 
occupation of dairying is meeting with success. 

Born in Drammen, Norway, in 1867, he received a good education in the 
public schools of that country, where for ten years he was employed as a 
grocery clerk. Then, led by the wish to come to the new world and seek 
his fortune in California, he made the trip in 1893, settling at Eureka, in 
Humboldt county, Cal., where for five years he was engaged in driving a 
milk wagon for the Buhne dairy. Upon the discovery of gold in the Klondyke 
region, Mr. Nielsen determined to take the trip to Alaska, as so many others 
were then doing, and accordingly in the year 1898 set out on the journey in 
search of gold, going by trail over Chilcoot Pass, being there at the time of 
the big slide. There were said to be about ten thousand on the trail, but 
only about fifty-two met their death in the slides. After this he and his com- 
panions made their way to the Yukon river, where they built two boats by 
which they made the trip down the river, passing through Miles Canyon 
and over White Horse Rapids to Dawson. Mr. Nielsen took up a claim, but 
as it did not prove valuable, he found employment in the mines, thus making 
sufficient money to cover the expenses of the trip. After five years spent 
in the frozen north, he returned to the United States, as he had become a 
sufferer from rheumatism, and settled once more in Humboldt county, where 
he leased the hotel at the Stone Lagoon, conducting it with success for five 
years. After disposing of his interests in the hotel, Mr. Nielsen purchased 
his present ranch in 1910, consisting of forty acres of bottom land on Redwood 
creek, at the town of Orick. Here he has cleared most of the property and 
improved it so that he has good pasture and fields for the raising of hay and 



1096 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

other feed for his cows, of which he has twelve at the present time, a number 
which he is steadily increasing both as to milch cows and young stock. Aside 
from improving the land from an agricultural point of view, Mr. Nielsen is 
interested in constantly beautifying his home surroundings in every way 
possible, setting out trees, both fruit and ornamental, and many varieties of 
flowers upon his property. In his political interests Mr. Nielsen is a member 
of the Republican party, and while in Eureka held membership in the Nor- 
mana Literary Society. 

DENVER SEVIER.— With one of the many expeditions that crossed 
the plains during the summer of 1850 there came to the then unknown and 
undeveloped regions of the Pacific coast a stalwart young man, a native of 
Indiana, Abner D. Sevier, by name, who in the year following his arrival in 
California joined the few isolated frontiersmen then established in Hum- 
boldt county. Already logging camps had been established in this section 
of the state. The vast forests were beginning to be devastated for the up- 
building of the west. For a time he had work as the driver of an ox-team 
in one of these camps, but later he went to the Eel river section and took 
up a government claim. In the early period he endured many hardships. 
To earn a livelihood from the undeveloped land was most difficult, nor was 
it easy to find a market for such crops as could be secured. Determination, 
perseverance and unceasing hard work brought their merited results and 
eventually he became a prosperous farmer and a man of wide public in- 
fluence, serving for two terms as county sheriff and also filling the office of 
county supervisor with recognized efficiency. For almost thirty years he 
was a resident of Humboldt county, and his death, March 24, 1888, was 
recognized as a distinct loss to his community. Fraternally he held mem- 
bership with the Masons. By his marriage to Sarah A. Stringfield he be- 
came the father of four children, of whom only one is living, Denver, born 
at Eureka, Cal., February 19, 1860, educated in local schools, admitted to 
the bar in 1889, and since then a member of the brilliant company of attor- 
neys practicing in Eureka. In this city he married Miss Minnie Bullock, 
daughter of Nathaniel Bullock, and of the union there are two sons, Donald 
B. and Kenneth D. 

CHARLES CROSS. — The ranch owned and occupied by Charles Cross 
is situated on Van Dusen river, two miles from Carlotta, and is one of the 
most attractive in the county. It comprises two hundred ten acres of fertile 
land, which he has acquired by hard work and frugality, so that the term 
self-made applies to him in its truest sense. Like so many of those of 
eastern birth who have turned their attention to dairying and farming in 
this land of sunshine, he has been very successful and today his dairy of 
twenty fine milch cows is one of the best equipped in the county. In every 
transaction of life he has been honest and upright, kind and generous to 
a fault, a respected citizen and good neighbor. He was born at Hampden, 
Penobscot county, Me., August 30, 1860, the son of William and Sarah 
(Morse) Cross. The parents, who were farmers, were natives of Maine, 
the father of Welsh and the mother of English ancestry. In 1869 they 
moved to Grinnell, Iowa, three months later removing to Smith county, 
Kans., where the father homesteaded and resided ten years. In 1882 the 
family removed to Oregon and one year later to Humboldt county, Cal. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1097 

On account of poor health the father removed to Nevada, thence to Oregon, 
where he died. The mother died in Rohnerville, Humboldt county, in 
1898. They had two children, namely, A. N. and Charles, the former 
residing with his brother. 

Circumstances were such that Charles Cross had very limited educa- 
tional advantages, for when he was quite young it was necessary for him 
to become self-supporting. For several years he was in the employ of 
the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia and afterward worked for the 
Holmes Lumber Company of Eureka. 

Imbued with the qualities which usually bring success, young Cross 
saved his earnings and in due time was enabled to purchase a ranch of 
twenty-five acres at Rio Dell, which he improved while with the Pacific 
Lumber Company, making it his home for seventeen years. After selling 
it he bought his present ranch on Van Dusen river, most of the place 
being bottom land, on which he raises grain, hay, carrots, beets and 
alfalfa. Many of the progressive movements of the county have enlisted 
his influence and his career throughout is worthy of emulation. Frater- 
nally he is a member of the Hydesville Lodge of Odd Fellows, and in poli- 
tics votes with the Republican party. 

While living in this county Mr. Cross was married at Rio Dell July 
10, 1889, being united with Miss Hattie Corning, born in St. James, 
Watonwan county, Minn., December 22, 1870, the daughter of Smith P. 
and Orpha M. (Smith) Corning, born in New York and Ohio, respectively. 
They were married in Minnesota. Mr. Corning served in Company B, 
Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, through the Civil war. Until 1873 
he resided in Minnesota, then removing to Ottawa county, Kan., where the 
family resided for a year. In that year ]\Ir. Corning came to Humboldt 
county, the family joining him in 1875. A millwright by trade, he helped 
build various mills in the count}^ He spent his last days at Rio Dell, 
passing away in 1910, the mother having died at Shively in 1882. Of their 
seven children, Mrs. Cross, the fourth oldest, received her education in 
Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. Cross are the parents of seven children: 
Ruby (Mrs. Guy Stapp of Carlotta, the mother of one child, Albert Ever- 
ett) ; Earl Everett ; Irene Elizabeth ; Florence Marie ; Agnes Zella and 
Anna Ella (twins) ; and Cecil Wilbur. Mrs. Cross is a member of the 
Hydesville Lodge of Rebekahs, No. 98, and is interested in the cause of 
education. Mr. Cross was formerly a member of the board of trustees 
of Rio Dell district. 

JAMES E. NEIGHBOR.— Though a comparatively new resident of 
Eureka, Mr. Neighbor has become so intimately associated with the aflfairs 
of the city and of Humboldt county as well that he has been welcomed 
as an acquisition in the best circles. The promptness with which he 
entered into local movements for the general welfare has been a source 
of gratification to his fellow citizens, for he is a worker of trained ability, 
with several years of successful service to his credit, principally in the 
activities of the Young Men's Christian Association. As a business man 
also he has a high record, and has added to his reputation in that line 
by his able management of the Bayside lumber mill at Eureka. He 
"arrived" in the milling business by a rather roundabout route, having for 



1098 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a number of years been engaged with a saw manufacturing firm in the 
east, through which he made acquaintances which led to his present con- 
nection when he decided to settle in California. 

Mr. Neighbor is of English ancestry, his father, grandfather and great- 
grandfather having been born in England. Edward Neighbor, his grand- 
father, brought his family to America when the Rev. R. E. Neighbor, 
father of James E., was a boy of twelve years ; Robert Neighbor, the 
great-grandfather, also accompanied them. They settled in Racine county, 
Wis., where Edward Neighbor, formerly a school-teacher, took up a farm 
and followed agricultural pursuits. R. E. Neighbor was born in 1842 at 
Wisbeach, England, and began his education in his native land. He passed 
his youth on his father's farm in Racine county. Wis., attended Racine 
College, and later took a course at the University of Chicago, from which 
institution he was graduated. Having prepared for service in the Baptist 
ministry, he was ordained, and his first pastorate was in Kane county. 111. 
Having been appointed to do missionary work for his denomination in 
India, in the province of Assam, he gave up his charge and for the next 
eight years served in the India mission field of the Baptist Church, during 
that time residing principally at Nowgong, Assam. His son James was an 
infant, when he went out, and three children were born in India, so he and 
his wife concluded it best to return to America in order to give their 
children proper educational advantages. For a time the family lived at 
Chicago, 111., later at Elkhart, Ind., and then at Indianapolis, and Rev. Mr. 
Neighbor is still actively engaged in the service of the Baptist Church, 
doing special work. He resides at Indianapolis, but is called to various 
points. For twenty-five years he was connected with the Baptist State 
Convention of Indiana, and he is Avell known through his contributions 
to the several church periodicals, having written considerably on religious 
topics for the Baptist Observer of Indianapolis, the Baptist Review of New- 
York City, the Bibliotheca Sacra of Oberlin, Ohio, and The Review and 
Expositor of Louisville, Ky. At two different periods he has been editor 
of the Observer. His able services in every capacity have received flatter- 
ing recognition in the church. 

Rev. Mr. Neighbor was married at Chicago, 111., in 1868, to Miss Anna 
Maria Bell, who was a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish descent. She 
lived to be over seventy years old. Five children were born of this mar- 
riage, viz. : James E. ; Arthur, of Rosenberg, Texas, a physician and sur- 
geon ; Robert W., manager of the branch house of E. C. Atkins & Co. at 
San Francisco, and living at Oakland ; Agnes D., wife of George T. Purves, 
of Indianapolis, bookkeeper for the Marion County Construction Company; 
and Ethel M., who v^as born at Elkhart, Ind., and who is unmarried. 

James E. Neighbor was born February 2, 1870, at St. Charles, Kane 
county, Ilk, where his father was stationed until he took up missionary 
work in India. He was but seven months old when he landed with his 
parents at Calcutta, and a boy of nine when they returned to America. 
He attended school in Chicago for one year, was in the high school at 
Elkhart, Ind., six months, and completed the four years' high school course 
at Indianapolis, graduating when seventeen years old. Two months before 
graduation he had been offered a position with E. C. Atkins & Co., saw 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1099 

manufacturers of Indianapolis, and he entered their service as mailing 
clerk. After one year he became billing clerk, making out all the invoices, 
besides which" he waited on all outside customers who came to the house 
and filled the position of office salesman. At the time the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war broke out he was a member of the Indianapolis Light Artillery, 
and enlisted for service with that organization, which went into the army 
as the Twenty-seventh Indiana Light Artillery, but he was rejected at 
the federal examination. At this time the president of the Indianapolis 
Mercantile & Trust Company ofifered him a position as manager of the 
Indianapolis office. This concern later developed into the Merchants' 
Association. For four years Mr. Neighbor devoted his time to Y. M. C. A. 
work. Having taken the position of assistant secretary, he held it for two 
years, and during the next two years was acting general secretary. At 
the end of this period he became superintendent of the Badger Furniture 
Company at Indianapolis, holding that position for four years, when his 
health broke down and he found it necessary to have rest and a change, to 
recover from an attack of nervous prostration. With that end in view 
he made a visit to his brother Robert, at Oakland, Cal., in 1908, and was 
delighted with the climatic and other attractions of the coast. In the 
course of his stay he formed the acquaintance of R. O. Wilson, manager 
at the San Francisco offices of the Bayside Lumber Company, which has 
a mill at Eureka. During the ten years of his connection with E. C. 
Atkins & Co. he had become quite familiar with sawmill supplies and 
other details of the lumber business, and his work in the association brought 
him a wide acquaintance, so that he did not come to the west by any 
means as a stranger. 

In December, 1908, Mr. Wilson sent Mr. Neighbor up to Eureka, and 
the following February he became assistant manager of the Bayside Lum- 
ber Company, in which capacity he has charge of the Eureka mills. The 
San Francisco offices of this concern are in Rooms 613-621 Santa Maria 
building, at No. 112 Market street, and the sales offices are also in that 
city. The officers of the company are : Levi Smith, president, of Warren, 
Pa.; Charles A. Shurtliff, vice president, of San Francisco; R. O. Wilson, 
secretary and treasurer, as well as manager. The latter lives at Oakland. 
The company is engaged in the manufacture of redwood lumber and 
shingles, and the industry is of such proportions as to be highly important 
to the prosperity of Eureka, where it is considered one of the stable assets 
of the city and county. Mr. Neighbor's able administration of its affairs 
at this point is sufficient comment on his talents and executive ability. 

From the time he settled at Eureka Mr. Neighbor has demonstrated 
his sincere interest in the work of raising social and living standards in 
the community and his efficiency in accomplishing such objects. Un- 
doubtedly his early home training and influence predisposed him for such 
service to his fellows, and he has lived faithfully up to the high ideals of 
generosity and helpfulness to others instilled by his parents. He is chair- 
man at present of the Humboldt County Progressive Temperance League, 
which office he has filled for the last three years ; is a member of the Eureka 
Development Association, working for what he considers the best interests 
of a cleaner, larger and better Eureka; and is a prominent member of the 

45 



1100 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Baptist Church, serving that organization as deacon and member of the 
board of trustees, and the Sunday school as superintendent. Mr. Neighbor 
has attempted to labor along broad lines, attacking wrong and vicious 
principles and breaking down evil institutions, rather than directing his 
immediate attention to the victims of these conditions entirely. He be- 
lieves in going to the root of an evil, rather than nipping its buds, and his 
success in the various undertakings which have been intrusted to him would 
seem to indicate that he has a grasp of the more effective methods. 

In 1902 Mr. Neighbor was married to Miss Anna M. Wright, of Mount 
Pleasant, Ohio, and they have two children, Margaret Annabel and James 
Edward. They reside at No. 130 West Cedar street. Eureka. Mrs. Neigh- 
bor is, like her husband, a zealous worker in the Baptist Church, and also 
a prominent member of the Ladies' Aid Society and vice president of the 
Women's Missionary Society of the Eureka congregation. 

MATTHEW CARROLL.— A prominent farmer and stockman in the 
vicinity of Areata, Cal., Matthew Carroll has carved out for himself a farm 
from the forest land, where he now produces big crops on land which, 
when he first settled there, was mostly timber. He cleared the ground for 
farming, and still owns valuable timber land there, and has become known 
in that community as a liberal and public-spirited man, ready to help any 
project which has for its aim the upbuilding of the county where he has 
made his home. 

On January 23, 1854, Mr. Carroll was born in Kingston, Ontario, Can- 
ada, the son of James, born in County AVicklow, Ireland, who came with 
his parents to Ontario at the age of five years, where he was educated in 
the local public schools, being engaged during the winters in logging in 
the woods, and purchasing property consisting of four hundred acres of 
raw land, which he cleared of beech and maple and improved for farming 
purposes. His wife was formerly Mary Rowley, a native of County Kil- 
dare, Ireland, who as a child removed with her parents to Ontario and is 
still living upon the old home farm in that province. Of her twelve chil- 
dren, only two are living, and Matthew Carroll Avas the second eldest in the 
family. He grew up on his father's farm, and attended the public schools 
of the vicinity, and at the age of sixteen years began logging in the woods 
with his father, driving ox-teams, etc., until over twenty years of age. 
In May, 1874, he came west to California, settling first at Eureka, in Hum- 
boldt county, where his knowledge of logging stood him in good stead, he 
being employed for about three years by Evans & McKay on Salmon creek, 
being foreman of their road-builders. When this company failed, Mr. Car- 
roll entered the employ of James Gannon at Areata, as foreman and head 
road-builder, in which capacity he remained for a period of five years. In 
December, 1881, he made a return trip to his old home, the following 
January being married to Miss Bridget Whalen, a native of his home town, 
and daughter of Daniel Patrick Whalen, a pioneer farmer of the place. 
With his bride Mr. Carroll returned to Areata in April, 1882, purchasing a 
small farm near that city, which he operated for three years, then selling 
it to homestead the present place. He began at once to improve his new 
property, cutting shingle and stave bolts, shipping the latter to San Fran- 
cisco and selling the former to the shingle mill run by Harpst, Spring & 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1101 

Co. Having cleared this land, he purchased adjacent property, having jiow 
about three hundred seventy acres in all, of which one hundred fifty acres 
are cleared and under the plow, there still being about two hundred acres 
which are heavily timbered. Here Mr. Carroll engages in general farming, 
stock-raising and dairy business, milking a herd of seventeen cows, and 
besides raising cattle of Durham and Holstein strain, also engaging in the 
raising of fine horses. He is the owner of the English shire stallion Captain 
Tom, weighing fifteen hundred pounds, well known as a fine draft horse. 

For about twelve years Mr. Carroll was a trustee of the Cedar Springs 
school district, and was one of the builders of the first school house in this 
vicinity, and continued as clerk and trustee of the school until turning over 
these offices to his son. In his political preferences he is a member of the 
Democratic party. He is the father of eleven children, of whom the five 
youngest are at home with their parents : Mary, now Mrs. Thomas Dillon, 
of Eureka; James, who resides in San Francisco; Joseph, who lives in 
Areata ; John, who died at the age of sixteen years ; Anna, a bookkeeper 
for the Humboldt Cooperage Co., Areata; Daniel, who lives in Montana; 
MattheAV, Peter, William, Oswald and Catherine. 

JOHN MACINATA was born in Bagolino, Province of Brescia, Italy, 
May 11, 1881, the fourth in a family of six children born to Charles and 
Margareta (Bazzani) Macinata. The parents were farmer folk in Brescia, 
and resided on the home place until they passed away, on the same day in 
1912, only four hours apart. 

John Macinata, who is the only member of the family in the United 
States, was brought up on the old home farm, and in his native district 
he received a good education. When his schooling was over he learned the 
carpenter's trade, which he followed in connection with farming. Having 
a desire to see California and try the opportunities offered here to indus- 
trious young men, he came to Eureka, Cal., in April, 1907, and for the first 
eight months was in the employ of C. E. Sacchi at Bayside, then at the 
Bucksport dairy and the McKay dairy, Ryan slough, for like periods. 
After another year spent on a dairy farm at the head of F street, Eureka, 
he resolved to engage in the business for himself and in December, 1910, 
he rented the William Harmon place, where he ran a dairy of eighteen 
cows until March 22, 1914, when he leased his present place at West End, 
near Blue Lake. It is splendid bottom land, which gives him ample pas- 
ture, and upon it he raises an abundance of hay and green feed. His 
herd of Holsteins is well bred and numbers forty head of milch cows, 
which he feeds with great care in order to achieve the best results. 

Mr. Macinata was married in Eureka June 7, 1914, being united with 
Miss Brachi Ambrosini, born at Bormio, Province of Sondrio, Italy. After 
finishing her studies in Italy, before coming to California, she spent several 
years in Graubunden and St. Gallen, Switzerland, where she learned the 
German language and is a woman of ability, being very much of a helpmate, 
to her husband. Politically he is a Democrat. 

B. JAMES BIASCA was born at Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, 
January 29, 1881, the son of Charles and Ellen (Bernardi) Biasca, both na- 
tives of that place. The father was well educated and became a successful 
dairyman in Humboldt county, whither he came in about 1882, the family 



1102 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

joining him later, while he was located on Bear river. In 1905 his health 
failed and he returned to Ticino, Switzerland. They were the parents of 
eight children, six of whom are living, James being the oldest. His educa- 
tional advantages consisted of about eighteen months in Lodrino schools, 
at the end of which time, at the age of eight, he came with others of the 
family to join the father in Humboldt county, Cal. He immediately went 
to work for others on a dairy ranch to help his father make a livelihood 
for the family, and when eleven years of age he went to work for the 
Russ Company on the present place, while his father was foreman, and 
he has continued' on this ranch ever since. He worked for his father after 
he leased it and since 1905 he has had a lease of the place himself and is 
operating a dairy of eighty-three cows, and is also engaged in raising 
cattle and hogs, poultry and turkeys. Central Park ranch, as it is called, 
is located on Bear river and is well adapted for the purpose to which it is 
devoted. It is equipped with a creamery with steam power for the making 
of butter, which is shipped to the San Francisco market. 

Since he came to this ranch at the age of eleven years, jNIr. Biasca 
has never lost a day, and by his industry and close application to business 
has won for himself a competence. Politically he is a Republican. 

JOHN D. AMBROSINI was born at Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzer- 
land, March 25, 1883, the fifth oldest of six children born to Nicola and 
Elena (Sachi) Ambrosini, who reside on their farm in that country. John 
D. was brought up as a farmer's son and received his education in the public 
schools. Having heard reports of better wages and opportunities in Cali- 
fornia than could be found in his native Ticino, he determined to try his 
luck in the Golden West. January 21, 1903, he left his native land and 
arrived in Humboldt county February 10, 1903. He found employment 
in a dairy at Loleta for two years and then spent three seasons in a dairy 
on Bear river ridge. Next he worked for Ambrosini Brothers for a year, 
when, having saved some money, he determined to start in business for 
himself. In 1908 he leased his present place (known as the Centennial 
ranch) of two thousand acres, and has since engaged in dairying with suc- 
cess. He milks eighty-five cows and is manufacturing butter, which he 
sells to the Elk River Mercantile Company at Scotia. His success is in no 
small degree due to the assistance of his wife, who was in maidenhood 
Ida Bernard!, born on Bear river ridge, Humboldt county, the daughter of 
Moses and Louisa (Sachi) Bernardi, both natives of Lodrino, Switzerland. 
On coming to the United States they settled in Humboldt county, where 
they followed dairying, but later they returned with the family to Lodrino. 
There the father died soon after his arrival. The mother still makes her 
home in Ticino. Mrs. Ambrosini is noAV the only immediate member of 
her family in Humboldt county. She was educated both in Humboldt 
county and in Lodrino. In 1909 she returned to Humboldt county, where 
she afterwards married Mr. Ambrosini, the ceremony taking place in Fern- 
dale. To them have been born four children, Daria, Hazel, Susie and 
Ethel. Politically he espouses the cause of the Republican part}^ 

ANGELO BONOMI. — Many representative sons of Italy have come 
to California, among them Angelo Bonomi, who was born in Livemmo, 
Province of Brescia, Italy, in 1890, and there he received a good education 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1103 

in the public schools. He was reared to the life of a farmer and dairyman 
and followed that line of work in his native land until he concluded to try 
his fortune in California. In 1912 he came to Humboldt county and for 
eighteen months was employed on a dairy at Stone lagoon. After spending 
two months at the Buhne ranch he leased his present place of two hundred 
acres near Fields Landing, on South Bay, where he is conducting a dairy 
of thirty cows. 

Mr. Bonomi was married in Livemmo, Italy, May 24, 1912, being united 
with Miss Theressa Toreni, who was also a native of that place, and they 
have two children, Marie and Eva. Both himself and wife are members 
of the Catholic church • in Eureka. 

PIETRO CANCLINI was born in the town of Piatti, near Vale de 
Sotto, Province Sondrio, Italy, May 20, 1883, and is the fourth oldest of 
twelve children born to Christopher and Candida (Canclini) Canclini, also 
natives of that place, who still make their home there. After completing 
the public schools, Pietro was apprenticed to the shoemaker's trade under 
his father, continuing the same until he came to California with the excep- 
tion of the time he served in the Italian army. It was at the age of twenty 
that he entered the Sixteenth regiment of artillery, serving three years, 
when he was honorably discharged as trumpeter. In 1906 he came to 
Humboldt county. For six months he was employed in the woods at 
Philbrook and then started in the shoe business in Areata, running a shoe 
repair shop on the plaza. He makes a specialty of shoe repairing and 
has a complete line of machinery for sewing and repairing shoes, the 
motive power being electricity. From the first his success has been steady 
and is still increasing. 

Mr. Canclini was married in Areata, being united with Miss Isolina 
Boni, a native of the Province Firenze, Italy, and they have two children, 
Nelo and Lino. Fraternally he is a member of Iriquois Tribe No. 156, 
I. O. R. M., at Areata. Politically he believes firmly in the principles of 
the Republican party. 

AMATO BANDUCCI. — Among the men who have come from far-off 
sunny Italy, and are making a success in the mercantile line, is Amato 
Banducci, who was born near Lucca, Italy, July 4, 1878, the son of 
Paolo and Crelia (Antongiovanni) Banducci, who are still living on their 
farm near Lucca. Of their four children, Amato is the oldest and 
the only one residing in California. He received his education in the 
public schools and remained home assisting his parents until he came 
to California in 1896. After a six months' stay in Los Angeles he found 
employment at farming in Santa Barbara. Altogether he continued farming 
for five years, and of this period thirteen months were spent on the 
Island of Santa Cruz riding after stock. During his stay on the island 
he had several interesting hunts for wild hogs that were very numerous 
on the island and which the owners of the island wished to get rid of. 

In 1902 Mr. Banducci came to Humboldt county and for three years 
was employed successively in the following shingle mills, Charles Harpst, 
Charles Kelston, and the LTnion shingle mill. In 1905 he started a vege- 
table and fruit route, traveling by wagon through Areata and vicinity for 
a period of two years. At the end of this time, in 1907, he started a 



1104 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

grocery store on the plaza, and has continued in business ever since. His 
trade has grown from the first and he has built up a good, substantial 
business. His success is due in a large measure to his affable, courteous and 
genial manner and his close application to business. 

Mr. Banducci was married in Eureka, being united with Elenor Gilar- 
ducci, who was also born near Lucca, Italy. To them have been born 
two children, Fred and Susie. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen 
of the World and of Areata Aerie No. 1846, F. O. E. He is a member and 
hearty supporter of the Areata Board of Trade and the Areata Chamber 
of Commerce. Mr. Banducci is a liberal and enterprising citizen who is 
always willing to give of his means and best efforts toward the building 
up of the community commercially, socially and morally. 

J. M. TRISTAO. — Among men who have left their trade to engage in 
dairying in the Eel River valley is J. M. Tristao, who was born on the Isle 
of Treseira, one of the Azores, October 18, 1880, the son of J. B. Tristao, 
who is a bricklayer in his native place. The son, J. M., was educated in 
the public schools and on the completion of his studies therein, when six- 
teen years old, was apprenticed under his father as a bricklayer. After- 
ward he worked at the trade in that country until the spring of 1902, when 
he came to Pleasanton, Cal. There he was employed on a farm until the 
fall of that year, when he found his way to San Mateo county, where he 
was employed on a dairy. In the spring of 1903 he was similarly employed 
with Charles Denio at Vallejo, continuing with him for one year. Next 
we find him working on a sheep ranch in Nevada, but a year later he re- 
turned to Vallejo and rented the creamery on George street, which he 
operated for one year. He then traded the creamery business for a dairy 
ranch at Crockett and ran it for two years. 

In November, 1910, Mr. Tristao came to Humboldt county and leased 
a ranch at Areata. One year later he leased one at West End, Blue Lake, 
and ran a dairy of thirty cows for two years. In the fall of 1914 he traded 
it for the present lease, comprising one hundred seventy acres of the Herrick 
ranch. Here he runs a dairy of fifty cows and is meeting with success, 
having plenty of bottom land for pasture, besides which he raises hay and 
green feed. He is a stockholder in the Del Monte Creamery. 

Fraternally Mr. Tristao was a member of the Eagles and the I. D. E. S. 
in Vallejo until he moved away. Politically he believes in the principles 
of the Republican party. 

EMILLIO BETTIGIEO.— Among the firms operating large daries 
successfully in the Eel river valley is Peracca & Bettigieo, of whom Emillio 
Bettigieo is the junior member. He was born in Calico, Province of Como, 
Italy, October 18, 1893, the third oldest of a family of eight children born 
to Angelo and Chisemia (Spini) Bettigieo. The father was a farmer and 
dairyman at Calico, Italy, until his death, and the mother still makes her 
home on the old place. 

Emillio Bettigieo received a good education in the public schools, 
remaining at home and aiding his parents until he was seventeen years of 
age. Having heard of the advantages of California to the wage earner 
and farmer, he concluded to profit by opportunities offered the energetic 
young man on the Pacific coast. In 1910 he came to Humboldt county 



HISTORY OF HUA-IBOLDT COUNTY 1105 

and found employment on a dairy at Petrolia, where he continued for three 
years, then followed ten months of the same kind of work at Loleta. 
Having saved his money with the hope of engaging in dairying for himself, 
in October, 1914, he formed a partnership with Emelio Peracca and leased 
the present place of two hundred sixty acres, and purchased the necessary 
implements and horses as well as cows to operate a large dairy. Besides 
milking eighty cows, they are also engaged in stock-raising. The place 
is very suitable for dairying, its rich bottom lands enabling the partners 
to raise plenty of hay and green feed for their dairy herd. Both Mr. Peracca 
and Mr. Bettigieo are members of the Ferndale Dairymen's Association. 

GAMBONI BROTHERS.— Among the dairymen on the island near 
Ferndale who are meeting with merited success we find Alfred and Bartol 
Gamboni, who came hither from Switzerland and fully appreciate the oppor- 
tunities offered men who are willing to work and apply themselves closely. 
Their chosen occupation is the dairy industry, in which they are meeting 
with deserved success. The brothers are natives of Vogorno, Canton Ticino, 
Switzerland, the eldest brother, Alfred, having been born in 1883. He 
remained on the home farm until 1903, when he came to California, being 
employed on a dairy in Marin county until 1908, and then came to Hum- 
boldt county. He continued in the dairy business until December, 1910, 
when he formed the present partnership with his brother Bartol. The 
latter was born in 1887 and received his education and training in the public 
school of Vogorno. It was on October 23, 1907, that he came to California. 
Besides being employed on a dairy he was also engaged in driving a milk 
wagon in San Francisco until July, 1909, when he came to Humboldt county. 
As has been stated, Alfred and Bartol Gamboni formed a partnership in 
December, 1910, for the purpose of carrying on a dairy business of their 
own, and rented their present place of seventy acres on the island, stocking 
it with a dairy herd. They have been prospered in their undertaking, milk- 
ing forty cows, to which number they are continually adding, and their 
business generally is growing steadily. 

The brothers are enterprising and progressive business men, being well 
and favorably known, and are liberal, open-hearted and honest in all their 
dealings. 

EDWARD CHRISTEN was born in Andermatt, Canton Uri, Switzer- 
land, January 6, 1860, the son of Sebastian and Josepha (Danjot) Christen, 
also natives of that place. The father was a shoemaker and farmer and 
also served for many years as the local judge. Both parents died at the 
old home. To them were born thirteen children, eight of whom grew up 
and four are still living, Edv/ard being the youngest of all. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools and remained home assisting his father on the 
farm until he was twenty-four years of age, with the exception of the time 
he spent in the army and at the military school, in which he rose to the 
non-commissioned rank of corporal. 

In 1884 Mr. Christen came to San Francisco, Cal., and from there 
came soon afterward to Petrolia, Humboldt county, where he was employed 
in a dairy for four years. In the meantime he had saved enough money 
to start in the dairy business, and in partnership with his brother he leased 
a ranch of one thousand acres in the same vicinity. They ran a dairy of 



1106 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

seventy cows and made a specialty of manufacturing and shipping butter. 
The partnership continued for three years, when Edward Christen bought 
his brother's interest and continued alone until 1896, when he sold out and 
came to Pleasant Point, near Waddington, and bought a ranch of sixty- 
eight acres of bottom land and established a dairy. Since then the river 
has cut through around him, taking away several ranches and leaving him 
an island of forty acres, where he has a dairy of about twenty milch cows. 

Mr. Christen was married in San Francisco to Miss Mary Regli, also 
a native of Andermatt, Switzerland. She died here in 1913, leaving twelve 
children, as follows : George, Josephine, Marian, Edward, Rosa, Alvetius, 
Agnes, John, Joseph, Anton, Clara and Bernard. 

Mr. Christen is a Republican in politics. He has always been interested 
in the cause of education and for many years served as clerk of the board 
of trustees of the Pleasant Point school district. 

BASILIO DUSI was born at Ono Degna, Province of Brescia, Italy, 
May 26, 1883, the son of Battiste and Lucia (Buttenini) Dusi, who were also 
natives of Ono Degna and still make their home there. The father was 
engaged in making charcoal. The parents had six children, all of whom 
are living, Basilio being the youngest and the only one in California. He 
was educated in the public schools of his native place, after which he 
assisted his father in the burning of charcoal until 1908. Having heard that 
better wages and greater opportunities generally were offered in California 
than were possible in his native land he resolved to come to the western 
coast of America. On March 6, 1908, he arrived in Ferndale, Cal., and 
until 1911 was employed in different dairies in the vicinity. In November, 
1911, having saved enough money to start in dairying for himself, he 
leased the S. Smith place located on the coast two miles below Centerville. 
The ranch comprises three hundred acres, one hundred acres being plow 
land, where he raises hogs and green feed. Here he is successfully engaged 
in dairying, milking forty-five cows, the products being sold to the Cali- 
fornia Creameries Company. 

Mr. Dusi is a well-informed man and is public spirited and enterprising, 
always ready to do his share towards enhancing the welfare of the com- 
munity. He is a member of the Catholic church at Ferndale and politically 
is a Republican. 

BERNARDINO GENZOLI was born at Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Swit- 
zerland, in October, 1850, the son of John M. and Badelina (Bernardi) 
Genzoli, both natives of that place. They were farming people and passed 
their entire lives there. Of their nine children, seven are living, as follows: 
Cypriano resides in Ticino; Bernardino is the subject of this sketch; Morello 
is a dairyman and stockman at Capetown ; Frederick resides in Algeria, 
Africa; Chelestino lives in Eureka; Antone at Capetown; Savina (Mrs. 
Biasca) lives in Ticino. 

Bernardino Genzoli was educated in the public schools, and remained 
on the home farm until 1869, when he made his way to Paris, France, 
there being apprenticed as a painter and decorator. On the breaking out 
of the Franco-Prussian war business was at a standstill and he therefore 
returned to Ticino and resumed his duties on the home farm, assisting his 
father until 1875. In that year he came to Humboldt county, Cal., where 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1107 

he immediately found work in a dairy on Bear river ridge. With the means 
and experience gained there during a period of nine years he engaged in the 
dairy business on his own account. Forming a partnership with his brother 
Morello, he leased the Harken ranch of eighteen hundred acres near Cape- 
town and engaged in dairying, milking one hundred twenty-five cows and 
making butter, which was shipped to San Francisco. After a period of 
seven years Bernardino Genzoli sold his interest to his brother and leased 
the Capwell ranch of three hundred acres on Bear river, where he ran a 
dairy for five years, after which he leased the Greenlaw ranch on Elk river, 
where he h'ad a herd of sixty milch cows. 

In 1900 Mr. Genzoli' sold his lease and stock and came to Areata Bot- 
toms, where he leased the present ranch of sixty-three acres from Redmond 
Brothers. It is all bottom land and furnishes abundant pasturage and 
green feed for his dairy of twenty-five milch cows, besides which he is also 
raising young stock. 

In Ferndale occurred the marriage of Mr. Genzoli, his wife before her 
marriage being Lillian Sacchi, also a native of Lodrino, Switzerland, the 
daughter of Antone Sacchi, a farmer of that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Gen- 
zoli have been born seven children: Fred, Antone, Amerigo, Frank, Florinda, 
Bernardino and Esther. For twenty-five years Mr. Genzoli was a member 
of the Ferndale Lodge of Odd Fellows, but since his removal from that 
section he has discontinued it. Politically he is a Republican. 

ALESSIO GALLACCI.— Among the worthy citizens of Humboldt 
county who have come from Italy and are making a success of dairying 
is Alessio Gallacci, who was born in Bacceno, Novara, Italy, October 2, 
1884. His father, Vincenzo Gallacci, was a dairyman, and from him the 
son, Alessio, learned dairying as it was done in that country. He was 
educated in the public schools and assisted his parents until he was twenty- 
one years of age. He had heard much of better wages and greater oppor- 
tunities in California than could be found in his mother country, so he 
resolved to cast his lot on the Pacific coast. In April, 1906, he landed in 
San Francisco and from there came immediately to Humboldt county. 
Here he found employment in a dairy on Areata bottoms and followed 
that line of work until he had saved enough money to start for himself. 

In 1911 Mr. Gallacci leased his present place of forty acres and has 
since been engaged in dairying, his herd of milch cows numbering twenty- 
five. The place is all rich bottom land, which furnishes planty of hay and 
green feed, and the owner is recognized as a successful dairyman. 

Mr. Gallacci was married in Areata, being united with Miss Jennie 
Spalletta, a native of Cimalmotto, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, and to them 
have been born two children, Mary and Evelyn. Politically Mr. Gallacci 
believes thoroughly in the principles of the Republican party. 

THOMAS ALBONICO was born at Gravedona, Province of Como, 
Italy, June 13, 1871. His father was Bartholameo Albonico, a farmer who 
passed his entire life in Como, Italy. Thomas was reared on the farm and 
educated in the public schools. He remained at home assisting his parents 
until 1898, when he determined to try his luck in California, of which he 
had heard such good reports. In 1898 we find him working on a dairy 
in Marin county. In 1902 he came to Humboldt county and after working 



1108 HISTORY OF HUxMBOLDT COUNTY 

on a dairy at Blue Lake for four months he found the same kind of em- 
ployment on Areata bottoms, where he continued for three years. Next 
he spent ten months at Freshwater and then returned to Areata bottoms, 
where he continued as a dairy hand. 

In January, 1908, Mr. Albonico had saved enough money to start in 
the business, leasing a farm of forty-one acres on the bottoms, where he 
ran a dairy of twenty cows. Two years later he gave the lease up and 
rented the Lafe Sidel ranch of forty-five acres, where he milked twenty-five 
cows for three years, and then sold his lease and brought his dairy herd 
to the John Bulwinkle place, where he is running a successful dairy of 
twenty cows. He understands dairying and is a man that is well liked 
and favorably known. He is a stockholder in the United Creameries 
Company. 

In Areata June 6, 1908, occurred the marriage of Mr. Albonico, being 
united with Freda Schultz, a native daughter of San Francisco. Her 
father died when she was a year old and her mother married a second time, 
becoming the wife of John Bulwinkle, and the daughter always went by 
the name of Freda Bulwinkle. Mr. and Mrs. Albonico have three chil- 
dren : Anna C, Bartholameo and Mary M. Fraternally he is a member of 
the Woodmen of the World. In national politics he believes in the princi- 
ples of the Republican party. With his family he is a member of the 
Catholic church in Areata. 

JOHN SCURI. — The province of Brescia, Italy, has sent many of her 
sons to aid in the upbuilding of our new West, and the counties of central 
California, though less beautiful in climate and scenery than their native 
home, have offered hospitality and prosperity to many energetic and pro- 
gressive sons of Italy. 

Among the young men from that country who have come to seek their 
fortunes in California, led hither by the reports from those who have pre- 
ceded them, is John Scuri, who was born in Livenimo, Brescia, Italy, on 
December 31, 1887, where he grew up on his father's farm, receiving a good 
education in the public schools of that locality. When he had completed his 
studies at school, John Scuri was apprenticed to the stone mason's trade, 
having learned farming to a considerable extent during his boyhood at home. 
In 1912 he left his native land to come to California, where he was employed 
in McKay's shingle mill near Eureka as foreman for nearly two years, when 
he left there and secured employment on a dairy farm near Loleta, in the 
same county, until November, 1914. At that time, determining to enter the 
dairy business independently, as so many of his countrymen were doing in 
the county, he formed a partnership with D. Rareggi, and the two young men 
rented part of the old Swan ranch at Orick, and here established themselves 
in the dairy business, where they are meeting with merited success. Their 
ranch is composed of rich bottom lands, which give fine opportunity for 
pasturing, and the partners are able to raise thereon abundance of hay and 
grain and green feed for their herd of fifty milch cows. 

The partner of Mr. Scuri, Dominico Bareggi, is a native of the same 
town as himself, where he was born November 17, 1887, and w-here he learned 
the dairying trade as a lad and after completing the education furnished by 
the local public schools, continued working on the home farm until 1912, the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1109 

same year in which Mr. Scuri came to California, Mr. Bareggi also at that 
date removing to Humboldt county, Cal., where he was employed at a dairy 
near Loleta until he formed the partnership with Mr. Scuri in the dairy busi- 
ness. 

FRANK AMBROSINI.— Born in Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, 
October 2, 1855, Frank Ambrosini was the oldest of a family of seven chil- 
dren, of whom five are at present living. The father, Cipriano, had a farm in 
Lodrino, which he operated during the summer months, his winters being 
mostly spent in Paris, where he was employed at the trade of glazier. The 
mother, Agatha (Martinoli) Ambrosini, was a native of their home town in 
Switzerland, where she and her husband both died. They brought up their 
children on the farm, educating them in the public schools, and having com- 
pleted his education the son Frank assisted his father upon the farm, at the 
age of twenty years enlisting in the Swiss army for the usual term of service, 
after which he was honorably discharged. Removing to Paris, he was there 
apprenticed to the glazier's trade, and after gaining experience in that line of 
work he continued in that occupation in France for a period of ten years. 
Having heard and read much of the opportunities offered for success in Cali- 
fornia, Mr. Ambrosini then decided to cast his fortunes on the Pacific coast, 
and accordingly in 1885 came to San Francisco, and thence to Eureka, in 
Humboldt county, Cal., and not finding employment at once in his chosen 
occupation, he was for five years engaged in working on the dairy ranch of 
Joseph Russ on Bear River ridge. Desiring to go into that line of business 
independently, Mr. Ambrosini rented the Bolivia ranch of about eight hun- 
dred acres, also on Bear River ridge, which for the following fifteen years he 
operated as a dairy, milking about eighty cows thereon; his next venture 
being the leasing of the Donnolly ranch of sixty-five acres of bottom land at 
Port Kenyon, where he conducted a dairy of thirty-five cows for three years. 
This lease he finally sold out, and in 1908 leased the Forbes place, where he 
is at present located, which consists of eighty acres of fertile land about a 
mile north of Port Kenyon, where he grows an abundance of feed for his herd 
of forty cows, which are full-blooded, and high-grade Jerseys. 

One of the original stockholders of the Valley Flower Creamery on the 
Island, Mr. Ambrosini was also for some years a trustee of the Island school 
district, education being a cause in which he takes a deep interest. A very 
intelligent and well read man, he speaks French fluently, which he learned 
while engaged in business in Paris; and since coming to California has made 
a special study of the English language. Having a retentive memory, his 
wide reading has made of him a well informed and interesting conversation- 
alist, and as school trustee he exerted his influence to further the cause of 
education among the school children of his district. To the country of his 
adoption he is always loyal, being keenly alive to the advantages offered 
here, and became a citizen of the United States as soon as he had lived in the 
country the required length of time. Politically, he is a stanch supporter of 
the principles of the Republican party, and in his business life his energy is 
no less apparent, for the early days of his dairying experience, when he 
panned and skimmed the milk, and churned the butter upon his ranch by 
hand, have been succeeded by the use of gas-engine power and the present 
prosperous condition of his affairs. Mr. Ambrosini's wife, an active and able 



1110 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

helpmeet to her husband, is Victoria, the daughter of Paul Biasca, a farmer 
of Canton Ticino, Switzerland, where she was born. Her marriage with 
Mr. Ambrosini took place in Ferndale, Cal., March 1*6, 1901, and they are the 
parents of seven children, namely, Delmo, Sidney, Rina, Frank, Jr., Dora, Ivy 
and Vinni. 

CIPRIANO PIINI. — From Switzerland, which is his native home, Cip- 
riano Piini, at the age of nineteen years, came to California, where he has 
since that time continued to make his home and is now well known as a 
successful dairyman of Humboldt county. 

The parents of Mr. Piini were Joseph, a farmer on the Ticino river, in 
Switzerland, eight miles above where it empties into Largo Locarno, and 
Catherine (Giulieri) Piini, who died on March 8, 1915, the father still resid- 
ing at the old home. Of their six children, Cipriano, who was born at Cog- 
nasco. Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on February 17, 1883, is the fourth oldest, 
the others being : Mary, who is now Mrs. Genzoli, resides at Loleta ; Albina, 
now Mrs. Charles C. Giulieri, of Salmon Creek ; Frank, a farmer at Castro- 
ville ; Charles, who resides in Monterey county ; and Celeste, still residing at 
the old home in Switzerland. Like the others, Cipriano was brought up on 
his father's farm and educated in the public schools of the place, remaining 
at home and assisting his parents until nineteen years of age, when he con- 
cluded to try his fortune in California. In December, 1902, he came to San 
Francisco and found employment on a dairy at Nicasia, Marin county ; in 
July of the next year he removed to Humboldt county, where he continued 
the same line of work for three months at Loleta, and later for eight months 
at Petrolia, thence going to Salmon Creek, where he followed the same 
occupation for eighteen months. Mr. Piini was next in the employ of the 
Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, where he remained for about two years, 
being employed next by the California Central Creamery Company at the 
Loleta creamery, and after ten months in this work he was engaged for 
a couple of years at a dairy in the same vicinity. By this time having saved 
sufficient money to enable his starting in business independently, in the 
autumn of the year 1911 Mr. Piini leased the Riley place, consisting of forty 
acres on Paradise Island in Humboldt county, where he at present is engaged 
in the dairy business, milking a herd of twenty-three cows and selling the 
milk to Libby, McNeill and Libby at Loleta. Mr. Piini is meeting with much 
success in his independent venture, and making for himself a name in his 
chosen line of work. The estate which he has leased is fertile bottom land, 
whereon he is enabled to raise all the hay and green feed which his herd 
requires, and like many others from his native land of Switzerland who have 
chosen to make their home in this country, he is well satisfied with the 
change. 

At Salinas, Cal., Mr. Piini was married to Miss Irene Omicini, also a 
native of Switzerland, she having been born in Locarno, in the canton of 
Ticino. In his political views Mr. Piini is a firm believer in the principles of 
the Republican party. 

FERDINAND AMBROSINI.— Together with his brother Victor, 
Ferdinand Ambrosini has been engaged in dairying most of the time since 
coming to California, and the firm of F. and V. Ambrosini is well and fav- 
orably known among the dairymen of Humboldt county, this state, both 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1111 

men being members of the Ferndale Dairymen's Association and the Fern- 
dale Cow Testing Association. 

A native of Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Ferdinand Ambrosini 
was born in that distant country November 14, 1873, the son of Gervaso, 
and grandson of Gregori Ambrosini, the latter having been a farmer and 
land-owner in Switzerland, as well as a member of the town council and 
the descendant of an old family in that district. Ferdinand Ambrosini's 
father was also a farmer and dairyman and member of the town council, of 
which he was for many years president, or mayor, and both himself and 
his wife, Maria (Sacchi) Ambrosini died in their home canton. They were 
the parents of five children-, four of whom are living : Ferdinand and Victor, 
now in partnership in California ; Theodorlinda, now the wife of Cipriano 
Ambrosini of Glenn county, and Severina, the wife of Sylvio Sacchi of 
Sonoma count}^ The sons were reared on the home farm, received their 
education in the local public schools and learned farming and dairying as 
they were carried on in that country. On February 3, 1892, attracted by 
the good reports he had heard of the opportunities for young men in Cali- 
fornia, the son Ferdinand set out for San Francisco, via New York, arriving 
in Humboldt county, Cal., on the twenty-fifth of the same month. Here 
he soon went to work on a dairy ranch of the Russ estate on Bear River 
Ridge, and in 190O became foreman of the Woodland Echo ranch. In 1903 
he and his brother Victor rented this ranch and also the Mayflower ranch of 
twenty-six hundred acres, where they engaged independently in dairying, 
milking one hundred seventy cows. All these years Mr. Ambrosini had 
been engaged in the making of butter, putting it up in squares, cubes and 
kegs, shipping it from Ferndale to Eureka and San Francisco at the rate 
of about three thousand pounds a month, and obtaining as high prices as 
any of the creameries. In the fall of 1913 he and his brother gave up the 
two ranches, having in 1910 purchased seventy -two acres of the Greis 
ranch adjoining Ferndale on the northeast, which they rented for dairy 
purposes until giving up their other ranches in 1913, at which time they 
engaged in dairying upon the seventy-two acres, adding thereto rented land 
of thirty-seven acres, so that at present they operate one hundred ten acres 
of rich bottom land, raising thereon large crops of hay and green feed 
for their herd of about seventy-five high grade Jersey and Durham milch 
cows, one of the latter having made the best record for milk in 1914 of 
thirty-five hundred cows whose record was kept by the association, having 
produced fifteen thousand, two hundred thirty-two pounds of milk in nine 
months. The Ambrosini brothers are also engaged in cattle raising, for 
which purpose they rent the Guthrie ranch of six hundred six acres, located 
ten miles below Ferndale, on the coast. 

Politically, Mr. Ambrosini is an upholder of Democratic principles, he 
was a member of the board of trustees of Bunker Hill school district for 
two terms, and served one year as clerk of the board ; and he is at present a 
stockholder in the Russ- Williams Banking Company. His marriage took 
place in Ferndale, ]\Irs. Ambrosini having been formerly Louisa Biasca, of 
Lodrino, Switzerland, and they are the parents of seven children : Edna, 
Severina, Louis, Elsie, Wesley, William and Donald, all of whom are at home 
with their parents. 



1112 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT' COUNTY 

JAMES JOHN CRONIN.— It is wide-awake men like James J. Cronin, 
men of optimism, ability and pluck, as well as high ideals and the courage 
of their convictions, that are bringing Humboldt, county to the front in the 
sisterhood of the California counties, making it second to none in the state. 

Mr. Cronin is a native of Nebraska, born at Bancroft, Cuming county, 
July 7, 1883. His father was Timothy Cronin, for many years a passenger 
conductor on the Grand Trunk Railway, while his mother was Margaret 
Cronin, a native of Canada. Later the father moved to Nebraska, where 
he took up land near Bancroft. The old Cronin homestead at Bancroft is still 
in the possession of the family, and is one of the local landmarks. The father 
died when James John was but two years of age and the mother continued 
to conduct the place, and there he grew to manhood, attending school and 
working on the farm. There were four children in the family, this one son 
and three daughters. They are : Mamie, who was Mrs. Kelly, of Bancroft, 
Neb., and who died in 1908 ; Nellie, now Mrs. James Gatzemeyer, of Ban- 
croft, Neb. ; and Alice, now Mrs. James Atkinson, of Scotia, Humboldt county, 
Cal. The mother is still living, and resides in Canada. 

Graduating from the public schools, Mr. Cronin entered business college 
in Lincoln, Neb., and completing his course he entered the employ of his 
brother-in-law, M. Kelly, in the general merchandise business at Bancroft, 
continuing in this position until 1900. He then came to California, locating 
at Eureka, where he engaged with the H. H. Buhne Hardware Company for 
five years, this being one of the finest hardware stores on the coast. Follow- 
ing this he went to Metropolitan, Humboldt county, and conducted the 
Metropolitan Lumber Company store for a year, and from there went to 
Scotia and took charge of the mill supplies and hardware stock for the 
Pacific Lumber Company, as store-keeper and purchasing agent. He re- 
mained with this company for a period of five years, and then returned to 
Eureka, and became traveling salesman for the Leutzinger & Lane Com- 
pany, handling grocery specialties, fruit, etc., traveling out of Eureka for a 
year, and covering all of Hurnboldt county. He then traveled for a year for 
the Eureka Foundry, and in December, 1913, he came to Fort Seward and 
became associated with the Helmke Mercantile Company, as manager, a posi- 
tion he was by experience well qualified to fill. In 1914 he was appointed post- 
master at Fort Seward. He took an active part in the commercial life of 
Fort Seward during the opening of the through line of the Northwestern 
Pacific Railroad to San Francisco. Resigning his position with the Helmke 
Mercantile Company as well as his commission as postmaster, in April, 1915, 
he accepted his present position as manager of the mercantile department of 
the Eel River Valley Lumber Company at Newburg, and removed to the latter 
place to take charge of the stores of this company. He is a man of experience 
in this line and is capable and wide awake to the needs of the business and 
the demands of the trade. His chief object is to meet the demand with an 
adequate supply and it is seldom indeed that he fails to do so. He is popular 
in the county, and is especially well known, having spent several years as a 
traveling salesman throughout the county, and elsewhere in northern Cali- 
fornia. He is very enthusiastic over the prospects of this section of the state 
and is certain that its business and commercial supremacy is an assured fact. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1113 

However, he never fails to aid any movement toward this desired end, and 
is untiring in his efforts to enhance the present prosperity of the county. 

While in the employ of the Buhne Company Mr. Cronin was married, 
in Eureka, on July 24, 1903, to Miss TiUie Barry, of that city. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cronin have become the parents of four children, three daughters and one 
son : Catherine, Dorothy, James John, Jr., and Elizabeth. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Cronin have a host of friends throughout the county, who esteem them 
for their personal worth and their kind and charitable dispositions. 

JOSEPH MOSSI was born in the village of Carena, Canton Ticino, 
Switzerland, February 10, 1882, the son of James and Anna (Buletti) Mossi, 
who are engaged in farming and dairying at Carena. They were the parents of 
twelve, children, nine of whom are living, Joseph being the youngest of the 
family. From a lad he made himself useful on the farm, excepting when he 
was attending the public schools. After completing his studies in the local 
school he assisted his parents until 1902, when he came to the United States, 
a desire he had cherished for some time. His first location was at Cheshire, 
Mass., where he was employed in factories for four and one-half years, after 
which he went to New York city, where he was employed in hotels for two 
an one-half years. In May, 1909, he came to California, and" at Santa Cruz 
spent nine months on a dairy. In April, 1910, he went to Petaluma, there alsO' 
working on dairies until the spring of 1913. It was in this year that he came 
to Humboldt county, and immediately found employment with a dairyman. 
He remained with this employer until November, 1914, when he determined' 
to start in business for himself and leased the present ranch of eighty acres,, 
two miles north of Ferndale, which he devotes to a dairy, having at present 
twenty-two milch cows, the product being sold to Libby, McNeill & Libby. 
The ranch lies in the Eel river bottom, the rich land raising ample hay and 
green feed for his herd. 

In South Adams, Mass., occurred the marriage of Joseph Mossi and 
Delfina Sarina, also a native of Ticino, and to them have been born four 
children, as follows : Albert, Harry, Mabel and Alvina. Mr. Mossi is an 
energetic and ambitious young man and the. success he is accomplishing is 
well merited. 

ANDREW GALLIA. — The proprietor of the Sequoia dairy, Andrew 
Gallia, is a progressive and enterprising young man. He was born in the 
Valtropia Valley, Province of Brescia, Italy, December 30, 1883. His father, 
Antonio Gallia, was a dairy farmer, so young Andrew naturally became famil- 
iar with the occupation he now follows when he was a young lad. After he 
had completed the public schools he aided his parents on the home farm until 
1903, when he made his way to Ticino, Switzerland, and there he was employed 
on a dairy in the Alps region. In 1906 he came to California. After spending 
a short time in Marin county, he hired out to a dairyman at Modesto, where 
he remained for eighteen months. In 1909 he came to Eureka, being employed 
for short periods on the Sweasey dairy and the Torkelsen dairy until 1910. 
In that year he started in the dairy business for himself and the outgrowth 
is the Sequoia dairy, where he is doing a successful business and has now a 
large number of customers. His dairy, which comprises two hundred acres 
of grazing land, which he leases, adjoins Sequoia Park. He has built up a 
splendid dairy herd and by his close application to business and the high 



1114 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

standard of the milk he retails he has met with well deserved success. Mr. 
Gallia is well liked and has made many friends since his advent in Hum- 
boldt county. 

JOHN AND ROCCO SCALVINI.— We find among the late comers to 
Humboldt county enterprising dairymen in John and Rocco Scalvini, natives 
of Bagnolo, Province of Brescia, Italy, born July 5, 1879, and August 15, 1885, 
respectively, and sons of. John Scalvini, who is represented in the sketch of his 
two other sons, George and Antone Scalvini. John and Rocco received a 
good training on the farm in Italy as well as good education in the public 
schools. In 1904 John came to the United States and located in Humboldt 
county, where he was employed on' dairies in the vicinity of Ferndale for 
five years. He then returned to Italy, spending seventeen months in his 
native land, when he again returned to Ferndale. 

Rocco Scalvini came to Syracuse, N. Y., in 1906, and worked on a railroad 
and in a soda factory for nine months. In April, 1907, he came to Ferndale, 
where he was busily employed on a farm and dairy until 1911, when the four 
brothers, John, Rocco, George and Antone leased the S. Smith ranch of ten 
hundred acres in the Guthrie district and operated a dairy. One year later 
John and Rocto purchased the interest of the other brothers and still con- 
tinue to operate the large ranch and dairy of seventy-five milch cows. The 
ranch is well adapted to dairying and the Scalvini brothers are meeting with 
merited success. Politically they believe the principles of the Republican party 
are for the best interests of the country. 

FRANK L. VANDUSEN.— It is interesting to chronicle the career of a 
man who has successfully held important positions and filled them ably and 
well, always being equal to the emergency. Such a man is Frank L. Van- 
dusen, who was born in Glens Falls, Warren county, N. Y., October 29, 1862. 
His father, James Walter Vandusen, a native of the same place, was descended 
from an old Knickerbocker family of New York. He was superintendent of a 
sawmill in Glens Falls and during the Civil war served in a New York regi- 
ment as a musician until the order to muster out all regimental bands. After 
the war he removed to Ottawa, Canada, where he was superintendent of the 
sawmill for the Brunson-Weston Lumber Co. He died in 1883, aged fifty- 
six years. The mother was Eliza (Crandle) Vandusen, also born in Glens 
Falls, N. Y. She died in Ottawa in 1912. Her brother, Stephen Crandle, came 
to California during the gold excitement, crossing the plains with ox teams in 
1849. He was afterwards a pioneer rancher near Petaluma, Sonoma county. 
Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. James W. Vandusen, only two are 
living. 

Frank L. Vandusen was the second oldest of the children comprising 
the parental family and he received a good education in the public schools 
of Ottawa. As a boy he worked around the sawmill of the Brunson-Weston 
Lumber Co., learning the business and working his way up in different depart- 
ments of the mill. When his father died he succeeded him as superintendent 
of the mill, being then twenty years of age, and continued in that capacity 
until all available timber was used up and the mill closed down. Mr. Van- 
dusen then went across the Ottawa river to Hull, Quebec, entering the employ 
of the E. B. Eddy Manufacturing Company as mill superintendent and three 
months later was made assistant superintendent of the plant, continuing for 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1115 

a period of twelve years. In 1909 he accepted a position with the Brunson- 
Weston people, owners of the Little River Redwood Lumber Company, with 
a mill at Bulwinkle, Humboldt county, of which he became superintendent 
in February, 1909. Ever since he has held the position, performing his duties 
with care and efficiency that years of experience in the lumber industry have 
made possible. During the six years he has been connected with the mill it 
has not shut down for repairs and no repairs have ever been made on Sundays. 
Mr. Vandusen has applied himself closely to his calling and from the time 
he was twenty, when he was made mill superintendent, began studying 
mechanical drawing and he has become very proficient, so much so that he 
makes all his drawings of new and old work, and is thoroughly familiar with 
every part of the work in- hand. 

i\Irs. Vandusen was in maidenhood Florence Graham, a native of Ottawa, 
of Scotch parents and a lady of good family and refinement who presides 
over his home with grace and dignity. By his former marriage Mr. Van- 
dusen has a daughter. Ruby, who is a graduate of ]\liss Heads' school in 
Berkeley. 

Mr. Vandusen was made a oMason in Eddy Lodge No. 41, F. & A. M., at 
Hull, Quebec, and still holds membership in that lodge, besides which he 
is a member of Ottawa Lodge No. 224, I. O. O. F., of which he is past Grand, 
and of Geo. B. Encampment, I. O. O. F. in Ottawa. He is also a member of 
the Hoo Hoo's, an organization among lumber men. He has a deep regard for 
Christianity and' is a member of the Christian church, while politically he is 
a Republican. Mr. Vandusen is intensely interested in the lumber manu- 
facturing of Humboldt county and has plans for making a practical use of the 
waste of the mills that otherwise would go to the slab fire. His experience in 
the East with E. B. Eddy & Co. demonstrated to him that all the waste can 
be manufactured into useful articles, such as pails, tubs, washboards, brush- 
backs, matches, etc., and would create new industries for the county and 
give employment to many people. 

WILLIAM W. PASS. — A native son of Humboldt county, born in 
Eureka September 17, 1882, AVilliam AV. Pass is the son of William Venables 
and Frances (]\IcConaghy) Pass, natives of Liverpool, England, and York 
county. New Brunswick, respectively. 'When a child the father came to New 
Brunswick with his parents, AA^illiam and Martha (Colburn) Pass, and there 
he grew to manhood, following lumbering until 1875, when he came to Cal- 
ifornia and followed lumbering until his death. AVilliam W. Pass' great grand- 
mother was the Rev. Mrs. Venables of Liverpool, England, and Mrs. Martha 
(Colburn) Pass was a sister of the late Andrew Colburn, of St. John, New 
Brunswick. 

AA'illiam AA\ Pass was reared in Eureka and received his education in the 
public schools and after completing it he entered the employ of the Vance 
Lumber Company at Essex, in the cook house. Later he held the same posi- 
tion at the Newburg Mills, where he remained about five years, then for 
four and one-half years was with the Occidental Company in the same 
capacity, afterwards he was for two and one-half years with the Hammond 
Company. 

In October, 1911, Mr. Pass came to Bulwinkle, entering the employ of 
the Little River Redwood Company. He has continued with them as cook 
ever since and is prominent among the citizens of Eureka. 

46 



1116 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Pass was married in Eureka in 1904 to Miss Ola May Cartwright, 
the daughter of J. F. Cartwright, one of the very old settlers of Areata. Mr. 
and Mrs. Pass have two children, William and Auda. Fraternally he is a 
member of Eureka Lodge No. 8012, M. W. A. 

BERT HUGO TORONI was born at Vogorno, Canton Ticino, Switz- 
erland, March 8, 1885. His father, Battiste, was also a native of Ticino. At 
the time of the mining excitement in Australia he was one of the gold- 
seekers and followed mining at Greenfield, Australia, in which he was quite 
successful. After sixteen years he came to San Francisco and followed 
gardening near that city for eleven years, when he returned to Ticino, where 
he was married to Catherina Jacobs, and he settled down to farming near 
Vogorno. The father is dead ; the mother still resides on the old home place. 
Of their eleven children, Bert is the second youngest, receiving his education 
in the schools of Vogorno, after which he was apprenticed as a baker, follow- 
ing that trade for two years and eight months. From a child he had a desire 
to visit the Pacific coast, a desire that came to him naturally from hearing 
his father tell of his experiences in foreign lands. He also had a brother Joe 
F., an aunt, Mrs. Victoria Moranda, in Humboldt county. So- in April, 1901, 
he reached Eureka. He found employment immediately on the Bunker Hill 
ranch, on Bear River ridge, where he continued for nearly three years, and 
then on the Mayflower ranch in the same vicinity for four years, when, having 
practiced economy, he was in a position to start dairying on his own account. 
Leasing the Clausen ranch near Waddington for two years, and then a ranch 
on Paradise Island, which he ran for seven months and sold out, in 1913 he 
leased a part of the Herrick place of two hundred twenty acres at Loleta, 
where he milked sixty cows. Selling his lease at a good profit in 1914, he 
purchased twenty acres on Cock Robin island, which he devotes exclusively 
to dairying, owning a splendid herd of fifteen milch cows. The soil is rich bot- 
tom land and he raises large crops of hay and green feed. 

In Ferndale, December 8, 1908, Mr. Toroni was married, being united 
with Amelia Nellie Mary Genzoli, a native daughter of Capetown, Humboldt 
county, the daughter of Maurilo and Rosina (Minnetta) Genzoli, natives of 
Ticino, Switzerland. The father was one of the first Swiss settlers of Hum- 
boldt county, where he is one among the most prominent and prosperous 
dairymen in the county, now operating a large dairy at Capetown; he also 
owns a ranch at Newman, Cal., and another at Willows, and is well and fav- 
orably known. Mrs. Toroni is the oldest of four living children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Genzoh. She was educated in the public schools at Capetown and 
is the mother of three children : Rosa, Clara and M^argaret. Politically Mr. 
Toroni is a firm believer that the principles set forth by the Republican party 
are for the best interest of the whole country. Personally, Mr. Toroni is a 
very pleasant and agreeable man, and he is well liked by all who know him. 

SECUNDO CRIVELLI.— Secundo Crivelli was born at Toricella, near 
Logarno, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, July 6, 1884. His father Giuseppe Cri- 
velli, was a bricklayer and was foreman on the construction of buildings for 
many years in Paris, until his marriage to Carolina Mayistretti, after which 
he engaged in farming and dairying in Ticino, where he raised his family. 
They are now retired and make their home with their son, Secundo, on Elk 
river. They were the parents of eight children, as follows : Silvio resides 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 1117 

at Loleta ; John, of Alton ; Antone lives in Yuba county ; Secundo, of whom 
we write ; Charles J., a dairyman near Loleta ; Olympia, Mrs. Fasoletti, lives 
near Grizzly Bluff; Teresa, Mis. Fasoletti, lives in Switzerland; Rosa, Mrs. 
Rezzonico, also of Grizzly Bluff. 

Secundo Crivelli received a good education in the public schools until 
twelve years of age, when he was apprenticed at the bricklayer's trade in 
Paris, and after completing the trade he followed it in France and afterwards 
in Switzerland until November, 1905, when he came to California, persuaded 
by the good reports he had heard that he could better his condition here. He 
came to Petaluma and was employed on the Lakeville ranch. In 1907 he came 
to Eureka and was emplo3^ed on a dairy at Loleta, then for a time on Salmon 
Creek, when he returned to Loleta and was employed on the dairy of Antone 
Rava for eighteen months. Having saved enough money to start in business, 
he formed a partnership with his brother, Charles ]., and leased a part of the 
Herrick ranch at Loleta and there operated a dairy of eighty cows. A year 
later he sold his interest to his brother and came to Elk river. In November, 
1911, he leased the James Nellison place of about one hundred sixty acres, 
which he devofes to dairying ; a year later he rented an additional twenty-one 
acres adjoining for two years. However, at present he runs the Nellison 
ranch where he has a dairy of twenty-four cows. The place is rich bottom land 
where he has plenty of pasture and also raises ample feed for his herd. 

In Eureka occurred the marriage of.. ]\Ir. Crivelli and j\Irs. Amelia 
(Trippi) Christanini, a native of Lucca, Italy, and to them have been born 
two children : Simeon and Lorenz. By her former marriage Mrs. Crivelli had 
one child, Joseph. In his political views Mr. Crivelli espouses the principles 
of the Republican party. 

VALENTINE FRANCIS HARRIS.— The superintendent of Sequoia 
Park, V. F. Harris, is well and favorably known in Eureka for his great inter- 
est in the improvement of the park. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, 
February 14, 1849, the son of William Harris, born in England, where he 
married Miss Leone Conley and they removed to New Zealand, and in 1852 
brought their family to San Francisco, when V. F. was three years of age. 
He received his education in the public schools of California, after which he 
followed mining and ranching, coming to Humboldt county in September, 
1871, and November 25, 1881, locating in Eureka where he has since resided, 
being variously employed until June 14, 1904, when he was appointed superin- 
tendent of Sequoia Park, and has held this position ever since, except two 
years he was out on account of the change of administration, after which he 
was reappointed, August 7, 1907, and the concensus of opinion is that he has 
filled the position satisfactorily and well, and indeed he gives all of his time 
to looking after the Park and seeing that it is well kept. 

The Park was purchased from Bartten Glatt in 1894 by the city of Eureka 
and work was begun on its improvement, June 14, 1904, and under Mr. Harris' 
superintendence it has been transformed from an old log claim to a beautiful 
park. The fifty acres are laid out with beautiful roads and walks and an 
artificial lake has been constructed. Mammoth Sequoias that have fallen he 
has converted into bridges and others are made into stairways, giving a 
splendid rustic effect. There are a children's playground, band stand and 
picnic grounds, in different parts of the park, arranged with seats and tables. 



1118 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

as well as furnaces to aid in preparing the lunches. The zoo is a most inter- 
esting feature, containing deer, elk, etc., the whole giving a most pleasing 
effect. 

He was married, on Table Bluff, to Mary Griffin, who was born in Shasta 
county, and they have one child, Mary, Mrs. Murphy, of Eureka. 

ZACHARIAS LEONARDI.— Among the men who have come to Hum- 
boldt county from Sunny Italy we find Zacharias Leonardi, who was born 
near Monte Crestese, near Domodosola, Province of Novara Piermotte, Italy, 
May 30, 1884. His father Angel Leonardi was quite an extensive farmer until 
his demise. After completing the public schools, he continued on the home 
farm at Monte Crestese helping his father until May, 1912, when he came to 
Humboldt county, California, being in the employ of his brother James 
Leonardi on Eel River Island until he determined to engage in dairying on his 
own account. In November, 1913, he leased the present place of 40 acres 
from L. Petersen which he devotes to a dairy of twenty-two cows. The place 
is bottom land, enabling him to raise ample feed for his herd. The marriage 
of Mr. Leonardi and Marie Daoro occurred in Ferndale, and to them have 
been born two children, Marie and Racpele. 

GERVAISO AND ANGELICA BIASCA.— The West Point dairy ranch 
is at present operated by Gervaiso and Angelica Biasca, brother and sister, 
and they are meeting with deserved success. They were born in Prosilo, near 
Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland. Their parents were Gervaiso and Man- 
sueta (Fogliani) Biasca, farmer folk on the Ticino river, who are still living 
on their farm near Prosilo. They were the parents of seven children as fol- 
lows : Theodora, died at thirty-six years ; Louigina, the wife of Ferdinand 
Ambrosini, residing at Ferndale; Mansueta, Mrs. Charles Berti, of Cape- 
town ; Angelica and Gervaiso, of this review ; Mary and Louis, residing with 
their parents in Ticino. The children all received a good education in the 
local public schools. Angelica came to Humboldt county in 1909, remaining 
with her sister Mrs. Ambrosini until she engaged in business with her 
brother Gervaiso, who came to Humboldt county in 1912, and was employed 
on the Woodland Echo ranch for Ferdinand Ambrosini. In 1914 with his 
sister Angelica, he leased the West Point ranch, where they are meeting with 
deserved success in dairying, having a herd of sixty-five milch cows. By the 
aid of a gas engine, they separate the cream and make butter, which is made 
into cubes and squares and shipped to San Francisco. In addition to dairy- 
ing they also raise cattle and hogs. West Point is a large ranch located on 
the Pacific Ocean near Capetown. The Biascas are members of the Catholic 
church at Ferndale. 

JOSEPH BONOMINI. — A man of much energy and perseverance is 
Joseph Bonomini, a dairyman on ]\Iad river, across from Blue Lake. He was 
born at Livemmo, province of Brescia, Italy, June 22, 1879, being the third 
oldest of four children born to Giuseppe and Fiori (Ramboldini) Bonomini. 
His father was a farmer and dairyman and Joseph learned butter and cheese- 
making, meantime receiving a good education in the public schools of his 
old home. From reports received he was desirous of trying his fortunes in 
California, wages and opportunities being greater here than in his mother 
country, so in February, 1904, he came to California and very soon afterward 
located in Humboldt county. His funds were very much depleted and he 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1119 

immediately sought work, which he obtained on the Sweasey dairy, near 
Eureka. He was a steady, industrious young man and remained there for a 
period of five years. Next he worked one season for John Ballatti at Loleta, 
when he concluded to engage in dairying as an occupation. With that end 
in view he rented about three hundred ten acres of the Herrick place at 
Loleta, afterwards taking in his two brothers as partners, where they operated 
a dairy of from eighty-five to one hundred cows. While thus engaged, he with 
five other ranchers, bought the creamery in their locality. Mr. Bonomini was 
its secretary and afterward its president. 

In 1913-14 the dyke broke and the flood came so quickly that it caught 
some of his dairy herd and 'he lost twenty-six cows. In 1914 he sold his lease 
and came to West End, in the vicinity of Blue Lake, and leased his present 
place, which he devotes to a dairy of thirty cows. This place is rich bottom 
land, where he has ample pasture and raises sufficient green feed for his herd. 

Mr. Bonomini's first marriage occurred in Italy, he being there united with 
Angela Turrizanuni, who died in her native Italy, leaving one child, Angela 
Mary. He was married again, in Eureka, to Mary Pillottia, a native of Mura, 
Brescia, Italy, and they leave two children : Fiori and Joseph. Fraternally 
he is a member of Loleta Lodge No. 56, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
and politically he is a Democrat. 

PETER FASOLETTL— Peter Fasoletti is a native of Bellenzona, Ticino, 
Switzerland, born in 1864. He was raised a farmer lad and received a good 
education in the local schools, after which he apprenticed and learned the 
machinist trade. He spent fifteen years as a machinist in the railroad shops 
at Bellenzona, after which he was employed at his trade in the railroad shops 
in Setti, France, afterwards returning to Switzerland. In 1912 he brought his 
family to Humboldt county. He was employed on a dairy in Elk River and 
afterwards at Loleta until November, 1914. He then started in dairying for 
himself, leasing the present place of 56 acres at Grizzly Bluffs, being rich 
bottom land, this producing ample feed for his dairy herd of twenty-four cows. 
Mr. Fasoletti was married in Bellenzona, being united with Miss Olympia 
Crivelli. also a native of Ticino and a sister of Charles J. and Secundo Crivelli, 
a dairyman in Humboldt county. To Mr. and Mrs. Fasoletti have been born 
two children, Leonardo and Americo. 

SILVIO DOMENIGHINI.— The Alps region in Switzerland has sent 
many substantial settlers to California, who have won success in the various 
lines of business they have chosen. Among these we find Silvio Domenighini, 
who is engaged in dairying near Fortuna. Lie was born in Vogorno, Canton 
Ticino, September 26, 1877. His father Bartol owned a farm at Vogorno 
which he operated until his death. By his union with Severina Anselmi, who 
still resides on the old home place, he had seven children, as follows: Olivia, 
Mrs. Gambonini, and Angelina, Mrs. Cordo, reside in Ticino ; Silvio, of whom 
we write; Salvatori, Charles and Bartol, reside in Coos county, Oregon, and 
William lives near Ferndale. 

Silvio received a good education in the schools of his native place, after 
which he continued to assist his parents until the age of twenty, when he 
enlisted in the Swiss army, serving the required time, when he was honorably 
discharged, after which he concluded to come to California to better his con- 
dition, and in January, 1899, he arrived in San Francisco. The first seven 



1120 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 

months were spent in a dairy in Marin county, and in August of 1899 he came 
to Humboldt county. He was employed for eighteen months in the dairy of 
Joe Moranda at Loleta, after which he followed the same line of work in 
Salmon Creek and Ferndale, when he drifted into Coos county, Oregon, where 
he spent two years, after which he returned to Loleta and leased a dairy ranch 
of forty acres from Bartol Moranda, having a herd of twenty cows and con- 
tinuing there for a period of five years. In November, 1913, he leased the pres- 
ent place of forty-five acres, just south of Fortuna, devoted to dairying. This 
place is fertile bottom land on which he raises large crops of feed for his 
twenty-six milch cows and is making a decided success. 

In Ferndale, September 23, 1911, occurred the marriage of Mr. Domen- 
ighini with Nancy Gamboni, also a native of Vogorno, and they have two 
children, Silvio Fred and Severina Emma. Politically he espouses the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party. 

CLAUS NISSEN RASMUSSEN.— The Elk River Creamery is in charge 
of a very energetic and capable young man, Claus N. Rasmussen, who is well 
versed and experienced in the minute details of the business. He was born 
near Tondern, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Sept. 5, 1888, the second oldest 
of a family of six children born to Rasmus and Martha (Christiansen) Ras- 
mussen. He received his education in the public schools of that vicinity. 
When fifteen he determined to come to Humboldt county, Cal., where he had 
an uncle Anton Rasmussen engaged in dairying. Arriving in 1903 he was in 
hJs uncle's employ for eighteen months and then worked for others in the 
same vicinity until 1909, when he entered the employ of the California Central 
Creameries, being for the first few months at the Crown Creamery, located 
on Eel River Island, and before the close of the year was placed in charge of 
the Elk River Creamery, a position he has held ever since, performing his 
duties satisfactorily to his employers as well as his patrons. This creamery is 
the receiving station for milk for Elk River and vicinity, the separated cream 
being sent to the main plant in Eureka. This plant also manufactures casein 
and full cream cheese, using about five thousand pounds of milk a day for 
making cheese. 

Mr. Rasmussen was married in Ferndale, being united with Miss Annie 
Elliers, who was also a native of Tondern and they have one child, Edith. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen were both reared in the Lutheran faith, and they 
still adhere to that religion. 

RUDOLPH DENNIS AMBROSINI, a leading dairyman of Capetown, 
was born at Prosito near Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, June 20, 1877. 
His father, Dennis Ambrosini, after spending many summers in Paris, France, 
working at his trade, settled on his farm on the Ticino river where he died 
in 1886. The mother was Celesta Biasca who still resides on the old home 
farm. Of their five children, four grew to maturity : Rudolph, of this review ; 
Max, who spent about twelve years in Humboldt county, but now resides in 
Ticino; Guttard is in the employ of our subject; James is a merchant in 
Ferndale. 

Rudolph Ambrosini received a good education and from a lad learned 
dairying as it was done in the Alps region. Having heard good reports of 
wages and opportunities for young men in California, he concluded to try 
to better his condition and when seventeen left his home and kindred, arriving 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1121 

in Eureka, Humboldt county, Feb. 5, 1896. After working for a short time on 
a dairy on Cannibal Island, he worked for about six years on different ranches 
near Ferndale, when he became foreman on the Mayflower ranch, a position 
he held for two years. His ambition was to have a dairy of his own, and 
having saved some money, in 1903 he leased the Mountain View ranch of 
fourteen hundred acres and for eight years devoted his time to dairying, milk- 
ing an average of eighty-five cows. On the expiration of his lease he obtained 
a lease of the Frank Peters ranch at Capetown. This is one of the most val- 
uable dairy ranches on the coast, comprising four hundred fourteen acres on 
Bear river. He has a splendid dairy comprising Guernseys and Holsteins, 
sixty-five cows in all ; he also raises cattle. With the aid of a steam engine, 
he runs his separator and manufactures butter which is put up in squares for 
family trade and sold in Ferndale and Eureka, while the surplus is shipped to 
San Francisco. The marriage of Mr. Ambrosini occurred in Ferndale where 
he was united with Carrie Mead, a native of Kansas. Her father, Alfred 
Mead moved from Kansas to Oregon, afterwards coming to Humboldt 
county, now residing in Bridgeville. To them have been born five children : 
Ernest, Dennis, Irene, Alma and Roland. For the past four years Mr. Am- 
brosini has been a member of the board of school trustees for Capetown dis- 
trict and is clerk of the board. Politically he believes the principles of the 
Republican party are for the best interests of the whole country. 

ALBERT LUNDBERG.— The son of Judge F. A. Lundberg, a prominent 
attorney and judge in Stockholm, Sweden, Albert Lundberg, now a trusted 
employee of the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company of Falk, Cal., with 
which firm he has been connected for thirty years, was born in Westrejot- 
land, Sweden, on June 19, 1856, and grew up in the city of Stockholm, where 
he was educated in the public schools and academy. After the completion 
of his education, Mr. Lundberg started in the grocery business in that city, 
continuing in that line of business until the year 1884, at which time he sold 
his business, the next year coming to California, where he located at Eureka, 
in Humboldt county, with his wife and daughter, in which county he has 
made his home ever since. His first employment on coming to California 
was with the Janes Creek Mill, where he continued for a period of three 
years. Removing to Falk, in the same county, he was next in the employ of 
the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, where he has since remained con- 
tinuously. This mill was built about the year 1886, and since 1888 Mr. Lund- 
berg has been employed there, beginning work as the operator of a planer, 
and two years later being made foreman of the yards, which position he has 
held ever since. For six years Mr. Lundberg held the office of trustee of the 
Jones Prairie school district, and throughout that time was also clerk of the 
school board, one of his greatest interests being the cause of education, as 
well as the advancement and upbuilding of the town and county where he has 
made his home. In his religious associations he is a Lutheran, while his polit- 
ical connections are with the Republican party. 

Mr. Lundberg has been twice married, his first marriage having taken 
place in Stockholm, uniting him with Miss Selma Gathlin, a native of the same 
vicinity, who died in Falk, Cal., leaving one daughter, Mrs. Julia Swenson, a 
resident of Portland, Ore. The second marriage of Mr. Lundberg occurred in 
Eureka, the bride being Miss Louisa Knudsen, who was born in Bergen, Nor- 



1122 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

way, and came to Oakland, where she became a graduate nurse, her brother. 
Captain L. J. Knudsen, having also made his home in California, where he is 
a prominent master mariner in San Francisco. 

GEORGE F. MELLER.— A native son of Humboldt county, and one 
coming of a fine old family, is George F. Meller, who was born at Salmon 
Creek, April 30, 1872, the son of Henry S. Meller, born at Nazareth, Pa., who 
crossed the plains to California in an ox-team train in 1850. A butcher by 
trade, he established himself in that business in Sacramento, but was burned 
out in the great fire in that city. He was married in Sacramento to iMargaret 
Jamison, a native of the state of Iowa, who had come across the plains with 
her parents in 1850, and is now living at Oakland, Cal., at the age of eighty- 
two years, her husband having died in 1889. After being burned out in Sac- 
ramento, Henry S. Meller and his family removed to southern Oregon, where 
he operated a saw mill and also engaged in other business until about the 
year 1868, when he came to Humboldt county and settled at Table Bluff, 
later locating on Salmon Creek, where he was engaged in farming, stock- 
raising and butchering, running a butcher wagon throughout that part of the 
county. Of his family of eight children, five were sons and three daughters. 
His son George F., was sixth in order of birth, and grew up on the farm at Sal- 
mon Creek, receiving his education in the local public schools, after which he 
was engaged in work upon the ranch until his father's death. He then 
entered the employ of the JNIilford Land and Lumber Company on Salmon 
Creek, where he remained for four years, then working for a year in the 
woods on the Freshwater. In 1895 he went to Usal, in Mendocino county, 
where he was in the employ of the Usal Lumber Company for two years, 
during this time learning the filing of saws. Next he went to Greenwood, 
where for a year he was filer in the mill of the L. E. White Lumber Company, 
returning thereafter to Humboldt county, where he took the position of head 
filer for the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia, continuing there for a period of 
eight years. Thence he removed to Bayside, during the erecting of a mill 
there, remaining in that work for a period of three months, after which he 
spent four months as filer at Lamoine, Shasta county, holding a similar posi- 
tion at Metropolitan mill for six months. In February, 1907, he accepted his 
present position as head filer at the Falk Mill for the Elk River Mill and Lum- 
ber Company, where he is rendering active and efficient service. 

The political interests of Mr. Meller are with the Republican party, while 
his fraternal connections are with the Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., his 
wife being a member and past president of the Ladies' Circle of the Grand 
Army of the Republic at Eureka. Mr. Meller was married at Rockport, ]\Ien- 
docino county, to Effie Albert, born in Yuba county, where she grew up and 
was educated, and they are the parents of one daughter, Margaret Meller, a 
pupil in the Eureka High School. Mrs. Meller's father, James W. Albert, 
served in the Civil war and followed mining in the Sierra region. 

MARTIN F. MOZZINI.— The proprietor of the Excelsior Dairy in 
Humboldt county, Cal., is Martin F. Mozzini, a splendid young business man, 
who, from childhood, has been acquainted with ranching, dairying and the 
stock business, having assisted his mother, Mrs. Antoinetta Mozzini, in those 
lines at her Loleta ranch before engaging in business for himself. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1123 

Born at Santa Cruz, Cal., January 10, 1892, Mr. Mozzini is a true native 
son of California, though of foreign ancestry, and his life thus far has been 
spent in ranching and dairying pursuits in this western state. At four years 
of age he removed with his mother to Humboldt county, where he has since 
resided, and here received his early education in the public schools of Loleta, 
completing this instruction with a course at the Eureka Business College, 
where he was graduated on April 29, 1909. For a time he assisted in the 
management of his mother's business at Loleta, also being employed at the 
Buhne dairy, and after this practical experience he determined to go. into 
business independently. Accordingly, in September, 1914, he bought out 
the Excelsior Dairy and leased his present ranch at Elk River Corners, which 
comprises one hundred thirty acres of bottom land, whereon he operates a 
large dairy, milking a herd of eighty cows. His dairy is sanitary and kept up 
in the best modern fashion, the cows being carefully fed and cared for, and on 
his fertile land he raises ample hay and green feed for his stock. The product 
of his dairy he sells at both wholesale and retail in the city of Eureka, a small 
auto truck being used for the delivery of the milk, which simplifies the busi- 
ness for himself and increases the convenience and promptness with which his 
patrons are served. Aside from his dairy, Mr. Mozzini is also engaged in 
stock-raising to a considerable extent, and has purchased stock in various 
portions of Humboldt county, where he is well and favorably known as an 
upright business man, successful in all his undertakings. In his political affil- 
iations, Mr. Mozzini is a believer in the principles of the Republican party, 
and, like many others of California's native sons, is an ardent protectionist. 
His fraternal connections are with the Fraternal Brotherhood and the Knights 
of Columbus of the city of Eureka, where he is also a member of the Eureka 
Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. 

MRS. TERESA YERMINI.— An enterprising woman, of much energy 
and native ability, Mrs. Teresa Yermini of Eureka, Cal., has met with success 
in her business undertakings and is the proud mother of a family of talented 
children. 

Born in Camorino, in Bellinzona, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Mrs. Yer- 
mini was the daughter of Martin Mozzini, a native of that place and a promi- 
nent farmer and dairyman, his wife having been Martha Mozzini, both having 
died in their native country. Mrs. Yermini received a good education in the 
local public schools, and in the year 1886 came to California, her brother 
Stephen then residing at San Luis Obispo, this state, and at that place she 
was married, on November 17, 1887, to John Yermini, a native of the same 
place as herself, and the son of Casper Yermini, a well-to-do farmer and also 
for many years the mayor of Camorino. John Yermini had been educated in 
the public schools at his home, and in 1879 had come to California, locating 
in Humboldt county, where he followed dairying. After his marriage he 
brought his bride to Ferndale, where he operated a dairy of sixty-seven milch 
cows on a fine ranch. In the early days the milk was panned, the cream 
skimmed by hand, but later a separator was used, the churning done by horse 
power, and the butter shipped to Eureka and San Francisco markets. Mr 
Yermini was one of the original stockholders and builders of the old Eel 
River Creamery in the vicinity of Waddington, this being the second creamery 
built in Humboldt county. Afterwards he conducted a dairy of sixty cows at 



]124 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Fortuna for thirteen years. Making several trips back to his old home in 
Switzerland, Mr. Yermini, on the death of his father, fell heir to the old 
farm in Camorino and located on it, assuming the duties of his illustrious 
parent who was deceased. The wife and children of Mr. Yermini, however, 
preferred to remain in Humboldt county, this having been the birthplace of 
all the children, and accordingly they returned to California, where the edu- 
cation of the children was continued and the mother established herself suc- 
cessfully in business. In 1911, Mrs. Yermini leased her present place, the 
Zanone ranch on the Elk river, comprising seventy acres of rich bottom land 
which yields an abundance of crops of hay and green feed for the herd of 
thirty cows of the Jersey and Holstein breeds, Mrs. Yermini being also engaged 
in stock-raising here and making a specialty of growing potatoes for the 
local market. In her political preferences she is a stanch Republican, like 
many others from her native country who have settled in this state, being a 
strong protectionist. She holds an enviable position in the respect and admi- 
ration of all who know her, because of her many fine qualities, her integrity, 
and kind and generous impulses. 

Mr. and Mrs. Yermini are the parents of six children, Teresa M., a grad- 
uate of the Eureka Business College ; Marina Laura, a graduate of the Fortuna 
high school and the San Jose State Normal School, and now teaching in her 
home county ; Ida M., a graduate of the Nazareth Academy, and stenographer 
for the Eureka Merchants' Association ; Ernest P. and Milio B., both of whom 
assist their mother on the ranch ; and Cora Judith, who is attending the Eureka 
high school. 

LOUIS B. MOSCHETTI.— Although born in Italy, where the rest of 
his family continue to make their home, Louis B. Moschetti has become a 
resident of the state of California, where he is making for himself a fine 
record in the dairy business near the city of Eureka, in Humboldt county, a 
section of the state which can boast of many active and efhcient sons of 
Switzerland and Northern Italy who have come here to better their fortunes. 

Born in Teglio, Sondrio, in Lombardia, Italy, August 3, 1891, the son of 
Bartol, a farmer and dairyman of that place who died on February 26, 1914, 
and Kathrina Betinelli, who still resides at the old home in Teglio, Louis B. 
Moschetti is the youngest of a family of seven children, and grew up as a 
farmer's boy in that part of Italy, receiving his education in the local public 
schools. Until sixteen years of age, he remained at home, helping his parents 
on the farm, but, concluding to try his fortunes and better his condition if 
possible in the new land of California, he came to the United States in 1907, 
where he secured employment on a farm in Yuba county, Cal., and later in 
the same line of work in Sutter county. In the year 1911 Mr. Moschetti re- 
moved to Humboldt county, securing employment on a dairy at Loleta. Three 
years later, in September, 1914, in partnership with M. F. Mozzini, he leased 
the Hinch place at Elk River Corners, but two months later the partnership 
was dissolved, Mr. Moschetti selling out his interest. He then leased the 
Jack Shanahan ranch, which consists of eighty-three acres located on Elk 
River, where he now operates a large dairy, comprising a herd of thirty cows, 
the ranch being well adapted to the purpose and enabling him to raise plenty 
of hay and green feed for his herd. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1125 

The marriage of Mr. Moschetti took place in Eureka, on February 26, 
1914, uniting him with Miss Martina Mozzini, who was born in Canton 
Ticino, Switzerland, the daughter of Antoinetta Mozzini, a prominent woman 
of Humboldt county where she is well known in the dairy business. Mrs. 
Moschetti grew up in Humboldt county, is a graduate of the Eureka Business 
College, and is in every way a capable helpmeet to her husband. They are the 
parents of one son, Eugene Louis. In his political views Mr. Moschetti is an 
upholder of the principles of the Republican party. 

WALTER HILTON PINKHAM.— Now that the opening of the Panama 
Canal is practically an accomplished fact, and the ship that sails from New 
York or other Atlantic ports, will find herself within the Golden Gate in a 
fraction of the time that was formerly required to make the journey from our 
greatest Eastern seaport to the greatest Western gateway, the men who took 
this same route half a century ago are recalling memories of their trip 
"across the Isthmus", when that stage of the journey was especially tedious 
and fraught with many dangers. There are many of the pioneers of an early 
day, nevertheless, who chose this route rather than face the danger and hard- 
ship of the trip across the Indian infested prairies, and to these the completion 
of this greatest undertaking of the age, assumes a peculiar interest. One such 
pioneer is Walter Hilton Pinkham, well known citizen of Humboldt county, 
where he has resided for many years, and in which he has extensive property 
interests. 

Born at Lexington, Somerset county, Me., April 24, 1849, the childhood 
and early youth of Mr. Pinkham were passed in the little village in Maine, 
where he received his early education, attending the public schools until he 
was sixteen. His father was Wright Hale Pinkham, a native of Brunswick, 
Me., who was for the greater part of his life engaged in the peaceful art of 
farming. At one time he owned and operated a saw mill in the Maine woods, 
and for a number of years he worked in the woods in winter, tilling his farm 
in the summer time. After leaving school the son assisted his father on the 
farm for a number of years, but letters continually received from two older 
brothers, giving flattering accounts of the opportunities offered for young men 
to rise in almost any chosen occupation, filled Walter with a growing desire 
to seek his own fortune in the golden West, and as soon as he was able to 
secure the consent of his parents, he joined his brothers in California. As 
said before, he made the journey by way of the Isthmus, landing in San Fran- 
cisco in 1867, from which he went into San Mateo county, where his brothers 
were located, and secured work in Pescadero, teaming. He remained in this 
vicinity for a number of years, operating his own teams and meeting with 
appreciable business success. He was constantly on the outlook, however, 
for opportunities to better his condition, and on January 8, 1873, he removed 
his family to Humboldt county, where he went to work in the lumber camps, 
teaming and logging for various lumber companies for four years. He was 
next associated with the Hooper Lumber Company, at Trinidad, where he 
was also employed in logging and teaming, remaining for five years. AVhile 
with this company he was sent to Trinidad in 1882, and the following year 
he entered the employ of Jim Kirk and Issac Alinor, logging on Mad river. 
Again in 1884 he worked at teaming for J. M. Gannon. 



1126 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

The roving nature of this employment did not please Mr. Pinkham and 
in 1885 he gave up such work and located in Trinidad, where he opened a 
hotel, which he conducted for many years. In 1902 he sold his interest in the 
hotel, retaining the saloon business, which he conducted separately. He still 
owns this business, but has retired from active participation in its manage- 
ment. Mr. Pinkham has been particularly successful as a hotel proprietor, 
and has secured possession of some valuable real estate, among which may be 
mentioned several timber claims in the mountains. 

Mr. Pinkham has been twice married, the first wife being Miss Martha 
Knowles, a native of Maine, their marriage taking place November 26, 1872. 
Three children were born of this union, two sons, George and Melvin, both 
deaceased, and a daughter Grace, Mrs. B. P. McConnaha, of Trinidad. The 
second marriage occurred June 26, 1902, in Trinidad, when Miss Mary Stewart, 
a native of New Brunswick, was the bride. One child has been born of this 
marriage, a son, Wright Hale Pinkham, named for his paternal grandfather. 

For over thirty years Mr. Pinkham has been a resident of Trinidad, and 
for nearly fifty years a resident of California. He is a man of sterling worth, 
a member of the old school, and a type of the early pioneer, which is fast 
passing from the scene of action. He is exceedingly proud of his young son, 
and is preparing to live life all over again in the fortunes of his heir. 

FRANK EUGENE FALOR.— California may well be proud to claim 
as one of her sons a man of as fine attributes as Frank Eugene Falor, who at 
the time of his death had been for twenty-five years a trusted and esteemed 
foreman of the Elk River Mill Company in charge of the Bucksport wharf and 
lumber yard of the firm. The Falors were pioneers of Alliance, Cal., and Frank 
Eugene was brought up on the old Falor farm above Alliance, having been 
born in Hoopa, inthe same county, April 26, 1861, and was a brother of A. A. 
Falor, well known in Alliance. The education of Mr. Falor was received in 
the public schools in the vicinity, after which he entered the emplpy of a lum- 
ber company and remained in that business until the time of his death. From 
1887 he was associated with the Elk River Mill Company as foreman of their 
Bucksport wharf and lumber yard. Mr. Falor was a man of integrity and 
uprightness devoting his entire time to his business, to the exclusion of all 
other interests, and enjoyed the esteem and trust of all who knew him. His 
death occurred January 17, 1913. 

In his political preferences Mr. F'alor was a Republican, and his fraternal 
associations included the Eastern Star, the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks and the Humboldt Lodge of Masons No. 79. By his marriage in 
Bucksport, on January 23, 1890, he was united with Miss Nina E. Cave, a 
native of Areata, Cal., where her father, Richard Cave, a pioneer from Iowa, 
who had crossed the plains with ox-teams in 1849, had cleared and improved a 
ranch, after some time spent in mining in this state. The parents of Miss 
Cave had been married in Areata, her mother having been Caroline Dodge, 
a native of Iowa, who had come with her parents to Areata where they died 
at the home which they had made and improved. Miss Cave, the next to 
the oldest in their family of seven children, received her education in the pub- 
lic schools of Areata, where she was later married to Mr. Falor, and is at 
present a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Areata Chapter of the 
Order of the Eastern Star. She became the mother of three children, Richard 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1127 

Irwin, Frank Eugene and Mae Falor, and since her husband's death has con- 
tinued to make her home in Bucksport. 

DANIEL WALTER McGOWAN.— Of Irish descent, Mr. McGowan 
was born in the state of AA'ashington, near Seattle, October 25, 1863, and is the 
son of Terence McGowan, a native of Ireland, having been born there about 
the year 1818. On coming to America, he first located in Portland, Maine, 
where he engaged in the tailoring business, and from there he came to the 
Pacific coast, settling in the state of Washington, where the city of Seattle 
now stands. Here he enlisted in the army and became the company tailor, 
but on being transferred to San Francisco he retired from the army and moved 
to Humboldt county, where he followed the tailoring trade until the time of 
his death, passing away at Areata. He married Ann Rigney also a native of 
Ireland, who came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and located 
with her husband in Areata where she passed away December 10, 1904. 
Daniel McGowan received his education in the public schools of San Fran- 
cisco but in 1870 the family moved to Areata and here his education was com- 
pleted, his teacher being Mrs. Todd. Leaving school, he first became em- 
ployed by AV. H. Murphy on his cattle ranch, driving, and later he entered 
the butcher shop of A. Chapman in whose employ he remained eight months, 
but on the nineteenth of October, 1880, he entered the shop of J. C. Bull, Jr., 
and there he has remained ever since, rising from a helper to the active man- 
agement of the business. During his thirty-three years of service with Mr. 
Bull he has served in every branch of the business and at the present time he 
has full charge of all affairs. There were only a few people in the vicinity of 
the store when it first opened and it is now doing a large and flourishing bus- 
iness, being the only butcher shop in Areata. His rise was entirely due to 
his own ability, trustworthiness and hard work and the model shop stands as 
a monument to his industry. He is the only man in the vicinity who has 
been employed for the length of time that he has, thirty-three years, and he 
is justly proud of his fine record. He has always taken an active part in all 
political matters, serving as City Trustee on the Republican ticket, and he 
is also a member of the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., F. O. E. of Areata, and 
Mrs. McGowan is a member of O. E. S. He was married in San Francisco, 
November 3, 1904, to Louise McClough, a native of England. He has always 
been an industrious, hard-working man and is admired and respected by the 
entire community. 

WILLIAM NELSON SPEEGLE.— Remarkably well fitted both by 
instinct and training, for the newspaper profession, William Nelson Speegle 
is the president, editor and general manager of the Standard Publishing Com- 
pany, publishers of the Humboldt Standard. Yet, a man endowed with native 
attainments as Mr. Speegle is, cannot well escape the calls of other activities, 
and so it comes that his name is linked closely with many of the leading 
activities of Eureka, his home city. 

Born in Monterey county, December 29, 1871, the son of M. M. Speegle 
and wife, California pioneers, AVilliam N. Speegle was educated in the public 
schools of Salinas and of Santa Rosa. On leaving high school he immediately 
found his way into a newspaper office and he has never yet found a desire 
to leave it. He first became a printer's apprentice on the Santa Rosa Repub- 
lican, but after learning the mechanical end of the newspaper business he 



1128 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

showed talents for other departments of the work and soon found himself 
in the "front office." 

In August, 1893, he came to Eureka to enter the employ of the Humboldt 
Standard and has been with that paper, in every executive capacity, until the 
present time when he is at its head. Conservative, intelligent and far-seeing 
in his business methods and dealings, to Mr. Speegle goes a large measure 
of the credit for building up in Eureka a newspaper of the high class which 
has been reached by the Humboldt Standard. 

But, as said before, his personal qualities have caused a heavy demand 
to be made upon him in lines of civic, social and fraternal activities. He was 
one of the charter members of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and has 
held every office in his lodge. He was one of the first to suggest the building 
of a lodge hall by the Eureka Elks, and the beautiful Elks' Club is the result. 
He was a member of the Elks Building Association at the time the hall was 
erected and still retains his membership and is prominent in its work. Mr. 
Speegle is also a Mason, being a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & 
A. M.; of Humboldt Chapter No. 53; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., 
and a member of Oakland Consistory of Scottish Rite Masons, and of Islam 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a Native Son and a member of 
Humboldt Parlor No. 14. 

In 1911 Mr. Speegle's work in the community was recognized when his 
appointment as postmaster at Eureka by President Taft was received with 
expressions of deep satisfaction throughout the city. Although he has long 
worked for the interest of the community, this is the only public office he 
has held with the exception of a brief term of service as a deputy county clerk. 
Mr. Speegle has always devoted his efforts to furthering the interests of others 
and it is not in his nature to seek personal reward. An attainment which has 
done much to bring the name of William Speegle into prominence is a naturally 
wonderful and well trained tenor voice, with which he often pleases Eureka 
audiences, being generous in giving his time and ability towards the pleasure 
of the community. 

His wife was formerly Miss Cora A. Thompson, a daughter of one of 
Eureka's most prominent families. 

LOT M. BROWN. — One of the enterprising and progressive residents 
of Humboldt county is Lot M. Brown, who for nearly forty years has made 
his home on the Pacific coast. Born in Winslow, Me., December 22, 1852, he 
was the son of Samuel W., also born in that town, and grandson of Dr. Ezekiel 
Brown, also a native of the state of Maine, who served as surgeon in the 
Revolutionary war and was a physician at Brown's Corners, in the town of 
Benton, Me., dying in the year 1844. His son, Samuel W., the father of Lot 
M. Brown, served in the War of 1812, and was engaged in farming at AVinslow, 
Me., during the greater part of his lifetime. The mother of Lot M. was Abigail 
Crosby, of Maine, daughter of Jesse Crosby, a farmer of that state, and she 
died at Winslow, having been the mother of nine children, three of whom are 
at present living: Mrs. J. M. Burrill, of Eureka; Lot M. Brown, and Mrs. 
Tozier, of Waterville, Me. 

Brought up at Winslow, Lot M. Brown received his education in the 
local public schools, and at the age of thirteen starting out to make his own 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1129 

way in the world. His first employment was upon neighboring farms, until 
the age of sixteen years, when he went to work on the river and in the woods ; 
on the former as a river driver, and in the woods driving bull teams. He also 
spent some time in Pennsylvania in the same work, and was likewise em- 
ployed in driving on the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers. It was in 1876 
that Mr. Brown came to the Pacific coast, locating first at Tacoma, Wash., 
where he was in the employ of Ezra Meeker in the construction of the North- 
ern Pacific Railroad for a year, going thence to Vancouver, B. C, where he 
drove ox teams for the hauling of logs in the woods. In 1879 he became 
proprietor of the Dayton Hotel at Vancouver, where he continued until 1881, 
in which year he sold his interests there and came to Eureka, Cal., which has 
been the principal place of his business ever since. Here he purchased the 
liquor business of Mr. Dabey in the Bay Hotel, on the present site of the 
Bank of Eureka, and continued it until 1888, when he sold out and built the 
Alton Hotel at Alton Junction, in Humboldt county, which hotel he con- 
tinued to run until the year 1892, at which time he sold out his interests at 
Alton and returned to Eureka. Soon afterwards he went into partnership with 
C. L. Pardee, the two men becoming proprietors of the Vance Hotel, which 
arrangement continued until 1897, when Mr. Brown sold out to become 
proprietor of the Union Hotel at Healdsburg, Sonoma county. Abandoning 
this in 1900, he spent some time at Verdi, Nev., running a hotel, returning to 
Eureka in 1902, where he opened his present establishment, where his enter- 
prise and popularity have caused it to be known always as Lot's Place. With 
his son-in-law, F. G. Hinds, he built the Sequoia Tavern at the entrance to 
Sequoia Park, Eureka, which is a beautiful and popular establishment, built 
upon a block of ground adjoining the giant redwood trees, and has in con- 
nection with it a ball room, ice cream parlor and refreshment room. 

In his political views Mr. Brown is a stanch Republican, and in fraternal 
circles he is known as a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal 
Order of Moose, while his interest in the progress of the city is shown by 
his membership in the Eureka Development Association. His marriage with. 
Miss Annie M. McDonald, a native of Calais, Me., was solemnized in Eureka,, 
and they have one child living, namely. Ruby, now the wife of Frank G. 
Hinds, an accomplished musician, who plays the clarionet and is president of 
the Musicians' Union in Eureka. Mr. Brown is the happy grandfather of four 
children, Charles E., Nina, Archie and Tot Hinds. 

JOSEPH CRIPPEN ALBEE.— California is always proud to remember 
the brave pioneers by whose efforts in the early days of the settlement of 
the country this western land of ours has come to its present prosperous con- 
dition — pioneers whose courage was not dampened by the hard and dangerous 
journey across the plains, by the struggle for existence in a new land, nor 
by the depredations of hostile Indian tribes. None holds a higher place 
among the early settlers of Humboldt county, Cal., than the father of Joseph 
Crippen Albee, Joseph Porter Albee, who like his wife, Calthea (Putnam) 
Albee, was a native of Huron county, Ohio, she having been descended from; 
the same family as Israel Putnam, and members of her family having takert 
part in the Revolutionary war. The parents of Joseph Crippen Albee were 
married in Ohio and removed to northern Illinois, where they carried on the 
occupation of farming. In 1849, at the time of the discovery of gold in Cali- 



1130 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

fornia, the father crossed the plains with ox teams, and became one of the 
first settlers in Weaverville, Cal., where he followed mining-, his wife and 
three daughters joining him in California, coming westward via the Isthmus 
of Panama in 1850. In the- autumn of 1852 Mr. Albee with the family re- 
moved to Humboldt county, making the journey on horseback over the 
mountains, accompanied by pack, mules and a few cattle, and in this new 
section made his home at Table Bluff until 1856, when the family moved to 
Redwood Creek, where he engaged in stock raising. He also conducted a 
hotel on the pack trail between Areata and the Klamath mines, and later, 
when the Indians went on the war path, the government sent soldiers to 
guard the house, the family staying there until 1862, when the soldiers were 
removed. After that Mr. Crippen moved his family to Areata, he himself 
going back and forth to his ranch, feeling no fear personally of the Indians, 
whom he had always treated with the utmost kindness, but during one of 
his trips to the ranch, in the fall of 1862, while plowing near the house he 
was shot by Indians in ambush and killed. After his death his wife con- 
tinued to reside for a time at Areata, later removing to Eureka, where she 
remained until the time of her death in 1905 at the age of ninety years. 

It will thus be seen that Joseph Crippen Albee, now a well-known resi- 
dent of the vicinity of Blocksburg, Cal., comes of truly pioneer ancestry on 
his father's side and patriotic forbears of Revolutionary fame on his mother's 
side of the family, he himself being a native son of California, where his 
birth occurred in Humboldt county, at the old Albee ranch at the junction 
of North Fork and Redwood Creek, on February 19, 1858. One of a family 
of eight children who lived to grow up, he found it necessary, at the time 
of his father's sudden death, to assist his mother financially in the care of 
her large family, and accordingly, having completed his education in the 
public schools of Eureka and Areata, he early secured employment on the 
ranch of W. S. Robinson at Bridgeville, Cal. The seven brothers and sisters 
of Mr. Crippen were : Mrs. Annie Monroe Chisholm, of Eureka ; Mrs. W. S. 
Robinson, of the same city ; Mrs. D. E. Baker, of Petaluma, Cal. ; D. P. Albee, 
■of Rock Creek, Idaho; L. H. Albee, of Eureka; George B. Albee, city superin- 
tendent of schools of Eureka ; and Mrs. Mary Parry, who died in San Fran- 
cisco. With two of his brothers, Joseph Crippen Albee started in the sheep 
industiry at the age of twenty-two years, he having at that time located a 
homestead on the Little Van Dusen river, the venture prospering financially 
until the hard winter of 1889 to 1890, when all the stock perished. Mr. Albee, 
however, started over again with C. T. Schreiner, of Ferndale, this time in 
the cattle business, the partnership having been carried on continuously since 
that time, Mr. Albee having the management of the cattle raising. He is 
now the owner of four hundred eighty acres at his home ranch, where he 
has made all necessary improvements for the betterment of the place, besides 
owning and leasing with his partner over five thousand acres and taking out 
a forest permit, the cattle on their estate being entirely of the Durham strain. 
As the locality about the Little Van Dusen is becoming popular for trout 
fishing and as a summer resort since deer are plentiful there, Mr. Albee 
and his wife have of late years conducted a hotel during the summer months, 
which has already attained a great measure of popularity and is well filled 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1131 

during the vacation season, the hotel being reached by trail from Fort Seward 
and Blocksburg. 

The marriage of ]\Ir. Albee occurred in Eureka, on June 3, 1907, his bride 
being Miss Mary A. Dickinson, a native of Liverpool, England, who has 
proved herself a woman of rare business and executive ability and a splendid 
helpmeet to her husband in all his undertakings. They are the parents of 
two sons, Joseph Porter and Jack Neville Dickinson. In her religious associa- 
tions Mrs. Albee is a member of the Episcopal Church, while the political 
affiliations of her husband are with the Progressive party. 

FREDERICK JOSHUA PRESTON was born in Areata, Cal., October 
2, 1865. His father, John C. Preston, born near Cincinnati, Ohio, came to 
California with his two brothers, Miller and William, in 1849, crossing the 
plains with ox teams in company with Joseph Childs. He mined on the 
Trinity river until 1850, then came to Uniontown, now Areata, Humboldt 
county. The brothers took up claims and engaged in stock raising. Miller 
Preston, who was a tanner, built and operated a tannery for many years until 
he retired, having become very wealthy. After three years William returned 
to Illinois. John C. Preston was a successful farmer and became well-to-do. 
He died in 1885. His wife was Sarah J. Lindsay, a native of Iowa, and also 
crossed the plains in 1849, coming with her parents to Weaverville, and in 
1853 she came to Uniontown, where she was married. After she was widowed 
she married ^Miller Preston. His death occurred in Areata. She now resides 
in Blue Lake. Of her first marriage were born twelve children, all living, as 
follows : Catherine, Mrs. Hough, of Washington ; Sarah, Mrs. J. R. Graham, 
living near Korbel ; John F., a rancher at Blue Lake ; Frederick J. ; Elizabeth, 
Mrs. Marsh, of Korbel ; IMartha, Mrs. Green, of Del Norte county ; Eva, Mrs. 
Brown, of Areata; Hannah, Mrs. Gault, of Eureka; Plonnie, Mrs. Taylor, 
and Maple, Mrs. Harrison, living in San Mateo county ; Charles and A^'illiam, 
living in Areata. 

Frederick J. Preston received a good education in the Areata schools. 
After his father died he continued to help his mother on the farm until twenty- 
three years old, when he entered the employ of the Z. Russ Co., on Bear 
River Ridge, riding the range, and became foreman, a position he filled for 
them on different ranches. In 1898 he started for the Alaska gold fields, 
going in over the Chilcoot trail, then down the lakes and river to Dawson, 
remaining about one year. W^hen the Cape Nome excitement came he im- 
mediately followed the rush and mined on the beach until it froze up, when 
he returned to Humboldt county, having spent two years in the frozen north. 
After his return he engaged as a dealer in cattle and hogs, and a few years 
later began sheep growing, of which industry he has made a decided success. 
He now leases the Dublin Heights and Mountain View ranches, on which he 
runs sheep, keeping about two thousand head. 

^Ir. Preston was married in Eureka to Miss Grace Briscoe, a native of 
Nebraska, and they have two children, Maple and Elvan. Fraternally he 
is a member of Blue Lodge No. 347, as well as the Rebekahs. Politically he 
is a stanch Republican. 

WILLIAM HENRY BOWDEN.— The vice-president and manager of 
the Shelter Cove Wharf and Warehouse Company, W. H. Bowden, is one of 
the most enterprising and leading men of southern Humboldt count)^ He 



1132 HISTORY OF HUAIBOLDT COUNTY 

was born at Lincoln, Me., September 24, 1871, the son of William Henry and 
Carrie (Philbrick) Bowden, also natives of Maine. The father was a farmer 
and died in 1877. The mother is now making her home in San Luis Obispo, 
Cal., and her five children all reside in the state. They are as follows : Charles 
Collier, of San Luis Obispo ; John W., farmer and oil operator at Garberville ; 
William Llenry, of whom we write ; Delia, living in San Francisco ; and Belle, 
in Los Angeles. 

William Bowden's childhood was spent on the sterile New England 
farm, receiving a good education in the public schools. When sixteen years 
of age he came to California with his mother. His brother, John W., had 
come to San Luis Obispo some years previous and they joined him at that 
place. During the first three years William was employed on a ranch, then 
came to San Francisco, where for three years he was employed on the San 
Pablo avenue car line and afterward for a like period on the Market street 
line. In 1897 he started north in the rush to the gold fields of Klondyke. 
He prospected in the vicinity of Skagway and Wrangle Narrows, but found 
nothing, and as he was not justified in staying there he returned to San 
Francisco in 1898 and was again with the Market street railway vintil 1900. 
In that year he again made a trip to the frozen north, going to Nome City, 
Alaska, where he was engaged in mining on the beach for one year. At the 
end of this time he returned to San Francisco, being employed in the Union 
Iron Works as a ship riveter for three years. In 1904 he came to Garberville, 
Humboldt county, and engaged in the general merchandise business until 
1908, when he sold out and purchased an interest in the Shelter Cove A¥harf 
and Warehouse Company, becoming vice-president and manager. He makes 
his home in Shelter Cove and devotes all of his time to the advancement oi 
the company's interests. The wharf was built more than thirty years ago. 
The present company incorporated and purchased it in 1902. The wharf is 
eight hundred sixty feet long and large steamers dock alongside. Mr. 
Bowden superintends the repairs of the wharf, the building of warehouses 
and other buildings. The company has a pile driver and runs a blacksmith 
shop, also a bark mill run by a steam engine, where tanbark is ground and 
shipped to foreign countries. A private wagon road has been constructed 
four and one-half miles to connect with the county road. Shelter Cove is the 
shipping point for southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties and 
is the best harbor between Eureka and San Francisco, and the second best 
harbor in the county. The compan}^ also owns and operates the Shelter 
Cove Hotel. 

Mr. Bowden is public spirited and enterprising and is always ready to 
help worthy enterprises. Being interested in aiding the developing of the 
oil field in Southern Humboldt, he was one of the organizers and a director 
in the Briceland Oil Company. In San Francisco occurred the marriage of 
Mr. Bowden and Margaret Gilde.a, Avho was a native of Ireland. Being an 
energetic woman and possessing much business ability, she aids her husband 
materially in his manifold duties. Politically Mr. Bowden is a strong pro- 
tectionist and Republican. 

LEE EDWIN EVANS was born near Fairfield, Jefferson county, Iowa, 
October 30, 1879, the son of Benjamin and Rosanna Catherine (McLeary) 
Evans, v/ho still reside on their farm in Jefferson county, Iowa. The father 



I 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1133 

served as a soldier for four years in the Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. 
Of their thirteen children, ten of whom are living, Lee Edwin is the fifth 
youngest. One other member of the family living in California is Rawley 
W., who is foreman of the What Cheer ranch for the Z. Russ Co. 

Lee Edwin Evans was brought up on the farm in Iowa and was educated 
in the public schools. After completing the local schools he continued to 
assist his parents until he was seventeen years of age, when he began for 
himself, working' out on farms in the neighborhood until 1900, when he made 
his way to North Dakota. Near Minot he located a homestead, but left it 
and engaged in ranching in the same vicinity until 1906, then removed to 
Wyoming. There he found. employment on the C. B. & O. R. R., at bridge 
building for one year, after which he entered the employ of the Big Horn 
Timber Company as a flume builder, continuing with them for four and one- 
half years. During the second year he was made foreman of flume building 
and filled the duties of his position with abiUty and dispatch. His next 
position was with the Acme Coal Company at Acme, Wyoming, where he 
began at the bottom and learned the blacksmith trade, working as such until 
he came to California in March, 1913, desiring to follow ranching and stock 
raising. He obtained employment with the Z. Russ Co., and a month later 
was made foreman of the Bunker Hill ranch of about twelve hundred 
acres located six and one-half miles from Ferndale and is devoted to sheep 
raising. He has also been given charge of the Mountain Glenn ranch of 
twelve hundred acres adjoining Bunker Hill, which is devoted to raising cattle. 

Mr. Evans is a young man of exemplary habits and by his close applica- 
tion and native ability is proving a valuable man in the position which he 
occupies. 

BENJAMIN A. SNODGRASS.— Among the men who are making a 
success of cattle raising in Humboldt county is Benjamin A. Snodgrass, a 
native of Henry county. Mo., born February 7, 1872. His father, George W. 
Snodgrass, was also a native of Missouri, where he was a farmer. In 1879 
he removed to Dixie Valley, in what is now Canyon county, Idaho, where 
he has since followed farming. The mother of Benjamin was Laura Sherman, 
also a native of Missouri, now deceased. Of their four children Benjamin 
A. Snodgrass was the second oldest. Up to the age of fifteen years he attended 
the public schools, then started out to make his own living, being employed 
on cattle ranches, riding the range in eastern Oregon and western Idaho. For 
three years he was on the Mammon cattle ranch and two years on the 
Burnett cattle ranch in Idaho, and became an expert rider and cattle roper. 
In 1892 he came to Humboldt county, and for the first year was employed 
on the What Cheer ranch for Z. Russ & Co., on Bear River Ridge, then about 
two and one-half years on the Mazeppa ranch as headquarters. Later he was 
in the employ of Ira Russ on Mad river for about three years, and during 
this time spent three winters attending the Eureka Business College, where 
he was graduated May 20, 1898. After his graduation he came to Rainbow 
Ridge ranch as foreman for the same man, and remained with him for three 
years, still later being foreman for Joseph Russ at the Ocean House ranch 
for seven years. The experience and knowledge gained during past years 
created an ambition to engage in cattle growing on his own account, so he 
rented two thousand acres of the RocklifJ ranches on the Mattole and north 



1134 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 

fork of the Mattole and began the business of which he has since made a 
success. He bought two herds of stock cattle in Trinity county, four hundred 
forty-nine head, driving them to the Mattole, and after selling one hundred 
thirty of them he turned the remainder on the ranges. In 1911 he gave up 
the Rockliff ranches and leased the Taylor Peak ranch of about thirty-two 
hundred acres, five miles from Petrolia, at the head of the north fork of 
the Mattole, where he keeps on an average three hundred fifty head, besides 
which he is engaged as a cattle dealer and meeting with deserved success. 
His brand is the letter M. In connection with his own business, since 1911 
he has also been superintendent of Z. Russ & Sons' Mattole ranches, including 
about five thousand acres devoted to cattle raising, about eight hundred head 
being kept on these ranches. 

Mr. Snodgrass was married in Hydesville to Miss Lillie E. Feenaty, a 
native of Trinity county, the daughter of Henry Feenaty, an old settler of 
the county now living retired in Hydesville. Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass have 
one child, Grace C. Fraternally he is a member of Ferndale Lodge No. 220, 
I. O. O. F., and of Myrtle Encampment at Ferndale, while with his wife 
he is a member of the Rebekahs. Politically he is a Democrat. As stated 
above, on coming to Humboldt county Mr. Snodgrass had the reputation of 
being one of the best riders in the county and at fairs and races gave 
exhibitions of horsemanship and riding. He rode some horses that were 
outlaws and considered unconquerable, and at one time rode a wild bull on 
the Ferndale grounds. Personally he is a very pleasant and afifable man, 
and like the great west where he was reared is big hearted and liberal and 
Has hosts of friends who esteem him for his kind and generous ways. 

LUTHER WILLARD SIBLEY. — A prominent and enterprising rancher 
and the present postmaster at laqua, Luther W. Sibley is a native of Michi- 
gan, born near Dewitt, Clinton county, April 27, 1875, the son of- Levi W. 
and Alzina (Carr) Sibley, natives of Plattsburg, N. Y. The father served 
in the Civil war as a member of Company A, Ninety-sixth New York Volun- 
teer Infantry, and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, and 
was also wounded in another battle. After a service of three years and eleven 
months he was honorably discharged, after which he came to Michigan, 
where, in Ingham county, he was married to Alzina Carr, the Carr family 
being very old settlers of the county. He became a well-to-do farmer and 
with his wife resides on his place near Dewitt. 

Of their seven children Luther, the third oldest, received his education 
in the public schools and the Lansing high school, after which he entered 
the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, where he completed a special 
course. He then engaged in the creamery business, operating a creamery 
at Dewitt for ten and one-half years. In the meantime he started a lumber 
yard which he conducted the last five years of his residence in Michigan. 

In 1906 Mr. Sibley made his first trip to the Pacific coast, and from Port- 
land, Ore., came to Humboldt county. He liked the country, and after making 
three trips within a year concluded to locate here, a change which he hoped 
would benefit his wife's health. Disposing of his interests in Michigan he 
located here permanently in 1907. Purchasing the old Frame ranch of eleven 
hundred forty acres at laqua, twenty-eight miles east of Eureka, he has since 
followed farming and stock raising, meeting with "good success. He raises 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1135 

an abundance of hay and grain and operates a thresher run by a gas engine, 
threshing not only his own grain, but that of others as well. He also 
specializes in dairying, milking about twenty-five cows. The ranch is located 
on Booths run and is also well watered by other streams and springs and is 
well wooded with fir and tan oak, about one hundred fifty acres of the ranch 
being under cultivation. Aside from the ranch he also owns some redwood 
and fir timber. In 1909 he secured the reestabUshment of the postoffice at 
laqua and was appointed postmaster, and has had the postoffice at his place 
ever since. 

In Dewitt, Mich., occurred the marriage of Mr. Sibley and Florence 
Pennell, a native of that place. She died here in 1910, leaving one child, 
Luther Willard, Jr. Mr. Sibley was school trustee of laqua district one term 
and was also clerk of the board. Fraternally he is a Mason, being a member 
of Dewitt Lodge in his native place in Michigan, while politically he is a 
Progressive. 

JOHN H. GIFT.— Of old Quaker stock and an old settler of Humboldt 
county, having crossed the plains with his parents in 1864, John H. Gift, 
a prominent cattle grower of laqua, was born in Fontanelle, Adair county, 
Iowa, March 24, 1858. His father, Isaac Gift, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
where he was reared, later removing to Tiffin, Ohio, where he married Evelyn 
Overmier, a native of Ohio. Her father, Solomon Overmier, was also a Penn- 
sylvanian and a Quaker, who crossed the plains to California in 1846. He 
kept a hotel in Sacramento in which he met with success, afterwards 
returning to Ohio. His second trip to California was in 1864, he being the 
head of the train. He lived many years in Humboldt county, but died in 
Oregon. Isaac Gift removed from Ohio to Adair county, Iowa, where he 
became possessor of a beautiful farm on Nodaway bottoms. On May 12, 
1864, with his family he started for the west, crossing the plains with ox- 
teams and wagons. Two hundred miles west of the Missouri river, while 
crossing the Platte river, the party got a wetting, and the Gifts and some 
other members stopped to dry their clothes. Still others of the party, how- 
ever, went on without stopping. When the Gifts and Overmiers arrived 
near Fort Laramie they were told of the massacre of their late companions 
and were shown forty new graves. The Gift team arrived in Fort Laramie 
July 4 and then pressed on toward Green river. There they were surrounded 
by Indians and all of the little train would no doubt have been massacred but 
for the wisdom of Grandfather Overmier, who had had experience and under- 
stood the Indian nature. He had a long-stemmed pipe with a big bowl which 
he smoked from behind the wagon wheels, blowing smoke to the four winds. 
The Indian chief, after much hesitation, finally came down, threw away his 
arrows and implements of war and took a whiff of the Quaker's pipe, then 
gave a loud whoop and all of the bucks mounted their ponies, swam the 
Green river and left the train in peace. The party continued on to Salt Lake 
City, where they traded their oxen for a span of mules and started for Cali- 
fornia. They did not succeed in crossing the desert before one of the mules 
laid down and died. Isaac Gift was a large, strong man, one who would not 
give up, so he arranged a rope and pulled against the remaining mule, carrying 
the neckyoke for forty-eight hours, while the boys and others rolled on the 
wheels until their shoulders bled, the drops falling on their bare feet; their 



1136 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

shoes had given out and they could not replace them. To add to their suffer- 
ing, they ran out of water and their tongues became parched; finally the 
remaining mule gave out. In the midst of their distress a man rode up from 
behind and kindly loaned them his mule, and with the fresh animal they 
arrived at Sand Springs, Nev., with tongues parched and protruding. For- 
tunately there were soldiers stationed at the place who kept them from drink- 
ing water and also eating to excess, so all the members of the party were 
saved. They then made their way on to Virginia City, Nev., where Isaac 
Gift, being a millwright and carpenter by trade, found employment in the 
Golden Curry mill at $10 per day. The family remained in that city until 
the fall of 1865, when they came with a freighting outfit (sixteen-mule team 
with three big wagons, i. e., the two trailing the first one) through the 
Sierras, by way of Hangtown, or Placerville, to Sacramento, where they 
boarded the boat Chrisopolis for San Francisco, and then on the steamer 
Del Norte to Eureka, arriving October 12, 1865. The first three years the 
family spent in Eureka, until in 1868 they moved to laqua, where the elder 
Gift homesteaded one hundred sixty acres near a large, cool spring. After 
building his house he followed stock raising until he died in 1881. His wife 
continued to reside on the place until her death in 1903. Their family con- 
sisted of seven children, and of them we mention the following : Albert died 
in Eureka in 1914 ; Allen lives in Eureka ; Joseph in laqua ; Robert in Hoquiam, 
Wash.; John H. is the subject of this sketch; Sarah L., Mrs. Russell, died 
in Hydesville ; George L. is also a resident of laqua. 

John H. Gift was a boy of five years when he crossed the plains with 
his parents, and on account of the harrowing Indian escapades and their 
narrow escape on the desert the trip was indelibly impressed on his memory. 
The members of the party walked nearly two thousand miles, most of it 
barefooted, and the lasting impressions will never be erased from Mr. Gift's 
memory. Since 1865 he has made his home in Humboldt county. He went 
to public school in Virginia City, Nev., Eureka and the laqua district. When 
twelve years old he began riding the range and driving cattle, also followed 
packing, cooking and teaming not only here, but in the Sacramento valley. . 
He homesteaded eighty acres of land near laqua and began stock raising and 
improving the place, meantime making trips to the Sacramento valley, where 
he worked at teaming to earn money to improve his ranch. His stock in- 
creased and he did well and was thus enabled to buy land adjoining. For 
some years he was in partnership with his brother George, but a few years 
ago they divided their holdings and dissolved partnership. He now owns 
eleven hundred sixty acres of land. The John H. Gift ranch is well watered 
by streams and numerous springs and is well wooded, having quite a large 
tract of redwood and also other varieties, such as pine, oak and madrone. 
The place is devoted to cattle growing and he has about one hundred eighty 
head of the Short Horn Durham breed. Of late he also specializes in dairying, 
milking about twenty-eight cows in the season and manufacturing butter for 
the Eureka and San Francisco markets. He also raises large quantities of 
hay and grain, having threshed as much as four thousand bushels of oats 
a year. 

The marriage of Mr. Gift occurred in Eureka, where he was united with 
Miss Anna C. Jewett, a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and they have 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1137 

three children, George, Harry and Lloyd. ]\Irs. Gift was an educator and 
is a woman of much ability, and for ten years taught school in Humboldt 
county. She is now serving as trustee of laqua school district, a position 
her husband also held for many years, he being clerk of the board for a time. 
Fraternally he is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, L O. O. F., in Eureka, 
and of jNIount Zion Encampment, I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican. 
He served acceptably as road overseer of fifty-four miles of roads and trails 
in his district for five years. 

MRS. MARY BARRY.— One of the old-time settlers on Kneeland Prairie 
is ]\Irs. Alary Barry, who was born in the city of Cork, Ireland, the daughter 
of Timothy and Bridget (Hassett) Mullen. She grew up in that city and 
was married to Edward Barry. They came to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1865, and 
a few years later came to California, locating at Ross' Landing, near San 
Rafael, "^Marin county, where they followed dairying. About 1875 they 
located in Humboldt county, where they purchased one hundred twenty acres 
on Kneeland Prairie and began improving the land and also carried on stock 
raising. ]\Irs. Barry has been a successful farmer and stock raiser, having 
added to the original acres and now owns two ranches adjoining, comprising 
six hundred forty acres, which are now operated by her son-in-law and daugh- 
ter, Mr. and Mrs. Cosgrove, who besides being engaged in cattle growing 
also run a small dairy with considerable success. 

Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Barry, Timothy J., a farmer on 
Kneeland Prairie, married Ella Fink and they have one child, Alice L. ; Phillip 
F., employed with the Hammond Lumber Company in Eureka, married Sadie 
Pierson; Sadie is the wife of Charles Quigg, train dispatcher at Eureka, and 
they have three children, Thomas, Charles and Graham ; Mary is the wife of 
Thomas Cosgrove, who, as stated above, manages the ranches for Mrs. Barry, 
and they have one son, William Thomas. 

Mrs. Barry is a pleasant woman with generous impulses and is always 
ready to lend a helping hand to those who have been less fortunate. 

RAE FELT, M. D. — A representative member of the Felt family, and 
one of the most honored native sons of Humboldt county, Dr. Rae Felt is 
adding glory to the name of his father made famous in almost half a century 
of medical practice and business activity here. His position in the profession 
has always been among its most trusted members, and deservedly, and within 
recent years he has increased his reputation by his unselfish work in the 
interest of the Sequoia hospital at Eureka, of which he was the founder. He 
is now acting as president of the board and as chief surgeon of the institution, 
which is the most completely equipped establishment of the kind in Cali- 
fornia north of San Francisco. Dr. Felt's father, the late Theodore Dwight 
Felt, ]M. D., has full mention elsewhere in this work. 

Rae Felt was born May 19, 1869, at Hydesville, and his early life was 
spent there and at other locations in the count)'' — Felt's Springs, Rohnerville 
and Fortuna. His education was begun in the district schools, but he had 
the advantage of very superior home training which he has found of in- 
estimable value. During the time the family lived at Fortuna he assisted 
his mother in the drug store which she conducted for several years at that 
place, and thus his preparation for his life work began very early. He finished 
his public school work at Eureka, graduating before he was eighteen years 



1138 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

old, at which time he was granted a teacher's certificate. He taught school 
for some time, and then devoted himself to the study of medicine, entering 
the medical department of the University of California, from which he was 
graduated, receiving his degree of M. D. in November, 1890. The next year 
he spent very profitably in the United States Marine hospital at San Fran- 
cisco, as surgical assistant, and was then appointed to the United States 
revenue marine service and assigned as surgeon to the steamer Richard Rush, 
which was ordered to the Behring sea and coast of Alaska to protect the seal 
industry. After a year in that position he returned to Eureka to commence 
practice, becoming associated with his father, who moved to Eureka in 1891, 
and they worked together until the father's death, in 1898. His modern 
training and apparent fitness for the profession supplemented his father's 
experience and resource, and they established a practice which the younger 
man has continued very successfully, proving a worthy successor to his 
father. In both general practice and surgery there is a wide demand for his 
services, his name having become well known in all parts of Humboldt 
county, where he has performed many successful operations and taken part 
in numerous consultations, his fellow physicians according his opinions the 
utmost respect. He has not only endeavored to make a success of his own 
work, but has labored zealously to uphold the most approved professional 
standards in the community. His own conscientious work, in his private 
practice and in his connection with the Sequoia Hospital and Sanitarium, 
shows his personal ideas on such matters. He was appointed the first chief 
surgeon on the Eel River and Eureka Railroad, which position he held until 
it was transferred to the hospital department of the Northwestern Pacific 
Railroad, and since then has filled his present position of division surgeon. 

Dr. Felt took a leading part in the organization of the Humboldt County 
Medical Society, has served as president of that body, and is also a member 
in high standing of the California State Medical Society and the American 
Medical Association, the Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons and also 
a member of the American Association of Railway Surgeons. Socially he 
has numerous connections, belonging to Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W. ; 
Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M. (master in 1904) ; Humboldt Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M. ; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., which he served as 
treasurer for several years, from May, 1902 ; Islam Temple, A. A. O.N. M. S., 
of San Francisco ; the Order of the Eastern Star ; and Eureka Lodge No. 652, 
B. P. O. E., of which he was a charter member. He also holds membership 
in the Humboldt Club, and in the chamber of commerce at Eureka, and he 
was one of the principal organizers of the Gentlemen's Driving Club ; though 
deeply interested in the success of the latter he declined the presidency 
because of his numerous other responsibilities, feeling that he could not do 
justice to its duties. His interest therein is only natural, for he inherits his 
father's love for fine horses, and was at one time especially devoted to the 
breeding and raising of standard horses on his stock ranch at Capetown on 
the Bear river. He has a number of fine horses, among which are Telltale 
Perlo and Edith Light. The former comes from stock which his father raised, 
and her great-great-great-granddam Jude Avas the animal on which the elder 
Dr. Felt swam the Eel river on many occasions. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1139 

Besides the ranch just mentioned Dr. Felt owns a dairy ranch of two 
hundred twenty-five acres at Freshwater, six miles from Eureka, which he 
supervises personally, hiring competent help for the actual labor. "The 
Maples," as his ranch is called, was so named on account of the beautiful 
natural maple grove at his summer home. He has lately improved the ranch 
with large barns, which are the most modern and sanitary in the county, 
having metal stanchions, concrete floor and large windows for admitting 
plenty of sunlight. Recently Dr. Felt brought from the east a carload of 
full-blooded registered Jersey cattle of the Island type, and now has a herd of 
about one hundred head, one of the finest registered herds of Island bred 
Jerseys in the state. The Maples is located about six miles north of Eureka 
on the Areata road and is watered by the stream called Freshwater. In 
connection with the ranch large quantities of alfalfa are raised, as well as 
clover, rye, grass, carrots and beets, and grains. 

Dr. Felt has been taking part in politics since he attained his majorky, 
an ardent Republican like his father before him. He has been a delegate to 
political conventions since eligible, and in 1902 acted as chairman of the 
Republican county convention. His work in the party, as in everything 
else which attracts his interest, has been well directed, and has been appre- 
ciated by his coworkers and his fellow citizens generally, who trust him to 
look after their welfare as he would after his private concerns. There are 
few activities in the locality with which he has not been associated, in an 
influential capacity, and many of the best movements in the city owe their 
success to his cooperation. 

On December 18, 1892, Dr. Felt was married to Miss Anna A. Smith, a 
native of Alameda county, Cal., the daughter of a pioneer family. 

JOHN W. HAMILTON.— Humboldt county has had many instances 
of the opportunities which her early settlers enjoyed, as shown by the good 
fortune which has attended those who, coming here with no resources except 
their courage and strength, have acquired wealth and position. When land 
was cheap, simply because it was in an undeveloped region and there were 
no means at hand of marketing its produce, its potential value could not be 
counted as in these days of modern commerce, and the pioneers who then 
acquired large holdings did so with little or no expenditure. If they were 
farsighted enough to retain them, their fortunes were established. But that 
the opportunities were not exhausted with the passing of the old order is 
shown in the records of such men as John W. Hamilton, of Garberville, Hum- 
boldt county, whose success has been substantial enough, and so honorably 
gained, as to be creditable under any circumstances. He came to the county 
in 1896, for a year's stay in search of health, and was not only satisfied in 
that respect, but he has prospered so well in his business undertakings that 
he has remained here ever since. 

A Kentuckian by birth, Mr. Hamilton is the eldest of three children born 
to Hance and Mary (Richardson) Hamilton, both also natives of Kentucky. 
The father was a farmer, living and dying in Meade county, that state. The 
mother came to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1909, arriving December 19, and 
died here in 1910. The two other children born to them are : James W., 
who continues to reside on the old home property in Meade county, Ky. ; 
and a daughter, Mattie, who came to California with her mother, and is now 



1140 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the wife of Ernest R. Linser, a rancher of this county, on the east branch of 
the south fork of the Eel river. 

John W. Hamilton was born August 31, 1873, at Brandenburg, Meade 
county, Ky., and grew up on the home farm. Though he is interested therein 
as one of his father's heirs he has not yet taken his share. He finished his 
studies with a course in the state college at Lexington, and lived in his native 
state until 1896, when he came to California for his health, suffering from 
malarial fever. At San Francisco he met Ezra Reed, a friend of his father, 
and in April came up to Humboldt county with the Reed brothers and Lem 
Dale (all business men of Garberville), making the trip by way of Ukiah, 
overland. They arrived at Garberville, April 19, and Mr. Hamilton went 
to work as a clerk for the Reed brothers, in whose employ he continued four 
years. By this time he had become familiar with local conditions, and in 
company with C. W. Conger, who was from Long Creek, Ore., he bought 
out the Reeds' store, Conger & Hamilton doing an extensive general mer- 
cantile business there for the next four years. In 1904 Mr. Hamilton pur- 
chased his partner's share therein, and carried on the business as sole pro- 
prietor until the year 1911, when he sold to the Garberville Mercantile Com- 
pany, of which he has since been a stockholder. He has been secretary of 
the company from the time of its incorporation. This is an important local 
enterprise, but Mr. Hamilton has been obliged to make it secondary to his 
responsibilities, assisting in the management of the Woods ranch, now giving 
the greater part of his time to its operation. 

The Western Live Stock Company, which is incorporated under the 
laws of the state of California, is a Humboldt county concern, all its officers 
being of this county, viz. : William G. Dauphiny, of Ferndale, president ; 
John W. Hamilton, of Garberville, vice-president ; and George T. Toobey, of 
Eureka, secretary and treasurer. This company owns the Woods ranch, 
which contains about twelve thousand acres, devoted to the raising of cattle, 
horses, hogs, sheep and fruit on an extensive scale. It lies a mile and a 
quarter south of Garberville, on the south fork of the Eel river. 

In addition to his other interests Mr. Hamilton owns about one thousand 
acres of timber lands, containing redwood, pine and tanbark lumber of great 
value, which he will exploit as convenient or conserve if necessary. He is 
also interested in two stage lines in the county, one from Garberville to Dyer- 
ville, the other from Garberville to Thorn, both owned and operated by the 
Garberville Mercantile Company in connection with the store business. All 
in all, there are few young men more directly associated with typical activi- 
ties of this region than he. 

In 1906 Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Stella F. Toobey, a native 
daughter of Humboldt county, born at Rohnerville, and the daughter of 
George J. and Louisa (Hart) Toobey, born in England and Fond du Lac, 
Wis., respectively, who were early settlers of Humboldt county. Mrs. Hamil- 
ton is a young woman of pleasing personality, and is a devoted helpmeet to 
her husband. 

PETER DELANEY. — A native of Canada but a resident of Humboldt 
county since 1884, Peter Delaney, sole proprietor of the business conducted 
under the name of Delaney & Young, wholesale dealers in wines, liquors 
and mineral waters, is one of the progressive, prosperous and highly esteemed 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1141 

citizens of Eureka today. In his business he makes a specialty of purity 
in his liquors, and of maintaining an especially sanitary condition in his 
bottling works, store rooms, warehouses and sales rooms. He is also engaged 
extensively in the manufacture of soda water, for which he finds a ready 
market throughout Humboldt county. In his various Industries he has met 
with much success and has accumulated an appreciable wealth, which is 
largely invested in real estate in and near Eureka, and at present he is the 
owner of much valuable property in this vicinity. 

Mr. Delaney was born June 29, 1863, near Seaforth, Ontario, Canada, 
where he grew to manhood and received his education. Upon coming to 
Eureka in April, 1884, he worked for a time in the lumber woods, and then 
engaged in the wholesale liquor business in Eureka. He conducted the 
establishment alone until 1903, when he took in C. W. Young as a partner. 
Mr. Young, however, died three years later, and since that time Mr. Delaney 
has continued to conduct the business under the old firm name of Delaney 
& Young. He handles only the choicest wines, liquors and beers, and has 
been complimented by the pure food inspector for the splendid sanitary con- 
ditions which he maintains. He employs seventeen men, with four teams 
of horses, and has two large warehouses to accommodate his large stock. 

The marriage of Mr. Delaney took place in Eureka, uniting him with 
Miss Catherine McGaraghan, the daughter of Michael McGaraghan, a pioneer 
drayman of Eureka, and one of its most respected citizens. They have one 
daughter, Helen. Both Mr. and Mrs. Delaney have many friends in Eureka, 
where they are popular in their social circle. Ten years ago A^Er. Delaney 
erected a commodious residence on Hillsdale street, where the family now 
makes their home. 

During his long residence in Eureka Mr. Delaney has been at all times 
interested in all that makes for the general welfare of the city. He is pro- 
gressive and constructive in his ideas and has done much for the upbuilding 
and improvement of the community and for its general development. He has 
an abiding faith in the splendid future of Humboldt county and of Eureka 
and vicinity in particular, and is one of the most enthusiastic boosters that 
the thriving little city possesses. He is a member of several of the best 
known of the local fraternal orders, and also of various political and social 
clubs and societies, and is one of the influential men in local civic affairs. 

LAWRENCE FRANCIS PUTER.— The alluring call of distant cities 
and the possible recognition of professional ability by centers of influence 
and progress had no weight with Mr. Puter when put in the balance with the 
associations of a lifetime and the claims of his own native county. Accord- 
ingly we find him at the head of his profession in Eureka, warmly espousing 
any movement, professional or otherwise, for the benefit of Humboldt county, 
where he was born November 3, 1867, and where his parents, Patrick F. and 
Margaret (Hoar) Puter, natives of Ireland, were pioneers of that now long- 
past period of early American occupancy. Although his earliest recollections 
are of a farm, where the family carried on a serious struggle for a livelihood, 
in an earlier day his father had engaged in mining and had wielded the pick- 
axe and shovel, belonging by right of such work to the interesting group of 
men connected with the first important development of California. There 



1142 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

were three children in the family, of whom the eldest, Stephen A. D., is now 
a resident of Berkeley ; the youngest is Mrs. Lucy Sawyer, of Eureka. 

In attending the State Normal School until his graduation with a high 
standing, it had not been the intention of Lawrence F. Puter to enter upon 
teaching as a life-work ; rather, he wished to secure for himself an education 
so thorough and broad as to make a firm foundation for the activities of a 
useful career. The trend of his ambition showed in his matriculation as a 
student in the law department of the University of Michigan. With char- 
acteristic perseverance he continued his law studies until 1891, when he was 
graduated with the degree of LL. D. Later he was admitted to practice in 
all the courts, including the United States supreme court, and since taking 
his first case he has remained at Eureka, where his comprehensive pro- 
fessional knowledge has brought him to a place at the front of that interesting 
group of lawyers making their headquarters in the county seat. The chair- 
manship of the county Democratic central committee, a position that he filled 
for eighteen years, indicates not only the nature of his political views, but 
also his prominence as a local leader in the party. In fraternities, no less 
than in politics, he has become a local factor of power, being past exalted 
ruler of Eureka Lodge of Elks and past president of the Native Sons of the 
Golden West, also a well-known figure in assemblies of the Eagles and a 
prominent member of all branches of the Odd Fellows. As a presiding officer, 
whether in fraternal gatherings or in exciting assemblies of politicians or in 
more routine-filled meetings of the general public, he has been most efficient, 
combining leadership with fellowship which eliminates antagonism and 
secures cooperation. In the capacity of private citizen he has quietly but 
firmly favored all movements for the permanent upbuilding of Eureka and 
Humboldt county, and whatever progress city and county shall make in 
future years it will be due to the cooperation and leadership of such men 
as Mr. Puter. 

WILLIAM T. OLMSTEAD.— Eureka, the county seat, has been the 
home of William T. Olmstead for the last thirty-five years, and he lived else- 
where in Humboldt county for over twenty years previous. Having come 
to California in the year 1850, with the idea of making his fortune in the 
mines, he has had all the typical pioneer experiences of miner, cattle man 
and business man, in turn, and when the country had emerged from primitive 
conditions was one of the foremost to take up the work of development. He 
has shown his faith in the local situation by investing heavily in real estate 
in Eureka, and has exerted himself to assist the town in striving to establish 
attractive commercial and residential conditions. Many of the wise measures 
taken in the early days were adopted through his influence, which has always 
been used unselfishly to further the best interests of his fellow citizens. 

Barnwell Olmstead, the father of William T. Olmstead, was a native of 
New York state, where he grew to manhood and married. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Lovina Thorp, was born in Vermont. They were an 
industrious couple, and ambitious, as one illustration will show. In his 
youth he had no advantages, and had to begin work early. So much assistance 
was required of the boy that he could not attend school even in the winter 
months, as was customary at the time, when children could be of material 
service during the busy seasons. At the time of his marriage he could neither 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1143 

read nor write, but his wife, who was fairly well educated, grounded him in 
the elementary branches, and he was able to enjoy reading and keep informed 
on current events the rest of his life. For some time after their marriage 
he and his wife made their home in New York state, adding to the acreage 
of their farm as prosperity made such progress possible. In 1835 the family 
moved to ^Michigan, and some time afterwards Mr. Olmstead purchased a 
small farm in ]\Iacomb county. He and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives in that state, she dying in the spring of 1855, and his death occurring in 
1862. Both were members of the Baptist Church. In politics he was originally 
a AA'hig, later a Republican. In spite of the hardships and deprivations of 
his youth he had a moderately successful career, and reared his family of ten 
children in comfort. 

AA'illiam T. Olmstead was the third child in his parents' family. Born 
August 30, 1829, in Cayuga county, X. Y., he was in his seventh year when 
the family removed to [Michigan, where he was reared, remaining there until 
he attained his majority. The year 1850 he set out to cross the plains with 
three of his boyhood friends, starting April 3. They had horses, and made 
good progress until they ran short of provisions, which obliged them to work 
for funds to proceed. They stopped at Salt Lake City, and found work in a 
harvest field, Mr. Olmstead finding quarters with a man to whom he had 
been given letters of introduction. As soon as possible the young men con- 
tinued their journey, arriving at Hangtown (now Placerville), Cal., August 
30. By this time ]\Ir. Olmstead's capital had been reduced to $16, and 
the tools he found necessary if he wanted to begin mining, with supplies, 
cost him $75, a spade costing $8 and other things being proportionately high. 
It was not long, however, before he had more than squared himself, the $75 
being earned in four days. Mining proved all he had hoped for. In the fall 
he went to the Middle fork of the American river, near Greenwood valley, 
and in December started for the Gold Blufif region, near Trinidad, Humboldt 
county, going by boat. The vessel in which he made this trip was wrecked 
three days after her arrival at Trinidad. Subsequently Mr. Olmstead carried 
on mining operations around Junction City, Canyon Creek and Weaverville, 
at which latter point he spent the winter. He was saving his money, and 
when he had about $2000 he went into the butchering business, buying most 
of his cattle in the Sacramento valley, where he had his headquarters. In 
April, 1852, he went up to Oregon and purchased one hundred twelve head 
of cattle in the vicinity of Albany, driving them to Weaverville, where he 
slaughtered them; though he paid as high as $100 a head for his cattle and 
$16 a head for sheep, the investment was very profitable. Having accumu- 
lated considerable means, Mr. Olmstead decided to take a trip east, returning 
by way of Panama, and he spent the Avinter in Michigan and Ohio, looking 
for likely cattle investments, but without success. In April, 1853, he went to 
Illinois for that purpose, with $7000, and in company with William and A. C. 
Freeland he bought four hundred fifty head, with which he started across 
the plains, via Salt Lake City. He reached the Sacramento valley in Novem- 
ber, 1853, and locating near Tehama grazed his cattle there for a couple of 
years, remaining until it was apparent that section was not beneficial to the 
health of his family. Then, in 1856, he moved his cattle to the Bear river, 
in Humboldt county, and settled with his family at Hydesville (twenty-five 



1144 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

miles from Eureka), this county. In the meantime he had started a meat 
market as an adjunct to the cattle business, at Eureka, spending part of his 
time there and part at Hydesville, and also traveling considerably, buying and 
selling cattle. For a time he was somewhat incapacitated by injuries he 
received defending his property against the depredations of the Indians, and 
when he was able to ride about again he opened a grocery and commission 
business at Eureka, which he carried on for four years. Later he returned 
to Hydesville, in 1880, however, moving to Eureka and establishing his home 
there permanently. During the next seven years he drove sheep for the 
market and also had a sheep business of his own, keeping about three thou- 
sand, and supplying mutton to the local markets. In these years of pros- 
perous dealings he had acquired an immense ranch, comprising sixty-eight 
hundred acres, which he sold in 1899 to engage in the more convenient busi- 
ness of operating in city real estate at Eureka. His purchases there, and the 
development of his properties, have had a material effect on all such activities 
in the city. Among the numerous holdings of value in his name are the 
Olmstead building, a quarter block on Sixth and C streets, and a butcher 
shop at the corner of Fifth and J streets. 

So much for Mr. Olmstead's personal business interests. Naturally his 
self-evident efficiency has made him a welcome candidate for official honors, 
which he has accepted reluctantly, however, preferring to aid his town and 
fellow citizens with advice on important matters rather than in an executive 
capacity. But responsibilities have been thrust upon him from time to time, 
and he has always measured up to their demands. While he was still on 
crutches after his memorable experiences with the Indians (mentioned be- 
low) he ran for the office of sheriff of Humboldt county, as an independent, 
but failed of election by only one vote. AVhen the affairs of the city of Eureka 
were being placed upon a permanent basis he manifested sincere interest in 
their proper adjustment, serving a term in the city council, and helped to put 
through a number of measures highly important to the well-being of the 
municipality and its residents. He surveyed the town and put it on its present 
grade, established twelve-foot sidewalks, and constructed the first stone 
sewers. He has been an enthusiastic member of the Humboldt County 
Pioneers' Society, attending its meetings regularly and promoting its objects 
with his customary zeal for whatever enlists his interest. Few of its members 
have had more exciting adventures, yet with all his activities Mr. Olmstead 
has kept his health and faculties unimpaired in advanced age. 

One of Mr. Olmstead's dangerous experiences happened in Humboldt 
county, while he was in camp on the Mad river. The Indians surprised him 
and his three companions, killing one of them, and Mr. Olmstead received 
two wounds in his right thigh. Though he was so badly wounded his two 
remaining companions left him to save their own lives, and with five Indians 
in pursuit he managed to reach the brush, getting behind a rock and firing 
as they approached. He had only a small revolver, but he managed to kill 
one of the red men, and the others took to the brush to follow him at a 
distance. When night came on he crawled to a canyon and hid until rescued 
the next day by four white men who had news of his plight from the two 
men who had escaped. The Indians afterward told that he was a good shot 
and "heap mad," so they were afraid to attack him at close range. One ot 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1145 

the rifle balls is still in his right thigh, crippling him permanently. He also 
lost considerable money on this occasion. Other experiences, before and 
after, taught him to distrust the savages. In 1852, while he was out for 
cattle in Weaverville, Mr. Anderson was killed by the Indians. In 1854, 
while he was camping near Tehama, the mules and cattle near Dyer's ranch, 
on the east side of the Sacramento river, were stolen by the Indians. It was 
then that Mr. Olmstead, as captain, led eight men against that band of 
thieving Indians, following them to near Red Bluff, and twenty-one dead 
Indians resulted. On this trip Mr. Olmstead had a very narrow escape. In 
1856, when he was on Bear river, a man who was stopping at his cattle ranch, 
was shot in cold blood. Mr. Olmstead's record in all the relations of life has 
been creditable. Beginning with no special advantages of education or 
fortune, he has prospered beyond his early dreams, and no citizen of his 
community is more honored. 

i\lr. Olmstead was married, April 5,. 1854, to Miss Lucinda Garrison, who 
was born near Three Rivers, Mich., and crossed the plains in the same train 
with Air. Olmstead, who was acting as captain of the party. They had a 
long and happy married life. Three children were born to them : Alice is 
the widow of J. W. S. Perry, of Los Angeles; Adelaide is the second daugh- 
ter; William E. is a miner, operating on Trinity river, this county. Mrs. 
Olmstead, who died in 1902, was an earnest member of the Christian Church. 

WILLIAM H. WALLACE, M. D. — Association with the beginnings of 
professional advance in Eureka indicates the prestige and prominence of Dr. 
Wallace, as well as his early connection with the town as a citizen and 
physician. The Humboldt general hospital, that stood on the corner of 
Seventeenth and H streets, was established by him three years after he came 
to the city, and long afterward he became one of the founders of Sequoia 
hospital, with the active management of which he since has been connected- 
Additional prestige comes to him through the fact that he aided in founding 
the first county medical society, also in the founding of the Humboldt Club, 
of which he has been a director from the start and was the third member 
to be honored with the presidency. He also served two years (1893-94) as 
county physician. His public efforts and private benefactions have given 
prominence to his name throughout all of Northern California. 

The lineage of the Wallace famih- is traced to Scotland. Tradition has 
it that certain of the name fled from Scotland during the religious persecu- 
tions and sought refuge in the North of Ireland, where several of the follow- 
ing generations remained. During the latter part of the eighteenth century 
James Wallace sailed from Ireland to Canada and settled in Nova Scotia. 
Still later he removed to New Brunswick and in that province occurred the 
birth in 1805 of William Wallace, who for forty-four years held the oflice of 
collector of customs at Hillsborough, entering upon its duties about seventeen 
years prior to the confederation of the provinces in 1865 and continuing to 
serve until his death in 1892 at the age of eighty-seven. In marriage he was 
united with Jane Steeves (whose family name originally was spelled Steiff), a 
woman of exceptional strength of character and depth of religious belief. Her 
death occurred when she was seventy-two years old. Of her six children Dr. 
William H. AA'allace was the only one to settle in the United States. Mary 
married Rev. AA'illiam E. Corey, now deceased; Martha died at the age of 



1146 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

fifty-four ; James died in Australia at the age of twenty-one ; Kate is also 
deceased ; and Emma still remains in New Brunswick. 

Born at Hillsborough, Albert county, New Brunswick, May 2, 1852, 
primarily educated in the grammar schools of St. John, a student in the scien- 
tific department of Harvard University from 1872 to 1876, and then of the 
medical department of the University of New York, Dr. Wallace received 
his degree February 19, 1878, and then embarked in practice in his native 
town. With the exception of a year in Boston he continued in Hillsborough 
until 1883, the date of his arrival in Eureka, Cal., where since he has followed 
his profession with encouraging success. For a time he practiced with Dr. 
Reuben Gross and next had Dr. F. A. Lewitt as a partner, but since 1888 he 
has been alone, until his eldest son recently became his partner in practice. 
While professional enterprises have taken his time to a very large extent, he 
also has had considerable business experience and has invested from time 
to time in redwood timber, the latest of these investments having been made 
in 1910, when he bought a ranch in Redwood valley, Mendocino county ; this 
he improved and in a few years sold at a fair profit. Before leaving New 
Brunswick he was made a Mason in Howard Lodge No. 39, F. & A. M., at 
Hillsborough. Since coming west he has identified himself with Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. Dr. Wallace was brought up in the Baptist 
church, but since coming to Eureka he has attended the Episcopal church. 

The marriage of Dr. Wallace, October 1, 1879, united him with Marietta 
C. Tufts, a native of Arlington, Mass., and a daughter of Ephraim and Susan 
(Scott) Tufts. Finely educated in Boston and in Europe, Mrs. Wallace is a 
distinct accession to the most select social circles and her beautiful home 
is the center of many hospitable functions. The four children of the family 
are Carl Tufts, Muriel Steeves, William Lloyd and Romayne. The eldest 
son, a graduate of the medical department of McGill University, at Montreal, 
Canada, is now county health officer of Humboldt county and on the staff 
of Sequoia Hospital, and is regarded as one of the rising young professional 
men of Eureka. 

JAMES McDonald. — The stories of pioneer life in California are 
always of interest to the later dwellers in this state who are accustomed to 
pleasant cities and handsome residences where, but a couple of decades ago, 
dense forests flourished or fields of wild flowers were to be seen, and the 
lives of the pioneers themselves, who have helped to build this yet new and 
rapidly growing country are well worth remembering. 

Few men have a better claim to pioneer descent than has James McDon- 
ald, of Orick, Cal., himself a native son of the state, son of a California 
pioneer and grandson of an emigrant from Scotland who became one of the 
early settlers of the state of New York. Grandfather McDonald and 
his wife, who came from Scotland, settled in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., 
and in that county their son Thomas was born, who came to California in 
1849, at the time of the discovery of gold, later becoming the father of 
James McDonald, who has always resided in this state. It is interesting 
to read of the modes of travel to California in the early days of the Ameri- 
can settlement of our West, the journey across the plains being made in 
long trains of ox wagons which took months for the trip, while the journey 
by water was hardly less tedious, it being either by way of Cape Horn or 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1147 

the Isthmus of Panama, which latter had to be crossed by mules in the 
earliest days, the route being continued by inconvenient boats up the coast 
of CaUfornia to San Francisco. Yet the number of people was surprising 
which the discovery of gold attracted to this new part of our country, 
despite the inconveniences and even dangers of travel in those days. 
Thomas McDonald, the father of James, made the journey by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama, and arriving in California in 1849, for many years 
followed mining in Tuolumne, Calaveras and Trinity counties, in 1855 re- 
moving to Humboldt county, where he followed the same pursuit at Gold 
Bluff. Later he located a claim on the Big Lagoon, where, upon his farm 
of three hundred twenty acres, he followed farming and the raising of sheep 
and cattle until the time of his death. His wife was formerly Catherine 
Maurey, a native of Gold Bluff, and of their seven children, six of whom 
are now living, James is the third oldest and was born at Big Lagoon, June 
7, 1867, where he was brought up on his father's farm and received his edu- 
cation in the public schools. At the age of fifteen years, James McDonald 
started out for himself in the world, working first in a saw mill and later 
logging in the woods about Humboldt bay, until 1905, when he gave up 
working in the woods and commenced dairying independently at the town 
of Orick, after a short time removing to Del Norte county, where he con- 
tinued the same occupation for a period of six years. Returning to Orick, 
he carried on dairying there as foiAierly, applying himself closely to the 
business and thereby making a success of it, he being an energetic and in- 
defatigable worker. Having rented a part of the Cornelius Thompson 
ranch, he is engaged in raising stock, as well as in the milking of thirty 
cows, which number he is constantly increasing, the cream from his dairy 
being sent to the Central Creamery Company at Eureka. In his political 
interests Mr. McDonald is a supporter of the principles of the Republican 
party, and while living in Del Norte county his interest in educational 
affairs was evidenced by his membership on the board of school trustees. 

The marriage of Mr. McDonald took place in Blue Lake, his wife being 
Laura (Shaffer) McDonald, who was born at Big Lagoon, the daughter of 
John Shaffer, a native of Germany and a pioneer of Humboldt county, and 
his wife Anna (Charles) Shaffer, who was born in Humboldt county. Mr. 
and Mrs. McDonald are the parents of six children, namely, James, Lillian, 
Irma, Evan, Tessie and Thomas. 

FRANK L. HUFFORD.— One of the old-time settlers in the vicinity 
of Orick, Cal., Frank L. Hufford has made for himself a reputation there as 
an enterprising business man, and liberal and active in the furthering of 
any project for the betterment of the com.munity where he resides. Mr. 
Hufford is truly a native son of California, having been born in Contra 
Costa county, this state, November 24, 1866, the son of David Hufford, a 
native of the state of Ohio, and grandson of David Hufford, a pioneer of 
this state who came from Ohio across the plains in 1852, and made his 
home in Butte county, where his death occurred. The father of Mr. Huf- 
ford was a cooper by trade, who made the journey to California in 1849, 
three years earlier than his father, and followed mining in the Sierras, in 
which occupation he attained a good measure of success. Later he bought 
land and improved a farm in Contra Costa county, where he was the owner 



1148 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of about seven hundred acres of property whereon he raised wheat and 
grapes. In 1877 he removed to Humboldt county, locating for one year at 
Gold Bluff, near where the town of Orick is now, going thence to Trinidad, 
in the same county, where he bought twenty acres of land, selling the same 
after four years and locating at Areata, where he became the owner of 
sixty acres, which property likewise he sold, removing to Alliance and 
thence again to Areata, where he died at the age of seventy-seven years. In 
1888 he made butter kegs for Grififin & Swan at Gold Bluff (now Orick), 
for the shipping of their butter to the San Francisco market. 

Of the five children by David Hufford's first marriage, his son Frank 
was the fourth in age, his mother dying Avhen he was only three years old, 
his brothers and sisters being: Walter, an attorney-at-law, who now lives 
in Oregon ; Lydia, now Mrs. Sweem, of Stockton, Cal. ; Rosa, now Mrs. 
Ferril ; and George, who resides at Bridgeville, Cal. By the father's second 
marriage, there were four other children. Frank L. Hufford grew up on 
his father's farm. He was deprived of school advantages, but by self-study 
and observation he has become a well-informed man, possessed of note^ 
worthy business acumen. At the age of eleven years he moved with his 
family to Humboldt county, where he assisted his father in his work, also 
being employed on a dairy in Orick for five years and working in the woods 
for four years. In 1897 Mr. Hufford started to work independently, renting 
a ranch from Peter Hansen where he conducted a dairy for three years. 
His wife received from her father's estate eighty acres of wild land, at the 
mouth of Redwood creek, two miles from Orick, which Mr. Hufford im- 
proved. He also took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres within 
one-fourth miles, to which he added by a purchase, thirty-eight acres more, 
thus becoming the owner of two hundred seventy acres in all, upon which 
he engaged in the dairy business and the raising of stock. Mr. Hufford 
was likewise employed for six or seven years in hauling freight from Bald 
Hills to Areata with a six-horse team, and he has been for the past eighteen 
years overseer of roads in District No. 5, which comprised the countr}^ for 
fifteen miles around Orick, also being school trustee of the same town for a 
period of time, in all amounting to sixteen years. In his political interests 
he is a member of the Republican party. Mr. Hufford's first marriage was 
to Miss Ella Montgomery, a native of Humboldt county, who died leaving 
him two children : Floyd, of Bridgeville, this county, and Mrs. Josephine 
Gallon, of Clinton, A^lo. 

The second marriage of A^lr. Hufford, to Miss Myr Griffin, took place at 
Eureka, June 18, 1892. Like himself, his wife is a native of California, hav- 
ing been born at the mouth of Redwood creek, near the present town of 
Orick, her father, George Griffin, having been a native of Pennsylvania, who 
came to this state as a pioneer. After being engaged in gold mining at 
Gold Bluff for a time Mr. Griffin took up land on Redwood creek, where 
he also followed mining, later engaging in the dairy business upon his ranch, 
and afterwards taking Robert Swan into partnership, living here until his 
death occurred; and here his daughter, later Mrs. Hufford, was brought up. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hufford became the parents of seven children : Ida ; Blanche, 
wife of John Francis, a farmer living near the mouth of Redwood creek; 
Vina, Walter, Leslie, Elmer and Kenneth, all of whom, with the exception 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1149 

of Mrs. Francis, make their home with their parents in Orick. Mr. Hufford 
has built a five-thousand-foot sawmill on his property, where he engages in 
the manufacture of lumber, and also runs a blacksmith shop on the place. 
He also engaged in mining near Gold Bluff, where he owns one hundred 
fifty acres, with an ocean front of three-fourths mile, and is extracting gold 
from the black sand on the beach. By his business enterprises and public- 
spirited acts Mr. Hufford has won a high place in the esteem of all who 
know him. He attributes no small degree of his success to his wife, who 
by her aid and encouragement has been an able helpmeet in his different 
enterprises. 

GEORGE E. WRIGLEY.— Since the year 1884 George E. Wrigley has 
made his home in Humboldt county, Cal., having been prominently identi- 
fied with the advancement of this part of the state and well acquainted with 
the various events which have taken place in the progress of its history 
since that date. Having retired now from active business life, Mr. Wrigley 
is known as a fine old man, full of energy and enterprise, who has improved 
a fifteen acre ranch in this county, whereon he has the best apple orchard in 
the vicinity, besides being a successful raiser of berries. His wife, who has 
all along been a faithful and efficient helpmeet to her husband, is a good 
business woman, as well as being liberal and hospitable, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Wrigley hold an enviable place in the good will and esteem of all who 
know them. 

Of English ancestry, Mr. Wrigley is the son of George Wrigley, a native 
of Cheshire, England, who came to New Brunswick in 1852, with a party of 
English colonists, and, being a contractor, was engaged in the construction 
of different portions of the first railroad built in New Brunswick. His wife, 
Mary Hewitt, was born in that province, although her parents had come 
from Belfast, Ireland, both Mr. and Mrs. Wrigley now being deceased. Of 
their six children, five are now living, George E. being the third oldest, and 
another son, James, having also come to California, where he settled in 
Humboldt county in 1886, and was for eighteen years superintendent of the 
Bucksport and Elk River Railroad, until the time of his death. George E. 
Wrigley, also well known in Humboldt county, Cal., was born near St. 
Stephen, Charlotte county, N. B., September 11, 1858, and grew up on his 
father's farm, receiving his education in the public schools, and at the age of 
sixteen years was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, which he followed 
until 1884, the time of his removal to California, when he entered the employ 
of N. H. Falk on the Elk River in Humboldt county, in the Elk River Mill 
and Lumber Company, following the trade of blacksmith at the company's 
plant at Falk. The mill, built in 1884, was burned in 1900, and a new one 
erected, Mr. Wrigley being instrumental as blacksmith in the erection of 
both mills, as well as acting as head blacksmith in charge of his department 
until March 20, 1906, when he was taken seriously ill, losing the use of his 
hands and feet for the time being, and was unable to continue his work, 
though at the close of the summer he was able to get around, but since that 
time has retired from business life, confining his attention to the manage- 
ment of his ranch. Mr. Wrigley is school trustee for the Jones Prairie 
district, a member of the Congregational Church, and of the Republican 
party in politics, and was made a Mason in the Humboldt Lodge No. 79, 



J 150 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

F. & A. M., at Eureka. During his long residence in Humboldt county, 
he has seen some exciting times ; and was in Eureka on the night when the 
Chinese killed Kendall, which caused a riot, and after a public meeting at 
Centennial Hall, the settlers rounded up the Chinese and locked up a num- 
ber of them on account of other shootings which had taken place. On 
account of the unreliability of the Chinese, it was decided unwise to give 
them a trial, and all were ordered to be at the wharf at a certain hour, when 
they were transported from the county, since which time there have been 
no more of their race in the locality. This occurred on February 1, 1885, 
about four hundred of these undesirable residents having been deported at 
that time. 

At the present time, since retiring from business, Mr. Wrigley is at- 
tending to the cultivation of his fruit orchard, whereon he raises many 
varieties of apples, such as Duchess, Wealthy, Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, 
King and Greenings, his fruit having received two blue ribbon prizes at the 
Watsonville exhibition of apples. The marriage of Mr. Wrigley took place 
in his native town of St. Stephen, N. B., uniting him. with Miss Mary 
Esther Glew, who was born at that place, her father having been John 
Glew, a native of Yorkshire, England, who came to New Brunswick, where 
he engaged in railroad construction; the mother being Mary (Thompson) 
Glew, who was born in New Brunswick of Scotch and English parentage. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wrigley were the parents of nine children, of whom the eldest, 
Ella Bernice, now the wife of Jess Barnes, of Falk, was born at St. Stephen; 
the eight younger children having been born in California; Winfield James, 
now secretary and treasurer of the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company at 
Falk, and represented elsewhere in this book; Mary Esther, now Mrs. Rus- 
sell of Eureka; George Edward, D. D. S., of Dixon; Henry F., a law stu- 
dent at San Francisco ; Pearl, a graduate of the Eureka business college ; 
Ruth ; Theodore R. ; and Irving Edwin. 

HIRAM LAMBERT RICKS.— It means much to say that Hiram Lam- 
bert Ricks is a typical representative of his name. In Eureka that name 
stands for high citizenship, strong character, forceful intellect and personal 
qualities above criticism. Mr. Ricks is a son of the late Casper S. Ricks, 
whose life work and efforts in behalf of Eureka and Humboldt county 
generally, are detailed elsewhere in this volume. His father's high reputa- 
tion naturally gave him an enviable position in social and business circles 
to start with, but he has maintained it by his own achievements, and has 
not failed to make good in the rather large responsibility of living up to the 
traditions of honored ancestors. Mr. Ricks was born at Eureka July 29, 
1859, at the corner of Second and F streets, and has passed all his life there. 
He had good educational advantages, but his business career began early, 
for when he was but seventeen years old he was given charge of the build- 
ing of the Ricks water-works, which his father installed at Eureka in the 
year 1877. The work required mechanical as well as executive ability, and 
the youth showed a surprising amount of both. The supply of water, at 
the time of the construction of the plant, was four hundred and fifty gallons 
every twenty-four hours, and was obtained from a large surface well and 
four artesian wells, three Knowles pumps being used. Hiram L. Ricks 
continued to superintend its operation until he sold his interest, in 1903, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1151 

and during that time the facilities were greatly enlarged to meet the increas- 
ing demands of the community. He had purchased a half interest in the 
water-works when a young man and become superintendent, and under his 
progressive poUcy Eureka has been given as fine service as any town 
could wish. His active mind sought opportunities for improving the plant 
constantly, and as a result he made many changes to conform with modern 
scientific ideas. In 1889 he obtained patents on tank and filter, and installed 
same. The nine miles of piping originally laid were extended until sixteen 
miles of main pipe were in use, and the capacity was increased to one and a 
half million gallons every twenty-four hours. The pumping was done di- 
rectly from the Elk river into the mains. 

In 1895, on account of the serious illness of his brother, Casper S. Ricks, 
Mr. Ricks took charge of his father's large estate, which under their wise 
management had grown and increased in value, and his intelligent insight 
of its numerous details, and careful administration of the affairs of magni- 
tude, have won him the unbounded respect of his business associates who 
have had the opportunity of observing his judgment and promptness to 
act when necessary. The care of the estate has been his principal occupa- 
tion for the last twenty years. 

Like his father, Mr. Ricks has given the community the benefit of his 
talents and his advanced ideas on municipal affairs, and his fellow citizens 
have shown their appreciation in the most substantial manner. He has 
been an active member of the fire department from early manhood, having 
been engineer of engine No. 1 since 1878, during part of the time donating 
his salary ($15 a month) therefor to the fire company. He served under 
Governor Budd as a member of the board of harbor commissioners, an office 
of great importance, as the prosperity of Eureka and Humboldt county de- 
pends largely upon its advantages of location on Humboldt bay. In 1906 
and 1907 he held the office of mayor, in which he gave a model administra- 
tion, gaining in favor with each demonstration of his public spirit in his 
efficient discharge of the high ditties entrusted to him. He has long been 
a prominent member of the chamber of commerce, in which he has held the 
office of vice-president. 

Numerous and notable as have been Mr. Rick's accomplishments, 
probably nothing to which he has given his time and thought has benefited 
as large a number of people as has the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. It 
was while he was filling the office of mayor that he began agitating the 
railroad project. From the start he met with opposition from citizens less 
optimistic, who declared the project could not be worked out. His optim- 
ism, however, remained unchanged, and he determined to take immediate 
steps to get the work under way. In March, 1909, he went to San Diego 
to see E. H. Harriman, and so well did he put the case and the value of the 
railroad to Eureka that Mr. Harriman was won over. On Mr. Ricks' return 
to Eureka a call was issued for a public meeting in the city hall and at that 
meeting the Humboldt Railroad Promotion Committee was formed. After 
four months' hard work the committee produced the report, showing the 
gross earnings from the Humboldt extension of the Northwestern Pacific to 
be $2,179,000 for the first year after completion. The following members 
of the executive committee, H. L. Ricks, F. W. Georgeson, L. F. Puter and 



1152 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

E. H. Brooks, secretary, went to San Francisco and laid the matter before 
Captain A. H. Payson, president of the Northwestern Pacific, and A. H. 
Palmer, the general manager. The plans were favorably received and were 
recommended for consideration with President Ripley of the Santa Fe. The 
illness and death of Mr. Harriman followed, and it was feared that the con- 
summation of the extension of the road would be delayed, but a telegram 
from Mr. Payson assured the citizens that construction on the Eureka con- 
nection had been authorized and an appropriation made to cover the cost of 
line south to Dyerville, and north to Covelo bridge over the Eel river. The 
road was built and complete connection made in October, 1914. The com- 
pletion of the road was followed by ceremonies in which the driving of the 
golden spike on October 23, 1914, was an important feature. Mr. Ricks was 
chairman of the celebration committee, and it is safe to say that no one who 
witnessed the ceremonies understood and appreciated their significance any 
more fully than did he. 

Politically Mr. Ricks is a Democrat. His likable personality has made 
many warm friends for him, and he is strongly appreciative of the loyal 
support they have given him when he has made a stand on matters of vital 
interest to the community. Fraternally he holds membership in Humboldt 
Lodge, No. 77, L O. O. F., of which he is a past grand; and is also a mem- 
ber of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. His other social connections are 
with the State Pioneers' Association, the Humboldt County Pioneers' So- 
ciety, and Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W., which he helped to 
organize, in 1883, serving as its first president. 

On November 18, 1884, Mr. Ricks was married, at Blue Lake, Cal., to 
Miss Matilda J. Puter, daughter of Patrick Francis Puter, who came to 
California in 1849. She died in 1904, leaving four children : Adaline Amelia 
Fouts, Mrs. W. M. Murphy of Pasadena ; Hazel Margaret, wife of Captain 
Harry Emerson, serving in the War Department ; Hiram Lambert, Jr., who 
graduated from the University of California with the degree of A. B., J. D., 
and is now practising law in Eureka ; and Carson Stinemets, deputy collec- 
tor of internal revenue at Eureka. The eldest daughter is highly gifted as 
a musician, and has had the best possible training, having studied two years 
at the Conservatory of the University of the Pacific, in San Jose, from which 
institution she was graduated in May, 1903. On March 27th of that year 
she gave a piano recital in the Victory theatre at San Jose, under the 
auspices of her teacher. Professor Douillet, dean of the conservatory, and 
her brilliant rendition of several difficult numbers won the unqualified ap- 
proval of the large audience and the highest compliments of the press. 

The second marriage of Mr. Ricks occurred June, 1913, nine years after 
the death of his first wife, uniting him with Miss Mary A. Bell, a native 
of Trinidad, Humboldt county, Cal. She is a woman of splendid qualifi- 
cations, being a graduate of Cornell University, and was very prominent in 
educational work in Eureka and Humboldt county, at the time of her mar- 
riage being principal of the Eureka high school. 

WINFIELD J. WRIGLEY.— Prominent in the lumber trade in Hum- 
boldt county, Cal., Winfield J. Wrigley, a native son of that part of the state, 
is well known as the efficient secretary and treasurer of the Elk River ]\lill 
and Lumber Company in that county. Born on Elk river, August 25, 1885, 



I 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1153 

Mr. Wrigley is the son of George E. and Mary Esther (Glew) Wrigley, 
both natives of St. Stephen, N. B., Canada, well known pioneer settlers in 
this part of the state. Of the family of nine children, Winfield J. is the 
second oldest, and grew up at the Wrigley home on the Areata road near 
Ryan slough in Humboldt county, receiving his education in the public 
schools of the vicinity and in the Eureka Business College, where he was 
graduated in October of the year 1902. His first employment in business 
lines began two days after his graduation, when he became assistant book- 
keeper for the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company at Falk, later becoming 
head bookkeeper, and in May, 1908, being elected to the positions of secre- 
tary and treasurer of the firm, an honor to which he had risen by honesty 
of purpose and close application to business, an ofifice which he has filled 
faithfully and with distinction ever since. 

The marriage of Mr. Wrigley took place in Eureka, uniting him with 
Miss Grace Shaw, who was also born on Elk river, and was the child of 
pioneer parents, her father having been John D. Shaw, one of the old set- 
tlers of the region, and a prominent rancher there, his death occurring in 
Eureka, in 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Wrigley are the parents of two children: 
James Merced and Grace Dorothy. In his political views Mr. Wrigley is 
a Republican, while his fraternal associations are with the Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E., the Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., at Eureka, the 
Mount Zion Encampment of the same at Eureka, and the Eureka Parlor No. 
14, N. S. G. W. The state of California is proud to number among her 
residents the sons of the old settlers of her counties, which have been cleared 
and brought to fruition by the endeavor and energy of many old-timers such 
as the parents of both Mr. and Mrs. Wrigley, who put all personal comfort 
and convenience aside in their effort to bring the new land to a state of 
cultivation and prosperity. 

WILLIAM BOYES. — A prosperous farmer and dairyman on Prairie 
creek, seven miles north of Orick, in Humboldt county, Cal., William Boyes 
was born near Montreal, P. Q., the son of George B. and Mary (Lytle) 
Boyes, both of whom, now deceased, were natives of England. William 
Boyes is one of ten children, three of whom are now residents of California: 
William; George, a farmer, who resides on Boynton Prairie, ten miles from 
Areata; and Mrs. Jane Aldrich, a resident of Glendale, in Los Angeles 
county. Another son, Silas, resides in Salem, Mass. 

The second son in this large family, William Boyes, grew up on his 
father's farm, receiving his education in the public schools, and remained 
at home until the year 1880, when he came to Mendocino county, Cal., where 
he found employment at the town of Albion, and also for a year at Little 
River, where he worked in the woods. In November, 1884, he removed to 
Blue Lake, Humboldt county, where he purchased a ranch across the river, 
cleared and improved the land and carried on farming for twenty years, but 
after the river flooded his property and washed most of it away he came to 
Prairie creek in 1906, where he is at present located, bought his ranch here 
of three hundred twenty acres and engaged in the dairy business and farm- 
ing, also keeping a hotel which is well known to traveling men throughout 
Northern California and is called by them Elk Tavern, on account of a 
tame elk which Mr. Boyes kept and brought up from a calf. Elk Tavern 



1154 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

ranch, as the place is still called, was originally homesteaded by Andy 
Harris. The ranch, although surrounded by beautiful tall redwoods, is a 
natural open prairie, the stream (Prairie creek) taking its name from that 
fact. The estate is very beautiful and a delight to the eye as one emerges 
from the redwoods into the opening, where one hundred sixty acres is 
bottom land and is under cultivation, and where Mr. Boyes has built his 
dairy, equipped with gas-engine power for the separation of the milk. AVater 
is piped from a mountain stream to his pleasant residence. His dairy herd 
consists of Jersey and Durham cows, of which he milks about twenty-five. 
Aside from being a successful farmer and dairyman, as well as the proprietor 
of a hotel well spoken of for its good food and other comforts, Mr. Boyes 
is also prominent as road overseer of District No. 5 in his county and takes 
pride in keeping the road in good shape, and is an active supporter of the 
Republican party in politics. 

The marriage of Mr. Boyes took place in Ukiah, Cal., on November 30, 
1884, uniting him with Miss Emma Huse, a native of Forest Hill, Placer 
county, Cal., and a daughter of Charles J. and Kisiah Catherine (Finney) 
Huse, both of whom were connected with pioneer days in California. The 
father of Mrs. Boyes, who was born in Bangor, Me., in 1846, came to Cali- 
fornia by way of Cape Horn, and was married in Coloma, Eldorado county. 
He was engaged in mining in Placer county, and after attaining success 
in his business died in that county. The mother was a native of Missouri, 
who crossed the plains to California with her parents in 1857 with ox-teams 
and wagons. Her father, John Finney, was one of the pioneers of this 
state. Mrs. K-C Huse (as she is known) is a resident of Essex, Cal. She 
brought her family of four children to Ukiah, Cal., in 18^6, three of whom 
are now living: Mrs. Grace Crawford, of Essex, Humboldt county; Charles, 
of Washington, D. C. ; and Mrs. A¥illiam Boyes, who is the mother of two 
children, Charles Arthur, who assists his father on the ranch, and Amy 
Ethel Boyes, now the wife of Walter Gillis of Samoa, Humboldt county. 

EVERT ADDISON PORTER.— An enterprising and liberal young 
man, and one well liked in the California town where he makes his home, 
Evert Addison Porter was born at Santa Ana, Cal., April 15, 1879, the son 
of Addison and Achsa (Specs) Porter, who came from Wisconsin to Cali- 
fornia, the father having been a native of New York state. Addison 
Porter opened a blacksmith shop in Santa Ana, later in Willits, Mendocino 
county, Cal., and thirty years ago embarked in the same occupation at 
Alliance, Humboldt county, where he died eighteen years ago. He was 
the father of seven children, of whom Evert Addison was the third oldest, 
and since his death the mother has continued to reside at Korbel. 

Evert Addison Porter grew up at the town of Alliance, receiving his 
education in the Janes school district, being employed thereafter on farms 
and in the woods near by for the Hammond Lumber Company until 1903, 
at which time he turned his attention to the blacksmith's trade, which was 
followed by his father, starting in business as an apprentice in Areata, 
with Philip Matthews of that city, where he remained for four years. 
Later Mr. Porter opened a shop at McKinleyville, which also he ran 
for a period of four years, in 1911 removing to Alliance, since which time 
he has been employed in that place in the blacksmith's trade, doing general 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1155 

blacksmith work and wagon making, and making a specialty of horse shoe- 
ing, still owning the blacksmith shop which he built at McKinleyville, also 
the residence which he erected there, the finest in the place. In McKin- 
leyville, also, his marriage took place, uniting him with Miss Mabel E. 
Mager, who was born near Areata, the daughter of Joseph Mager, a pioneer 
settler of the. place. In his political interests Mr. Porter is a member of 
the Progressive party, while his fraternal associations are with the Wood- 
men of the World at Areata. 

JOHN P. SILVA. — A native of the Azores Islands, where he was born 
on February 25, 1855, in the city of Topo, St. George, John P. Silva is the 
son of Joseph F., a farmer and native of that place, and Mary (San Jose) 
Silva, both of whom died at their old home. Of the family of nine children, 
John P. was the youngest, and grew up like other farmers' boys of the 
locality, receiving his education in the local public schools. At the age 
of eighteen years he left home, coming to the United States in 1873, and 
stopping first at New Bedford, Mass., later securing employment in the 
brickyards of Taunton, Mass., and also on a farm near there, and in cotton 
factories in New Bedford. After five years spent in these varied employ- 
ments, Mr. Silva returned to St. George for a visit to his home, remaining 
there a year, and meanwhile, in May, 1880, marrying Miss Henrietta C. 
Machado, who was born in the city of Calheta, St. George, the daughter 
of Antone and Firmina (Olivera) Machado, natives of that place. The 
bride's father had been a sailor from boyhood, having sailed all over the 
world and risen to the rank of master in the whaling industry. During 
the gold excitement in California, as master of a vessel he brought the first 
lumber from New England around Cape Horn to San Francisco, with which 
the first wooden house in that city was built, and after coming to California 
he gave up his ship and engaged in mining, in which he was quite success- 
ful, returning afterward to his home at St. George. He made trips there- 
after to New Bedford on his vessel with his wife and little daughter, who 
later became Mrs. Silva, and after living in the Massachusetts town, re- 
turned to his old home on account of poor health, and died there six 
months later. His wife remained with her daughter, Mrs. Silva, and 
accompanied her to California, where she spent her last days, her death 
taking place in Areata, in 1911, she being then seventy-four years old. 
Mrs. Silva has an older brother, Joseph Machado, of New Bedford, who 
is captain of his own vessel, as was his father. 

Soon after their marriage in New Bedford, Mr. and Mrs. Silva removed 
to California, where Mr. Silva for a year followed mining on Cherokee 
Flats, then coming to Humboldt county in 1881, finding employment there 
on farms and dairies. By the year 1887 he had saved enough money to 
permit of his starting in business for himself, and he accordingly leased a 
ranch of eight hundred acres on Bear river ridge, where he conducted a 
dairy of sixty cows, panning the milk and skimming by hand, the churning 
being done by horse power. The butter was taken to Scotia and sold to 
the Pacific Lumber Company's stores. After continuing in this business 
for a year, Mr. Silva sold the business and leased a dairy at Rio Dell, 
consisting of forty cows, selling his milk and butter at Scotia. A year 
later he removed to Walker's point, where he ran a dairy for a year, at 



1156 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the end of that time removing to Lake Prairie, where he operated a dairy 
of thirty-five cows and raised cattle and hogs. While living at this place 
Mrs. Silva with her mother and child returned to her home in the Azores 
in order to sell their property there and locate permanently in California, 
and during her absence Mr. Silva leased a dairy ranch at Bald Mountain 
of eleven hundred acres, remaining there a year. He was also interested 
in the building of a creamery at Bayside, of which for three years he 
acted as first manager. His present place, consisting of twenty-two acres 
at Areata, was then purchased, where he built a creamery, operating \he 
same for three years before selling it and purchasing the Rosson ranch of 
twelve hundred acres at Bald Mountain, where for seven years he engaged 
in stock-raising and dairy farming, then renting the place, which has since 
been leased for a dairy and stock ranch. Mr. Silva now makes his home 
at Areata, where, with Mr. Olivera, he has a small dairy, likewise leasing 
the Walker point ranch of two hundred acres, where the partners conduct 
a dairy consisting of fifty cows. At his Areata ranch Mr. Silva has a fine 
residence, as well as commodious barns in connection with his dairy in- 
dustry. He is the father of ten children, of whom only three are at present 
living, namely: Helena, now Mrs. McKinzie, of Areata; Firmina and Leo, 
who are at home with their parents ; the elder seven children who are 
deceased being by name as follows : Mary, who died at the age of sixteen 
years ; Henry, who died at three months ; Antonio, who died at seven 
months ; Manuel, who died at two years ; Henry, who died at six years of 
age ; Arthur, who died at four years ; and Joseph, who died at three years. 
Mr. Silva is a Republican in politics, and in fraternal circles a member of 
the I. D. E. S. at Areata; his wife being a member of the S. P. R. S. L, 
Consul Azores No. 97, at Areata, of which she is ex-president. A cultured 
and refined woman, Mrs. Silva is also an able and practical helpmeet to her 
husband, who by his enterprising and progressive spirit has made for him- 
self a name that is highly respected in the community where he resides. 

HARRY CLAUD JEANS.— The earliest recollections of Harry C. Jeans 
are of the home farm in Pike county. Mo., where he was born June 24, 1876, 
the son of Newton and Margaret (Watts) Jeans, natives of Kentucky and 
Missouri, respectively. While still a young man Newton Jeans left home 
to try his fortune elsewhere, going to the vicinity of Clarksville, Pike county, 
Mo., where he engaged in farming. In that state he met and later married 
Margaret Watts, and there also were born their six children. John H. is a 
stockman at Ruth, Trinity county ; H. Watts is a farmer in Idaho ; Elizabeth, 
Mrs. Beauchamp, resides in Santa Rosa ; William has not been heard from 
for many years ; Arthur H. is a stockman at Ruth ; and Henry C. is the sub- 
ject of this sketch. The mother of these children died in 1884, the father 
still continuing to make his home in Missouri until after his sons came to 
California, when he too came west. His last years were passed in San Jose, 
where he died at the age of seventy-two. 

Harry C. Jeans passed his boyhood on the home farm, receiving his pre- 
liminary education in the near-by schools and completing his studies at the 
Paynesville Institute. In 1898, at the age of twenty-two, he came to Cali- 
fornia to join his elder brothers, who had preceded him and were engaged 
in the cattle business in the vicinity of Ruth, Trinity county. He continued 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1157 

in partnership with his brothers until 1910, when he sold his interest in the 
company to his brother J. H. and leased from his uncle, John H. Watts, the 
property on which he now resides. John H. Watts was a pioneer of Hum- 
boldt county, having settled on this property nearly fifty years ago and 
becoming known as an extensive cattle and sheep raiser. He died in May, 
1912. Upon the death of his uncle, H. C. Jeans came into possession of the 
home ranch of thirty-eight hundred seventy-four acres and also one-third 
interest in seventeen hundred and sixty acres adjoining the ranch on the 
east in Trinity county. All of the ranch is used for stock raising. More 
recently he has purchased an eighty-acre homestead adjoining on the north, 
making the ranch fifty-seven hundred and fourteen acres in extent. The 
Watts ranch is east of the main overland county road about six miles south 
of Blocksburg and lies between the Little Dobbins and Big Dobbins creeks, 
extending east into Trinity county. It is also watered by numerous other 
streams and springs, and is well adapted to raising hay and grain, to which 
he devotes a portion of the land. However, he makes a specialty of raising 
Hereford cattle, usually having about live hundred head, besides which he 
raises hogs of Poland China strain. Disaster befell Mr. Jeans on July 5, 
1914, when his property was destroyed by fire, but he immediately rebuilt 
about one hundred yards from the old site. Water has been piped to the 
house and the property is up to date in every respect. Although Mr. Jeans 
has made many improvements on the Watts property since it came into his 
possession, it still bears strong evidence of its natural wildness in the forests 
of white, black and tan oak, madrone and fir. 

In Fortuna on August 29, 1902, Mr. Jeans was married to Miss Dora 
Ethyl Haydon, who was born in Covelo, Mendocino county, the daughter of 
Thomas Preston and Eugenia (Carner) Haydon, born in Missouri and 
Potter Valley, Cal., respectively. Mr. Haydon was first a stock raiser in 
Mendocino county and later in Trinity county. He is deceased and Mrs. 
Haydon now has a ranch on the middle fork of Eel river. She is a very 
energetic and ambitious woman, of rare worth and integrity and much 
business ability, and is making a success of ranching and the stock business. 
She is very hospitable and is always ready to help those who have been less 
fortunate. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jeans have five children, Myrtle, Homer, Clara, Roy and 
Allen. Mr. Jeans is a man of sterling worth and his wife proves herself a 
great help to the success of his active and industrious life. In his political 
views Mr. Jeans is allied with the Republican party. Always interested in 
the cause of education, he is a trustee of Dobbins School District. The fam- 
ily are interested in the activities of the Christian Church. 

FRED STOUDER.— On both sides of the family Mr. Stouder is a de- 
scendant of Swiss ancestors, although he himself is a native of New York 
City. His father, Frederick Stouder, was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, 
and during young manhood emigrated to the United States, landing in New 
York City, where he was married and where the birth of his son occurred. 
When he was about one year old, in 1857, the parents removed to Illinois, 
settling in Champaign county, and continued there until transferring their 
citizenship to California. This they did in 1876, when they came to Hum- 
boldt county and took up farming. Subsequently the father went to Oregon, 



1158 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

settling in Waldport, Lincoln county, and it was there that he passed away. 
His wife, who in maidenhood was Margaret Hoffner, was also a native of 
Canton Berne, Switzerland. She met with a tragic death, the carriage in 
which she was riding in going from Korbel to Areata being struck by a 
train at the McCloskey railroad crossing. 

The parental family comprised four children, of whom three are living, 
and the eldest is Fred Stouder, whose birth occurred August 9, 1856. As 
has been stated, when he was about one year old the family removed from 
New York to Illinois, where he was reared - on a farm and attended the 
public schools. He was about twenty years of age when removal was made 
to California, and for two years he stayed at home, assisting his father in 
the care of the farm, located near Areata. He was twenty-two years old 
when he struck out for himself, at first Avorking in a sawmill, and about a 
year later taking a position as fireman on the Areata & Mad River Railroad. 
Some idea of the work connected with this position may be realized when 
it is stated that cord wood was used for fuel, thus necessitating constant 
attention. It was after a continuous and faithful service of three years in 
this capacity that he was promoted to engineer with the same road, being 
placed in charge of a run out of Areata, which he continued for fourteen 
years. At the end of this time he accepted the position of engineer with the 
Eastern Redwood Lumber Company, in their interests running a locomotive 
out of Freshwater for three and one-half years. Following this he entered 
the employ of the Eel River Railroad Company, having charge of the con- 
struction train out of Eureka for about four months. In the meantime, 
about 1902, he had established his son in business in Areata, opening a 
garage which was well equipped to handle a general automobile and motor- 
cycle repair business. In 1908 Mr. Stouder retired from railroading alto- 
gether and joined his son in the care of the business, ultimately, however, 
becoming the sole proprietor. The garage is advantageously located on G 
street. Areata, where in addition to doing repairing and handling the sitp- 
plies usual to such an establishment, Mr. Stouder is agent for the Mitchell 
automobile and also the various makes of motorcycles and bicycles, besides 
handling a general line of sporting goods. In addition to maintaining the 
garage, since 1911 he has run an automobile stage line in the city, besides 
a line between Eureka and Korbel, touching at Areata and Blue Lake and 
intermediate points, in all a distance of twenty-four miles. For this purpose 
he has two seven-passenger cars and one five-passenger car, and his son also 
runs two cars for passenger service, one on the same route traversed by his 
father and the other between Carlotta and Eureka. By cooperation father 
and son have so arranged their trips that the schedule is now about a car 
an hour, an arrangement that is decidedly convenient for passengers, who 
show their appreciation by a liberal patronage. 

In Areata Mr. Stouder was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Denny, 
a native of this city and the daughter of James F. Denny, a '49er in the state 
and a pioneer settler of Areata. Three children were born of this marriage, 
as follows : Charles, already mentioned as engaged in the auto stage busi- 
ness ; Frances, Mrs. Bagley, of Portland, Ore.; and Willeta, at home Mnth 
her parents. While Mr. Stouder is not a seeker after public office he is 
nevertheless deeply interested in the welfare of his home city, and for two 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1159 

terms he served as sheriff of the county, also being elected chief of the fire 
department, having been a member of the department for seventeen years. 
Though at present he is not actively engaged in railroad work, he retains 
his membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers at Eureka, 
and was the first president of Redwood Lodge, B. of L. E., in that city. 
He also belongs to the Woodmen of the World at Areata (of which he was 
banker for six years), the Loyal Order of Moose in Eureka, and the Eagles 
in Areata, and in political life is an ardent Republican. In June, 1914, Mr. 
Stouder suffered the loss of his wife, who was an earnest member of the 
Presbyterian Church, a devoted wife and mother and a friend in every 
sense of the word to all who knew her. 

FRED M. GIULIERI.— Though a native of Switzerland, Fred M. 
Giulieri has, since the year 1905, been a resident of the state of California, 
where his father also, in early times, spent fourteen years in Marin and 
Sonoma counties previous to his marriage in his native land to Barbara 
Bravo. After his marriage, Peter Giulieri engaged in farming, his death 
occurring in Switzerland, where his wife still lives on the old home farm. 
Of their six children, Fred M. is the oldest, and was born near Locarno, 
Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on May 4, 1885, received a 'good education in 
the public schools and learned farming and dairying in his native canton. 
He and his sister Severina, now the wife of Henry Bravo, of Metropolitan, 
are the only members of the family now living in California, Mr. Giulieri 
having made his home here since the age of nineteen years, attracted 
hither by the good reports he had heard of the country and a strong 
desire he felt to come to the Pacific coast. The month of February, 1905, 
found him in Eureka, Cal., and he soon secured employment on the dairy 
ranch of Mrs. Mozzini at Loleta, where he remained for nearly two years. 
For the next three years he was engaged in work upon a dairy ranch at 
Beatrice, in 1910 entering into a partnership with C. Pifferini, the part- 
ners buying out two dairies and leasing the two ranches near Grizzly 
Bluff, Humboldt county. Having now one hundred and forty acres 
under lease, they engaged in dairying, conducting a dairy of seventy milch 
cows for a period of five years, in December, 1914, dissolving the partner- 
ship and selling one dairy and lease. Mr. Giulieri at that time purchased 
his partner's interest, and now conducts a dairy independently on a fifty- 
five acre lease of bottom land at Grizzly Bluff, where he also raises hay 
and green feed for his herd of thirty cows, and is making a success of the 
business. An educated and well-informed young man, enterprising in his 
business affairs and liberal and industrious, he has won for himself success 
and a high place in the esteem of all with whom he is associated. In 
his political interests Mr. Giulieri is a member of the Republican party, 
in his fraternal associations holding membership in the Druids' lodge in 
Ferndale. 

ATTILIO BIASCA.— A successful young dairyman of Ferndale, Cal., 
Attilio Biasca at the age of twenty left his home in Switzerland and came 
to California, where his brother Henry had preceded him three years 
earlier. Born in Lodrino, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, a place which has 
sent many of her sons to be instrumental in the development of California 
lands, Attilio Biasca was one of three sons, the date of his birth being 



1160 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

October 2, 1884. The father, Peter, conducted a farm in the Alps district, 
where his family was reared, and where he and his wife, Amelia (Gamusci) 
Biasca, and youngest son, William, now reside; a glazier by trade, he spent 
many months of the year occupied in that business in Paris, France. 
When the son Attilio had completed his education in the local public 
schools and had learned farming and dairying as it is done in that part 
of Switzerland, he served a short time in the infantry, until honorably dis- 
charged, after which he followed his brother Henry to California, arriving 
in Humboldt county April, 1905. For a time thereafter he was in the 
employ of Ambrosini Brothers on the Mayflower and Woodland Echo 
ranches, and later worked at other dairies on Bear river ridge and in the 
Eel river valley. Having saved his money, in 1908, in partnership with 
his brother Henry, he leased the Smith and Williams ranch and in the 
following year the Zoutard place of over one hundred acres, where he has 
conducted a dairy ever since, having in 1912 bought out his brother's in- 
terest in the business. On the fertile soil of these lands he raises hay, 
clover and alfalfa for his herd of sixty cows, as well as green feed such 
as corn and beets, while on a ranch which he rents, consisting of two hun- 
dred acres on Bear river ridge, he is engaged in raising young cattle. 

In his political preferences, Mr. Biasca is an upholder of the Republican 
party, while his interest in the dairy business has led him to be a stock- 
holder in the Valley Flower Creamery Company from its organization. 
His marriage took place in Ferndale, in December, 1912, his wife, formerly 
Miss Victorina Minetta, being a native of the same Swiss town as himself, 
and they are the parents of two children, William Peter and Amelia Vic- 
torina Biasca. 

NIELS THOGERSEN.— Among the younger business men of Eureka 
of the self-made type, one of the most successful is Niels Thogersen, pro- 
prietor of the Excelsior Dairy, who not only deals in milk but operates the 
farm from which his customers are supplied. For the last sixteen years 
this business has occupied the principal share of his attention, yet in that 
time he has acquired other interests even more valuable and extensive, and 
his executive and financial ability have been demonstrated in a number of 
important transactions. Coming to this country alone, and starting without 
influence or aid of any kind, he has made his way to prosperity by the most 
commendable methods, gaining the respect of the most substantial element 
among his fellow citizens. He is a Dane, born June 4, 1874, near Esbjerg. 
His father, Clemen Thogersen, who is now deceased, was a landowner. 
His mother, Kjisten Marie (Nielsen), survives. They had two children, 
Thoger and Niels. 

Mr. Thogersen was reared and educated in Denmark, being allowed 
such advantages as the public schools afiforded. He was brought up to 
farm work, including dairying, so it was quite natural that when he came 
to this country he sought employment in the same line. He had some 
friends at Ferndale, Humboldt county, Cal., to which place he came when 
seventeen years old, having arrived at Field's Landing, this county, April 9, 
1891. He was employed at dairying, farming and teaming for the first seven 
years following his arrival here, and sixteen years ago rented the farm two 
miles south of Bucksport, where he has ever since carried on dairying, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1161 

building up a very large business. Buying stock and two wagons, he added 
to his herd as his profits enabled him to do so and custom increased, until 
he now has over eighty excellent cows, with a ready market for the product. 
His city barns are at Pine and Grant street. Eureka, from which point 
he conducts his deliveries, having two wagons to supply the retail and one 
for the wholesale trade. The property which he continues to rent, two 
miles south of Bucksport, comprises one hundred and thirty acres of the 
old Hinch estate, at Elk River Corners. His own holdings, all purchased 
since he began business for himself, consist of two hundred twenty acres 
southeast of Field's Landing which is leased for dairy purposes, and a five 
hundred acre ranch near Benicia, Solano county, which he has reclaimed 
by building a dyke. This latter tract, which is also devoted to dairying, is 
being seeded to alfalfa as rapidly as possible. Besides, these holdings he 
also owns an interest in a valuable gold mine in Trinity county, Cal., and 
some Eureka city property, a residence at Pine and Grant streets and an- 
other at Pacific and Union streets. He has also become interested in 
transportation and is a stockholder in the McCormick Steamship Company 
of San Francisco, engaged in lumber and passenger traffic between San 
Diego and Portland. With his stock and other business equipment this 
is an excellent showing for sixteen years of application, and represents 
much hard labor, good judgment, sound management and the most satis- 
factory service to his patrons. Mr. Thogersen conducts his dairying opera- 
tions along modern lines, and produces a high grade of milk, for which 
he finds a steady demand. Tall, strong and active, with an energetic nature 
and pleasant personality, he has worked his way into the confidence and 
respect of all who know him, and fully deserves the high measure of esteem 
he enjoys. 

In Oakland in 1903 Mr. Thogersen married Miss Hildah Carlson, of 
Eureka, Humboldt county, who has been his faithful helpmate in all his 
undertakings. ]\Ir. and ^Irs. Thogersen were reared in the faith of the 
Lutheran Church. Mr. Thogjersen is a charter member of the Danish 
Brotherhood No. 95 at Ferndale. He did not find time to visit his old 
home until the spring of 1903, when he made the trip to Europe to see his 
mother and brother, also visiting other European countries besides Den- 
mark. 

ROBERT WILKINSON ROBARTS.— For almost forty years a resi- 
dent of Humboldt county, and throughout that entire time actively engaged 
in enterprises that tended to develop and build up the country, opening up 
new enterprises and strengthening opportunities in established fields of en- 
deavor, the record of the accomplishments of Robert Wilkinson Robarts, 
lately deceased, is so closely interwoven with the life history of Humboldt 
county and the city of Ferndale that neither could be correctly written 
without much being said about the other. 

Mr. Robarts was a native of England, having been born in the county 
of Kent, May 30, 1860, and was at an early age entered in a private school, 
according to the custom of the country, remaining there until he was 
fifteen. An elder brother, James T., who for some time had been seeking 
his fortunes in Canada and the United States, returned home for a visit, and 
his accounts of the wonderful lands beyond the sea so enthralled the lad 



1162 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

that he also secured permission to go to the western continent, accompany- 
ing his brother on his return. The brothers came directly to Humboldt 
county, Cal., where the elder was already well known, and Robert secured 
employment on a ranch at Bear river, then owned by Richard Johnson and 
still known as the Johnson place. The chief occupation on the ranch was 
dairying, and there young Robarts remained for two years, mastering many 
of the details of the business. He then returned to Ferndale and went into 
the butcher business with G. M. Brice as partner, for several years follow- 
ing this line with success, but later selling his interests and engaging in the 
livery business with the same partner. After a few years Mr. Robarts dis- 
posed of his interests in this enterprise also, and entered upon a successful 
<:areer as a btiyer and seller of stock and hides throughout the Eel river 
valley, during this period meeting practically every man in the valley and 
forming many warm friendships which lasted throughout his lifetime, as 
well as establishing for himself an enviable business reputation and also 
making an appreciable fortune by his efforts. His interest in farming had 
never waned, however, and eventually he purchased a farm and for a num- 
ber of years devoted himself to its management, in addition to his farming 
interests engaging in buying stock. This last is, perhaps, the industry 
which has felt the greatest influence from the activities of Mr. Robarts and 
the one which he was most actively instrumental in developing, he being 
the first man to ship cattle from the valley, his first shipment of fifty-one 
head being carried on the steamer Pomona. He was also actively interested 
in the breeding of blooded livestock. The race track at Ferndale was built 
on his ranch, but this ranch has since been sold. He was also heavily 
interested in Port Kenyon, when it was a popular shipping port. Dairy 
farming was one. of the hobbies of this energetic man, and until the time 
of his death he was intimately connected with this enterprise in the Eel 
river valley and was engaged in buying and selling butter. Whether or 
not he was born with the fabled silver spoon in his mouth is not definitely 
known, but it may be safely inferred, for every enterprise to which Mr. 
Robarts put his hand met with astonishing success. He was a man to 
whom the supervision of large undertakings meant merely careful attention 
to many small details, and it was doubtless to this characteristic, coupled 
with wisdom, sagacity and much foresight, that he owed his great success 
There might be added to this also a knowledge of men and a deep insight 
into the workings of the human mind, with a natural inclination on his 
part always to play fair. 

The marriage of Mr. Robarts took place in Ferndale on January 14, 
1880, uniting him with Miss Amelia Grace Francis, who was born in that 
city, the daughter of Francis and Grace (Roberts) Francis, natives, respec- 
tively, of Glamorganshire, Wales, and Cornwall, England. Coming to 
Galena, 111., when young people, they were married there. The grand- 
father, Captain Henry Roberts, was a sailing master and ran a vessel 
across the Atlantic in early days. On coming to Galena, he, with his sons, 
engaged in the butcher business, with meat markets in Lead City. The 
family was well acquainted with Capt. Ulysses S. Grant, afterwards presi- 
dent of the United States, who was then a tanner in Galena and bought 
hides of the Roberts family, the acquaintance being resumed in Humboldt 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1163 

county by Mr. and Mrs. Francis when Captain Grant was stationed at Fort 
Humboldt. Francis Francis was engaged in lead mining near Galena 
until 1850, when he joined the rush to the gold mines in California. Leav- 
ing his wife and Uttle daughter in Galena, he crossed the plains with ox- 
teams, making a six months' trip, and on his arrival on the west coast 
Avorked in the mines and also built the Snow Mountain ditch at Nevada 
City, Cal., which brought water to the camp for mining purposes. In 
1852 his wife joined him, coming via the Isthmus of Panama. They came 
to Humboldt county in 1858, locating first at Uniontown. now Areata, but 
within a month came to what is now Ferndale and purchased one hundred 
sixty acres from a Mr. Shaw, this being the original town site of Ferndale. 
Mr. Francis first sold the land in acres and half acres, and cut up and sold 
smaller tracts, not realizing it would be a town later, and he started the 
water works at Ferndale, which his family still owns. Here his death 
occurred, his wife still living, at the age of eighty-seven years. The water 
system has been incorporated as the Francis Land and Water Company, 
which is owned by his children. Of the eleven children of Mr. Francis, 
four are living, his daughter Clara, now Mrs. G. M. Brice, having been the 
first child born in Ferndale, and his youngest daughter being now the wife 
of Robert Wilkinson Robarts, and reared and educated in Ferndale. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robarts were the parents of five children now living, 
namely: Grace M., the wife of R. S. Feenaty; Blanch A., now Mrs. John D. 
Shaw, the mother of one daughter, Grace Gwendolen Shaw; Keith Douglas; 
James Floyd; and Lucile Marguerite, the latter all of Ferndale. In Fern- 
dale Mr. Robarts was acknowledged as a man of power and influence, 
where for many years he was actively associated with every movement for 
the betterment and upbuilding of the community. A prominent member 
of the Odd Fellows, he was exceedingly popular in that order, and both in 
Ferndale and throughout the valley possessed a host of friends. He died 
November 24, 1914, perishing in the wreck of the ill-fated steamer Hanalei 
at Duxbury Reef, Cal., his body being recovered and brought to Ferndale, 
where interment took place November 27, 1914. 

W. EHREISER.— The proprietors of Hotel Trinidad, in the town of 
that name in Humboldt county, Cal., are Mr. and Mrs. W. Ehreiser, who 
though natives of foreign lands, have known this part of California well 
since the early days of its settlement, Mr. Ehreiser having come to this 
county in 1884, and Hilda Peterson, who was later to become his wife, 
having moved here four years later. 

The native land of Mr. Ehreiser is Germany, he having been born in 
1859 at Baden, where he grew up on his father's farm, at the age of twenty- 
one years removing to the United States and securing employment at 
Little Rock, Ark. Removing to Areata, Humboldt county, Cal., in 1884, 
until the year 1898 he was employed at the Union Hotel and at different 
lumber companies as cook. His marriage occurred in Areata in 1892, 
uniting him with Miss Hilda Charlotta Peterson, who was born at Maria- 
stad, Skaane, Sweden, in which country her father was a farmer and large 
land-owner. The education of Mrs. Ehreiser was received in the schools 
of her native town, and in 1884 she came to the United States, living first 
in Connecticut and later for two years in New Jersey. The year 1888 saw 
her removal west to California, where she lived at Areata until 1898, when 



1164 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

she and her husband settled at their ranch a mile above Trinidad, an estate 
consisting of forty-five acres. This they improved, erecting buildings and 
a comfortable residence, and engaged there in farming and stock raising 
until leasing the place in order to go into the hotel business. In 1913 they 
entered into their new line of business in Trinidad as proprietors of Hotel 
Trinidad, the principal hotel between Areata and Crescent City, and here 
they have earned for themselves a high reputation in their chosen profession 
as well as by their active interest in the upbuilding of the town and the 
giving of their time and means to all worthy objects connected therewith. 

Besides the responsibilities connected with the hotel business, both Mr. 
Ehreiser and his wife are well known for their participation in the municipal 
affairs of Trinidad, where he serves as city marshal and his wife has been 
elected to the city Board of Trustees, both being known as noble and up- 
right citizens standing for high morals. In fraternal circles also Mr. 
Ehreiser is well known, being a member of the North Star Lodge, K. P., and 
a Past Commander as well as a member of the Anniversary Lodge, I. O. 
O. F., his wife having at one time been connected with the Rebekahs at 
Areata. Of their two sons, Harold, who is a graduate of the' Eureka Busi- 
ness College, is a clerk in the Eureka postoffice, while the younger son, 
Albert, is in the employ of the L^nion Iron Works in San Francisco. 

EDWARD WILHELM OLSON.— An enterprising and successful 
dairyman of Field's Landing, Humboldt county, Cal., Edward Wilhelm 
Olson is a native of Spjutstorp, near Malmo, Skaane, Sweden, where his 
birth occurred on October 21, 1871, his father dying when the lad was nine 
years of age. Edward Wilhelm grew up on the farm, and received his 
education in the public schools of his native land, at the age of sixteen years 
removing to the United States, where he sectired employment for three 
years at a dairy in Holyoke, Mass. Leaving that state, he next went to 
Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the carpenter's trade at the town of 
Brookston, following the same occupation for a year also at Jamestown, 
N. Y. Going to South Bend, Ind., Mr. Olson was for four months associated 
with the Oliver Plow Works of that place, whence he moved to Attica, Ind., 
finding" employment there on a farm for a couple of years and in a livery 
stable for a year. AVhile living in Attica he was married to i\Iiss Anna 
Nylen, also a native of Sweden, born at Mjolby, Ostrejotland, and they be- 
came the parents of seven children, namely: Alma, who is a graduate of the 
high school at Eureka, class of 1915; Herman, who is at present assisting 
his father in the dairy business ; Harold, Margaret, Dorothy, Eddie and 
Clarence, the children all residing at home. After his marriage in Attica, 
Ind., Mr. Olson continued ranching for five years, after which he carried 
on farming independently upon a rented ranch until the year 1903, when 
he removed to Humboldt county, Cal., locating first in the city of Eureka, 
where his wife's uncle, G. A. Waldner, had made his home. In a short 
time, however, Mr. Olson leased the Miller ranch of eighty acres near Field's 
Landing, where he engaged in dairying with a fine herd consisting of twenty 
cows. Leaving this place, however, in November, 1910, he at that time 
leased his present place, which comprises about one hundred and ninety 
acres, where he conducts a dairy of forty cows of the Guernsey and Jersey 
breeds. Aside from the business responsibilities of his dairy ranch, ]\Ir. 






HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY M65 

Olson is a s'tockholder in the Eclipse Creamery, of which he has for two 
years been manager, and fraternally is known as a member of the Modern 
Woodmen of America, the Eagles and the Hoopa Tribe of Red Men, all 
in the city of Eureka, while his political interests are with the Republican 
party. 

GEORGE FLECKENSTEIN.— A country lad, born in Dubuque county, 
Iowa, November 26, 1867, reared on a farm, where he was early taught the 
responsibility of labor, George Fleckenstein first came to California in 1886, 
when with his mother and other members of his family he joined his father 
in Humboldt county, where he had previously journeyed to establish a home, 
Since that distant time he has resided for the most part in Humboldt county, 
with only a brief excursion into Napa county, where he was engaged in 
business for a few years. Throughout the county he is well and favorably 
known, having made for himself a reputation for business integrity, industry 
and honorable achievement which will endure long after the man himself 
has passed to his fathers, for it is closely inwoven with the history of this 
section of the state, and so will not perish. 

When Mr. Fleckenstein was but two years of age his father removed 
with his family from Dubuque county, Iowa, to Warren county in the same 
state, there continuing his occupation of farming. Foir a few years the son 
attended the public schools of the district, but at an early age went to 
work as an assistant to his father in the blacksmith shop which the elder 
Fleckenstein had opened on the farm, facing the highway. Here he re- 
mained for a number of years, thoroughly mastering every detail of the 
trade, and when, in 1885, his father determined to come to California, 
hoping thereby to better the family fortunes, the eighteen-year-old lad 
was left in charge of the blacksmith shop and the farm. Arriving in 
California, the elder Fleckenstein spent a year in Los Angeles county, 
but not finding there the conditions which satisfied him he later came 
into Humboldt county, locating in Eureka. The following year he sent 
for his family, who, disposing of the Iowa interests, arrived in Eureka 
February 23, 1886. 

On his arrival in California young George Fleckenstein made his first 
independent start, cutting loose from the fireside, and facing life for him- 
self. He first found employment in a sawmill on Salmon creek, but after 
a short time the mill closed and he went to Bayside, where he was a 
blacksmith for Flannagan-Brosson Co., continuing with them until 1892. 
In that year he purchased property at McKinleyville, which is now known 
as the Fleckenstein place, and is the home of the family. Here he opened 
a blacksmith shop on his property, fronting the highway, and conducted 
it with much success. In 1896, being interested in land in Napa county, 
he removed with his family to that county, locating five miles north of 
Vallejo, where he acted as manager for the Knight Land Company, re- 
maining for two years. 

The call of home is strong in the hearts of such men as this, however, 
and at the end of two years Mr. Fleckenstein returned to his home place 
at McKinleyville and has resided there since. He again opened his black- 
smith shop on the farm, and has continued to follow this trade with suc- 
cess and profit. He is also greatly interested in the breeding of fine live- 



1166 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

stock, and is the owner of one of the fastest trotting horses iii the county, 
this particular horse being his greatest pride. 

On September 13, 1892, Mr. Fleckenstein was married to Miss Anna 
Whalen, the marriage taking place in Eureka, then the home of the bride, 
Mrs. Fleckenstein is a native of Kansas City, Mo., born July 3, 1870. She 
came to California with her father, Joseph Whalen, when a child and 
settled in Humboldt county, where her father is well known as a mechanical 
engineer. She is the mother of two children, a son, Allen, and a daughter, 
Anna, both popular in their circle and well known in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Fleckenstein is interested very keenly in politics and is closely 
associated with the local affairs concerning the welfare of his party, which 
is Democratic. He is considered one of the stanch members of the farm- 
ing class in Humboldt county, and has accumulated property of much 
value, which he has handsomely improved and which is a great credit to 
the community. 

WILLARD J. RILEY.— As proprietor of the Bridgeville Hotel, Willard 
J. Riley has made many warm friends in this part of the state, and is also 
well known to the traveling public all over the northern part of the state 
as a genial and obliging host, whose first thought is for the care and com- 
fort of his guests, and whose pleasant manner and warm-hearted kindness 
add materially to the popularity of his house. Both Mr. and Mrs. Riley 
are well known in Bridgeville, where they have resided for a number of 
years, and also in Eureka, where they made their home until Mr. Riley's 
ill health obliged them to make a change, and they came to Bridgeville 
at that time. 

Mr. Riley was born in Buchanan, Berrien county, Mich., June 27, 
1856. At an early age he was obliged to leave school and go to work, his 
first employment being in a factory where broom handles were manufac- 
tured. When he was fourteen years of age his parents removed to Indiana, 
and when he was twenty-one they moved to Rooks county, Kansas, where 
they homesteaded. There young Willard Riley was married, April 10, 
1885, to Miss Florence A. Faulkner, who has since that time been his con- 
stant companion and helpmeet. She is the descendant of Edmund Faulkner, 
who came from King Charles county, Southampton, England, in 1745 and 
located at Salem, Mass. There he was married to Dorothy Robinson, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1747, and by her had several sons, one of whom was Col. Francis 
Faulkner, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Riley. Colonel Faulkner 
helped to gather the militia for the battle of Lexington and fought in that 
famous engagement. Later he fought under General Washington, and after 
the war became a prominent and influential business man, and built the first 
woolen mill at Acton, Mass. The father of Mrs. Riley was John M. Faulk- 
ner, born in Mason county. 111., where he was a prominent merchant and also 
an influential member of the Masons and of the Odd Fellows. Her mother 
was Nancy Beagle, born in St. Louis, Mo. Mrs. Riley was born at Bedford, 
Iowa, and later removed to Lincoln, Neb., she being a graduate of the State 
Normal School at Peru, Neb. She obtained her first teacher's certificate 
when she was but sixteen years of age and was a very clever and efficient 
teacher, being engaged in educational work in Nebraska and Kansas. She 
was the eldest of four daughters and was a close companion of her father, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT GOUXTY 1167 

who was postmaster, merchant and justice of the peace at OHve Branch, 
Lancaster county, Neb., to which place he gave the name. After a time the 
family removed to Kansas, owing to the ill health of the father, and at 
Roscoe, Graham county, that state, he engaged in general merchandising 
and farming. In all these enterprises Mrs. Riley was his close associate and 
assistant, and early developed a remarkable business ability, which is one 
of the strong traits of all the Faulkners. 

Mr. and Mrs. Riley became the parents of three children, two daughters 
and a son, the latter, Floyd W., the youngest born, dying in infancy. Of 
the daughters, the elder. Myrtle, is now the wife of F. J. Stransky, tele- 
graph operator at Gisco, Gal., and Ada resides with her parents. Mrs. Riley 
and her daughters are members of the Rebekahs at Blue Lake. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Riley take a great interest in local affairs, standing firmly on the 
side of progress and general public improvement. Mr. Riley is a Republican, 
but has never taken an active part in politics save in connection with local 
questions of importance. 

[After the above was prepared Mr. Riley died in Eureka, June 16, 1915, 
his death being mourned by his family and a host of warm friends.] 

JOHN VANCE. — For many years the business activities of Eureka and 
vicinity were to a large extent dominated by the strong personality and in- 
fluence of the late John Vance. A man of marked individuality, force of 
will and self-reliant powers, he was a shrewd, keen observer, and had a rare 
faculty for rightly reading and judging men and their motives, being seldom 
deceived in his estimate of persons. Just and honorable in his transactions, 
he was also very decided in his opinions, and would fight opposition most 
relentlessly. He was not a follower of any fad, fashion or personage, in his 
social, business and political relations depending upon the dictates of his 
conscience, and relying upon his own judgment and forethought. He was 
born October 1, 1819, in Nova Scotia, and died in January, 1892, in Eureka, 
while he was serving his second term as mayor of the city. He was the 
ninth child in order of birth of a family of ten children, one of whom died 
in infancy, the others being as follows: Mary, Alexander, George, Isabel, 
Jane, Gharlotte, Gatherine, John and Thomas. Four of these children came 
to the Pacific coast, George, Gharlotte, John and Thomas. 

George Vance was for a number of years a prominent business man of 
Humboldt county, but afterwards moved to San Francisco, where his death 
occurred. He was the father of John M. Vance, whose sketch may be found 
elsewhere in this work. Gharlotte Vance married a Mr. Benson, and settled 
in British Golumbia, where she spent the remainder of her life. Thomas 
Vance located in Eureka, where he and his family reside. 

John Vance attended first the common schools in Nova Scotia, after- 
wards completing his early education at the evening sessions of the 
Mechanics' Institute, at St. John, New Brunswick. At the age of sixteen 
he began learning the trade of a carpenter and shipbuilder, serving an ap- 
prenticeship of four years with his father. Going then to Roxbury, Mass., 
he was there successfully employed as a contractor and builder for ten years. 
Following the tide of immigration to the western coast in 1849, he took 
passage on the steamer Ohio, which was confiscated at Havana. The passen- 
gers subsequently proceeded on the Georgia to the Isthmus, which they 



1168 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

crossed on foot, afterwards taking the steamer Panama, which arrived in 
San Francisco in the early part of 1850. 

Resuming his trade, Mr. Vance remained in that city about a year, and 
then went to Foster's bar, on the Yuba river, where he tried his luck at 
mining. In February, 1852, with a party of enterprising pioneers, Mr. Vance 
located on Humboldt bay, and from that time until his death was actively 
identified with the development and advancement of this section of the 
county, being a prime mover in the establishment of industrial enterprises 
of all kinds. As a carpenter and millwright he assisted in converting the 
steamer Santa Clara into a sawmill, and a short time later came near losing 
his life from injuries received in the wreck of the Mexican, near the site of 
the present lighthouse. Soon after his recovery, forming a partnership with 
Capt. E. Tomlinson under the name of John Vance & Co., he purchased the 
general store of Pickard & Long and embarked in the mercantile business. 
That he realized even in those pioneer days the value of judicious advertising 
may be shown from a clipping taken from the first issue of the Humboldt 
Times, on September 2, 1854, namely: 

JOHN VANCE & CO. 
Front Street. 
Have on hand an assortment of groceries and provisions, such 

as flour, pork, beef, lard, butter, hams, codfish, sugar, coffee, beans, 

whisky, brandy, buckwheat flour, tobacco, starch, soap, candles, 

potatoes, window glass, farming utensils, crockery, nails, hardware, 

etc., which they offer for sale at the lowest prices. 

J. V. & Co. are daily expecting a large and complete assortment 

of goods suitable to this market. 

John Vance. E. Tomlinson. 

Mr. Vance subsequently turned his attention to lumbering, buying the 
mill at the foot of G street, which had been built by Ridgeway & Flanders, 
who were not successful in operating it. The partner of Mr. Vance, Mr. 
Garwood of San Francisco, was lost on the steamer Merrimac, and he con- 
tinued his milling and logging business alone. The manufacture of lumber, 
however, was not a profitable enterprise for many years, the prices being so 
low that many companies failed. With persistency of purpose, Mr. Vance 
retained his interests, wisely investing his money in timber tracts, eventually 
becoming the owner of thousands of acres of the finest standing redwoods 
to be found in the county. In the midst of this tract, in 1875, Mr. Vance 
erected a sawmill on Mad river, the plant having a capacity of about forty 
thousand feet per day, and for a number of years produced some of the 
most choice clear redwood lumber on the coast. He also owned and operated 
a mill in Eureka, carrying on a very remunerative business in this line for 
many years. 

For the transportation of the products of his two mills, ]\Ir. Vance had 
four vessels built, the Uncle John, Oceania Vance, Lizzie Vance, and the 
Sparrow, which carried lumber to the principal coast markets. Through his 
energy redwood was exported to foreign markets, his lumber trade with 
Tahiti, Australia, South America, Central America and the Hawaiian Islands 
having been extensive. In 1872 he erected the Vance Hotel, a large and 
handsome block, which has ever since been the leading hotel of the city. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1169 

One of the original stockholders of the Eel River & Eureka Railroad, Mr. 
Vance served as its first president, and was again made president of the 
company in 1887. He wisely encouraged, and generously supported, all 
beneficial projects, and contributed liberally to public and private charities. 

Prominent and active in the management of public affairs, he was the 
Whig candidate for county treasurer in 1854, his nomination for the office 
being announced in the first copy of the Humboldt Times, towards the 
establishment of which he lent such financial assistance that the paper be- 
c^^e a success. Although Mr. Vance received one hundred six out of the 
one hundred sixty-eight votes cast in Eureka, he was defeated, the county 
being a Democratic stronghold. From the time of the formation of the 
Republican party, he was one of its most loyal adherents. In 1880 he 
strongly advocated the election of George C. Perkins, and as a delegate to 
the Republican convention in 1890 cordially supported Colonel Markham, 
whom he entertained in a sumptuous manner at the time of his memorable 
visit to Humboldt county. 

In 1888 Mr. Vance was elected mayor of Eureka, receiving a handsome 
majority, and served with such marked ability that he was reelected to the 
same position in 1890 for a term of two years. Before the expiration of the 
term, however, he was called from his earthly labors. Under his wise admin- 
istration many improvements were made in the city, streets being graveled, 
the sewer system extended, an additional number of lights provided, the city 
limits extended, and its prosperity in every way greatly enhanced. 

In Roxbury, Mass., Mr. Vance married Sarah A. Corbett, by whom 
he had three sons, one of whom died in childhood. The others are Edgar H. 
Vance, born February 8, 1844, in Massachusetts, and now residing in Oak- 
land, Cal.; and Silas Albert Vance, who was born May 11, 1846, in Massa- 
chusetts and died in Los Angeles. 

CLYDE A. BROWN. — A type of the rising young business men who 
are rapidly taking over the reins of affairs in all departments of life, educa- 
tional, commercial and governmental, Clyde A. Brown is one of the prominent 
young men of affairs in Ferndale, where he has elected to erect his roof tree 
and rear his family, making for himself a place in the life of his community 
which will be worthy and acceptable. He is a native of Humboldt county, 
having been born near Ferndale, on his father's ranch, November 24, 1885. 
His boyhood days were passed on the ranch, and later he attended school 
at Grizzly Blufif. After a time, and while he was still a lad, his parents re- 
moved to the island, and he attended the Grant school there, graduating from 
the grammar grades. Following this he spent a year attending the Ferndale 
business college, where he was graduated in 1904, when he was nineteen 
years of age. 

Returning to Ferndale, he accepted a position in the Johnson Brothers 
General Merchandise Store, where he remained for three years, from there 
going to work for W. H. Robarts in his grocery store. After a short period 
of employment here, he purchased the business from Mr. Robarts, in partner- 
ship with Joseph Hansen, and has since then been engaged in its conduct. 
The partnership has proven to be a profitable one, the business has grown 
and they now have one of the best grocery houses in the city. 



il/O HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. Brown has always been progressive and is actively interested in 
all public questions that affect Ferndale. Though still under thirty, he has 
created a place for himself in his home city which might well be the envy 
of much older men. On June 10, 1908, he was married to Miss Katie Eliza- 
beth Ammer, a native of Humboldt county, born on the Eel river April 30, 
1889. They have two charming children, little Bernice and Marian, who are 
the delight of their father's heart. 

In addition to his business prominence, Mr. Brown is an influential 
member of several fraternal and social orders, prominent among which are 
the Woodmen of the World and the Native Sons of the Golden West. 

SILVIO COMISTO.— Silvio Comisto, wholesale and retail liquor dealer 
of Ferndale, is a man who is exceptionally well liked by his fellow townsmen, 
both "wets" and "drys." Mr. Comisto is a man of sterling worth of character, 
honest, fearless and fair in all his business dealings. He has been a resident 
of Ferndale for nearly thirty-five years and during that entire time has been 
in the liquor business with his present partner, Philip Calanchini, he being 
the junior partner of the firm of Calanchini & Comisto. 

Mr. Comisto is a native of Switzerland, born in Canton Ticino, September 
1, 1861. AVhen he was but thirteen years of age he conceived a great desire 
to come to California, where an elder brother, James, was already located, he 
living at that time in Sonoma county. Young Silvio Comisto made the long 
journey alone from his native land, and for a time he remained in Sonoma 
county, near his brother, working out on various dairy ranches by the month. 
Later on he came into Humboldt county, and in 1882 located in Ferndale, 
engaging in the liquor business. 

The marriage of Mr. Comisto took place in 1903, uniting him to Mrs. 
James Comisto, the widow of his brother, then deceased. She is the daughter 
of John Clark, a pioneer of Sonoma county. There are no children of this 
union, but Mrs. Comisto has two daughters by her previous marriage, the 
younger of whom. Hazel, is still living at home. The elder daughter. Ruby, 
is now married to F. E. Kelley, a civil engineer, and is residing in Scotia. 

In addition to his interest in the liquor business, in which he makes a 
specialty of fine table wines and all high class fancy drinks, Mr. Comisto is 
greatly interested in the dairy business, as is also his partner, Mr. Calanchini. 
Both men have heavy investments in this line of industry and give much 
time and thought to the development of this business. 

In addition to his popularity as a business man and a worthy citizen, 
Mr. Comisto is well known in fraternal circles, being a prominent member 
of the Masons and also of the Odd Fellows, and takes an active part in the 
affairs of each. Mr. Comisto has never taken any active part in politics from 
a partisan standpoint, but is deeply interested in whatever he believes to be 
for the welfare of the town and its ultimate progress. He is interested in 
education, libraries, and such similar improvements, and is one of the strong- 
est supporters of the good roads movement and of all general permanent 
improvements, and for many years has been a director of the Ferndale Fair 
Association. He has the greatest faith in the future of Ferndale and vicinity 
and is heavily interested in property in the town and also in acreage in the 
surrounding country. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1171 

ROLLIN DURAN BOYNTON.— Another of the native sons of Cali- 
fornia, and one who is closely identified with early history in Humboldt 
county, although not the scene of his nativity, is Rollin Duran Boynton, who 
was born in Santa Clara, Santa Clara county, January 28, 1857. The early 
years of his life were, however, passed in Humboldt county on the home 
farm of three hundred twenty acres, on Eel River island, where he still resides 
and which property still belongs to the Boynton estate. He also owns other 
valuable real estate, and has been extremely successful in his farming and 
dairying ventures. He has always been a man of public spirit and keenly 
appreciative of all movements that served to uplift mankind, as well as being 
a kind friend, a good neighbor, and a worthy citizen. 

Mr. Boynton is the son of Franklin Zouinglos and Emily Ann (Kenni- 
son)- Boynton, the former a native of Vermont, and the latter having been 
born near St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Boynton Sr., when yet a young man, removed 
to Massachusetts, where he remained until 1850, when he came to seek his 
fortune on the Pacific coast, making the long trip around the Horn and land- 
ing at San Francisco. He at once went to work in the mines, locating and 
developing claims for several years and meeting with much success. Ill 
health compelled him to forego this line of occupation and he took up a 
Spanish grant and engaged in farming for three years, but did not find his 
former success in the new venture. It was in 1858 that he came into the 
Eel river valley and located on Eel River island where his family has since 
lived. A brother, R. C. M. Boynton, had made the trip some few weeks 
before and his glowing accounts of the splendid government land open for 
location proved the necessary magnet. The journey was made by water 
from San Francisco to Eureka, from there to Myers Landing and thence 
across Table Blufif; then by boat up the Salt river to the island of promise. 
Both brothers located tracts of one hundred sixty acres each. The land was 
heavily timbered with spruce, alder brush, salmon berries and trees of dif- 
ferent varieties, and the labor of clearing it and putting it in condition for 
cultivation was no small undertaking. At first the brothers engaged in 
stock-raising, dairying, making both butter and cheese, which was sold to 
the soldiers then stationed at Fort Humboldt. At this time there were only 
two other families located on the island, and the supply of food products for 
the market was at the minimum. Soon, therefore, they added potatoes to 
their crops, and raised beef for the market. The farms proved to be very 
productive and the profits therefrom were large, and he afterwards purchased 
his brother's one hundred sixty acres, making him three hundred twenty 
acres. Mr. Boynton continued to reside on his farm until the time of his 
death, which occurred in February, 1908, although for a number of years he 
had not been actively engaged in business. His wife, who like himself had 
come to California in an early day, crossing the plains with an uncle, T. J. 
Finch, in 1854, had preceded him by thirty years, having passed away in 
1878. On her arrival in California her people had located in San Jose, and 
there she resided until her marriage with M^r. Boynton. ■ 

Rollin Duran Boynton first attended school that was on the Walker 
place in what was known as Fern cottage, Centerville. Later he attended 
school on the Island and in Ferndale until he was twenty years of age. 
While attending school he had always assisted his father on the farm during 



1172 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

vacations and on the completion of his education he assisted in the care of 
the home place for a number of years. Later he went to work in the mines 
on Trinity river at Weaverville, where he remained for two years, meeting 
with scant success. Returning to Humboldt county in 1875, he again worked 
for his father on the farm, and in 1880, together with another brother, took 
entire charge of the home place. At that time the land was chiefly devoted 
to grain raising, but in 1885 they took up dairying and have met with marked 
success, continuing in this line down to the present time. 

On February 27, 1890, Mr. Boynton was married to Miss Minnie Hansen, 
a native of Davenport, Iowa, born September 9, 1861. She is the daughter 
of August J. and Annie (Garkan) Hansen, born in Germany. They were in 
New Orleans, La., one year, thence to Davenport, la. Mr. Hansen was a 
blacksmith and farmer till 1875, when they brought their family to Ferndale, 
engaging in farming on Eel River island until their death. Mrs. Boynton 
was raised and educated here. Mr. and Mrs. Boynton have two children : 
Elizabeth N., and Rollin Z., both of whom are well and favorably known 
among the younger generation in their community. Mr. Boynton is promi- 
nent in all local affairs of moment, and is classed as one of the most success- 
ful and thoroughly substantial men of the valley. His business has pros- 
pered and he is recognized as an important factor in the commercial life of 
his section. Politically he is a Republican of the old school, and his party 
affiliation is strong. He has always taken an active part in the governmental 
affairs of his county and of the state, and has several times served his party 
as district delegate to the state conventions. In this Mr. Boynton but fol- 
lows in the footsteps of his pioneer father, who like himself was a Republi- 
can and an ardent party man. Both men have always been interested in 
fraternal orders, the father being a prominent member of the Masons and 
Odd Fellows, while the son adds to these the Knights of Pythias. 

WILLIAM ALBERT BROWN.— In this latter day, when wise men 
are crying "back to the soil," and young men and young women are crowd- 
ing into the cities, with their dust and dirt, their rush and fever and vice, 
there to spend their strength and energy in the unequal struggle for place 
and position, and ending all too often with scarcely enough to keep body 
and soul together, and with much that might have made life sweet crushed 
and broken and beaten out of them — it might be well if they would all make 
a study of the history of the farmer boys of "Humboldt county (and other 
counties as well) and learn from them just what a man may make of his life 
and opportunities when he remains on the "soil," instead of having to go 
back to it. The California pioneers who came to the coast in an early day 
acquired farms, reared their families and educated them close to thfe heart 
of nature, gave to their sons and daughters a heritage that the children of a 
later generation are all too often missing, and the child of the pioneer showed 
the possession of these qualities in the life that he led, and w4iich he is still 
leading. 

Well known among the pioneers of this class, and a native of Humboldt 
county, is William Albert Brown, born in the Eel river valley, March 11, 
1859, on his father's farm. Mr. Brown has followed farming all his life, and 
has accumulated a handsome patrimony from the fruits of his industry. He 
has been successful, and is one of the most prosperous and reliable men of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1173 

his community, a citizen of ability and worth, with an undisputed place in 
the hearts of his friends and neighbors and in his section of the great com- 
monwealth of California. He is the son of Thomas and Sarah (Dean). 
Brown, natives of Tennessee and South Carolina, respectively. In about 
1848 the elder Brown came to California across the plains with ox-teams, and 
soon afterward he settled in Humboldt county on a ranch near Grizzly Bluff, 
where he lived until the time of his death, May, 1906. 

It was in this region that the son passed the barefoot days of his boy- 
hood, working on the farm when he was not in school, and becoming well 
versed in the lore of field and wood. He attended the district school at 
Grizzly Blufif until he was eighteen years of age, when, having completed 
the course offered there, he went to work for his father on the ranch. After 
a few years thus spent, he determined to start out for himself, and accord- 
ingly rented a ranch near Centerville and engaged in farming. He later 
branched out into the dairying business, which he made very profitable. He 
remained here for two years, then renting a property at Grizzly Blufif and 
continued his career as a farmer there. When at the end of two years his 
lease on this farm expired, he gave up ranching for himself for a few years, 
and became foreman for Z. Russ and Sons on an extensive property at Bear 
Ridge. Their interests were largely general farming and dairying, and the 
young foreman proved so adept in the successful conduct of their interests 
that he remained with them for six years. 

Independent enterprises, however, proved again to be the strongest in- 
clination of young Mr. Brown, and he returned to the Eel river valley, locat- 
ing on Eel River island, where he rented a ranch of eighty acres and engaged 
again in farming and dairying for himself. After this property was improved 
and in proper condition, he rented an additional tract of forty acres, and for 
twelve years he followed his chosen occupation here. He has always been 
greatly interested in the breeding of blooded stock, stoutly maintaining that 
pure strains are the best investment and the most profitable. He has been 
especially interested in milch cows and on this property maintained a herd 
of sixty head of graded Jerseys. 

Three years ago (1912) Mr. Brown retired from active business, and is 
now living in Ferndale, enjoying the just reward of his years of industry. 
He has erected a handsome new home, and surrounded himself with modern 
comforts, where he resides with his wife and children, who like himself, are 
natives of Humboldt county. 

Mr. Brown was married in Ferndale, November 9, 1882, being united 
with Miss Mary E. Morgan, who was born at Cape Mendocino, Humboldt 
county, the daughter of Andrew J. and Emily (Pole) Morgan, born in Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee, respectively. The father came to California in 1852, 
across the plains, and was married in Sacramento, his wife having come via 
the Isthmus. In 1862 they came to Cape Mendocino, Humboldt county, 
where they were engaged in stock-raising. In 1865 he located on Eel River 
island, where he followed farming till they retired to Eureka, about 1904, 
where they spent their last days. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two children : 
Clyde, a merchant in Ferndale ; Muriel resides with her parents. 

Mr. Brown is a stanch Republican, and is interested in both local and 
national questions. He is well posted on all issues, and takes an active part 



1174 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

in questions of civic improvement, always on the side of progress and better- 
ment. During his lifetime many changes have taken place in Humboldt 
county, not the least of these being the upbuilding of the city where he now 
makes his home. When he first came to the Eel river valley the river itself 
was a mere trickle of water, only about fifteen feet wide ; there were no 
wagon roads, and the mountain trails, over which all provisions and supplies 
had to be packed on horse or mule back, were rugged and dangerous. That 
he has been a factor in the upbuilding of his community, adding to its 
resources and aiding in making the life of its citizens fuller of golden oppor- 
tunities and the joy of living, is a matter of much satisfaction to this pioneer 
of the Golden West. 

MARTIN HAUGH.— A native of Ireland, but a true pioneer of Hum- 
boldt county, having come to California and located first in Areata in 1870, 
Martin Haugh is today one of the respected and prosperous retired farmers 
of the county, a man who has wrested from the soil a goodly fortune, and 
who is now enjoying the fruits of his toil in peace and rest. He is the owner 
of several handsome properties in Humboldt county, mostly in the vicinity 
of Areata, of which his son now acts as manager. 

Mr. Haugh was born in County Clare, Ireland, in January, 1847. His 
early life was spent on his father's farm and in attendance at the national 
schools. He remained with his father on the farm until he was twenty-one 
when he decided to come to America where the opportunities were greater 
for an ambitious young man. He landed in New York but remained there 
only a short time, soon coming to Humboldt county, Cal., where he had a 
brother and a sister living at Areata. He secured employment in a saw mill 
at Trinidad where he worked for Smith & Daugherty for a number of years, 
until their mill closed down. After this he returned to Areata and took up 
farming. He rented land for a time, later purchasing his first farm from 
Nicholas Heffron, a tract of forty acres, only a small portion of which was 
cleared and under cultivation. For the first five years he farmed, the land 
not being in condition for dairying, but during the past thirteen years he 
has made a specialty of dairying. Twelve years ago he purchased an addi- 
tional tract of eight acres about three-quarters of a mile northwest of Alli- 
ance, of partly improved land, and moved his family there, making this their 
permanent home place where they reside at present. Mr. Haugh's son, 
William Haugh, has charge of the ranch of forty acres and also manages his 
father's other interests, the elder Mr. Haugh having now retired from active 
business life. In addition to the farm there is a timber claim of one hundred 
sixty acres located near the Big Lagoon on Redwood creek which Mr. Haugh 
has held for more than twenty-five years. 

Aside from his business interests Mr. Haugh has been an active factor 
in the affairs of his community for many years. He is a Democrat in politics 
and has taken a keen interest in the affairs of his party, having been close in 
its councils and confidences, and serving in various capacities of trust. He 
has been for several years a member of the Democratic county central com- 
mittee and is well versed in all questions of the day. He is also a prominent 
member of the Catholic church at Areata and of the Knights of Columbus. 

The marriage of Mr. Haugh took place in Areata, February 23, 1884, 
uniting him with Sarah Heffron, a native of the province of Quebec, Canada, 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1175 

born January 4, 1860. When she was but a year old her parents came to 
Humboldt county and she has since resided here. They made the long jour- 
ney from Quebec by way of the Isthmus and located first below Bayside, in 
1861. Mrs. Haugh lived at home with her parents until the time of her 
marriage. She has borne her husband five children, one son and four daugh- 
ters. These are Mary J., William, Margaret, Alice and Grace, all well known 
in Humboldt county, where they have been born and educated, and where 
they have grown to manhood and womanhood. 

Mr. Haugh is the descendant of an old Irish family, his father, Martin 
Haugh, having been born in Ireland and followed the occupation of farming 
during the greater part of his life. Both his parents died before he came to 
America. 

The father of Mrs. Haugh, Nicholas Heffron, was also born in County 
Clare. He moved to Canada with his parents when he was six years of age 
and when grown engaged in farming there. He came to California in 1861, 
locating in Humboldt county, below Bayside, but soon located on Areata 
bottoms, where he engaged in farming, following this occupation practically 
all his life. He was in Humboldt county at the time of the serious Indian 
trouble but escaped without annoyance. The mother of Mrs. Haugh was 
Ellen English, a native of Canada. She lived at home with her parents up 
to the time of her marriage to Mr. Hefifron, and both passed away several 
years ago. 

EARL W. HILL, M. D. — Truly a native son of California, since he was 
born in this state on February 6, 1888, and has devoted most of his profes- 
sional service to California, Dr. Hill is making for himself a record in his 
chosen career of which his state may well be proud. Born in Eureka, Cal., 
the eldest of eight children, he is the son of Uriah W. Hill, a native of Rolling 
Dam, New Brunswick, and Lucia (Coggins) Hill, of Minnesota, who came 
to California almost thirty years ago, where the father, after his experience 
in the lumber business in Minnesota, was employed in various sawmills and 
is now a millwright in the Dolbeer-Carson Mill at Eureka. In that city the 
son received his early education in the grammar and high schools, graduat- 
ing from the latter in the class of 1909, whereupon he took a four years' 
course at Hahnemann Medical College of the Pacific, in San Francisco, grad- 
uating in 1913 with the degree of M. D. For five months Dr. Hill served as 
house physician at the Livermore Sanitarium, Alameda county, after which 
he was for four months an interne at the Alameda County Hospital at San 
Leandro, then entering the United States Civil Service as surgeon in the 
Reclamation Service in Washington and Montana, a position which he filled 
for a period of eight months. Returning to Humboldt county, Cal., in Janu- 
ary, 1915, he located at Alton, where he engaged in the practice of medicine 
and surgery, building up for himself a wide practice in that locality and 
meeting with the success which his careful training, practical experience and 
natural ability have won for him. 

The marriage of Dr. Hill with Miss Goldie Hart, a native of the state of 
Wisconsin, was solemnized at Eureka, in December, 1914, and in the follow- 
ing month they made their home in the city of Alton, Cal. 

FERDINANDO M. TONINL— One of the old settlers in Humboldt 
county, a fine man in every respect and well liked by all with whom he is 



lire- HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

associated, Ferdinando M. Tonini has made for himself a name among the 
successful dairymen in the section of California where he has made his home. 
Born in Cavergno, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, November 20, 1859, he was 
the youngest of five children born to Celestino and Helena (Inselmini) To- 
nini, both natives of that place. The father, as a young man, went to Hol- 
land, where he spent a few years, but returned to his native land, where, after 
his marriage, he engaged in farming, both he and his wife being now 
deceased. After completing his education in the local public schools, the 
son Ferdinando assisted his parents on the home farm until he was past 
twenty-two years of age, being then fired with a desire to try his fortunes 
in America. 

It was in the year 1882 that Mr. Tonini came to California, then a new 
and only partially settled country compared to its present flourishing condi- 
tion, and after spending two years in Marin county, this state, Mr. Tonini 
came to Humboldt county in 1884, where he has since continued to make his 
home. For two years he worked on a dairy ranch at Rio Dell, after which 
he determined to engage in the business independently. Accordingly he 
leased a seven-hundred-acre ranch at Petrolia, in partnership with William 
Spaletta, where they milked a herd of seventy-five cows and manufactured 
butter, the churning being done by horse power, the product being shipped 
to San Francisco in squares or kegs, butter at one time being sold as low as 
eleven cents a pound. At the end of five years the business was sold out 
and the partnership dissolved, Mr. Tonini continuing, however, in the same 
line of business in the employ of others, in order to save for another start. 
His marriage took place in Ferndale, Cal., uniting him with Miss Mary 
Spaletta, also a native of Ticino, and Mr. Tonini then started in business 
independently once more, leasing three hundred acres of land near Rio Dell, 
where he conducted a dairy of forty-five cows for the space of six years. 
After this, he removed to Areata Bottoms, renting a forty-acre ranch there, 
where he ran a dairy of twenty-five cows until the year 1913, at that time 
selling out and purchasing his present ranch of forty-eight acres on the Mad 
river, near the Mad river bridge, three miles north of Areata. Here Mr. 
Tonini has a splendid farm, located on rich bottom land, whereon he is 
enabled to raise alfalfa, green feed for his herd, and potatoes, and owns a 
splendid herd of twenty milch cows. One of the original stockholders of 
the United Creameries Company, an institution that is doing much towards 
making dairying a success around Areata, Mr. Tonini is well known in his 
chosen line of work where he holds a high place, both for his thorough 
understanding of the business and his efficient methods of work. He is also 
well known as a stanch Republican in his political interests. Mr. and Mrs. 
Tonini are the parents of five children, Lena, Candina, Eugenia, Ferdinand 
and William, who, though born in California, recall in their musical names 
the foreign land which was the birthplace of both their parents. 

LOUIS H. OLSEN. — From various foreign lands people have come to 
make their home in California, attracted hither by reports of the fertile soil 
and the opportunities for energetic young men in this new country, and 
America is always glad to welcome to her shores industrious and ambitious 
sons of other lands who bring with them the qualities of perseverance and 
enterprise to apply to their work in their adopted home. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1177 

Among the prominent business men of Loleta, in Humboldt county, 
Cal., must be mentioned Louis H. Olsen, who is making a success of the 
lumber industry there, and is well and favorably known throughout the Eel 
river valley. Born in Flekkefjord, Norway, on January 9, 1871, he was the 
son of a farmer of that country and was educated in the local public schools. 
One of his brothers left home for California, and five years later, instigated 
by his example, Louis Olsen in 1889 likewise came to America, going first to 
Eureka, Cal., and for about four years was employed with the Eel River 
Valley Lumber Company at Newburg, Cal., in the lumber yards of the com- 
pany. For the three years following, Mr. Olsen was engaged in the lumber 
yards of the Pacific Lumber Company at Alton, Cal., and when they opened 
their yards in Loleta was put in charge of the same, continuing the manage- 
ment until December 1, 1910, when he bought the yards and stock and con- 
tinued the business under the name of the Loleta Lumber Yards. The 
industry has grown with the town and the surrounding country, and has 
been an important factor in the upbuilding and prosperity of the place, Mr. 
Olsen holding a high place in the esteem of all with whom he is associated. 
He also represents various fire insurance companies, among them being the 

■ Hartford of Connecticut, the Home of New York, the Commercial Union of 
London, the Western Assurance of Toronto, the Aetna of Hartford and 
others, besides automobile and accident insurance companies. 

In Alton, Cal., Mr. Olsen was married to Miss Virginia Olive Robertson, 
a native of Missouri, and they are the parents of two children, Lenwood 

"Vernon, who is a bookkeeper for the Elk River Lumber Company at Falk, 
and Thelma Irene. To show his faith and optimism in the value of Hum- 
boldt county real estate and investments, Mr. Olsen has purchased property 
in Loleta, on which he has built three residences, and which he still owns. 
In 1903, with his wife and children, he made a trip back to his old home in 
Norway, visiting his parents who were then living, though both have since 
died ; and though pleased to see his childhood home and old friends once 
more, Mr. Olsen, after comparing conditions there with those in the New 
World, was satisfied to return to his adopted home in California, where he 
has been enabled to make such a success in life. 

In his religious preferences, Mr. Olsen is associated with the Lutheran 
Church, while politically he is a member of the Progressive party. The 
fraternal associations with which he is connected are numerous, he having 
been made a Mason in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., and a member 
of the Ferndale Chapter No. 78, Royal Arch Masons ; he is also Past Grand 
in the Loleta Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F., and has been prominent in the Wood- 
men of the World, being the present clerk of White Clover Camp No. 398 
of Loleta, W. O. W., of which he is past head camp delegate ; in the order 
of the Knights of Pythias he is past chancellor of Springville Lodge No. 15Q 
of Fortuna, and is also a member of the Sons of Norway in Eureka, and with 
his wife a member of the Rebekahs. The interest which Mr. Olsen takes in 
the advancement and welfare of the town of Loleta, where he makes his 
home, is shown by the fact that he is a member and ex-secretary of the 
Loleta Board of Trade. 



1178 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

JOSEPH C. RAMOS.— One of the successful dairymen of Humboldt 
county, who has come from foreign lands to make his home in California, is 
Joseph C. Ramos, a liberal and enterprising man who is making a success of 
his venture in a new land. Born in Isle Flores, Azores, September 24, 1879, 
he was the son of Antone, a farmer and dairyman of that place, and Annie 
Ramos, who died in 1913, the father also being now deceased. Of the family 
of eleven children, six are now living, Joseph C. being the second youngest. 
He grew up on his father's farrn, receiving his education in the local public 
schools, remaining at home until he had reached the age of twenty years, 
when he removed to California, whither his brother Frank had come in 1893. 
In September, 1899, Joseph Ramos arrived in Humboldt county, and for 
three years was in the employ of Will Turner at the mouth of the Mad river, 
at the end of that time determining to go into business for himself. Accord- 
ingly he rented the ranch from Mr. Turner, an estate which covered an area 
of two hundred and eighty acres of bottom land, where for eighteen months 
Mr. Ramos conducted a dairy of seventy-eight cows. Then leasing the place 
to his brother Frank, he leased the Clark ranch of one hundred and twenty 
acres at Alliance, for nine years operating a dairy there comprising a herd of 
fifty cows. During this time, in partnership with his brother he also leased 
the Rosso ranch of John P. Silva at Bald Mountain, a place of eleven hundred 
and forty acres, where he ran a dairy of sixty cows and raised stock, after 
two years selling his interest to his brother. Also while on the Clark place, 
he bought his present property in 1913, the fine old Menefee place of thirty 
acres adjoining Alliance on the south side. One month later his house was 
burned, and he continued to live at the Clark ranch until 1914, in the mean- 
time building his new residence on the place, a twelve-room modern dwell- 
ing, commodious and attractive, as well as erecting large barns for his stock, 
which comprises twenty cows of the Holstein breed, for which he is enabled 
to raise on his ranch plenty of hay as well as green feed. 

In his political preferences Mr. Ramos is allied with the Republican 
party, while his fraternal associations are with the Woodmen of the World. 
His marriage took place in Flores, Azores Islands, on October 18, 1898, unit- 
ing him with Miss Annie Noia, a native of that place, and they are the parents 
of three children : Antonio, Mary and Annie. 

HUMBOLDT STANDARD— Dating from an humble beginning, the 
IJumboldt Standard has built for itself a place not merely confined to the 
Timits of Humboldt county, but with all of northwestern California for its 
field and having all of northern California in its sphere of influence. Its 
growth has been steady and healthy — there has been nothing of the mush- 
room about it — and it is now standing upon a firm foundation made up of a 
strong, clean and fair editorial and news policy and a businesslike manage- 
ment. 

The Humboldt Standard was first published from a little room on the 
second story of a building on First street near E street, which is still stand- 
ing. R. V. Chadd, a printer-editor, was its founder. Under his ownership 
it continued for several years and then passed into the hands of William 
Ayres, who moved the office to the corner of Second and E streets. From 
the ownership of Mr. Ayres it passed into the hands of F. P. Thompson, M'ho 
immediately turned the paper into a semi-weekly with Seth Millington, after- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1179 

wards superior judge of Glenn county, as its editor, and F. A. Cutler, now 
attorney for the board of regents of the University of California, one of sev- 
eral employees. 

As a semi-weekly, the paper was published until after 1888, when J. F. 
Thompson purchased a half and later the entire interest in the paper. Shortly 
after he came into control Mr. Thompson made the Humboldt Standard a 
daily paper and from that time its real development as a powerful publica- 
tion dates. 

One step after another has advanced the Standard, but what gave it its 
first real impetus was the unerring hand of J. F. Thompson. Writer of 
virulent editorials which soon commanded wide attention, an astute business 
man, kind-hearted and highly respected and progressive withal, Mr. Thomp- 
son is the real father of the Standard of today. 

Mr. Thompson continued in active control of the paper until failing 
health caused his retirement from active service, when Major H. W. Patton 
became a partner in the business together with Will N. Speegle, who, prior 
to that time, had been an employee and who is now its editor and general 
manager. Major Patton was succeeded in his interest by George K. Cole- 
man and he, in turn, by George H. Burchard, who disposed of his interests 
a few years ago. Mr. Speegle always retained an ownership in the paper 
and his is now the guiding hand. 

Since Mr. Speegle took complete charge many more improvements have 
been made. The old presses have been discarded for a modern Duplex 
equipment, while the mechanical department of the paper has been brought 
up to a high standard of efficiency. The Standard, under the ownership of 
J. F. Thompson, has the credit for bringing the first Merganthaler linotype 
into northwestern California. 

Mr. Speegle is essentially a newspaper man and newspaper builder along 
conservative lines, and step by step, he has continued the work of j. F. 
Thompson in making the Standard the paper it is today. Its news policy is 
contained in its entirety in the words, "all the news that's fit to print." It 
deals fairly and courageously with every problem and is now recognized as 
the type of newspaper of which America will never have too many. 

DALY BROTHERS.— Throughout the length and breadth of Hum- 
boldt county the name of Daly and the Arcade at Eureka are associated with 
efficiency in mercantile enterprises and a large list of satisfied customers. 
It would indeed be difficult to find an establishment along the north coast of 
California that stands for a higher quality of service than the Arcade and 
certainly there is none with a more courteous group of clerks or a more 
varied stock of goods including everything needed in the modern city home 
or the isolated frontier ranch. Hitherto it has been difficult to achieve suc- 
cess in mercantile enterprises in this northwestern coast country, but the 
proprietors of the Arcade have solved all difficulties and forged their way 
to the front in a manner gratifying to their friends and beneficial to the city. 
Various elements have entered into their growing prosperity, but perhaps 
none has been more important than their care and skill in buying. From 
the first they have realized that to succeed they must buy at prices that 
would enable them to sell at very reasonable figures. To aid in buying they 
made the acquaintance of manufacturers and bought direct where they could 

50 



1180 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

secure the desired articles at lowest prices. A further aid was the establish- 
ing of an eastern agency with the firm of Jay & Co., of New York City, and 
still another vital factor in the buying business has been the semi-annual 
visits of the proprietors to the eastern markets. 

The founding of the Arcade dates back to the year 1895, when Cornelius 
Dennis Daly decided there was an opportunity for mercantile enterprises in 
Eureka. This decision was not hastily made, but was the result of investi- 
gation and careful thought. In 1895 his brother, John F., a business man of 
Grass Valley, joined him and together they rented a small building on F 
street next to the First National Bank. Their first efforts were on a very 
small scale, but such was their energy and such their intelligent supervision 
that in five years they were able to move to their present location on F street. 
Here again they made a modest start, renting two stores, or about one-fourth 
of their present quarters. The rapid development of the business caused 
them to increase their space until they finally acquired the ground floor and 
half of the upper floor of a half-block, stocked with modern goods that would 
do credit to a metropolitan center. Recently the store was remodeled at an 
expense of $12,000, making it one of the most up-to-date buildings in this 
section of the state. While the custom of buying direct has laid the founda- 
tion of this great business, another secret of its advance is the square dealing 
of the proprietors, who have carried the highest principles of personal integ- 
rity into their business and have never allowed a customer to leave their 
establishment dissatisfied. In 1906 another brother, Patrick M. Daly, became 
associated with the business, to which he gives all of his time, and has been 
an active factor in promoting the interests of the firm. 

CORNELIUS DENNIS DALY.— Among the men who have been in- 
strumental in bringing Humboldt county to the forefront and prominently 
identified in its upbuilding, is Cornelius D. Daly, well known not only in the 
county but throughout the state as one of its most enterprising and success- 
ful business men, and one who is always ready and willing to give of his 
time and means for civic improvement and betterment. He is a native of 
Charleville, County Cork, Ireland, born November 27, 1863, the son of Dennis 
and Catherine (Walsh) Daly, also natives of that county. The Daly family 
comes of old and honored stock, members of the family for generations hav- 
ing been among the most prominent business men of that section, and it was 
therefore a natural trend of mind that caused Mr. Daly to take up niercantile 
pursuits as a life work. Throughout life, his father was successfully engaged 
in mercantile affairs in Charleville and held a prominent and enviable position 
financially and socially. 

Of the sixteen children born to Dennis and Catherine Daly, Cornelius D. 
was the fourth oldest. His first experience in mercantile life Avas in his 
father's store in Charleville, where he spent several years. He then entered 
the employ of Pim Bros., Ltd., Dublin, Ireland, the most prominent dry 
goods merchants in that city, with whom he remained until 1886. In that 
year he came to California, locating in San Francisco, where for a time he 
was with the firm of O'Connor, Moffatt & Co. 

Desirous of starting in the mercantile business for himself, I\Ir. Daly 
began looking about for a location, and with that end in view he worked in 
some of the smaller cities and towns in California. It was while still on this 
search that he came to Eureka in 1892 to work for the old firm of Crocker 
Bros. After working there a couple of years he saw an opportunity to start 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1181 

an independent business in Eureka, so in 1895 with his brother John F. he 
established the nucleus of the present large business, starting in a small one- 
story building on F street next to the First National Bank. In a few years 
the business had outgrown these quarters and was the occasion of removal 
in 1900 to the present location at F and Fourth streets. At first a fifty-foot 
frontage answered the needs of the business and when this proved too small 
the proprietors secured fifty feet more and later took in the whole half block 
frontage, until it is now recognized as the largest establishment of the kind 
in Eureka. 

In 1898 Mr. Daly made his first trip back to his old home and during his 
visit there became acquainted with the lady who afterwards became his wife, 
the marriage being solemnized in New York City, July 20, 1900. Before her 
marriage Mrs. Daly was Miss Annie Murphy, a daughter of the late John 
Murphy, who was also prominent in mercantile life in Charleville, where 
Mrs. Daly was born. She received her education on the continent, in one 
of the large convents in Belgium, and it was while she was on a visit to her 
home that she met Mr. Daly. They have five children : John, Charles, 
Catherine, Cornelius and Maura. Mr. Daly's fraternal associations are with 
Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and the Knights of Columbus, besides 
which he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Eureka Development 
Association, and in fact is active in all things that tend toward the upbuild- 
ing of Eureka. The family are active members of St. Bernard's Catholic 
Church. 

In the summer of 1913 Mr. Daly and his wife returned to their native 
land and enjoyed a delightful visit at their old home, besides having the 
advantages of a somewhat extended European tour that gave Mr. Daly ample 
opportunity to renew acquaintance with and make a study of mercantile 
enterprises in the Old AVorld. 

FRANK HENRY BERTSCH.— A native of Ohio, Frank H. Bertsch 
was born in Columbus, Franklin county, April 6, 1866, and in 1874 he moved 
with his parents to Del Norte county, Cal., where the father, Joseph A. 
Bertsch, engaged in farming near Crescent City. Until he was fifteen years 
of age, Frank H. Bertsch was a pupil in the public schools of the county, 
after which he joined forces with his father in the care and management of 
the home ranch. In 1888 with his brothers he built and operated a shingle 
mill on Smith river, but the venture did not prove very successful and after 
six years it was given up. Frank H. Bertsch then moved to Humboldt 
county, in May, 1892, finding employment with the Vance Milling Company 
at their mill in Samoa, where he had charge of all pile driving operations. 
Later he moved to Fortuna and again engaged in lumbering, being employed 
in the woods for J. L. Morrell. In the spring of 1894 he moved to Loleta 
and engaged in contracting and building for himself, following the business 
for three years, or until 1897, when he bought a livery business and also 
engaged in buying and selling cattle, horses and hogs, he being the only man 
in the vicinity at the time who was engaged in this business. In 1909 he 
sold his livery business to devote his attention more exclusively to farming 
and dairying, purchasing his first ranch in the vicinity of Loleta. Today he 
is the owner of two dairy ranches in the valley and also two stock ranches, 
one at Dyerville and the other at South Bay, the latter of which he operates 



1182 HISTORY OF HU^IBOLDT COUNTY 

himself as a dairy and stock ranch, his dairy comprising seventy head of 
milch cows. In 1902 Mr. Bertsch built the water works in Loleta and in 
1906 he entered into partnei-ship with W. Parrott in the operation of the city 
water plant. When Mr. Bertsch first came to Loleta there was only one 
store in the town and now it is a thriving, industriotis little city. 

Mr. Bertsch was married in Crescent City, Cal., May 14, 1891, being 
united with Miss Alida Brown, who was born in Canada and who came to 
California with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Bertsch have one child living, 
Clarence, who is attending the Eureka Business College. Mr. Bertsch is a 
member of the Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, and is president of the 
Loleta board of trade, and has also been constable for four terms. In politics 
he is an ardent Democrat and has always taken an active part in all affairs 
of the party. Since taking up his residence in Humboldt county he has 
entered heartily into all movements that have for their object the good of 
the community, and he is regarded as an enterprising and prosperous citizen, 
indeed one of the most prominent men in the district. 

EUGENE BIONDINI.— Well known among the dairymen of Humboldt 
county, Eugene Biondini is a young man of high ideals, honesty and integrity 
of purpose, who has come from his native Switzerland to make a home for 
himself in California. His father, Louis, came to this western state about 
the year 1890, and for ten years carried on the occupation of dairying in 
Plumas county, after a four years' visit to his native home returning for 
another period of ten years of dairying in California. The parents of Eugene 
Biondini are both natives of the village of Leggia, Canton Orisons or Grau- 
bunden, Switzerland, where the father is a farmer and dairyman, the mother's 
maiden name having been Lucia Ceresa. Both parents are now living in 
their native canton in Switzerland. 

Born in the same little town as his parents, on March 19, 1888, Eugene 
Biondini was the second oldest child in a family of four, and the only one 
now residing in the United States. Brought up on his father's farm, he re- 
ceived his education in the local public schools, at the age of fourteen years 
leaving home for California, in 1902 joining his father, who was then in 
Plumas county, and remaining with him a year. Thence the son removed to 
Lassen county, in the same state, where for three years he was employed 
upon dairies, from there going to Washoe City, Nev., and engaging in farm 
work for a short time. In the fall of 1906 he came to Huniboldt county, 
finding employment on a dairy near Grizzly Bluff, attending night schools 
for a while in the city of Ferndale, and continuing his work on dairies until 
the year 1910, when he had saved enough money to enable him to start in 
business independently. Accordingly, in 1910, he leased the Alexander 
Christen place and two years later the John Colvin ranch, thus coming into 
the use of eighty acres in all, whereon he successfully conducted a dairy of 
fifty cows. Disposing of his lease in the autumn of 1913, he removed to 
Areata, where he rented the Stone ranch consisting of two hundred and forty 
acres of land, where he has fine pastures and raises hay, clover, corn, carrots, 
etc., for his herd, which comprises full-blooded and high grade Frisian Hol- 
stein cattle, milking about one hundred and fifteen cows and ranking among 
the large dairymen in the county. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 1183 

The marriage of Mr. Biondini took place in Ferndale, January 5, 1914, 
uniting him with ]\Iiss Lillian Ambrosini, who was born in Ferndale, and is 
the daughter of ^^lartin Ambrosini, one of the oldest Swiss-x\merican citizens 
of Humboldt county. Politically Mr. Biondini is allied with the Republican 
party, while his fraternal associations are with the Ferndale branch of the 
Druids. 

ANTONIO BETTAZZA was born in Savallo, Province of Brescia, Italy, 
Alay 21, 1888, the son of John B. and Dominica (Dozzina) Bettazza, both 
natives of that place. The father was in the employ of a lumber company 
and died when Antonio was two years of age. The mother is still living on 
the old home. The parents had three children, as follows: Angelina resides 
in her native place; Antonio is the subject of this sketch; and ^lary remains 
with her mother. 

Antonio Bettazza was reared in Savallo and received a good education 
in the public schools of his native place. From countrymen returning from 
California he obtained good reports as to wages and opportunities, so it was 
not surprising that April of 1907 found him in San Francisco. After spend- 
ing eleven months on a dairy ranch in San Mateo county he came to Hum- 
boldt county, where he found employment with Charles E. Sacchi, a dairy- 
man near Areata, for one year, then worked for William Spalletti for over 
two years. Later he worked one year at Sweasey's dairy ranch on Ryan 
slough. During all these years he had in mind the dairy which he hoped to 
own some day, and saved his earnings accordingly. In partnership with 
Faustino Maskini he rented the Nixon ranch, in 1911, and from his former 
employer, i\Ir. Spalletti, purchased the dairy herd and has continued dairy- 
ing ever since. It is a splendid place of one hundred and sixty acres, rich 
bottom land, where is raised an abundance of feed. Besides milking sixty 
cows, the proprietors also engage in stock raising. Politically Mr. Bettazza 
is a Republican. 

Faustino Maskini was born in Leverano, Italy, July 13, 1885, coming to 
California in April, 1906. In the fall of 1907 he came to Humboldt county 
and was employed at the Sweasey dairy until 1911, when he became a partner 
of Air. Bettazza, and they have met with success in the dairy industry. 

FRANCISCO RIBEIRO was born on the Isle of Tucer, one of the 
Azores, November 14, 1880. His father was Juse Ribeiro, a farmer, and 
Francisco was the oldest of his five children. He was educated in the public 
schools and remained at home until the fall of 1904, when he emigrated to 
California, coming directly to Areata, Humboldt county, regarding which 
place he had received most excellent reports while at home. He found em- 
ployment in a dairy at Blue Lake, where he remained nearly three years and 
then worked on a dairy farm near Areata until he started in business for 
himself. After the death of his father, his mother, brothers and sisters joined 
him at Areata. 

By November, 1910, Frank Ribeiro had saved enough money to begin 
the dairy business independently and so leased the ]\lel P. Roberts ranch 
adjoining Areata, a place of two hundred and thirty acres of rich bottom 
land, where he raises large quantities of hay, corn and green feed and is 
quite extensively engaged in dairying, milking ninety cows and also raising 
cattle. He has made a success of the business and can be very proud of 



1184 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

what he has accomplished in the industry. Fraternally he is a member of 
the Woodmen of the World at Areata, as well as the I. D. E. S. 

GEORGE AND ANTONIO SCALVINI.— Among the sons of Italy 
who are making a success of dairying in Humboldt county are George and 
Antonio Scalvini, who were born in Baglino, Province of Brescia, Italy, April 
25, 1882, and August 17, 1883, respectively. They are the sons of John and 
Lucia Scalvini, who were farming people in Baglino, but who are now mak= 
ing their home with their children in Humboldt county. They were the 
parents of eleven children, as follows : John, George, Antonio, Rocco, 
Giutono, Catherina, Lucia, Dominica, Marie, Pietro, and Paul, all of whom 
now live in Humboldt county. The Scalvini boys were reared on the farm 
in Baglino and received a good education in the public schools. In 1908 
Antonio came to Humboldt county, George coming in 1909, after which they 
worked on dairy farms in the vicinity of Ferndale until 1911, when four 
brothers, John, George, Antonio and Rocco, leased the Simon Smith ranch 
of one thousand acres three miles south of Centerville, and engaged in dairy- 
ing, milking seventy-five cows. In 1913 George and Antonio sold their 
interest to the other two brothers and the two as partners then leased the 
Mrs. Bragdon's place of one hundred and sixty acres, as well as two hundred 
acres for range adjoining the place. Here they have established themselves 
in dairying, milking forty cows. They are also engaged in raising cattle 
and are making a success of their undertaking. Both are energetic, hard 
working young men and cannot fail in the enterprise they have undertaken. 
Politically they believe in the principles of the Republican party. 

ALBERT DUSI is a native of Ono Degna, Province of Brescia, Italy, 
born October 20, 1884. There he grew up on his father's farm and attended 
the public schools of the town. At the age of nineteen years he went to 
France, when he worked for a year. In 1905 he came to Allegheny, Pa., 
where for a time he was employed in the coal mines, but the work did not 
suit him, so in September of 1907 he came to Humboldt county, Cal., and 
found employment on a dairy near Ferndale. His accumulations of four 
years enabled him to begin dairying for himself. For two years he ran a 
dairy on the S. Smith place in the hills, then in November, 1913, he leased the 
present place of eighty acres, where he is milking sixty cows. The place is 
rich bottom land, which gives him an opportunity to raise ample hay and 
green feed for his herd. He is a stockholder in the Capital Creamery and is 
a liberal and enterprising man, always willing to aid any enterprise that has 
for its aim the betterment of the community and its citizens. Politically he 
is a Republican. 

ANTONE RAVA. — Among the citizens who have come from sunny Italy 
and made a success of the dairy business in Humboldt county is Antone Rava, 
who was born near Cremona, Lombardy, Italy, January 17, 1874. Ghent Rava, 
his father, was a farmer, so Antone was raised on the farm and he attended 
the local schools. From a lad he had listened to the tales from returning 
countrymen of the wonderful natural resources and opportunities in the 
U^nited States, and he became anxious to try his luck. However, no oppor- 
tunity arose until he was nineteen years. In April, 1893, he came to Pitts- 
burg, Pa., but did not like it there, so in November of the same year he came 
on to Sonoma county, Cal. Near Forestville he went to work on a dairy 



HISTORY OF HUA^BOLDT COUNTY 1185 

farm, continuing to work there and near Bodega and in San Francisco for 
seven years. In the spring of 1900 he came to Ferndale, Humboldt county, 
where he became foreman for Joseph Russ on the Mazeppa ranch, a position 
he filled for seven years. Having determined to engage in the dairy business 
for himself, in 1908 he leased his present dairy ranch of one hundred and sixty 
acres from Mr. McCloskey three miles from Loleta, since which time he has 
made a specialty of the dairy business, milking eighty cows. The herd is 
made up of well selected, full-blooded and high-grade Jerseys. Years of 
experience have enabled him to become proficient in the business, and he 
personally looks after all the details of the dairy and farm. 

Mr. Rava was married in Eureka, being united with Miss Auratia Ballati, 
also a native of Lombardo. To Mr. and Mrs. Rava two children have been 
born, Walter Antone and Donald. Fraternally Mr. Rava is a member of Loleta 
Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F. 

RAFAEL LANINI. — Switzerland has sent many of her sons to Cali- 
fornia, where they have been instrumental in building up different enterprises 
in the state. Among those who have made a success of the dairy business is 
Rafael Lanini, who was born at Frasco, near Lacarno, Canton Ticino, Sep- 
tember 13, 1859, the son of Fadale Lanini, a farmer at Frasco. There Rafael 
was reared, attending the public schools of the vicinity until he was nine 
years of age, when he found his way to Torino, Italy. There he began earn- 
ing his own livelihood, working his way and attending night school, also. 

In December, 1879, Mr. Lanini came to San Francisco and a few days 
later to Ferndale, Humboldt county, where he soon found employment on 
Bear River ridge on Nat Hurlbutt's dairy ranch. After remaining there ten 
months, he worked two years for Jesse Walker at Petrolia, also two years 
for Charles Cook, three years for James Jacomini and two years for James 
H. Goft', all of Petrolia. He then went to Capetown, where he leased a 
ranch and ran a dairy for five years, and then came to Ferndale, where he 
leased the John Swain ranch and ran a dairy for three years. For four years 
he engaged in dairying on a ranch on Little Cock Robin island, which was 
washed away. In November, 1902, he leased the present place of one hun- 
dred thirty-one acres from James J. McCloskey, where he has a dairy of 
fifty cows. He took an active part in the management and work of the 
ranch himself and by his close application and perseverance has made a 
success and acquired a competency. He has followed the dairy business 
steadily since 1879. Mr. Lanini owns forty acres on Elk river about three 
miles from Eureka, where he is building a bungalow and improving the land 
for a dairy ranch. Here he will reside with his family, although he will still 
run the McCloskey place. 

Mr. Lanini was married in Petrolia, October 13, 1885, being united with 
Miss Nancy May Eby, a native of Rohnerville, and the daughter of David D. 
and Mary (Harrow) Eby, born in Illinois and Missouri, respectively. Mr. 
Eby crossed the plains to California in pioneer days and in about 1861 came 
to Humboldt county and is now farming on Price creek. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Lanini have been born seven daughters : Ada, Mrs. 
Athanasion in Eureka; Ethel, Mrs. Aston, residing in San Francisco; Mamie, 
Mrs. McClelland, of Eureka ; Hazel, Mrs. Speridiani, of Loleta ; Angle, Mrs. 
Delzompo, of San Francisco; Severena and Doloras. Mr. Lanini is school 



1186 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

trustee of Eel River District and is much interested in the cause of educa- 
tion. He is a Republican. 

MARTIN PEDRAZZINI was born near Campo, Canton Ticino, Swit- 
zerland, October 8, 1875. His father, Charles Pedrazzini, was for some years 
a miner in Australia and then a painter in Paris, spending his winters in 
Campo, where his family resided. Martin, the youngest of four children, 
was reared in Campo, where he received his education in the public schools. 
Having heard such favorable reports of greater opportunities for young men 
in California, he resolved to migrate and try his fortune in the Golden West. 
At the age of fifteen he came alone to San Francisco, where he arrived a 
stranger in a strange land. From January, 1891, until July of the same year 
he was employed on a dairy ranch in Marin county and at the end of that 
period he came to Ferndale, Humboldt county, where for two years he 
worked on a dairy, then three years on Henry Van Dusen's place at Singleys. 
Having saved some money he determined to engage in dairying for himself. 
Although only twenty-one years of age he had had much experience, which 
had developed his powers of observation and self-reliance and enabled him 
to forge ahead on his own account. He launched out by renting a part of 
his present ranch, afterward purchasing cows from the owner, Mr. Davidson. 
Afterwards he rented the adjoining place from the same man and is now 
operating one hundred and eighty acres of good bottom land, his place being 
located three miles from Loleta. He has a herd of one hundred milch cows, 
the care of which takes all of his time. 

In Ferndale occuiTed the marriage of Mr. Pedrazzini and Corinna 
Filippini, also a native of Ticino, and to them have been born four children, 
Anna, Charles, Albert, and Ruby. Politically he is a Republican. 

JOHN EDWARD LIND, principal keeper of the Humboldt light sta- 
tion on Table Bluff, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, May 28, 1858. His 
father, Carl Lind, who was a warrant officer in the Swedish navy, died in 
1871. John E. received his education in the public schools of Stockholm 
prior to the age of twelve years, for at that age he began work in the machine 
shop at the navy yard, and also went to school there. At the age of thirteen 
he went to sea, for the most part in the coasting trade. In 1876 he came to 
Chicago, 111., remaining until 1877, when he went to New York City and 
there shipped on the sailer Carrolton around Cape Horn to San Francisco, 
arriving in April, 1878, after a voyage of about six months. As early as 1879 
he came to Eureka. He then continued the coasting trade on the Pacific 
until 1887. In that year he entered the light house service as a rigger at 
the building of the St. George light station, helping to put in the engines 
and machinery until it was completed. In the year 1889 he made a trip to 
Sweden on a six months' visit to his old home. In 1892 he became third 
assistant keeper at St. George light house. Afterwards he was advanced to 
second assistant keeper, continuing there in the two capacities for eight and 
one-half years. He then became first assistant keeper at Arguella light 
station in Santa Barbara county for five months, then was appointed principal 
keeper at Pigeon Point, San Mateo county, where he remained for nine years. 
He was then transferred to Honolulu as principal keeper at Makkapuu light 
station, remaining about four months, then as principal keeper of Ano Nuevo 
(New Year's) light station, San Mateo county, remaining for three 3^ears. In 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1187 

October, 1913, he was appointed principal keeper of Humboldt light station 
on Table Bluff, where he has remained ever since, filling the duties with 
ability and fidelity. 

Mr. Lind was married in Crescent City, Cal., March 11, 1899, being 
united with Miss Theresa McNamara, a native of that place and the daughter 
of Nicholas McNamara, a pioneer of Del Norte county. Of this union there 
are three children, John Edward Jr., Theresa, and Adlade. Fraternally he 
was for some years a member of the Knights of Pythias and Independent 
Order of Foresters, but on account of his isolated position he withdrew. 
Both he and, his wife are Catholics in religious belief. 

NAPOLEON GONDOLA. — The sons of sunny Italy have contributed 
in no small degree to the upbuilding of the dairy industry in Humboldt 
county, and among them is Napoleon Gondola, who was born at Consilio 
Romo, Province of Como, Lombardi, Italy, April 26, 1882, and is the son of 
Francisco and Julia (Crancki) Gondola, also natives of Como. The father 
is a farmer, owning a farm about a half a mile from Lago di Como. The 
mother, who died many years ago, had fourteen children, of whom eight are 
living. Napoleon being the oldest. His boyhood was spent on the farm, 
during which time he attended the local schools, and after his school days 
were over he gave his whole time to assisting his father on the farm, con- 
tinuing this until he was twenty-four years of age. Having become inter- 
ested in California in the meantime, he came hither in 1907, locating in Hum- 
boldt county, where he found employment with Martin Pedrazzini, a dairy- 
man at Loleta, and where he was steadily employed for about eight years, 
only quitting his employ to engage in business for himself. 

In April, 1915, Mr. Gondola purchased the dairy and lease of the Fraser 
place on Cannibal Island, comprising ninety-six acres of bottom land which 
yields an abundance of pasture, hay and green feed for his dairy of forty 
milch cows. He is a very industrious and energetic man and by his years 
of experience and perseverance is making a success of his chosen life work. 

MARK CHARLES CRIVELLI was born near Lugarno, Ticino, Swit- 
zerland, January 1, 1886, the son of Giuseppe and Kate (Magistretti) Crivelli, 
farmers at Lugarno until they came to Humboldt county, Cal., where they 
are spending their last days with their children. Of their eight children 
Charles is the second youngest, and was brought up on the farm in Switzer- 
land, where he received a good education in the public schools. During his 
boyhood he learned dairying as it is done in Ticino. At the age of seventeen, 
in 1903, he concluded to come to California. For three years he worked on a 
dairy near Petaluma, Sonoma county, and in 1906 he came to Loleta, Hum- 
boldt county, finding employment on the dairy ranch of John Larsen at 
Beatrice. Afterwards he worked on other ranches until October 1, 1908, 
when he leased the present place of two hundred and twenty acres near 
Loleta and has since then made a specialty of the dairy business, milking 
eighty cows. He has made a success of the business by close application 
and diligent work and is recognized as a man well informed in his line. With 
five others he owns the Belmont Creamery, of which he is manager. 

In Eureka occurred the marriage of Mr. Crivelli with Miss Dalide 
Ballati, born near Como, Italy, the daughter of Joseph Ballati, who spent 
some years in California and then returned to Italy, where he now resides. 



1188 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Mr. and Mrs. Crivelli have three children : Josephine, Curtis, and Catherine. 
Mr. Crivelli is a Republican in his political views. 

HENRY GRANDY. — A young man vi^ho has traveled much over Cali- 
fornia and has had considerable experience in other parts of the state is 
Henry Grandy, a dairyman at Grizzly Bluff. He was born at Menzonio, 
Ticino, Switzerland, March 19, 1880. His father, Antone Grandy, was a 
merchant, postmaster and telegraph operator until he died in 1903. His 
mother, Mary Canepa, is still living. Of her nine children Henry is the 
sixth in order of birth, and received a good education in the public schools 
of his native place. His older brother, Albino, was living at Point Reyes, 
Sonoma county, so when Henry was fifteen years of age he came to Cali- 
fornia and joined his brother at Point Reyes. He also had a brother-in-law, 
Louis Grandy, who was a dairyman there and he worked for him for three 
years. Afterward he removed to Riverside, where he worked in a dairy for 
two years and during this time attended night school for over one year. The 
time and effort thus expended after the day's work have had their reward, 
for the knowledge thus gained has been of great assistance to him in later 
years. Subsequently Mr. Grandy engaged in business for himself, operating 
the Swiss-Jersey dairy with a retail milk route in Riverside for four years, 
then he ran a dairy at Arlington for eight years. 

From Riverside Mr. Grandy went to Tulare county as foreman of a large 
dairy of one hundred twenty-five cows, a position he filled for three years, 
when he came to Humboldt county. In September, 1913, he leased the pres- 
ent place of thirty acres near Grizzly Bluff, which is devoted to a dairy of 
eighteen cows. He is very handy with tools and is a good carpenter and 
blacksmith as well as a farmer and dairyman. 

Mr. Grandy was married at Santa Rosa, being united with Miss Diva H. 
Camasy, she too being a native of Menzonio, Switzerland. Mr. and Mrs. 
Grandy have three children as follows : Floyd, Olga, and baby. Fraternally 
Mr. Grandy is a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Odd Fellows, 
and_^the Independent Order of Foresters, all in Riverside. Mr. Grandy is a 
well read and well informed man, and speaks several languages, besides 
Swiss and English, speaking French and Spanish. 

EDWARD ALEXANDER ZEHNDNER.— One of the most enterpris- 
ing young men of Humboldt county is Edward Alexander Zehndner, who 
was born in this county September 11, 1879, the scion of one of the most 
prominent pioneer families of the county. Young Zehndner received his 
early educational and business training in the public schools of Areata and 
Eureka, graduating from Eureka Business College in 1901. Anxious to 
acquire more of an education, he decided to attend the University of Cali- 
fornia, where he accordingly took a year's course. But his father, who owned 
a large dairy ranch, found the duties of the place too much for him to attend 
to alone, so sent for his son, who therefore returned from college and entered 
into the dairying and farming business. Under his father's supervision he 
met with much success in this occupation, but in 1906 determined to engage 
in some other line of work. His brother had retired from the office of depot 
master at Areata, and Edward Zehndner was offered the station, which he 
accepted, holding the position of manager of the depot for twenty months, 
after which he returned to the home place to assume active management of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1189 

the ranch. The Zehndner ranch is one of the show places of Dows Prairie, 
being considered one of the finest of its kind in the. district. Mr. Zehndner 
continued to live on the home place, which he endeavored to make a monu- 
ment to his ability as a farmer, clearing sixty acres of the land that he found 
peculiarly adapted to farming, and also going extensively into stock raising. 
When eucalyptus trees were first mentioned as being fine wood for furniture 
making, Mr. Zehndner was one of the first to become interested in the matter, 
setting out a grove of fifty acres, and along with other enterprising men who 
foresaw the possibilities of this industry has made a commendable success of 
his eucalyptus trees in the face of bitter opposition. 

An ardent Progressive Republican, Mr. Zehndner enters actively into all 
matters pertaining to the advancement of the county. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Areata Lodge, I. O. O. F., and in his religious associations is 
a stanch member of the Presbyterian Church. On October 10, 1910, he was 
married to Miss Grace Whittier, also a native of Humboldt county, she hav- 
ing been born in Ferndale, June 5, 1893. Of the union of these two pioneer 
families there is one daughter, Evelyn Adeline Zehndner, born iVugust 29, 
1913. The county may well be proud of Mr. Zehndner, for he has done much 
good work in the community. Always taking an active part in any matter 
for the advancement of the district where he resides, and being prominently 
identified with afifairs of public interest in the locality, he is a worthy member 
of one of the pioneer families of Humboldt county. 

THORWALD and WILLIAM H. FREDRICKSON.— Among the 
early settlers of laqua, Humboldt county, is the Fredrickson family. The 
elder Fredrickson, James P., was born on the Island of Bornholm, Den- 
mark, August 15, 1828. He went to sea when a lad and followed that occupa- 
tion for many years, from Denmark sailing into many foreign ports. Three 
years were spent in seal fishing in the Arctic ocean off the coast of Greenland 
and Spitzbergen. At the time of the excitement caused by the discovery 
of gold in California he came around Cape Horn on a sailer as man before 
the mast and on his arrival in San Francisco he left the ship and started for 
the mines, which he followed for some time, being reasonably successful, 
after which he returned to Denmark. 

However, his taste for adventure and exploring was not satisfied, so 
he started on a journey to Australia, where after following prospecting and 
mining in that wilderness he went to New Zealand, and from there to Cali- 
fornia. In 1866 he arrived in Humboldt county, and for a few years he lived 
in Eureka, farming and lumbering. 

In October, 1870, James P. Fredrickson located in the laqua district, 
purchasing three hundred twenty acres of school land, and began the nucleus 
of a large and successful ranching experience. He also homesteaded one 
hundred sixty acres. He built a house and made needed improvements. He 
also ran a dairy of twenty-five to thirty cows, panning, skimming and churn- 
ing by hand, the butter being hauled to Eureka and shipped to San Francisco. 
He purchased land adjoining until his ranch comprised seven hundred sixty 
acres at the time of his death in 1901. 

James P. Fredrickson was married while living in Australia, in April, 
1865, his wife being Amelia Negus, who was a native of Essex county, 
England. She died in Eureka, leaving five children, as follows : Mary, the 



1190 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 

M'iie of John Johnson, of laqua ; Thorwald, of laqua; Victoria A., Mrs. 
M. F. Shook, who died at laqua; AVilUam H., a partner of Thorwald; and 
Flenrietta A., who resides in Eureka. 

Thorwald and AVilliam H. Fredrickson, who are engaged in farming 
and stock raising on their ranch at laqua, are both native sons of Humboldt 
county, Thorwald having been born in Eureka, June 13, 1868, and AVilliam 
H. at laqua May 27, 1877. They received their education in the ,local schools, 
Thorwald's education being supplemented with a course at the Eureka 
Business College, where he was graduated in 1890. Subsequently he followed 
clerking and also logging for a time. After the death of the father the 
brothers began stock raising in partnership and have continued together ever 
since, an arrangement that has been carried on in peace and harmony, the 
brothers having entire confidence in each other. 

In 1903 they purchased their present ranch of one thousand acres on 
the laqua road, where they make their home, besides operating two hundred 
sixty acres of the old home ranch, the whole being devoted to raising hay, 
grain and cattle, in which they have been successful and are building up a 
splendid herd of beef cattle. They also engage in threshing, operating a 
power threshing machine during the season. The improvements have been 
made with an outlook to permanency, having substantial residence and barns, 
and the ranch is well watered, and taken as a whole is splendidly adapted for 
the purpose to which it is devoted. 

Thorwald Fredrickson married Irene Erwin, a native of Petrolia, and 
they have two children, Lois and Ruth. For five years he was a member of 
the board of trustees of laqua district and was clerk of the board, while 
William H. is now serving his second term in the same position. Fraternally 
both brothers are members of Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F., as well 
as Thelma Lodge of Rebekahs, in Eureka, being active in the philanthropies 
of the order, besides being liberal and charitable in public movements for 
the upbuilding of the community and the betterment of its citizens. Politically 
they are stanch Republicans. 

JOHN C. BRICELAND was born in Virginia about 1838 and died at 
Briceland, Cal., in 1901, aged sixty-three years. As a boy he came with his 
parents to Amsterdam, Ohio, where he remained until the age of seventeen, 
when he joined the rush to the gold fields of California, crossing the plains 
with ox teams. For a time he followed mining and then was employed on 
ranches in the Sacramento valley. At times his wages were very small, for 
conditions even in those days were not always good. On account of suffering 
from chills and fever he came to Humboldt county, where he was an early 
settler on Elk ridge and where he engaged in stock raising, making a specialty 
of raising horses, his herd at one time numbering five hundred head. These 
he drove into different parts of California and Oregon and sold. From Elk 
ridge he removed to Upper Mattole and later located at Ross' defeat, near 
what is now Ettersburg, where he owned a farm and raised cattle. This place 
he sold and about 1889 he purchased the old Collier place, the present site 
of Briceland. Before this a Hebrew by the name of Jim Filer had a little 
store here. Mr. Briceland bought him out and continued the mercantile 
business, enlarging the store and running it for three years, when he sold 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1191 

the store building and goods. All these years he engaged in farming and 
stock raising as well as butchering. He built the Briceland Hotel and the 
town was named for him. He became the owner of fourteen hundred acres 
of land, portions of which he sold from time to time, and he now has about 
seven hundred acres. His last years were devoted to stock raising. He died 
on his ranch. He was a prominent and active Democrat and for many years 
was member of the board of school trustees. By his first wife, a native 
daughter of California, he had three children, as follows : Lucy, Mrs. Jack 
AVood, of Briceland ; and Lizzie and George, both deceased. His second 
marriage was to Fannie AVhite, also born in California, who died March 3, 
1912. She was the mother of nine children, seven of whom grew up, as 
follows: William, who died. when seventeen years old; Maude, who died at 
fourteen; Laura, Mrs. Fearrien, who died here; Mary, who died at thirteen 
years ; and Walter, John and Carl, all of Briceland. 

AValter Briceland, who now leases and operates the old Briceland ranch, 
was born at Briceland December 12, 1887. He was brought up on the home 
farm, attending the public schools in the vicinity, and ultimately learned 
the stock business thoroughly. He remained on the home farm until his 
father died, when he was employed on other ranches and in the bark woods. 
In 1913 he leased the Briceland ranch of over six hundred acres, which he 
is now operating, being engaged in raising cattle. The old Briceland ranch 
comprises nearly seven hundred acres located on Redwood creek, and on ac- 
count of being well watered is an excellent stock ranch. 

AA'alter Briceland was married Alarch 3, 1914, the ceremony being per- 
formed in Briceland, where he was united wath Cora Milburn, a native of 
Fortuna, the daughter of Frank and Eva Gray Milburn, old settlers of Hum- 
boldt county. 

WILLIAM M. GRAHAM has been a resident of Humboldt county since 
1880 and has been connected with the lumber industry all this time, the last 
twelve years as foreman for the Northern Redwood Lumber Company. He 
was born on the St. John river at Magaguadavic, York county. New Bruns- 
wick, June 14, 1860, the son of James Graham, who was a farmer there until 
his death. 

jMr. Graham was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools. 
AA'hen fourteen years of age he worked as cook in the woods of New Bruns- 
wick for two years, then worked tending sled during winters and on the farm 
summers. In 18/8 he arrived in Minneapolis, ]\Iinn. There he followed 
tending sled and driving on the upper Mississippi river until 1880, when he 
came to Humboldt county, Cal. Two of his brothers, Frank and Alexander, 
had come to California, and their reports were so favorable that he determined 
to join them. On his arrival he went to work for his brother Alexander in 
the woods at Freshwater, continuing with him for two years, then was in 
the employ of his brother Frank at Bayside as chain tender during summers 
and chopper in winters ; later became foreman. Since then he has con- 
tinued in the employ of his brother Frank or in the employ of companies 
ir which he is interested. For the past twelve years he has been woods fore- 
man for the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, and his many years' 
experience qualifies him for the position. He makes his home in Eureka. At 



1192 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

one time he owned the property at the corner of Huntoon and C streets, which 
he sold to Mr. Ward in November, 1913. He now resides on A street, near 
Hawthorn. 

William M. Graham was married in Eureka to Mrs. Frances E. (Mc- 
Conaghy) Pass, born at Prince William, York county. New Brunswick. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, L O. O. F., at Areata, 
also a member of the Odd Fellows Veteran Association in Eureka, a member 
of the Woodmen of the World in Eureka, and Mrs. Graham is a member of 
the Women of Woodcraft. . 

ELVIZIO REZZONICO was born at Torricella, Tavarni, Canton Ticino, 
Switzerland, October 16, 1886, the son of Giuseppe and Margerita (Frigeri). 
The father, who was in the employ of a railroad company as foreman, died 
in 1908. The mother is still living. Elvizio, after completing the public 
schools, entered the employ of the railroad company under his father and 
continued in that occupation until he came to California. He was married 
in Ticino September 21, 1907, being united with Miss Rose Crivelli, also a 
native of Torricella. On June 1, 1910, Mr. Rezzonico came to Humboldt 
county, where for four months he was in the employ of the railroad at Bay- 
side, then for his brother-in-law, Charles Crivelli, at Loleta, for four months, 
and afterwards worked for Charles E. Sacchi, a dairyman at Areata, for 
eighteen months. His wife and little daughter joined him in 1912. In Sep- 
tember, 1913, he leased his present place of thirty acres of bottom land which 
he devotes to dairying, milking sixteen cows, nearly all Jerseys, and is meet- 
ing with deserved success. To Mr. and A-Irs. Rezzonico have been born three 
children, Modesta, Joseph and Lidio. Mr. Rezzonico is ambitious and ap- 
preciates the opportunities to be had in California. Politically he believes 
in the principles of the Republican party. 

LOUIS BARLOGGI was born at Lauertetz, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, 
January 26, 1881, the son of Michael and Rosa (Martini) Barloggi, who reside 
on their farm on the Valverzsca river. Of their twelve children, nine of whom 
are living, Louis, the oldest, received his education in the public schools. 
From a lad he learned farming and dairying as it is done in his native country. 
However, he had become interested in the Pacific coast country and deter- 
mined to try his fortune where opportunities were more favorable than in 
his native land. Leaving home in December, 1903, he arrived in Solano 
county, Cal., in January, 1904. He found employment on a dairy farm in 
the Suisun basin, and continued at that occupation until 1909, when he came 
to Humboldt county and for four months was employed in the Pacific Lumber 
Company's sawmill at Scotia. He then caine to Capetown, where he worked 
for James Biasca for a period of two years, after which he leased the Myrtle 
Grove dairy ranch of six hundred acres on the coast at Capetown, owned by 
Harry Blum of Ferndale. Here he engaged in dairying on his own account 
and is making a success of the enterprise. He is milking fifty cows in his 
dairy and is using a steam engine to do the separating and churning, the' 
product being shipped to the San Francisco market. 

Mr. Barloggi is an industrious and energetic young man, Avho attends 
strictly to his work, and by his close application is making a success of 
dairying. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1193 

JAMES W. TIMMONS. — A representative of an old and prominent 
family in Humboldt county and himself well and favorably knov\'n, James 
W. Timmons is a native son of the county, born in Eureka December 8, 1857. 
His father, M. Timmons, was a native of Ireland and came when a young 
man to Boston, Mass., where he worked his way from the bottom to foreman 
of a lumber yard. A¥hile in Boston he married Hester Callahan. Leaving- 
Boston in 1850 he and his wife came to California, first locating in San Fran- 
cisco, where Mr. Timmons entered the employ of Ryan & Duff, lumber men 
in that city, working his way up until he was made foreman of the yard. It 
was in 1852 that he made his first trip to Humboldt county, but subsequently 
he returned to San Francisco and resumed his old position with Ryan & Duff. 
In 1856, with his family, he located in Eureka and for a short time was fore- 
man for Ryan & Duff, after which he became associated with Dolbeer-Carson 
Lumber Company as foreman of the yards, a position he filled for many 
years. About fifteen years before he died he returned, residing at his home 
on Fourth and M streets until his demise in 1903. His widow still resides at 
the old home, looking after the property Mr. Timmons left her. 

Of the seven children born to this union James W. Timmons is the 
second oldest and was reared and educated in the public schools of -his native 
place. After completing the schools he entered the employ of McKay & 
Co. at the Occidental Mill as tally man, continuing there for a period of three 
years. Next we find him at Kibesillah, or Newport, Mendocino county, at 
Hunter & Stewart's Mill as tally man and later as planerman for two years, 
when he moved to Cleone, the same county, and became mill foreman for the 
Little Valley Lumber Company, continuing there for a year. He then spent 
a year in San Francisco as tally man, thence going to Puget Sound. After 
spending four months there he returned to Humboldt county and entered the 
employ of John Vance, continuing with him off and on for many years. Then 
for a period of seventeen years he was with Flanagan & Brosson, now the 
Bayside Mill, where he became mill foreman, a position he filled acceptably 
and well, using the years of experience in the lumber industry to advantage. 
After this he was with the Hammond Lumber Company at Samoa until 
1909, when he came to Bulwinkle as yard foreman for the Little River Red- 
wood Company, having continued uninterruptedly in the position ever since. 

AVith his wife and daughter, Neva, Mr. Timmons makes his home at 
his residence, 236 Long street. Eureka. Mrs. Timmons was in maidenhood 
Ida Davis, a native of Ohio, and they were married in Eureka. Fraternally 
Mr. Timmons is a member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., and Eureka 
Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. Mr. Timmons is well and favorably known 
throughout Humboldt county, is well read, and having a retentive memory 
is an interesting conversationalist. He has a host of friends who admire him 
for his integrity and worth. 

FREDERICK JOHN MOORE is a native . son of Humboldt county, 
born in Areata October 25, 1886, the son of John Addison and Hattie C. 
(Sheets) ^loore, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. They were 
married in the latter state and about 1879 emigrated to Humboldt county, 
Cal. The father was engaged in farming in the Maple creek section at one 
time, and afterward followed the woods with E. B. Jackson. He was elected 
and served as supervisor of District No. 3, Humboldt county, after which 



1194 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

he again followed lumbering and timber cruising for a time, or until he 
engaged in the real estate business, which he is following at the present time 
in Eureka. 

Of the marriage of John A. and Hattie C. Moore five children were born, 
Fred J. being the third oldest. He received his education in the schools 
of Blue Lake, and then for eighteen months he was a clerk in J. C. ^^'orthing- 
ton's store in the same town. He continued in the latter position until Sep- 
tember 7, 1903, when he entered the employ of the Northern Redwood 
Lumber Company at Korbel as postal clerk, then as train dispatcher, later 
became assistant bookkeeper in the office and assistant shipping clerk in the 
lumber office. Afterward he was promoted to head shipping clerk in charge 
of the lumber department, which position he has held since 1906. 

Mr. Moore was married at Blue Lake October 25, 1909, being united 
with Miss Bertha Fulmor, a native of Michigan, and they have three sons, 
Frederick John, Jr. ; Francis Lee, and Herbert Louis. Fraternally Mr. Moore 
was made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., and with his wife 
is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Moore is also a member 
of the Rebekahs. Mr. Moore is also a member of Court Korbel No. 8022, 
A. O. F., at Blue Lake, of which he is past chief ranger, and also a member 
of the Hoo Hoos, a lumber organization. "Sir. and Mrs. Moore attend the 
Presbyterian Church at Blue Lake, he being a member of the board of 
trustees. In his political principles he is a stanch Republican. 

EMIL B. ECKART, head filer at the Bulwinkle mill for the Little River 
Redwood Company, was born near Nordhausen, Province of Saxony, Ger- 
many, June 9, 1884, son of Lorenz and Anna (Faulbier) Eckart. The father 
was a 'farmer and merchant and man of afifairs until his death. The mother 
is still living at the old home. Emil was raised on the farm, where he learned 
to work faithfully and well. He was educated in public schools. When 
his schooling was completed he worked for the government in the bookkeep- 
ing and civil engineering departments for three years. He then concluded 
to try his fortune in America and in the fall of 1900 we find him in Milwaukee, 
Wis., where he was in the employ of his uncle, Mike Seeboth, in a foundry 
for two years. From there he went to Battle Creek, Mich., in the employ 
of the Grand Trunk Railway as a machinist and later as a fireman. After 
eighteen months he returned to Milwaukee, where he spent three years with 
the Milwaukee Street Car Company, working his way from the bottom to 
assistant engineer of the system. Hearing good reports from the Pacific coast 
he resigned his position in the spring of 1907 and made his way to Humboldt 
county, Cal. He worked in the Eureka Boiler AVorks for a short time and 
the same summer came to Bulwinkle, where he entered the employ of the 
Little River Redwood Company as engineer of the old mill for fourteen 
months and afterward as engineer of the new mill. In 1911 he entered the 
filing room as assistant filer and in February, 1914, he was made head filer, 
a position he has filled satisfactorily and well ever since. 

Mr. Eckart was married in Oakland, Cal., September 11, 1913, to J\Iiss 
Annie Wiirre, born in Helsingfors, Finland. He owns a residence on Buhne 
and California streets, Eureka, where he makes his hoitie. Politically he 
believes firmly in the principles of the Republican party. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1195 

FRED YANCY AYER was born in Bodega, Sonoma county, Cal., June 
22, 1882. His father, John Ayer, a carpenter by trade, was born in the 
province of Quebec, Canada. He came from Boston, Mass., to San Francisco, 
via the Isthmus of Panama, in 1854. He engaged in dairying ,at Bodega, 
Sonoma county, and later followed the carpenter's trade. He was married 
at Bodega to Vesta Nichols, a native of Tennessee. In 1895 they removed 
to San Jose and in 1898 to Blue Lake. He followed his trade of carpenter 
until he died, in 1907, at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother now resides 
in Berkeley. 

Of the five children in the parental family our subject is the third oldest. 
He was educated in the public schools and early in life began to make his 
own way. His first work was in San Jose, where he was employed as a 
messenger boy, besides which he sold papers. In 1898 he came to Blue 
Lake and worked at the carpenter's trade with his father, then in shingle 
mills as shingle weaver, here and in Samoa for three years. He gave this 
up to take a business course and entered the Eureka Business College, from 
which he graduated in 1906. After a short time with the Hammond Lumber 
Company he came to Korbel and since October of that year has been in 
the employ of the Northern Redwood Lumber Company. He first acted as 
train dispatcher for the Areata and Mad River Railroad about four and one- 
half years, then was in the office of the lumber company as lumber shipping 
clerk. Promotion came to him in April, 1915, when he was made foreman 
of the Riverside mill for the Northern Redwood Lumber Company at River- 
side, on the north fork of the Mad river. 

Mr. Ayer was married at Dow's Prairie to Miss Eva Elizabeth Lee, born 
in Nicolaus, Sutter county, Cal., the daughter of Walter C. Lee, who came to 
California across the plains from Illinois with ox teams in an early day. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ayer have two children, Sidney Lee and Evelyn Ethel. 

GEORGE SAMS.— One of the old-timers connected with the lumber 
industry in Humboldt county is George Sams, who was born* in Warren 
county, twenty-one miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, October 7, 1862. He 
was the son of George and Hannah C. (Edwards) Sams, farmers in Iowa. 
During the Civil war the father served in an Iowa regiment, and during his 
enlistment received serious injuries from which he died in St. Louis, Mo. The 
mother was married a second time to John Wright, and in 1872 they all came 
to Humboldt county, Cal., where the mother died. 

George Sams, the only child of his mother's first marriage, spent the first 
ten years of his life in Iowa, when he accompanied his mother and stepfather 
to Rohnerville, Cal. Here he lived on a farm and received a good education 
in the public schools. He then worked as a shingle packer until he made 
enough money to take a course at Heald's Business College, San Francisco, 
graduating therefrom in 1883. On his return to Humboldt county he went 
back to the shingle mill at Fortuna as a packer for a year and then followed 
the same line of work for a year at Scotia. In partnership with the Rowley 
brothers he built a shingle mill near Fortuna, but a year later sold his interest 
in the mill and returned to the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company at 
Scotia, continuing for a period of twelve years in the shingle mill as a sawyer. 
Subsequently he became an expert filer. In 1900 he came to the Riverside 



1196 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

mill under H. W. Jackson and has continued with the same people ever 
since as filer. However, in 1907 he was transferred to the Korbel plant of 
the Northern Redwood Lumber Company and since that time has had charge 
of filing the resaws and shingle saws, to which he devotes his entire time, 
filling the position with entire satisfaction. 

Mr. Sams was married in Fortuna, being united with Miss Hattie M. 
Rowley, born in Colorado. She died in 1893, leaving four children : Myrtle, 
Mrs. Henry Burg, of Fortuna ; Nellie, Mrs. William Florent, ' of Portland, 
Ore. ; William, who is serving in the United States army, being stationed in 
the Philippines ; and Frances, a graduate of the San Jose state normal and 
formerly a teacher. She is now Mrs. William Brown, of Trinidad. Fraternally 
Mr. Sams is a member of Blue Lake Lodge No. 347, L O. O. F., of which 
he is past grand and past district deputy ; is a member of Mad River Lodge 
No. 185, K. of P., at Blue Lake, of which he is past chancellor. 

ALEXANDER ROSS SUTHERLAND, holding the position of head 
filer for the Northern Redwood Lumber Company at Korbel, was born at 
West River, Pictou county. Nova Scotia, March 7, 1869, the son of William 
and Isabella (Ross) Sutherland, also natives of Pictou county, of Scotch 
parents on both sides. The father being a farmer, Alexander was reared on 
the home farm and educated in the public schools. He remained with his 
parents, aiding with the duties of the farm until he was twenty-one, when 
he came to the Pacific coast in 1890 and at Port Blakeley he entered the 
machine shop of the Renton & Holmes Lumber Company and there learned 
the machinist's trade. In 1893 he came to Greenwood, Cal., as machinist 
with the L. E. White Lumber Company, and continued with them for seven 
years and during which time he learned filing. He then came to Usal, Mendo- 
cino county, in March of 1900, securing the position of head filer for the Usal 
Lumber Company. However, six weeks later he was ofifered the position of 
head filer at the Riverside mill of the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, 
under H. W. Jackson, and he has continued with the management ever 
since. After seven years at the Riverside mill he was transferred to the 
Korbel mill as head filer, a position he has filled ever since. Mr. Sutherland 
was married at Greenwood, being united with Miss Lottie Adlain, a native 
daughter born at Noyo, Mendocino county, and two children have been born 
of the union, Ross and Stella. For six years Mr. Sutherland served as trustee 
of the North Fork school district and was clerk of the board for five years 
of the time. He was deeply interested in having good schools, and it was 
during this time that the new school house was built in Korbel. Fraternally 
he is a member of Blue Lake Lodge No. 347, I. O. O. F., of which he is 
past grand and past district deputy, and with his wife is a member of the 
Rebekahs. He is a member of Mad River Lodge, K. P., of which he is past 
chancellor. Politically he espouses the principles of the Republican party. 

HENRY BRAVO, who is engaged in dairying at Metropolitan, was born 
in Cugnasco, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, May 20, 1879, the son of Bartol 
and Josephine (Pellisconi) Bravo, farmers. The mother died in March, 1910, 
and the father is still in business in Switzerland. Of their six children four 
are living, Henry being the third oldest. He received a good education in 
the public schools and learned farming from a lad. He continued helping 
his father until he was twenty-one years of age. His brother Paul, who had 



HISTORY OF HUA^BOLDT COUNTY 1197 

come to California in 1893 and was residing in Humboldt county, sent back 
good reports to the old home of better opportunities in the west and the 
younger brother determined to try his fortune on the Pacific coast. In March, 
1900, he arrived in Eureka, Cal. He was employed on a dairy at Loleta for 
one year, then was engaged in the same line near Ferndale for three years. 
Later he worked for the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia a year and next 
was with the Metropolitan Lumber Company another year. After working 
one year on a farm at Rio Dell he concluded to start in dairying for himself, 
and for the purpose rented his present place of one hundred acres at Metro- 
politan in 1906. Here he has followed dairying ever since. He has built 
up a herd of high grade Jerseys and is milking forty-five cows. In connection 
he is also engaged in raising hogs, breeding the Ohio Improved Chester 
White, of which he turns off about fifty head a year. The ranch is all rich 
bottom land, growing not only good pasturage, but on it he raises ample hay 
and green feed for his cattle and hogs. He has reason to be pleased with his 
success in California and he has established a record in the vicinity for being 
industrious, persevering and energetic, and also for being honest and upright 
in all his dealings. 

Mr. Bravo was married at Ferndale December 22, 1910, being united with 
Severina Giulieri, also born in Cugnasco, Switzerland, and they have three 
children, as follows : Rena, Rose and Fred. Politically he believes in the 
principles of the Republican party. 

ZACCHEUS MARLON HARRIS.— The millwright at the Bulwinkle 
plant of the Little River Redwood Company was born at Frankfort, Mower 
county, Minn., April 18, 1875, the son of Frank and Amelia (Story) Harris, 
born in New York and Wisconsin, respectively. The father was a soldier 
in Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war and was wounded while 
in the service. After the war he removed to Mower county, Minn., where 
he was a farmer. In 1877 he brought his family to Napa county, Cal., where 
they are now engaged in farming. Zach, as he is familiarly called, was two 
years of age when he came with the family to California. He received a 
good education, after which he assisted his parents on the farm until he was 
eighteen years old. He then worked at the carpenter's trade in Napa county 
about two years. In 1895 he came to the redwoods in Humboldt county, 
where he found employment with the Pacific Lumber Company at Scotia 
as a millwright and during the years he was with them he helped build the 
old mills and the new mills also. He was away for a while, during which 
time he was a millwright in San Francisco and in Solano county. He then 
returned to Scotia, resuming his old place, and continued there until 1910, 
when he removed to Samoa in the employ of the Hammond Lumber Com- 
pany as millwright. Resigning the latter position he became foreman of 
construction work for the government on the South Jetty, Humboldt Bay, a 
position which he filled for about one year. 

In 1912 Mr. Harris came to Bulwinkle as millwright and since then has 
performed the duties connected with the position in an able manner. He 
is successful in his line of work and has a good record with the different com- 
panies he has served. He was married in Napa to Miss Ida Raddlefinger, a 
native daughter of Areata, the daughter of Samuel Raddlefinger, a prominent 
pioneer of Humboldt county and a man well posted on the history of the 



1198 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

early days. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have two children, Mahlon and Delpha. 
Fraternally he is a member of Napa Lodge No. 18, I. O. O. F., also a member 
of the Knights of the Maccabees, at Napa. He is interested in the cause 
of education and is serving as a member of the board of trustees of Little 
River school district, being president of the board. 

JOHN P. ANDERSON.— Since 1877 Mr. Anderson has been a resident 
of Humboldt county, coming here from Warren county, Pa. He was born 
on the Island of Bornholm, Denmark, February 6, 1852, the son of John 
and Caroline (Lund) Anderson, farming people there. Reared on the farm 
in Denmark, he received a good education in the public schools. When six- 
teen years of age he began earning his own livelihood by working on neigh- 
borhood farms. In the spring of 1870 he came to the United States and 
located in Warren county. Pa., where he was employed in a tannery for three 
years, and later was engaged in railroad construction work. His brother, 
James P., had already come to Humboldt county, and through him John 
became interested in the west and decided to join his brother. In March, 
1877, he came to San Francisco and then on the old steamer Humboldt 
came to Eureka. He immediately went to work for his brother on the Angels 
ranch, continuing with him until 1886, when he bought the old Rich ranch 
on Canyon creek, his present place. This lies about five miles above Korbel, 
and is devoted principally to raising sheep, usually running three hundred to 
four hundred head. 

Mr. Anderson was married in Areata to Miss Minnie Gent, ^ho was 
born in Germany and came to New York when six years old, and since she 
was twelve years old she has been a resident of Humboldt county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Anderson have eight children : Jessie, Mrs. Lane, of Salem, Ore. ; Fred, 
Ernest, John, Arthur, Wesley, Walter and Elenor, and all make their home 
m Humboldt county except Mrs. Lane. Mr. Anderson has been school 
trustee of North Fork school district three terms. He is a member of Blue 
Lake Lodge, I. O. O. F., and with his wife is a member of Rebekahs in Blue 
Lake. In politics he espouses the cause of the Republican party and has 
served on the grand jury. 

WILLIAM S. FALK.— The name of Falk is so closely identified with 
sawmilling in Humboldt county that it goes naturally along with any account 
of that industry. William S. Falk, now head filer at the mills of the Bayside 
Lumber Company of Eureka, might be expected to show considerable adapta- 
bility for his work, his father, Elijah H. Falk, the present mayor of Eureka, 
having the reputation of being the most skilful millwright in California. (A 
sketch of the latter will be found on another page in this history.) 

Of the six children born to his parents AVilliam S. Falk is the oldest, and 
was born April 9, 1868, at Mount Cory, Ohio, and came with his parents to 
CaUfornia in 1878. Being very young when the family settled at Eureka, he 
received all his education here, in the public schools. He has spent practically 
all his life at his present line of work. He commenced to work when fifteen 
years old in the filing room of the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, 
subsequently was filer for two years with the Moore & Smith Lumber Com- 
pany at Sanger, Cal., and then for ten years held a similar position at Fair- 
haven, with the Bendixson Shipbuilding Company. For the last seven years 
he has been with the Bayside Lumber Company, beginning to work for that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1199 

concern shortly after the completion of its mill at Eureka, where there are 
two band saws, each about sixty-five feet long and weighing about two hun- 
dred pounds. Great skill is required to keep these valuable instruments in 
perfect working order, as they must be. As a saw wears most on one side it 
has to be hammered carefully to be kept true and running straight on the large 
pulleys. When a saw breaks it is repaired by splicing, which when expertly 
done restores it to its original efficiency, just as strong as ever. Mr. Falk 
understands all this nicety and has the skill and judgment required for such 
particular work, his work at filing, hammering and splicing being unexcelled. 
As an all-around capable mechanic he is trusted completely with this all- 
important part of the work at the mill, for which his experience and natural 
ability well qualify him. 

Mr. Falk married Edith McDade, and resides with his wife and two 
daughters (Daisy and Nellie) in Eureka. He is a highly esteemed citizen of 
the place where he has lived all but the first few years of his life, and is 
considered a worthy member of a family whose representatives have all been 
an honor to the community. 

CLARK MILTON WYNN.— Another of the prosperous farmers of 
Humboldt county is Clark Milton Wynn, a native of Ohio but for many years 
a resident of California and a loyal supporter and admirer of the Golden 
State. He has met with much success in his undertakings and is known on 
Dow's Prairie, where he resides, and in Areata as one of the substantial and 
altogether dependable men of the county. 

Mr. A'Vynn was born at Big Prairie, Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 
1874. In 1883 he came with his parents to Humboldt county, locating on 
Eel river. Here he attended school on Cannibal island until fifteen years of 
age, when he assisted his father on the farm. Later he started out for him- 
self, first working on the neighboring ranches. In 1894 he moved to Areata 
and went to work for M. P. Roberts on his dairy ranch, and later was em- 
ployed for two years on the ranch of Frank Deuel, where dairying was the 
chief occupation. At this time he was employed by Jacob Zehndner, remain- 
ing with him until 1900 and working on his dairy ranch. In 1900 he secured 
employment with the Vance Company, and later the Hammond Lumber 
Company, building railroads, and continued at various occupations until 1909, 
when he entered into partnership with his brother Thomas and leased his 
father's home place on Dow's Prairie. This property numbers one hundred 
fifty acres and is especially well adapted for dairying. The brothers at once 
improved the place and engaged in dairying, and are at present carrying on 
this occupation and meeting with good success. They also follow general 
farming in connection with their dairying interests. 

Aside from his business enterprise, Mr. AVynn is well and favorably 
known. In politics he is a Republican, but has never been actively interested 
in local politics. He is also a member of the local lodge of Eagles. 

The brother with whom Mr. Wynn is in partnership is Thomas 
Boden Wynn, born in Humboldt county, March 18, 1887. He attended the 
public schools of Areata and later of Alliance for two years, at the age of 
eighteen commencing work for himself, in which he has been very successful. 
The first sixteen months he was with Pete Hansen on his dairy ranch, and 
for a number of years thereafter was employed on the various ranches of 



1200 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

the neighborhood, becoming an expert dairyman. In 1909 he came to the 
home place with his brother, which they have since operated. In politics he 
is also a Republican. 

The father of these two prosperous young farmers is William B. Wynn, 
a native of Ohio, born in Wayne county, October 8, 1845. He came to 
California, where his father had preceded him by several years, and together 
they engaged in farming, after a year, however, going into the dairy busi- 
ness for himself, purchasing seventeen acres of improved land on Eel river 
and leasing ninety-seven acres adjoining. He was very successful and for 
a number of years remained on this property, in 1893 selling his Eel river 
ranch and moving to Areata bottom, where he purchased fifty-seven acres of 
improved land and again engaged in dairying. In 1903 he sold this property 
and bought the ranch on Dow's Prairie where his sons are at present engaged 
in dairying and farming. Mr. Wynn, Sr., has at present retired from active 
business and resides in Areata, where he has many warm friends and 
acquaintances. 

The mother of Clark Milton and Thomas Boden Wynn was Camilla 
Jane Boden, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, who died in Areata about the 
year 1900 and was the mother of three children, namely : Clark Milton, 
Andrew Clifford and Thomas Boden. The former and latter are partners 
and Andrew C. resides in Wisconsin. 

The grandfather of Clark Milton and Thomas Boden Wynn, and the 
father of William B. Wynn, was Jesse Wynn, a native of Pennsylvania. He 
crossed the plains in 1849, leaving his family in the east. For a time he 
was located at Marysville, in 1855 coming to Humboldt county, where he 
carried on farming until the time of his death, in 1888. 

GEORGE PINKERTON.— One of the old-time loggers and lumbermen, 
a resident of Humboldt county since April, 1876, George Pinkerton was born 
in Lynnfield, Charlotte county, New Brunswick, December 13, 1853. His 
father, James Pinkerton, was born in the North of Ireland, coming whea a 
lad with his parents to New Brunswick, where he became a farmer and where 
he married Margaret Mitchell, also born in New Brunswick. After the father 
died the mother and children finally came to California. 

George Pinkerton, the oldest of their ten children, was reared on the 
farm in New Brunswick, where he was educated in the public schools. From 
a boy he learned logging and river driving on the St. Croix and its branches. 
In 1875 he came to the Pacific coast and on Puget sound spent one year in 
the lumber woods. In April, 1876, he came to Humboldt county, Cal. His 
first employment was with Mr. Connick on Ryan slough chopping in the 
woods. Two years later he did team tending for him and others. Following 
this he worked for Alexander Graham on Freshwater and also for Mr. Vance. 
He engaged in the manufacture of shingles and shakes on the FreshAvater 
above where the postoffice is now located, operating a mill with two shingle 
machines and one shake machine, the product being taken by rail to the 
bay and thence on lighters. He also engaged in logging for eighteen months, 
on Elk river for the Holmes Eureka Lumber Company. Afterwards he 
Avas superintendent of the woods, getting out timber for the Little 
River Lumber Company at Bullwinkle, when the mill was building and 
also building their railroad. After this he quit the lumber industry to look 





t^^^^^ 




HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1201 

after his farming and ranching interests. As early as 1883 he purchased a 
ranch at Brainerds Point on the Areata road, seven miles from Eureka. It 
was stump brush and marsh land. He cleared and improved it and reclaimed 
the marsh land by ditching and dyking it and developed the ranch of two hun- 
dred seventy acres into a dairy farm with rich bottom land which he now 
leases for that purpose, having built suitable buildings. Among them are 
two large modern barns specially planned for the care of the large dairy 
herd on the place. He also owns thirteen hundred acres on Mad river, where 
he raises cattle, the ranch being well improved for the purpose. Many years 
ago he purchased the hotel at Freshwater Postofhce in the Garfield district 
which he rented for many years and which was called Hotel Pinkerton. For 
the last two years he and his wife have made their home there. 

The marriage of Mr. Pinkerton occurred in Eureka, February 22, 1899, 
being united with Mrs. Eda Climena (Trafton) Getchell, who was born near 
his native place in New Brunswick. Her father, John Trafton, was a lum- 
berman and spent his last days in Humboldt county. Mrs. Pinkerton came 
to Eureka in the fall of 1875 and here she afterwards married Sergeant 
Getchell, who died in this county. By her first union she had six children, 
five living, as follows : Harry, of Bayside ; Eda, Mrs. Cole, of Freshwater ; 
Jennie, Mrs. Adams, who lives at Freshwater Corners ; EfHe, Mrs. Thompson, 
of Eureka; and Ellsworth, of Bayside. Mr. Pinkerton is well liked and 
highly respected, being a man of excellent business acumen and has acquired 
■ a competency. 

GEORGE WILLIAM COOPER.— Stock raising and general farming 
have been the chief industries which Mr. Cooper has followed throughout 
his active career, but with these he has combined several lines of activity, 
which have rounded out his business life and been the means of bringing him 
success. A native son of California, born March 4, 1861, in Hydesville, Hum- 
boldt county, at Cooper mill, which is about two and a half miles northeast 
of the town, he made that vicinity the environment of his entire life and as he 
grew, imbibed the enthusiasm of his fellow citizens in the development of 
his community and the welfare of its citizens. 

George William Cooper is the son of George Dalrymple Cooper, born in 
Prince Edward Island, Canada, one of the sons of Capt. William Cooper, who 
arrived in San Francisco on July 1, 1850, having made the journey around 
Cape Horn in his own vessel, the Packet, in company with his wife, six sons, 
three daughters, a son-in-law and daughter-in-law and a two-year-old child, 
bringing with them building material, furniture, implements, seed and two 
years' provisions, intending to take up government land on some navigable 
stream in California, but on account of the Spanish grants gave up the idea. 
In San Francisco some of the party fell ill and died, and one of the sons left 
that city in February or March of the year 1851, coming to Humboldt county, 
where his good reports soon brought the others and they engaged in farming 
near Hydesville. There in the Eel river country during the Indian warfare 
of the year 1852 there were only twenty-three white settlers and several hun- 
dred Indians. Of the five Cooper brothers (John AV., George D., Adolphus, 
David and AVilliam), Adolphus and David were killed by the Indians in 1852 



1202 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and George D. in 1861 ; William died from exposure while bringing cattle 
from Sacramento valley to Humboldt county in 1853 ; and John W. lived to 
old age and died at Areata in April, 1906. The Cooper brothers built a grist 
and a sawmill on Yager creek and made the first flour and manufactured the 
first lumber produced south of Eureka. George D. Cooper owned one hun- 
dred sixty acres along this creek, and it was while operating one of their mills 
at this place that he and a Mr. Tinkle were attacked by the Indians on July 
23, 1861. Mr. Tinkle, though wounded, made his escape, and Mr. Cooper 
was killed by two bullet wounds. His wife, formerly Elenore Caroline De 
Lasaux, a native of Canterbury, England, who had come to Humboldt county 
with her brothers in the early '50s, where she was married to Mr. Cooper, 
at the news of his death took her three months' old son, George William, in 
her arms and fled to John W. Cooper's residence, a mile distant. Her second 
marriage occurred in Canyon City, Ore., where she had resided for some years, 
and in a short time she came with her second husband, H. S. Case, to Hum- 
boldt county, where they made their home near Rohnerville, afterwards re- 
turning to the old John W. Cooper place, where her death took place some 
time later. 

The only child of George D. and Elenore Caroline Cooper was George 
William .Cooper, the subject of this sketch, whose father met his sudden 
death at his mill at the hands of the Indians. He was reared on the farm, 
attending the public schools at Hydesville. When he became of age he 
began farming independently on one hundred sixty acres which he owned on 
Yager creek, improving the tract and also hauling grain to Hookton on South 
Bay for a time. Having added dairying to his general farming operations, 
Mr. Cooper for twelve years continued successfully at Yager creek, his dairy- 
ing business interesting him in the Hydesville creamery. In 1897 he leased 
the property and moved to his present place at Alton. With H. A. Dinsmore 
in 1903 he began operating a stock ranch at Bridgeville, which was chiefly 
range and adapted for stock-raising, the ranch being known as the old Simon 
Brown place, now the property of Cooper and Dinsmore, who are both also 
interested in operating a barley mill at Alton. 

On October 15, 1884, Mr. Cooper was married at Alton to Clara Emma 
Dinsmore, who was born at that place, the daughter of John Owen and 
Margaret J. (Davis) Dinsmore, the mother's death having occurred August 
21, 1907, while on a visit at Marysville. The Dinsmore family to which 
Mrs. Cooper belongs has figured conspicuously in the early history of the 
county, and its members have been representative citizens in their several 
localities, her father, John Owen Dinsmore, having enjoyed a wide acquain- 
tance in the vicinity and held the esteem and affection of all who knew him. 
Born in Maine in the year 1816, Mr. Dinsmore grew up on the farm and when 
a young man started out in the lumber business, which he followed until 
1846, at that time removing to Texas, where he taught school for several 
years. Returning to his home state, he left there a second time when the 
discovery of gold in California brought so many strangers to this state. But 
Mr. Dinsmore was not yet ready to settle in the far west, and spent several 
years in farming in Illinois, Avhere he met and married his wife, after which, 
in 1859, he came once more to California, located in Humboldt county, and 
returned east once more only to bring his wife and children to the state of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1203 

his choice. Here he cultivated and improved land in Humboldt county, and 
also owned valuable timber land, and by the sale of his extensive property 
vi^as able to leave his family in very comfortable circumstances. It will thus 
be seen that by the marriage of Mr. Dinsmore's daughter with George William 
Cooper there were united two of the prominent pioneer families of this part 
of the state of California, families whom Humboldt county is proud to re- 
member. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are namely : Zina, 
the wife of Dallas N. Gould, and mother of two children, Dallas Cooper and 
Clinton Leslie Gould ; and Inez, attending the San Jose State Normal School. 
The father is an active member of the Hydesville Lodge No. 250, I. O. O. F., 
also of the Veteran Odd Fellows. He aids all movements having for their 
purpose the betterment of general conditions, and is an active, public-spirited 
citizen in the best sense of the word. 

FRED A. DINSMORE.— The family of Fred A. Dinsmore can be traced 
back for two generations in Humboldt county, Cal., Avhere he is well known 
as a successful farmer and dairyman. One of the first settlers of the Eel 
River Valley in Humboldt county was his grandfather, John Owen Dins- 
more, who was born in Maine, in 1816, where he was engaged in the lumber 
business until 1846, at which time he took up school teaching in Texas. 
Returning after a few years to his home state, he remained there until the 
discovery of gold in California called him west once more, this time to the 
Pacific coast, where he was fairly successful until the death of his partner, 
when he left the state, buying and settling on a farm in Illinois, where he 
married Margaret J. Davis, a native of Indiana, whose life from infancy had 
been spent In Illinois. In 1859, leaving his wife and three children in 
Illinois, John O. Dinsmore came west once more to California, and devoted 
his attention to raising cattle in laqua, Humboldt county, from which location 
Indian thefts caused him to remove nearer the coast, where he stayed until 
1860, when he sold his cattle and went east, returning with his family to 
California and locating in Humboldt county, where he spent the rest of his 
life. A brief sketch of the life of John O. Dinsmore is given in this book 
in connection with that of George William Cooper. He was the father of 
eight children, of whom A¥illiam Dinsmore, who became one of the foremost 
ranchmen in the county, was the father of Fred A., the subject of this sketch. 

It was at the early age of four years that William Dinsmore came 
across the plains from Illinois with his parents, who settled in Humboldt 
county. He received his education in the public schools and at the age of 
twenty-one married Anne Rolley, of English parentage, and at the time of 
his death, in June, 1904, left five children living with their mother at their 
beautiful home near Alton. William Dinsmore had purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres situated half way between Alton and Metro- 
politan, which place he improved, engaging in farming, stock raising 
and dairying. In 1893 he set out an apple orchard of thirty acres, the largest 
of its kind in Humboldt county. He became one of the most favorably 
known men and had the reputation of being the squarest man in the county. 
The children of William Dinsmore are as follows : Albert, who is now a 
dentist residing at Ferndale; Fred Andrea, born at Rio Dell, Cal., April 18, 
1880, who since his father's death runs the farm at Alton; George E., a com- 



1204 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

mission merchant at Seattle, Wash. ; Elsie J., who resides with her mother at 
Alton ; and Mabel, who married Dr. Starr, a dentist at Reno, Nev. 

Of this family, the second son, Fred A. Dinsmore, has become a pros- 
perous farmer in Humboldt county, where he grew up, receiving his early 
education in the McDiarmidt district, and supplementing it with a com- 
mercial course at Craddock's Business College, Eureka, where he was grad- 
uated in 1905. That autumn he took charge of the home ranch for his mother, 
which he leased in 1909, carrying on dairying and farming there up to the 
present time. He is extensively engaged in raising apples, principally Green- 
ings and Bellefleurs, which he ships to the San Francisco market, having 
shipped as many as twelve thousand five hundred boxes in a season. On 
his ranch he has a herd of sixty milch cows, mostly Jerseys. The wife of 
Mr. Dinsmore was formerly Miss Christine Quist, a native of Thiard, Idaho, to 
whom he was married in Eureka on January 9, 1909, and they have three 
children, Myrtle S., Wallace A. and Ralph O. Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore 
dispense old-time hospitality at their home in Alton, and are members of the 
Eastern Star, Mr. Dinsmore being fraternally connected also with the Eel 
River Lodge, F. & A. M., at Fortuna ; the Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. ; 
the Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T. ; and the Islam Temple, A. A. O. 
N. M. S., San Francisco. His religious affiliations are with the Christian 
Church at Fortuna, and politically he is a member of the Republican central 
committee of Humboldt county. 

SAINT LEAGY GOBLK— One of the early settlers in the Eel river 
valley is Mr. Goble, who first located in the valley in the fall of 1870. He was 
born in Henry county. 111., February 11, 1853, and is the son of Ephraim 
Goble, also a native of Illinois, having been born on the Little W" abash, and 
engaged in farming in Henry county for a number of years, when, in 1866, 
he removed to Brown county, Kans., where he farmed until 1869. At that 
time, determining to better his condition by removing to Oregon, he crossed 
the plains with horses and mules by way of Ogden, Utah, and up through 
Idaho, across the Snake river, then past Mt. Hood into Oregon, where he 
remained for a year. Conditions there he found were not to his liking, and 
having a brother Abraham with him who had been in Humboldt county, Cal., 
they decided to come to Eureka. Coming by wagon to Crescent City, they 
continued their journey with pack mules by trail down the coast, finally 
arriving at Eureka. As there was no wagon road they had shipped their 
wagons from Crescent City and they had to be sent by boat to San Fran- 
cisco and thence back to Eureka. Locating on Humboldt Hill on South Bay, 
Mr. Goble bought a farm there, but in January, 1872, came to Eel River 
Island, where for a time he rented land, and then purchased forty acres of 
land across the road from his present place. The property being in an 
unimproved state and covered with a heavy growth of brush and timber, 
Mr. Goble commenced the clearing of the land and the building of the new- 
home for his family, and here he engaged in dairying and farming until the 
time of his death in 1884. He was a very industrious and successful man, 
and the many affairs of the ranch were left in the capable hands of his son. 
Saint Leagy Goble, who took active charge of the home place in 1891, later 
purchasing the present tract, consisting of thirty-seven acres of unimproved 
land, and on it he has built his residence and made every modern improve- 



y 




HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1205 

ment possible, and has engaged successfully in farming and dairying. He 
owns two hundred and forty acres on Williams creek, where he runs his 
young stock, and also makes two hundred and fifty cords of wood a year, 
which is hauled to Ferndale, and has likewise for a number of years been in 
the teaming and hauling business, in which he has been very successful. 

On February 21, 1891, Mr. Goble was married in Eureka to Miss Winifred 
M. Miller, who was born in Council Grove, Morris county, Kan., the daugh- 
ter of J. W. and Mercy A. (Harlow) Miller, who were natives respectively of 
Indiana and Maine. Her father served in the Civil war in the Sixty-third In- 
diana Regiment, after which he was a farmer in Kansas until 1874, coming 
to California afterwards and locating near Ferndale, where he bought a ranch 
and engaged in farming. He is now holding a position in the Mare Island 
Navy Yard. The daughter, now Mrs. Goble, was reared and educated in 
Humboldt county, and is now the mother of four children, namely, Ray El- 
bert, Irma May, Ross Arden and Chester C. Mr. and Mrs. Goble are mem- 
bers of the Rebekahs, in Avhich she is past Noble Grand, Mr. Goble likewise 
holding membership in the Ferndale Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., and Encamp- 
ment. For several years he was trustee of the school district, at present 
being a trustee of the high school. At one time he was interested in various 
creameries, but has only retained his interest in the Excelsior Creamery. A 
prosperous, progressive man, Mr. Goble's success is due entirely to his own 
painstaking efforts and unceasing labor. 

JASPER N. DAVIES, A. B.~The oldest teacher now in active school 
work in Humboldt county, the principal of the AVinship Intermediate school 
and a prominent educator and citizen of Eureka, Jasper N. Davies is a native 
son of California, born in Old Sonoma, August 29, 1856. His father, Rev. 
Solomon Wesley Davies, was born on Hominy creek, near Asheville, N. C, 
coming of an old Virginia family of Welsh descent, and was a minister in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. He was a pioneer of California, coming 
hither in 1852, and was a member of the first Conference held in the state. 
He continued active in the ministry until a few years before his death in 
Santa Rosa, where he was accidentally killed by a train in 1884. He was 
married in Sacramento in July, 1855, to Mary E. McClenny, a native of 
Missouri, who crossed the plains with her parents in an oxteam train. Her 
father, R. T. IMcClenny, had crossed the plains to California in 1849 to the 
gold fields and returned on the plains to meet his family half way in 1854, 
piloting them through to California, where Mrs. Davis was married in 1855. 
She died in St. Helena in 1905. 

They had a family of six children, of whom Jasper N. was the eldest. 
Being a Methodist minister's son he was reared in the different places on the 
circuit in Central California, receiving a good education in the public school 
and at Alexander Academy at Healdsburg. Later he entered Pacific Methodist 
College at Santa Rosa, where he was graduated in 1877 with the degree of 
A. B. While in college he worked during vacations on farms or taught school, 
thus helping to defra}^ his expenses. After graduating he taught in Sonoma 
and Mendocino counties until 1879 and then came to Humboldt county. He 
taught the Janes school near Areata and later became principal of the school. 
In 1883 he gave up teaching for the time being to become bookkeeper for 
A. Brizard in Areata. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster of Areata vtnder 



1206 HISTORY OF HUA/[BOLDT COUNTY 

Cleveland. It was then a fourth-class office, but in 1887 it was made a third- 
class office and he was then appointed by Cleveland to the same position, 
serving four years or until 1891, when he retired from the office on account 
of change of administration. 

In 1891 Mr. Davies resumed teaching, becoming principal of the Janes 
school, a position which he resigned seven years afterward in order to devote 
his attention to the improvement of his homestead, located near Orick. While 
there he taught the Orick and afterwards the Stone Lagoon school until 1900, 
when he obtained the principalship of the Hydesville schools, holding it until 
January, 1903. In that year he came to Eureka as principal of the Washington 
school, holding this position from its opening for five and one-half years, 
after which he became principal of the Lafayette school for two years. He 
was then transferred to be principal of the Lincoln school when it was opened 
and held it for five years. In the fall of 1915, on the establishment of the 
first intermediate school in Humboldt county, and among the first in the state, 
he was chosen its principal, a position he is now filling admirably. 

Mr. Davies was married in Areata, June 16, 1885, being united with 
Mrs. Catherine (Lothian) Hanna. She is a native daughter of Areata and 
her father, Peter Lothian, was the first sherifif of the county and a very 
prominent man. They have three children. Jasper Alexander, a graduate of 
West Point in 1910, spent four years in the Philippines as a member of the 
Thirteenth LTnited States Infantry and is now second lieutenant of the Seven- 
teenth United States Infantry stationed at Eagle Pass, Texas. The other two, 
Mary Annette, and Wesley L., make their home with their parents. By her 
first marriage Mrs. Davies had three daughters: Olive E., a trained nurse; 
Clarissa S., Mrs. L. P. Dorais, and Catherine L., Mrs. Rudolph. All are living 
in Eureka except Mrs. Rudolph, who resides in Marshfield, Ore. At dififerent 
times Mr. Davies has been a member of the county board of education, in 
1884 and 1897. AVhile in Areata he was a member of the board of trustees for 
three years and was also president of the board during this time. He 
was made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106 in 1881 and is senior past- 
master, serving in 1884-86-89. He is a member of Humboldt Chapter No. 52, 
R. A. M., which he served three years as high priest and is also a member of 
Oakland Lodge of Perfection No. 2, as A. A. S. R. He is very prominent in 
the fire department, being secretary and a member of California Hose Company 
No. 5 from the time of its organization in 1904. He is secretary of the Eureka 
Volunteer fire department and of the Eureka fire police. In national principles 
he has always been a Democrat, while in the line of his profession he is a 
member of the Teachers' Club and has also been a member of the National 
Educational Association. 

OREL BRAY FRENCH. — The automobile business of Ferndale has 
been vastly improved since the advent of Mr. French, and the county roads 
have been made very convenient and safe for the traveler through the sign 
posts and danger warnings that he has installed along the main traveled 
roads, a thing no one had attempted before he undertook the work. Mr. 
French is a Yankee of sturdy, thrifty stock, and was born in Solon, Somerset 
county, Me., on January 23, 1872, the son of Oliver B. and Lienor (Black) 
French, both natives of Maine. The father was a harness maker and saddler 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1207 

in Solon, where he died, and the mother now makes her home with her son, 
Orel B. His parental grandfather. Rev. Luther P. French, served as chaplain 
of the First Maine Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war, and was a minister 
in the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years presiding elder in 
the East Maine Conference. Orel B., the descendant of this worthy ancestor, 
was graduated from the elementary schools of his home state, then entering 
the high school and later the Somerset Academy and the University of Maine 
at Orono, where he remained a year and a half, taking the mechanical en- 
gineer's course to perfect himself in the profession he had chosen as his 
life's work. He then moved to Boston, Mass., where he obtained employment 
in the shops of the Eyelet Tool Company, remaining with that company two 
years, then securing employment with the National Machine Tool Company in 
South Boston, a position which he held for a year and a half. He next became 
connected with the Navy Yard at Charlestown for six months, but left there 
for East Liverpool, Ohio, where he opened and had charge of a garage, in 
1908 removing to San Francisco, Cal. Here he was again engaged in the 
automobile machine business, having charge of the White Company's shops 
until 1913, when he came to Ferndale, Humboldt county, and opened a fine 
garage. He erected his own building, a small one at first,, but as the business 
increased he enlarged the shop until now he has one of the finest in the 
county, built of corrugated iron and cement, 76x100 feet in dimensions, and 
located on Ocean avenue. Here he has installed modern, up-to-date ma- 
chinery run by an electric motor, and has a vulcanizing department in con- 
nection with the garage, as well as doing storage battery recharging. To 
him has fallen the honor of having made the county roads convenient arid 
safe for travelers, he having installed his signs at all important crossings, as 
well as signals at all the most dangerous points along the main road. He 
has met with unusual success since coming to California, and is a trust- 
worthy, industrious man and a thorough mechanic, his success being due to 
his own unaided and unceasing labors. Mr. French was married in San 
Francisco to Miss Elizabeth McKenna, a native daughter of California, she 
having been born at Cloverdale, Sonoma county. 

PETER E. PETERSEN.— The population of California is cosmopolitan 
in its nature, and through Humboldt county in particular will be found great 
numbers of families of foreign birth. Among the German people of that 
vicinity Peter E. Petersen has been a leading citizen. He was born near 
Apenrade, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, June 7, 1874, where he attended 
school and assisted on the home farm until coming to California on January 
7, 1892. He came direct to Humboldt county, and his first employment was 
for his uncle, T. O. Petersen, who lived on Eel River island, and it was 
on this ranch that he gained his first experience in dairying. His parents 
were Andrew E. and Maud (Eskeldsen) Petersen, farmers near Apenrade, 
and they sold their place in Germany, joining their son in California in 1894. 
In that year Mr. Petersen rented a ranch on Cofifee creek, where he engaged 
in dairying that year. His father then purchased this same ranch, which 
consisted of seventy acres of partially improved land, and father and son 
engaged in business together. At first most of their time was consumed in 
clearing the land, and for six years, or until 1900, they successfully carried 
on dairying and the work of attending the ranch, at which place the parents 



1208 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

still reside. Mr. Petersen was married in 1900 and moved over on the Eel 
River island, where he rented eighty acres of land from S. Fulmor, and for 
two years followed dairying and farming at the new location. From there 
he removed to Bear River Ridge, renting the Nat Hurlbutt ranch of two 
thousand acres and entering into stock raising. Later he purchased the Doc 
Stevens ranch on Bear river, and followed farming and dairying there, the 
place consisting of four hundred forty acres of grazing land, which for six 
years he devoted successfully to dairying. At the end of that time he leased 
it to other parties as a dairy and returned to Ferndale, accepting a position 
with the Central Creameries Company, in charge of the boilers in their Fern- 
dale plant. After eighteen months Mr. Petersen purchased his brother's 
lease of J. A. Shaw's ranch at Centerville in 1910 and moved onto this 
property, where he has operated a dairy ever since. The ranch comprises 
one hundred sixty acres of land on which he has a dairy of seventy-five cows 
of the Holstein breed. For some years he was president of the Ferndale 
Creamery and since the spring of 1915 has acted as its manager. Five years 
to the day after coming to the United States he received his citizenship papers 
and is indeed a model and worthy citizen. 

The marriage of Mr. Petersen on January 18, 1900, united him with 
Sophia O. Quist, a native of Helsingfors, Finland, the daughter of Jacob and 
Sophia (Berglin) Quist. Her father was a descendant of the Kronhjelm 
family, one of the oldest and most prominent among the nobility of Sweden 
and Finland. He was an officer in the government employ for many years, 
and spent his last days in Humboldt county with Mrs. Petersen, who was 
educated in the high school of her native city, where her mother's death took 
place. The daughter came to California in 1891, locating with relatives in 
San Francisco, and afterwards entered the St. Helena Hospital Training 
School for Nurses, from which she was graduated May 29, 1898, following 
her profession thereafter in San Francisco until her marriage with Mr. 
Petersen. Of their union there are six children, namely : Harold E., Eleanor 
C, Flelen H., Kermit Dale, Rosemary and Vesta A., all fine, sturdy children. 
Mr. Petersen is a member of the Ferndale Dairymen's Association and the 
Ferndale Cow Testing Association, and is a very successful farmer and one 
of the most prominent men in the Eel River Valley. 

REV. J. J. GLEESON. — A man of splendid' attainments, enthusiastic 
and conscientious in his work. Rev. J. J. Gleeson, the pastor of the Church 
of the Assumption at Ferndale, Humboldt county, brings to his work at that 
place the efficiency gained by careful preparation, exhaustive study and re- 
search coupled with many years' experience in pastoral work. 

Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in the year 1864, Father Gleeson 
received his preliminary education in the national schools of that country, 
when about fifteen years of age entering the Diocesan College at Ennis, 
County Clare, Ireland, where he made his classics, and in the fall of 1885 
becoming a student at All Hallows College, Dublin, where he completed the 
study of philosophy and theology. At Maynooth College he received his 
subdeaconship and deaconship from Archbishop Walsh of Dublin, and on 
June 24, 1890, was ordained priest by Bishop Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory, 
for the diocese of Sacramento, Cal. In September of that year Father Gleeson 
came to Sacramento, becoming assistant to Rev. Thomas Grace, at that time 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1209 

pastor of the Cathedral and now Bishop of Sacramento. In the autumn of 
the following year Father Gleeson became assistant to Rev. Matthew Cole- 
man at Marysville, remaining there until the fall of 1892, when he was placed 
in charge of the parish of San Andreas, which comprised the whole of Cala- 
veras county, missions being located in different parts of the county, several 
chapels also being built by him during his three years' occupancy. The date 
of his first service in this parish was on the last Sunday of October, 1892, his 
last service there being on the last Sunday of September, 1895, in which 
month he became pastor at Jackson, his services at that place commencing 
on the last Sunday in September, 1895, and ending on the last Sunday in 
September, 1912. He was .also chaplain at the state reform school at lone 
and the Preston School of Industry for a period of seventeen years. In 
October, 1912, he was appointed and assumed the duties of pastor of the 
Church of the Assumption at Ferndale, where he is at present located, and 
since that time he has labored faithfully and well at that place, bringing into 
use his years of experience Avhich render him so helpful to his parishioners, 
being in charge likewise of St. Patrick's Church at Petrolia. The congrega- 
tion of St. Mary's or the Church of the Assumption was first attended by 
priests from St. Bernard's Church at Eureka until 1878, at which time Father 
Lawrence Kennedy became its first resident pastor, continuing to officiate 
in that capacity until the year 1892, during which time he completed the 
first church which stood on the present site, and about the year 1883 erected 
the parsonage. In 1892 Father Kennedy was succeeded by Father Kirley, 
and a year later came Father Nugent as pastor, the present church, erected 
on the site of the old one, being built by him. The original building was 
moved to the rear, and is still the property of the church, having been re- 
modeled to suit the purposes of a school, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Eureka 
opening a school and academy there in the fall of 1915. The pastorate of 
Father Nugent, which covered a period of three years, was followed by that 
of Father Kiely, who remained there as pastor for fourteen or fifteen years, 
until the coming of Father Gleeson, whose faithful service and eminent 
fitness for the position have endeared him to the hearts of all with whom 
he is associated. 

LAURENCE C. MORGAN.— One of the leading citizens of the thriving 
little city of Fortuna, as well as one of the best known and most generally 
popular men in the Eel River valley, is Laurence C. Morgan, proprietor and 
general manager of the L. C. Morgan Company, general merchandise store, 
with which organization he has been variously connected for the past fifteen 
years. Mr. Morgan is thoroughly familiar with every detail of his business, 
having practically grown up with this house, and his genial, kindly nature, 
coupled with his keen business judgment and his wide grasp of affairs, makes 
him a favorite with friend and patron, as well as with his employes and 
business associates. 

Born in Elmira, Solano county, Cal., July 8, 1878, this progressive young 
merchant removed to Fortuna with his parents when he was still a lad, and 
has grown to manhood amid the scenes where he is now recognized as a man 
of large affairs. He attended the public schools, graduating from the high 
school, and afterwards took a course in a business college in Eureka, graduat- 
ing in 1899. Immediately after the completion of his business course he 



1210 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

entered the employ of Newell & Mclntyre in their general merchandise busi- 
ness at Fortuna as delivery man. Since that time the climb has been swift 
and steady, until from the very bottom of the ladder this enterprising }^oung 
man has now reached the topmost rung, and at present owns the controlling 
interest in the business where he was once a humble employe. For almost a 
year he was on the wagon, and was then given a clerkship inside. Here again 
his work was so satisfactory that he was very soon promoted to a position of 
greater responsibility, and in 1902 was made manager of the store, which was 
still known as the Newell & Mclntyre General Merchandise Company. This 
arrangement continued until 1906, when Newell & Mclntyre retired from the 
firm and engaged in other lines of business. At that time Mr. Morgan, 
together with J. F. Benton, now of Areata, bought out the Newell & Mclntyre 
interests in the company, and operated the store together for the succeeding 
three years. In 1909, however, Mr. Benton withdrew, and his interests were 
taken over by L. C. Morgan, his partner, B. F. Morgan, J. H. Smith and W. P. 
Mclntyre, and Mr. Morgan was again in sole charge of the management of the 
enterprise. Another change in the firm occurred in 1912, when Mr. Mclntyre 
retired and a new member was taken in the person of W. A. Bush. At this 
time the firm name was changed to the L. C. Morgan Company. 

With the growth of the business the firm had branched out, and a branch 
store was opened at Shively for a period of three years. In 1913 it was decided 
to close this branch and concentrate on the main house in Fortuna, and since 
that time the floor space of the store has been enlarged to three times its 
former size, the stock has been greatly increased, and in every department 
there have been additions and changes for the better. At present this is the 
largest general merchandise store in the Eel river valley and stands as a 
monument to the ability, industry and general application of practically one 
man, Laurence C. Morgan, who has been the manager for some twelve years 
or more. 

Recognized as one of the leading and most progressive citizens in the 
community, Mr. Morgan stands four-square for civic betterment and social 
welfare. Politically he is a Progressive Republican, and has been active in 
the affairs of his party for a number of years, being counted as one of their 
most substantial men. In social and fraternal affairs in Fortuna Mr. Morgan 
also is prominent and popular. He is an influential member of the Native 
Sons, and a prominent member of the Christian Church, where he at present 
is superintendent of the Sunday school, and is actively associated with all 
church work. In the business affairs of his little city the position of Mr. 
Morgan cannot be overestimated. He is reckoned as one of the strongest 
members of the board of trade, and there is no question for the welfare of 
Fortuna in which he does not lead ; and equally well defined is his opposition 
to all laxity in social or moral matters pertaining to the municipality. His 
business record is clean and praiseworthy and his friends and admirers 
are legion. 

One of the most delightful homes in Fortuna is that of Mr. Morgan and 
his family. His wife was Miss Edith G. Newell, a native of Eureka, born 
December 4, 1880. They were married in Fortuna, October 18, 1902, and 
have two charming little daughters, Lucile, aged nine years, and Fay, a child 
of seven. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1211 

JOHN CANDIDO ROLANDELLI.— The second oldest in a family of 
five boys and two girls, John Candido Rolandelli is a native of Italy, having 
been born near the city of Genoa on April 3, 1876, the son of David, a farmer 
and horticulturist, also a native of that place, and Catherina (Lavagnino) 
Rolandelli, also born in that district, both of the parents now living. John 
Candido was brought up on his father's farm, assisting in the work there 
until the year 1900, and receiving his education in the local public schools, 
after which he came to the United States to see if he could better his prospects 
financially in California, where many of his countrymen had won success in 
their chosen lines of occupation. 

In INlarch, 1900, Mr. Rolandelli arrived in San Francisco, in May of that 
year going to Eureka, Cal., on the steamer Pomona, and secured employment 
in the woods near Trinidad, for a period of about three years. The following 
three years were spent in the employ of the Hammond Lumber Company, 
and in November, 1905, Mr. Rolandelli started in the fishing business, in which 
he has successfully continued ever since, fishing with nets, his catch being 
principally halibut and crab. He is the owner of a fine power launch, twenty- 
five feet in length, as well as of a number of smaller boats. Meeting with 
success in his business, he has been enabled to bu)^ lots and has built a flat 
at No. 34 Vine street. Eureka, where he makes his home. His marriage 
occurred in San Francisco, uniting him with Miss Mary Boicelli, also a native 
of the country about Genoa, and they are the parents of two children, namely, 
Catherine and Louis. In his political preferences Mr. Rolandelli, like many 
others of his countrymen who have made their home in this part of Cali- 
fornia, is an upholder of the principles of the Republican party, and like them 
also is loyal to the country of his adoption. 

CHARLES TOWNSHEND NORTON.— A man who has attained 
notable success in the lumber industry in Humboldt county, Cal., is Charles 
Townshend Norton, a native of Canada, who since the year 1875 has made 
his home in this county, by his industry and practical ingenuity materially 
aiding in the advancement of the district along the lines comprised in his 
chosen occupation. 

Born at Annandale, Grand River, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Mr. 
Norton was the son of William and Flora (Townshend) Norton of that 
province, the father being a native of England, the mother of Scotland. 
William Norton, who was born in Monmouth, England, where he was a 
barrister-at-law, as was his father before him, came to Annandale, Prince 
Edward Island, in the days of the settlement of the Grand River country, and 
there took up a tract of land, as well as practicing law% acting as customs 
officer and postmaster and judge, and being known as a prominent and in- 
fluential man until the time of his death. His w^ife. Flora Townshend, was 
born at Annandale, Scotland, and came to Prince Edward Island with her 
parents, who were among the early settlers of Annandale, the place taking 
its name from the original home of its colonists, and there Flora Townshend 
Norton still resides. Charles Townshend Norton was the youngest of their 
seven children, and was born March 6, 1858, educated in the local public 
schools, and removed to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1875. His first employ- 
ment here was as trainman for the Vance Company, he soon being put in 
charge of the logging train of the company, in the early days when wooden 

52 



1212 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

rails were used, made of scantlings from the laurel or pepperwood tree, which, 
though wearing well, were improved by strap iron nailed to the wooden rails, 
and later still the T iron rails being laid. Mr. Norton continued in the employ 
of the Vance Company for a period of seven years, for a small part of this 
time being with the Jolly Giant Mill, the principal owner of which was N. H. 
Falk. Next Mr. Norton removed to Trinidad, where he became engineer 
in charge of the train for the Hooper Lumber Company, a position which he 
held for five years, coming then to the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company 
at Falk, where for three years he was the efficient engineer on the logging 
train. At the close of that period he was with the Bucksport & Elk River 
Railroad as master mechanic and engineer of the road for nine years, with 
headquarters at Jones Prairie, in 1907 returning to the Elk River Mill and 
Lumber Company as superintendent of the railroad, which position he has 
continued to fill ably and satisfactorily ever since, having now been forty 
years in the same line of work in Humboldt county. Throughout his career 
Mr. Norton has had good success, there never having been an accident upon 
the road during his management. Perhaps that for which he is most noted 
is the invention and carrying out of a plan for the unloading of logs from the 
cars by the simple method of the engine's shoving the cars so that the logs 
strike a pepperwood boom set at an angle of forty-five degrees, which turns 
them into a shute and thence into the water, this device, which proves Mr. 
Norton to be very much of a genius along inventive lines, having later been 
copied by several other mills with great satisfaction. 

In his political preferences Mr. Norton upholds the principles of the 
Republican party, while fraternally he is a m_ember of the Eureka Lodge 
No. 652, B. P. O. E. He was married in Trinidad, Cal., to Miss Catherine 
Nichols, a native of Humboldt county, and they are the parents of three 
children, namely : Arthur, who is employed by the Pacific Lumber Company 
at Scotia ; William, an engineer working under his father ; and Clarence, who 
is in the machine shop of the Little River Lumber Company. 

JACKSON SAWYER.— The pioneer history of Humboldt county con- 
tains no name of greater interest than that of Jackson Sawyer, of Table Bluff, 
near Loleta, who came to California in 1852 and has enjoyed a varied and 
unique experience in many ways. He is now almost ninety years of age, and 
lives on his ranch, located exactly on the top of Table Bluff, and a mile 
and a half away from Loleta. Mr. Sawyer is still active and mentally alert, 
but his principal occupation is reading, his favorite book being the Bible. He 
came to California from Pennsylvania, and after following mining for a 
while was variously occupied, until he came to Humboldt county, Cal., in 
August, 1852, when he worked in Eureka for a time, then took several claims, 
but did not keep them. Later he bought a squatter's right to his present 
property on Table Bluff, on which he secured a clear title from the govern- 
ment. He now owns one hundred sixty acres of improved land, which is 
well improved and very valuable. His experiences with the Indians and also 
with wild animals in an early day read like a romance, and are full of hair- 
raising adventures. The bears were accustomed to raiding his garden and 
his pig pens were their especial delight. The Indians never gave him serious 
trouble, save that they were natural thieves and beggars. Mr. Sawyer is 
most highly respected and well liked by all who know him. He is well in- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1213 

formed through his reading and keeps in close touch with the affairs of the 
community and the state. 

A native of Montour count}^ Pa., born December 25, 1824, Jackson 
Sawyer is of English and Dutch descent. His parents both died when he 
was but eighteen months old and he was adopted into the family of Joseph 
Kerr, a farmer of Montour county, where he was reared and educated, remain- 
ing in his family until he was twenty-one years of age. He then went to 
Danville, Pa., where he found employment in the rolling mills, first as stock 
taker, and later receiving various promotions, due to his ability and attention 
to business, and to his strictly temperate habits. The discovery of gold in 
California prompted him to seek the new gold fields of California, and accord- 
ingly he made the long journey westward by way of the Isthmus of Panama, 
arriving at San Francisco in April, 1852. From there he went into Shasta 
county, where he engaged in mining on Clear creek, but not meeting with the 
desired success, came to Humboldt county in the fall of that year, locating 
at Eureka, where he found employment in lumber and sawmills. For^ a 
time he was employed by Jim Ryan in his lumber mill, and later worked 
on the Vance farm. Subsequently he lived at Hookton, where he had dreams 
of building up a commercial center, making the nucleus a wharf that he 
proposed building, but was unable to secure the necessary rights from the 
government and so gave up this project. The location of certain land at 
the top of Table Bluff pleased him and he bought out the squatter's rights 
of Capt. Edward Sanger, and later paid the government the prescribed $1.25 
per acre for the land. His patent for this is signed by Abraham Lincoln as 
president of the United States, and has never been out of Mr. Sawyer's name 
or possession. 

The marriage of Air. Sawyer bears the breath of romance, his bride. Miss 
Hannah Carter, being a former classmate, with whom he had entered into 
a wager to exchange letters on a date a year hence, shortly before leaving for 
California. These letters led to a correspondence, which in turn resulted in 
their betrothal, and the coming of the bride to California under the protection 
of the widowed mother of Mr. Sawyer, and their marriage in Eureka, and 
the establishment of their home on the ranch in Humboldt county. Mrs. 
Sawyer was a descendant of Scotch ancestry, her mother, Mrs. Rachael 
(Cameron) Carter, being a native of Scotland, while her father, James 
Carter, was born in Philadelphia, of English parents. Her marriage with 
Mr. Sawyer took place November 18, 1857, and her death occurred in 1897, 
she being then sixty-nine years of age. She bore her husband five children, 
of whom four are now living, William, Mrs. Rachael Ellery, Wilma and Annie. 
Mr. Saw3^er is a member of the Presbyterian church at Eureka. 

[Since the above was written Mr. Sawyer has passed .away.] 

SANTI GIUNTOLI.— The proprietor of the Star Hotel in Blue Lake, 
Santi Giuntoli, was born in Torricckio Pescia, province of Lucca, Toscano, 
Italy, September 14, 1880; he was the son of Pelegro and Amida Giuntoli, 
who were farmers in Italy. They were the parents of thirteen children, seven 
of whom are living, Santi being the second oldest. As a lad he was raised 
on the farm and educated in the public schools, remaining at home and 
assisting on the farm until twenty-one years of age. In October, 1901, he 
started for California, arriving November 5, 1901, and May 2, 1902, he came 



1214 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

to Humboldt county, and after working three months for the Hammond 
Company he rented a small ranch at Sunnyside, remaining one year, when 
he located at Bayside, where he engaged in raising vegetables. In 1907 he 
located in Blue Lake and started a fruit store and ran a vegetable and fruit 
wagon between Korbel and Areata, and also to Trinidad, continuing for four 
years. In 1911 he began the hotel business as proprietor of the Star Hotel, 
and he has become widely known for the excellence of his table, and the hotel 
is a popular place for dinners and parties. He learned cooking from his 
mother, and he is well and favorably known for the splendid meals he serves. 
He attributes his success in no small degree to his wife, who is also one of 
the finest cooks in the county. He was married in Eureka, being united with 
Miss Mary Mattucci, born in Lucca, Italy, the daughter of Carlo and Chiarra 
Mattucci, who came to Humboldt county ; the father died on his ranch on 
Dow's Prairie, while the mother still lives there. Mrs. Giuntoli came to 
Humboldt county when eleven years of age and received her education in the 
public schools. Fraternally Mr. Giuntoli is a member of the Ancient Order 
of Foresters. 

CHARLES LOWREY was born at Freestone, Sonoma county, Septem- 
ber 16, 1865. His father, William H. Lowrey, was born in Tennessee, the 
son of J. D. Lowrey, who served in the Black Hawk Indian war and after- 
wards in the Mexican war with the rank of lieutenant. William H. Lowrey 
was married in Missouri to Elvira Hobbs, born in Illinois. They both trace 
their lineage back to Virginia. In 1852 they crossed the plains with ox teams 
to California. For a short time he followed mining and then located at Free- 
stone, Sonoma county, where he owned a farm, afterward locating near 
Yorkville, Mendocino county, where he engaged in stock raising until he 
retired to Santa Rosa, where he died, aged seventy-eight, in 1898, his wife's 
demise occurring the same year. Of their nine children, seven of whom are 
living, Charles is the youngest and was brought up in Sonoma and Mendocino 
counties, receiving his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen 
he began working on ranches and followed sheep shearing during the season. 
He also was engaged in freighting and teaming to Cloverdale and later in 
the same line on the coast at Gualala. In 1895 he came to Ferndale and for 
eight years hauled freight, teaming between Ferndale and Alton, after which 
he followed the same business at Garberville and Briceland, also driving 
stage for J. AV. Hamilton between Garberville and Kinney. He ran the 
Briceland Hotel for one year and then did butchering for Fred Fearrien 
for two seasons. 

On September 24, 1910, he was married, being united with Mrs. Nettie 
Grace (Cookson) McKee, born in Calais, Maine, a daughter of Bill Charles 
Cookson, a shipbuilder ; his wife was Desia Smith, born in Charlotte county. 
New Brunswick; both Mr. and Mrs. Cookson passed their last days in Cali- 
fornia. Mrs. Lowrey is the second youngest of their four children and the 
only one living ; she lived in New Brunswick until ten years of age, and in 
June, 1880, came to Garberville, where she completed the public schools. Her 
first marriage was to Don Alonzo McKee, born at Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., 
where he was well educated, attending college in that state, after which he 
came west and was in Chicago at the time of the Civil war; he enlisted in 
the Chicago Board of Trade Battery of Light Artillery, serving the last 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1215 

year of the war, when he was honorably discharged. He then drifted west 
to Montana, afterward coming to Humboldt county, Cal., and followed the 
occupation of teaming and stock raising. He homesteaded one hundred 
sixty acres at Thorn and afterward added to it until he had four hundred forty 
acres on which he engaged in raising cattle. The place was originally called 
White Thorn, because the white thorn bush grew in such abundance. He 
died June 28, 1907, aged sixty-four years ; he was a member of the G. A. R. 
and a stanch Republican. He was a school trustee and was clerk of the 
board. He was a man of splendid traits, liberal and enterprising; he was 
a very courageous man and was much admired by all who knew him. Since 
his death Mrs. McKee continued to operate the ranch until her marriage to 
Mr. Lowrey. They now engage in raising cattle and goats, and are raising 
the finest grades of Angora goats, having a flock of about one hundred thirty. 
By her first marriage Mrs. Lowrey had five children : Alonzo Grant, a 
mail carrier to Shelter Cove ; Harold, a farmer near Orick ; Grace M., Mrs. 
Gowan, of Potter Valley ; Vernon C. ; and Helen Gould. 

In 1913 Mrs. Lowrey was appointed postmaster at Thorn, while Mr. 
Lowrey is assistant postmaster, the office being kept at their house. Mrs. 
Lowrey is trustee of White Thorn school district, and for the past eight years 
has been clerk of the board. INIr. Lowrey by his former marriage had two 
children, Shirley and Hildred. 

ANDREW J. CATHEY was born twelve miles south of Warrensburg, 
Johnson county, Missouri, July 7, 1856. His father, John Albert Cathey, was 
born near Sedalia, Pettis county. Mo., February 13, 1835, but was raised in 
Johnson county. Mo., where he became a farmer. He was first married there, 
in 1854, to Miss Margaret Amelia AA^eaver, a native of North Carolina. In 
1860, with his wife and two children, he crossed the plains with ox teams, 
leaving A/[issouri May 1, 1860; he arrived in California August 12 of the same 
year, and located his family at Yorkville, Mendocino county. He followed 
mining, and while thus employed his wife died, in 1863. After this he worked 
at carpentering in Anderson valley. His second marriage occurred near 
Christine, in Anderson valley, April 18, 1875, to Dulcina Nunn, who was born 
in Webster county. Mo., and came to California with her parents when one 
year old, in 1857, settling in Anderson valley. After they were married Mr. 
Cathey started a blacksmith shop at Christine, which he ran until 1885, when 
the family came to Humboldt county, locating on a farm on the Eel river for 
two years ; then at Fortuna for a period of five years, after which they moved 
onto a stock ranch at Bear Buttes, on the South Fork, where the father was 
engaged in stock raising for five years, since which time they have retired 
and are living with their sons near Briceland. John Albert Cathey had three 
children by his first marriage: Andrew J., the subject of this sketch; Charles 
L., of San Francisco ; and William R., who resides in South Dakota. Of his 
second marriage there were four children : David, mentioned below ; Robert 
L., of Trinity Center; Isabella, Mrs. Wright, of Briceland ; and Stella M., Mrs. 
Arthur, who died in 1913, aged thirty years. 

Andrew J. was raised in Anderson valley, Mendocino county, where he 
was educated in the public schools. He followed teaming, farming and stock 
raising. In 1885 he came to Humboldt county, where he followed the woods 
for some years. In 1895 he located the present homestead of one hundred 



1216 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

sixty acres on Telegraph ridge, three miles south of Ettersburg ; he bought 
eighty acres adjoining and with two hundred forty acres that his parents own 
he has a ranch of four hundred eighty acres which is devoted to raising grain 
and hay, cattle and Angora goats. During all these years Mr. Cathey has 
followed teaming, principally for the Wagner Leather Company's plant at 
Briceland, and also has done considerable teaming to Needle Rock. 

Mr. Cathey is a generous, big-hearted man, who has always stood ready 
to help those who have been less fortunate, and he is a man who is much 
esteemed and admired for his integrity and worth. 

David Cathey was born at Christine, Mendocino county, in 1876, in 
1885 coming to Humboldt county with the family. His schooling was 
obtained at Fortuna. For many years he worked in the redwoods for Mont- 
gomery, at Korbel ; for the Pacific Lumber Company at Metropolitan, then 
again back to the Pacific Lumber Company as head chopper until he gave 
up the woods to take up farming, which he has followed on the home place 
since 1911. He married Miss Sadie Guptle, who was born at Port Kenyon, 
and who died at Shively, leaving three children : Andrew A., Archie E. and 
Myrtle M. David Cathey is a member of the board of trustees of Wilder 
school district, and fraternally is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 363, 
L. O. O. M. 

ANDREW P. H. FRANZEN. — An enterprising citizen and a successful 
dairyman on the Freshwater, Andrew P. H. Franzen was born at Tondern, 
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, January 27, 1873, the son of Frederick and 
Catherina E. (Paulsen) Franzen. His father was a drover and engaged as 
a stock dealer in that country. He served in the German army during the 
Franco-Prussian war, and both parents are living. Of their family of twelve 
children six are living, Andrew being the second oldest. He was reared on 
the farm and educated in the public schools, after which he worked for two 
years for a market gardener there. Later he learned the stock business under 
his father, after which he began buying stock on his own account, but soon 
concluded to come to California. In 1903 he came west and was employed 
on the Meek estate at Haywards, where he was in charge of their stable for 
about two years. Then, in 1905, he came to Humboldt county. Here he 
worked as gardener for the Pacific Lumber Company at Shively, then for the 
Scotia Hotel, after which he bought five acres at Scotia. This he sold soon 
afterward to the Pacific Lumber Company and leased their dairy ranch of 
one hundred sixty acres at Scotia, where he milked forty cows and sold the 
milk at retail in Scotia. After five years there he came to Freshwater in 
September, 1914, and leased one hundred ninety-four acres of the Pacific 
Lumber Company's lands on Freshwater, which he devotes to dair^dng. It 
is mostly bottom land, which gives him ample pasturage and enables him 
to raise plenty of hay and green feed for his dairy herd. He is milking forty 
cows of the Durham breed. 

Mr. Franzen was married on the Island of Fohr, Germany, in 1895, to 
Miss Jennie Petersen, a native of that place, and they have seven children: 
Margaret, Catherine, Freda, Carl, Alice, Hilda and Mildred. Fraternally he 
is a member of Weeot Tribe No. 147, I. O. R. M., at Scotia; also of the 
Knights of Pythias of that place. In his political views he favors the prin- 
ciples advanced by the Republican party. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1217 

JULES ALPHONSE LAMBERT.— An old settler of Humboldt county, 
having been a resident here since 1874, Jules Alphonse Lambert is now en- 
gaged in dairying and fruit raising on the Freshwater. He was born near 
Vesoul, Department of Haute-Saone, France, October 22, 1848, son of Mathieu 
and Theresa (Pignet) Lambert, who were farmer folk there and owned a 
considerable estate. Mr. Lambert was reared on the farm and educated in 
the local schools, assisting his parents in operating the farm until he entered 
the French army in 1870, at the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war. 
He enlisted in the Ninth Artillery and served until after the close of the war, 
when he was honorably discharged. He then operated the home farm with 
a brother until 1872. In that year he came to the United States, locating in 
Richardson county. Neb., where he remained until 1874. It was in that year 
that he came to Humboldt county. For two summers he was employed in 
the woods, then engaged in making split shakes from stumpage which he 
bought, disposing of the shakes in Eureka. 

In 1876 Mr. Lambert returned to his native home in France, remaining 
there for four years. He was married in France in May, 1878, to Miss Irma 
Pigrenet, born at Vesoul, France, the daughter of Jean and Pauline (Harley) 
Pigrenet, the former being a blacksmith there. 

Mr. Lambert was engaged in the manufacture of lumber, wood, ties 
and charcoal, and a dealer in the same. In October, 1880, with his family, he 
returned to Humboldt county, where he resumed his old business of making 
shakes, having settled on Ryan slough. In 1887 he purchased his present 
place of one hundred sixty acres on Freshwater, eight miles east of Eureka. 
It was stump land when he purchased it, but he has since cleared and im- 
proved it and built a residence and other improvements. Ever since he has 
engaged in dairying and farming, raising potatoes, sweet corn and vegetables, 
also raising fruit, apples, grapes and berries. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lambert have two children : Alice, the wife of Walter 
Renfroe and the mother of three children (Irma, Camille and Alice), and 
Charles, assisting his father on the farm. Politically he espouses the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party and with his family is a member of St. 
Bernard's Church in Eureka. 

FRANK and CHARLES ALLARD.— Representatives of an old pioneer 
family and native sons of Humboldt county, Frank and Charles Allard were 
born, respectively, in Kneeland Prairie December 28, 1877, and Eureka 
October 7, 1879, sons of Richard and Ellen (Goble) Allard. Dick Allard, 
as the father was familiarly called, was born in New Hampshire. Attracted 
by the discovery of gold he came around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel and 
landed in San Francisco in 1852. The first year was spent in mining in the 
Sierras, after which he came to the mines on Klamath river in Humboldt 
county in 1853. Afterward he followed logging on Elk river and also Ryan 
slough for a number of years, and during this time made a couple of trips 
back to his old home. However, he was married on Elk river in 1871, his 
wife having crossed the plains in the early '60s with her parents. Sub- 
sequently she made the trip back to Illinois, recrossing the plains with ox 
teams. She is still living, making her home with her two sons. The father 
gave his time and efforts to dairying until his death, which occurred January 
14, 1898. They had six children, as follows : Laura E., Mrs. Squires, of 



1218 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Freshwater; Clara M., Mrs. Ferguson, residing in Denver, Colo.; Frank and 
Charles, the two partners of whom we write ; Annie M. and Hazel, both 
living at home. 

The Allard brothers were reared on the ranch at Freshwater, receiving 
their education in the public schools and learning farming and dairying. After 
their father's death they continued with their mother until she sold the 
ranch, after which they purchased a part of the Spear place further up the 
stream and there made their home. 

For some years Frank Allard worked at teaming and also drove stage 
to Eureka until he discontinued to give his attention to raising vegetables 
and fruit in partnership with his brother Charles. They operate twenty acres 
of bottom and bench land, making a specialty of raising berries and vege- 
tables, and run a wagon to Eureka six days a week. In the raising of berries 
they grow principally strawberries, raspberries and loganberries. 

Fraternally Frank Allard is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. 
O. F., in Eureka, and also of Mount Zion Encampment of Odd Fellows, and 
both brothers are members of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E. Politically they 
espouse the principles of the Republican party. 

FRED G. HINCKLEY.— A resident of Humboldt county since 1877, 
Fred G. Hinckley was born in Elizabethtown, Essex county, N. Y., April 17, 
1866, being the second oldest of six children born to Rodolphus and Lucy 
(Wells) Hinckley, also New Yorkers. The elder Hinckley served in a New 
York regiment during the Civil war. After the war he followed farming in 
Essex county until 1870, when he removed to Knox county, East Tennessee, 
and followed farming until 1877. At that time he brought his family to 
Humboldt county, Cal., locating at Yager, where he followed ranching. His 
wife died some eight or ten years ago, since which time he has lived retired. 

Fred Hinckley was a lad of eleven years when he came to Humboldt 
county with his parents. He attended the local schools and assisted his father 
on the home ranch until he was twenty-two years of age, when he started 
for himself. For ten years without interruption he worked for L. S. Hurlbutt 
on his cattle ranch and then for three years for Nat Hurlbutt on the stock 
ranch. This brought it up to 1901, when he determined to engage in cattle 
growing as his chosen life work. Leasing the Nat Hurlbutt ranch on Mad 
river he started stock raising and a few years later, in partnership with his 
brother Rodolph, purchased the thirty-six hundred acre ranch from Nat 
Hurlbutt, and they have owned and operated it ever since. The ranch is well 
situated for cattle growing, being located just below Low Gap on Mad river. 
In the meantime the brothers acquired holdings of about three thousand 
acres at Yager and on the Grizzly range, among them the Becker ranch near 
Yager, where six years ago Fred Hinckley removed to make his headquarters 
and from which point he directs the afifairs of the various ranches, while the 
brother Rodolph still makes the Nat Hurlbutt ranch his quarters. 

Fred G. Hinckley was married in Los Angeles, being united with Miss 
Mattie Frame, the daughter of M. C. Frame, an old settler of laqua and post- 
master there until his death. In his political views Mr. Hincklej^ believes in 
the principles of the Republican party. 

DANIEL J. EAST.— A resident of California since 1861, and of Humboldt 
county since 1865, Daniel J. East was born near Ballorat, Australia, Septem- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1219 

ber 28, 1857, the oldest of nine children born to John R. and Sarah (Sweehey) 
East, natives of England and Ireland respectively. They were married in 
Australia, where John East was first a miner and later a farmer. In 1860 he 
came to San Francisco and the family joined him in 1861. He engaged -in 
the wood business in Marin county. In 1865 he came to Humboldt county 
and homesteaded one hundred sixty acres near where Carlotta now is.- The 
Indian war and troubles came on and after two raids of the Indians he 
moved his family to Hydesville. Five years later he moved to Rohnerville. 
One year after that he bought a farm on Eel river, where he remained- until 
he died. The mother died in Eureka. From eight years of age Dan East was 
raised in Humboldt county and received his education in the public schools 
at Hydesville and Rohnerville, as well as the old college at Rohnerville. He 
remained home until twenty-one years of age, then Avent to the gold mines 
in Trinity county, where he operated placer mines for three years, after which 
he returned to his old home. The next three years were spent working in 
the redwoods there. With his brother Ed he farmed for two years, when 
they bought the old ferry across Eel river at Alton. The ferry was started 
in early days by Mr. Barnett. Dan East and his brother Ed ran it for twenty- 
seven or twenty-eight years. They built five different . ferry boats on the 
river during this time. Ed sold his interest to another brother, Louis E'. 
East, and the old ferry is known all over the county as East's ferry. Mean-- 
time, in 1908 Dan bought the old Humphrey Sevastes place on the middle 
Yager, thirty-eight miles east of Eureka, known as Thousand Acre Field. 
Here he owns six hundred fifty-seven acres on the main road, which he 
devotes to stock raising and farming, principally stock. He continued to 
operate the ferry until early in 1915, when he sold it. He is principally 
engaged in cattle growing, his brand being D E. 

Daniel J. East married in Eureka, July 3, 1893, being united with Miss 
Luella Hendricks, born in Healdsburg, Cal., daughter of Joseph and Lodrina 
(Gilbert) Hendricks, born in Missouri and California, respectively. They 
were engaged in stock raising in Sonoma county. In 1881 they moved to 
Humboldt county and engaged in farming in the Eel River Valley. He died 
near Fortuna. The mother now resides in Scotia. Fraternally Mr. East is k 
member of Eel River Lodge at Rohnerville, also the Encampment at Hydes- 
ville, and also is a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters in Fortuna. 
He has always been a stanch Republican in politics. 

JASPER N. TURNER.— The Bull creek district of Humboldt county is 
one of the best known fruit raising sections of the state, the apples from that 
section being the finest of all that California produces, having taken the pri2e 
at the San Francisco Apple Show in the fall of 1914. Among the successful 
orchardists of this part of the county may be mentioned Jasper Turner, who 
owns a handsome place of two hundred thirty-two acres on Bull creek, which 
was the old Turner homestead, and belonged to his father since an early day. 
He has some ten acres in orchard, having both apples and prunes, but favoring 
the former, and his apples are among the finest raised in this locality. Mr. 
Turner is personally very highly regarded in his home community, where 
he has spent most of his thirty-five years, and where he now takes a promi- 
nent part in the affairs of the community. He is a Progressive Republican 
and takes an active interest in the political affairs of his section as well as 



1220 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of the county. He is broadminded and his grasp of a situation is fair and 
comprehensive. He has rendered valuable service to the party in various 
capacities, and is also serving the public at this time as a member of the 
local board of school trustees. In this interest in educational matters Mr. 
Turner is following in the footsteps of his father, who gave the land, an 
acre and a half, on which the local district school stands, and in many ways 
aided in the cause of establishing the local district on. a firm foundation, 
until today it ranks as one of the best district schools in the entire county. 

Mr. Turner was born in Humboldt county, Cal., in 1879, and was reared 
and educated within its confines. He attended the local schools and later 
assisted with the care of the farm, he being the youngest son in the family, 
and so remained to care for his father in his declining years. His father 
was Noah Hatton Turner, commonly known as N. H. Turner, a native of 
Missouri, born in Marion county, in 1835. He came to California in 1852, 
crossing the plains in the famous prairie schooners, and located first in 
Sonoma county, where he met and married Miss Mary Ross, who died 
when Jasper was ten years of age. The parents came up to Bull creek in 
1875, and purchased the present place when it was public school land, the 
original tract containing two hundred forty acres. Of this an acre and a half 
were given for school purposes and several acres were sold, leaving the 
present amount two hundred thirty-two acres. Several years before his 
death the father became paralyzed, and he willed this property to the present 
owner in consideration of the care which was given him during his illness, 
the payment of doctor bills, and other expenses, and the raising of a mort- 
gaged indebtedness which it carried. Mr. Turner is now engaged in diversi- 
fied farming, orcharding and stock raising, and is meeting with the greatest 
of success. He has forty head of stock, eight or ten horses and colts, and 
about a hundred hogs, on an average. 

Mr. Turner is the youngest son in a family of ten children, there being 
two sisters younger than himself. The members of the family are all well 
and favorably known in Humboldt county, where they spent their youth, 
although they are scattered at this time. They are : Kate, the widow of 
John Myers, residing at Dyerville, and the mother of eight children ; Jesse, 
residing at Gold Beach, Curry county. Ore., where he is engaged in stock 
raising;. Nellie, who became the wife of Charles Bulger, of Fortuna, and died 
leaving one child ; Ezra, a stockman of Gold Beach, Curry county. Ore. ; 
Annie, now the wife of Robert Kelly, a dairy farmer of Rio Dell, there being 
four children in their family ; William, a dairy rancher at Shirley, Humboldt 
county; Ida, now the wife of A. B. Lewis, a rancher of the Bull creek district, 
with a family of six children; Jasper N., the subject of this sketch; Lenora, 
now the wife of Louis Forley, of Santa Clara, and the mother of four children ; 
and Leona, the wife of George Martin, an employe of the Newburg Mills at 
Fortuna, and the mother of three children. The last two mentioned are 
twins. 

At Scotia, in 1898, Jasper Turner was married to Miss Agnes Rann, a 
native of Oregon. They have three children, Ila, Donald and Leonora. 

JOHN C. BULL, JR. — Humboldt county has her share and more of able 
men, captains of industry and finance who have found it well worth their 
wMle to put their energies into local enterprises, and none more deserving 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1221 

of note than John C. Bull, Jr., whose achievements have a definite place in 
the story of her development. Shipping has always played a large part in 
the prosperity of this part of the coast, and harbor facilities are as important 
as natural advantages of location. Mr. Bull's contribution therefore will have 
a permanent value, for it was he who built the jetty to the Humboldt harbor, 
a work with which every sailor who makes this port, and every other person 
interested in the success of Eureka as a maritime city, is familiar ; and for 
a number of years he has been at the head of the H. D. Bendixsen Shipbuild- 
ing Company, which has the reputation of producing some of the largest and 
finest steam and sailing vessels built along the coast. Nor has his ambition 
kept within the bounds of these interests, extensive as they have been. Other 
business undertakings, public utilities, official duties, fraternal associations, 
and more of the integral parts which unite to constitute the complete life 
of the community have been included in his busy career, well rounded by his 
contact with all the phases of local activity. 

Mr. Bull is a native of Boston, Mass., in which city his parents, Capt. 
John C. and Melissa (Chapman) Bull, were reared. The father was a sailor 
for many years, shipping when a small boy on a whaling vessel, as so many 
New Englanders of his generation did. He rose to be a captain, and in 
1845-46 had command of the bark Olga, in the Pacific coast trade, carrying 
hides and tallow to California and Mexican ports. About the time of the 
rush for gold he had an experience quite typical of the times, his crew desert- 
ing in a body in the bay of San Francisco. Moreover, he was unable to 
recruit enough new hands to man the ship, being obliged to abandon her. 
Returning to Boston he did not remain there long, bringing his family out 
with him around the Horn to San Francisco, where they arrived in May, 
1850. After a few years' residence in San Francisco he came up the coast 
to Eureka, Humboldt county, and in 1856 settled at Areata (then Union 
Town), this county, where he remained until his death, which occurred when 
he was eighty-three years old. He had kept hotel at Areata until shortly before 
that event. He devoted all his attention to his private affairs, taking no part 
in public matters beyond the casting of his vote, with which he supported 
the Republican party. His wife died when fifty-six years old. Their two 
children, born before they came to this state, were John C. and Amanda, the 
latter now the widow of W. F. Hustin. 

John C. Bull, Jr., was born in April, 1840, and was in his eleventh year 
when the family made the memorable trip around the Horn. While yet a 
boy he commenced to learn the trade of plumber and coppersmith, remain- 
ing in San Francisco to complete his apprenticeship when the family re- 
moved to Eureka. In 1856 he joined them at Areata, but after a few months 
returned to San Francisco to continue his education, attending the college 
at that city for a couple of years. He then gave his time to the cultivation 
of a ranch near Areata, also conducting a meat market, and was thus occu- 
pied until 1892. Meantime he was on the lookout for opportunities, and 
though he had been carrying on his afifairs modestly he had acquired con- 
siderable business experience and judgment, as his subsequent operations 
well prove. Thus it was that he came to take the government contract for 
the construction of the jetty to the Humboldt harbor, a work of great magni- 



1222 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tude and one requiring executive qualities and intimate knowledge of local 
conditions possessed by few. The contract was for two million dollars, and the 
jetty was seven years in building, a statement which will be more easily under- 
stood when it is known that one million, three hundred twenty thousand tons 
of rock alone were required. So conscientiously and scientifically did he 
perform this task that it is considered one of the most substantial pieces of 
harbor work along the coast, and its success has been a most appreciable 
factor of the popularity of Eureka as a shipping point. Humboldt bay is 
being more favorably looked upon from year to year by those having mari- 
time interests, and there is every evidence that the outlook is better now 
than it ever has been, so that the expenditures which have been made in the 
improvement of its harbor will be more than repaid as time proves their value. 

After the completion of the jetty Mr. Bull put considerable capital into 
the shipbuilding industry, purchasing the shipyard in which he has ever 
since had such large interests. He is president of the H. D. Bendixsen Ship- 
building Company, which employs a large number of skilled workmen, and 
which has acquired and maintained a leading position among concerns of 
its kind. It would be the exception to find a capitalist of public spirit in 
Humboldt county who has not at one time or another had some transactions 
in redwood timber, and Mr. Bull is no exception. He was vice-president 
of the Redwood Land and Investment Company, and had a quarter interest 
in the Bayside Mill and Lumber Company ; was one of the incorporators of 
the Bank of Areata, and has served as one of the directors of that institution ; 
and was owner of the Eureka Street Railway Company, of which he has been 
president. His cooperation in the establishment and conduct of all these 
was heartily welcomed and considered invaluable, for the influence of his 
support alone was sufficient to insure their being well received in the com- 
munity. Moreover, his shrewd judgment and ability to carry out large 
enterprises instilled confidence in everything with which he was connected, 
inviting the good will which is the spirit of success. Other projects not 
directly connected with his private affairs, yet conducive to the general well- 
being, have received as generous a share of his attention. He has been a 
prominent member of the chamber of commerce and served as one of the 
board of directors, and he has been one of the directors of the Humboldt 
county fair. 

A stanch Republican in political matters, Mr. Bull has enjoyed party 
activities, has served a number of years as chairman of the Republican 
county central committee, and although he has never sought public position 
for himself has been influential in assisting the candidates of his party and 
is well known among ofiicials. He served one term as sheriff, in 1875-76. 

Mr. Bull has joined various fraternal bodies, holding membership in 
Areata Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T. ; Areata Lodge, 
I. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand; Eureka Lodge, K. P.; and a charter 
member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. 

Mr. Bull was married when but nineteen years old to Miss Mary Hunt, 
a native of Baltimore, Md., who died in the west when forty-four j'ears old. 
She left a family of five children. 



H 



HISTORY OF HUA/EBOLDT COUNTY 1223 

HUGH B. STEWART has been engaged in educational work during his 
entire life, choosing it as his life work while a student in the high school, and 
since that time all his activities have been carried on with that end in view, his 
aim being to acquire the latest methods for the instruction of pupils in the 
public schools. A native son of Humboldt county, Hugh B. Stewart was born 
in Eureka, March 21, 1878, the son of E. J. and Caroline S. (Dresser) Stewart, 
natives respectively of Quebec and Maine. The father came to Humboldt 
county in the early 70s. He followed the lumber industry principally as 
tallyman in the old Jones mill and afterwards in the Vance mill. He died 
in 1881, when his son Hugh was only three years of age. His widow some 
years afterwards was married to T. J. Alverson, and after this mar- 
riage she continued to make her home in Eureka until shortly before her 
demise, having gone to San Francisco on account of her health, and there she 
died, March 21, 1891. Of her first marriage were born three children: J. D., 
a resident of Walnut Creek, Cal. ; Hugh B., of this review; and E. J., Jr., 
tallyman for Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company, in Eureka. The three chil- 
dren born of the second union are : Edward R., residing in Haywards, Cal. ; 
Ruth, Mrs. J. A. Cummings, of Eureka ; and Caroline, Mrs. Robert Wilson, of 
Centralia, Wash. 

Hugh B. Stewart, who was reared in Eureka, was orphaned at thirteen 
years of age, after which he lived with his maternal grandmother. When he 
had finished his studies in the grammar schools he entered the Eureka High 
School, from which he was graduated in 1897. Obtaining a teacher's certifi- 
cate, he immediately began his career as teacher in the Bull Creek district, 
after which he taught in the Glendale district and the Myers district, and 
then began teaching in the Eureka schools. During that time, ten years, he 
was principal of the Grant, Lafayette, Washington and Jefferson schools, 
respectively. In January, 1911, he was elected principal of the Areata gram- 
mar schools, and has continued at the head of the schools ever since, and as 
principal has endeared himself not only to the scholars, but to all residents 
of the place. During this time the Pleasant Hill school building was built. 
Four separate buildings house the grammar schools of Areata, in charge of 
a corps of eight teachers, besides the manual training department, which will 
be opened in January, 1916, with one instructor. 

Mr. Stewart has continued taking advanced courses with different educa- 
tional institutions and he is now doing work in the Humboldt State Normal 
School. 

The marriage of Mr. Stewart occurred in Eureka, February 21, 1909, 
uniting him with Miss Georgia A. McLean, a native daughter of Eureka, and 
they have three children, Esther, Byron and Janet. Fraternally he was made 
a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, 
and with his wife is a member of Areata Chapter No. 207, O. E. S. He is 
also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 636, L. O. O. M. 

L. C. LORENTZEN. — In his residence on his beautiful farm in a bend 
of the Mad river lives L. C. Lorentzen, who has been a resident of Humboldt 
county since January, 1898. He was born in Tondern, Schleswig-Holstein, 
Germany, October 17, 1863. His parents, Jorgen and Maria (Schmidt) 
Lorentzen, were also natives of that place and were descended from old and 
honorable families there. The father was a farmer in well-to-do circum- 



1224 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

stances and resided there until his death in 1898. The mother is still living 
in the old home. 

Of their five children L. C. Lorentzen is the oldest and was reared on 
the farm until the age of sixteen years, his education being obtained in the 
public schools. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the shoemaker's 
and harnessmaker's trade, learning both trades during his apprenticeship. 
When twenty years of age, as was the custom and law of the country, he was 
mustered into the German army and served three years, after which he was 
honorably discharged in 1886. He then established himself in business in 
his native place and ran a shoemaking as well as a harnessmaking establish- 
ment, continuing actively in the business until 1898. He had a brother, Hans 
Christian, who had migrated to Humboldt county in 1886 and had returned 
to the old home on a visit. His favorable reports of the country and the 
splendid opportunities that awaited young men who were energetic and 
eager to engage in business made a great impression upon the mind of L. C. 
Lorentzen, and it was natural that he should determine to come to California 
also. It was in January, 1898, that he arrived in Eureka with his wife and 
two children. For two years he worked for his brother, who was a dairyman. 
Then he worked another year in the same line of work on ranches near Fern- 
dale. Having accumulated some rneans, he determined to start in dairying 
for himself. He leased a dairy farm near Ferndale and operated it for three 
years, and then moved to Areata bottoms and leased a ranch of sixty acres 
on Mad river. Later he leased thirty acres more, thus farming ninety acres 
on which he had a dairy of forty cows. At the end of seven years he sold 
his lease and purchased the Luther G. Crawford ranch of one hundred acres 
on Mad river aiid has resided there ever since. He has improved the place, 
one-half being under plow and rich bottom land, where he raises sufficient 
hay and green feed for his dairy herd of forty cows. He also leased one 
hundred acres of the Shaw place, which he farms in connection with his own. 
The ranch is beautifully located in a bend of the Mad river about three and 
one-half miles north of Areata and is a splendid farm. 

Mr. Lorentzen was married in Tondern, Germany, to Miss Annie C. 
Jacobsen, and they have five children living, as follows : John, Christian, 
Andrew, Leonard and Anton. 

Mr. Lorentzen is a member of the Danish Brotherhood and of the AA ood- 
men of the World, and is a member of the Danish Lutheran Church at Areata, 
being a member of the board of trustees. Politically he is a stanch 
Republican. 

MANVEL BRAZIL. — A young man who is meeting with success in his 
chosen occupation, Manvel Brazil was born at Topo, St. George, Azores, 
August 8, 1882. His father, Antone Brazil, was a farmer at Topo, and Manvel 
as a boy learned farming and dairying, receiving his education in the local 
schools. He remained at home assisting his parents until he came to Cali- 
fornia. He had relatives in the state, among them an aunt and uncle, Mr. 
and Mrs. Manvel Faustino, in Humboldt county, and young Manvel heard 
such flattering reports of better opportunities and wages in the new country 
he determined to try his fortune on the Pacific coast. In 1900 he arrived in 
San Francisco and came immediately on to Humboldt county, Avhere he 
found employment on his uncle's dairy at Petrolia. Six months later his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1225 

uncle removed to Elk River and the young emigrant continued vi^ith him for 
another year. Coming to Freshwater he was employed on the dairy farm 
of Harry Marks for two years, and then for George Walker at Walker's Point 
for thirteen months. For the next three years he Avorked for the Freshwater 
Company, having charge of the creamery on their dairy ranch. 

Having saved sufficient money to start in dairying for himself, in 1907 
Mr. Brazil leased the Zane ranch of two hundred seventy acres on Elk river 
and ran a dairy of sixty cows, continuing there for seven years and meeting 
with success. In the fall of 1914 he sold his lease and came to the Bayside 
district and leased the present place of two hundred seventy acres. This is 
on the Areata road about eight miles from Eureka. The entire ranch is 
devoted to dairying, having a herd of seventy-two milch cows, which he is 
gradually increasing, with the intention of having a herd of one hundred. 
The ranch has over two hundred acres of bottom land, which gives him 
ample pasture as well as raising plenty of hay and green feed for his splendid 
herd of cows. 

Mr. Brazil was married in Eureka, June 20, 1912, being united with Miss 
Annie. Wagner, a native daughter of Humboldt county, born at Freshwater, 
the daughter of John and Rose Wagner, who were early settlers of Humboldt 
county, and engaged in farming and dairying. Mr. and Mrs. Brazil have 
one child, Manvel, Jr. Politically Mr. Brazil is a stanch Republican and takes 
pride in having become a citizen of the United States. 

WILLIAM A. RICHMOND is a native son of California, born at 
Somersville, Contra Costa county, February 3, 1866, and was there reared 
until twelve years of age. His father, Thomas Richmond, was a native of 
Wales, where he was married. He then removed to Australia, where he 
followed mining, but later returned to England. In 1862 he came to the 
United States, landing at San Francisco. For a few years he engaged in 
mining in Sierra county, then removed to Contra Costa county, where he 
engaged in coal mining at Mount Diablo, being superintendent of the Inde- 
pendent Mining Company's coal mines. He divided his time between coal 
mining and gold mining until the time of his death, about 1881. His wife 
Ann died about the same time. 

W. A. Richmond was the youngest of four children. He was reared at 
Somersville, Contra Costa county, up. to the year 1878, when he made his 
first trip to Humboldt county, remaining one year and then returned to 
Somersville. His education was obtained in the public schools of California. 
In 1882 he returned to Humboldt county and this has been the scene of 
his operations ever since. For a time he went to school and then entered the 
employ of AV. B. Alford, working in his drug store in Ferndale for three 
years. In 1887 he was employed by the Excelsior Redwood Company on 
Gunther's Island and became tallyman. In 1888 he went to Scotia with the 
Pacific Lumber Company as tallyman, remaining for eighteen months. He 
then returned to the Excelsior Redwood Company, having charge of the 
shipping and also of the steamer Phoenix engaged in general towing on Hum- 
boldt bay, but principally in towing barges of rock for the government jetty. 
In 1896 Mr. Richmond became associated with Flanagan & Brosnan Com- 
pany in their mills at Bayside. They were also furnishing rock for jetties. 
Mr. Richmond was bookkeeper in the office until 1900, when the company 
sold out to the Bayside Mill and Lumber Company. Mr. Richmond took 



1226 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

charge of the latter company's operations as stiperintendent of the plant until 
it was sold to the Bayside Lumber Company in 1905. He continued with 
the new company in the same capacity until 1907, when he resigned and 
accepted the position of bookkeeper in the office of the Humboldt Commercial 
Company, a position which he held until 1910. He then spent some time 
traveling on the coast in recuperating his health. In April, 1912, he accepted 
the position of superintendent of M. A. Burns Manufacturing Company's 
plant at Camp No. 4 near Fieldbrook. The mill is engaged in manufacturing 
shingles and shakes, also getting out ties, with a capacity of 250,000 shingles 
per day and 15,000 shakes. 

Mr. Richmond was married in Eureka, November 2, 1891, being united 
with Miss Lulu Johnston, a native daughter of the county, born on Bear 
river. Her father, Richard Johnston, a native of County Fermanagh, Ireland, 
was a merchant in Australia. In 1849 he came to California and followed 
mining. In 1855 he came from Weaverville to Humboldt and thus became 
one of the pioneers of the county. Fraternally Mr. Richmond is a member 
of Ferndale Parlor, N. S. G. W., and Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In 
his political views Mr. Richmond is a straight Republican. 

JOHN BRAZIL. — The dairy industry has become one of the most 
important in Humboldt county and has made it the leading county in the 
state as far as dairying is concerned. There has been a material change in 
the methods employed in this business since the early days. When Mr. Brazil 
first came to Humboldt county many people were still panning the milk and 
skimming the cream by hand, and now the separators are universally used, 
there are numerous creameries located at convenient places in the county, 
while there is also a large condensed milk plant where are manufactured 
evaporated and powdered milk. Among the men who have engaged in dairy- 
ing actively and with success is John Brazil, a resident of Humboldt county 
for twenty-seven years. 

John Brazil M^as born in Rio Janeiro, Brazil, June 15, 1866, the son of 
Joe Enos and Mary Brazil. The father was in business in Rio Janeiro for 
many years, but returned to St. George, Azores Islands, where he was born, 
and there he became a substantial farmer. He passed away in 1914, and his 
widow died in 1915. Of their seven children John was the second oldest. The 
scenes of his first recollections are clustered around Rio Janeiro, Brazil. 
When a lad he went to the Island of St. George, Azores, with his parents, 
where he assisted on the home farm and attended the local public schools. 
Being desirous of trying his fortune in the land beyond the seas, he migrated 
to Massachusetts in 1883. There he found employment in cotton mills in 
Lawrence and afterwards also worked on farms there. After remaining in 
Massachusetts for five years he came to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1888, and 
has since made his home here. By industry and perseverance he has become 
a man of afifairs. For a while he was employed on dairy farms and later as 
a woodsman. About 1897 he leased a ranch on Kneeland Prairie, but un- 
fortunately the year proved disastrous to him and he was compelled to return 
to Avork in the woods to make another stake. After several years of steady 
work and economy he again found himself in a position to start dairying on 
his own account. For this purpose he leased four hundred acres near Fields 
Landing, where he engaged in farming and dairying for six years, having 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1227 

a dairy of forty cows. In March, 1913, he came to his present place, having 
leased the Henry Devoy ranch of three hundred twelve acres on the Fresh- 
water Marsh, where with the aid of his sons he is operating one of the largest 
dairies in the county, milking one hundred thirty-five cows during the season. 
The herd is of high grade stock, the animals having been carefully selected 
for their yield of rich milk. The separator is run by an electric motor and the 
cream is shipped to the Central Creameries Company, Eureka. The ranch 
is all bottom land, which gives Mr. Brazil not only ample pasture, but an 
abundance of green feed for his herd of cows. 

The marriage of Mr. Brazil occurred in Lawrence, Mass., uniting him 
with Miss Mary Mendoza, a- native of the Azores. To them have been born 
eleven children, ten of whom are living, as follows: John, Abel, Ida (Mrs. 
Costa), Enos, Fred, Louis, Frank, Joseph, Sadge and George. Fraternally 
Mr. Brazil is a member of the I. D. E. S. All of the family are ardent 
members of St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Eureka. Politically Mr. Brazil 
believes in the principles of the Republican party. 

JOHN HOWARD JORDAN.— A man with thirty-five years' experience 
in the lumber industry in Humboldt county, John Howard Jordan is an 
able and valuable man in his chosen occupation, holding the position of fore- 
man of the woods at Fieldbrook for the Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company, 
his many years of experience fitting him admirably for the place. He was 
born at Oak Bay, near St. Stephen, Charlotte county. New Brunswick, May 
18, 1860. His father, John Jordan, who followed farming and logging in 
New Brunswick, spent five years on Humboldt Bay, when he returned to 
Oak Bay and again followed farming and logging, continuing this until 
his death. 

John H. Jordan was reared at Oak Bay, receiving a good education in 
the public schools of the vicinity. He remained at home assisting his father 
until he was seventeen years of age, when he started out for himself. Flis 
first employment was on railroad construction, which he followed until 
October, 1879, when he came to CaUfornia, spending the first four months 
near Davisville, Yolo county. In the spring of 1880 he came to Humboldt 
county, being employed by D. R. Jones, and in 1885 he entered the employ 
of the Dolbeer-Carson Lumber Company, and has continued with them ever 
since. His close application to his work and the interest he has taken in 
logging from the time he was a boy give him a knowledge of everything 
connected with his work, from judging the standing timber and the felling 
of trees to loading them on cars ready for transportation to the mill. This 
was recognized when in 1904 he was made foreman of the woods at Field- 
brook, which position he has filled very satisfactorily ever since. 

Mr. Jordan owns a comfortable residence at No. 1423 Sixth street. Eureka, 
where he makes his home. His marriage occurred in Eureka and united him 
with Miss Lillian Hart, who is a native daughter of Humboldt county, born 
on Third street. Eureka, the daughter of George Hart, one of the early 
settlers. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jordan have been born two children : 
Percy, who is first engineer on the steamer Topeka, and Leslie, employed 
on the steamer Great Northern. Fraternally Mr. Jordan is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias in Eureka and of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. 
Politically he has always been a Republican. He is a liberal and kind-hearted 



1228 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

man, being very helpful and charitable to those who have been less fortunate 
than himself, and is much esteemed by his many friends for his modest, 
unassuming and kindly ways. 

WILLIAM CLARENCE HAVENS— A resident of Humboldt county 
since 1887, and now engaged in dairying at Fieldbrook, A/Villiam C. Havens 
was born in Dayton, Green county, A'Yis., March 11, 1866, the son of Luther 
Havens, who died the night William was born. During the Civil war he 
was a member of the Eighth Wisconsin Artillery. He had been taken prisoner 
and was confined in Andersonville for seven months, when he returned home, 
being honorably discharged, but never saw a well day after that. In 1867 
his widow removed to Waseca county, Minn., and later to Lyon county, 
that state, where our subject was reared on a farm and educated in the public 
schools. When nine years old he began to earn his own livelihood, working 
hard on farms during summers and going to school winters. He continued 
to live in that vicinity until he came to Humboldt county, in June, 1887. 
For some years he was in the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company at 
Scotia, working in their saAvmill, and finally becoming planerman. After 
continuing there for three years he concluded to engage in farming and 
bought the place of one hundred sixty acres at Fieldbrook which is now his 
home. When he located on the place there were no houses on it and the 
land was covered with stumpage. After clearing it he improved and culti- 
vated a portion of the land each year, and now forty acres are under the 
plow. Recently he purchased a donkey engine to facilitate the removal of 
stumps. He is raising clover and green feed for milch cows, of Avhich he 
has twenty-five. Mr. Havens built the comfortable residence occupied by 
his family. He was married at Port Kenyon, Humboldt county, in 1888, being 
united with Miss Mattie Kinney, born in Wisconsin but reared in ^Minnesota. 
They have five children : Angeline, Clarence, Lawrence, Harold and Howard. 
For nine years Mr. Havens was a trustee of the Fieldbrook school district. 
Fraternally he is an Ancient Odd Fellow and is a member of Eel River Lodge 
at Rohnerville. Politically he is a member of the Progressive party. 

ALEXANDER CHRISTIE.— Among the farmers and dairymen of 
Fieldbrook, Alexander Christie has been a resident of Humboldt county since 
1888. He was born near Ballycastle, County Antrim, Ireland, August 26, 
1863, the son of Daniel and Mary (Elliott) Christie, also natives of Antrim 
and of Scotch descent. His father was a farmer there, so young Alexander 
was brought up on the farm and educated in the public schools in the vicinity. 
In 1884 he came to Bryn Mawr, Pa., M^here his uncle, John Christie, was a 
contractor. He worked for him and others until 1888, when he came to Hum- 
boldt county. He was employed in the Carson & Snyder mill on Salmon 
creek. In 1889 he entered the employ of John Vance as woodsman and in 
the summer of that year logged on the place he now owns. He contintied 
with John Vance nine years, becoming head swamper. During this time he 
purchased the present place of eighty acres on the Fieldbrook road, and in 
1896 located on it, at once beginning to clear and improve it. In the spring 
of 1898 he made the trip to Klondyke via Skagway and over Chilcoot Pass, 
reaching the divide March 16. At Dawson he located claims, but they did 
not prove profitable, and later he worked at mining and also for the govern- 
ment building roads. After remaining nearly four years in the frozen north 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1229 

he returned to Humboldt county and again took up the improvement of 
the ranch. 

In the fall of 1901 Mr. Christie returned to his old home in County 
Antrim and while there he was married, July 4, 1902, to Sarah McGowan. 
Immediately after their marriage they set sail for the United States, coming 
direct to Humboldt county, where Mr. Christie again resumed work on his 
ranch, carrying on farming and dairying. He also bought other land, and 
now has ninety-two and one-half acres, upon which he is engaged in farming 
and stock raising. The large and comfortable residence which he built and 
occupies is one of the finest country homes in the Fieldbrook district. Mr. 
and Mrs. Christie have eight children, viz. : Mary, Sarah, Alexander, Ernest, 
John, Alfred, Ralph and Rachael. .Fraternally he was made a Mason in 
Ballintoy Lodge, F. & A. M. (County Antrim, Ireland), and' is now affiliated 
with Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M. In religious views he is an Episco- 
palian, having been reared in that faith, while politically he has always been 
a Republican. 

ERNEST W. DIXON.— The superintendent of the Jacoby creek stone 
quarries, above Bayside, Humboldt county, is Ernest W. Dixon. He was 
born at Elk City, Ore., March 12, 1878, the son of James E. and Mary (Hamar) 
Dixon, born in Missouri and Kansas respectively. The latter crossed the 
plains over the old Oregon trail with their parents to Oregon in 1845. The 
grandfather, J. E. Dixon, located and owned the Donation Land Claim of 
six hundred forty acres, the present site of Corvallis, Ore., while Grandfather 
James Hamar afterwards located on Yaquina Bay, Lincoln county. Ore. 
James E. Dixon was a farmer on Yaquina Bay and was also a mail-carrier 
before the railroad was built. At the age of seventy-six he is now living re- 
tired on his old home place. The mother is demised. 

Of the six children born of this union Ernest W. is the second youngest. 
He was brought up on the farm, receiving his education in the public schools. 
When fourteen years of age he started to work in the stone quarry at Yaquina 
Bay, continuing there steadily until sixteen, when he again attended school 
for two winters, continuing to work during the summers to defray his 
expenses. Some time afterwards he went to Washington, going to work 
in the Big Stone quarries at Fisher on the Columbia river, getting out rock 
for the jetty. He worked his way up until he became foreman and afterwards 
rose to be superintendent of the quarries, making an exceedingly creditable 
showing. However, he resigned this position to become superintendent of 
quarries on Lopez Island, Puget Sound, where he continued nearly one year. 
It was then that he was offered his present position in Humboldt county as 
superintendent of the Jacoby creek quarries, of which he took charge in June, 
1912. The quarries had just been opened at that time, but since then they 
have been enlarged and another quarry has also been opened. The quarries 
are well equipped with the latest machinery, such as compressed air drills, 
the air being compressed by electric power. There are five mammoth derricks 
and two large cranes, which are operated by steam power. By this method 
it is possible to obtain the largest rock, some of which weigh twenty-five 
tons. The rock is loaded on cars and transported to barges, and is then 
taken by two tow boats to the jetties. This company operates and owns its 
own engines, cars, barges and tugs, over which Mr. Dixon has general super- 
vision. It is by far the largest industry of its kind in the county, and some 



1230 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

idea of its extent can be had when we state that two hundred men are em- 
ployed by the company in the quarries and the transportation of the rock. 

In Salem, Ore., Mr. Dixon was married, October 14, 1900, to Miss Katie 
Lathrop, born in Hartford, S. Dak., the daughter of P. N. and Kate (Bradley) 
Lathrop, born in New York and Ohio respectively. They were married in 
Galesburg, 111. The father served in an Illinois regiment in the Civil war. 
From Illinois Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop removed to South Dakota, where he 
ran a creamery. From there they went to Oregon and in 1913 came to Bay- 
side, where they now live. Mrs. Dixon was reared and educated in Oregon. 
They have two children, Newell and Wanda. Fraternally he is a member 
of Vancouver Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F., also a member of the United Artisans 
in Elk City, Ore. Politically he is a stanch Republican. 

SAM BETTENCOURT.— A dairyman on Freshwater creek, Sam Betten- 
court has been a resident of California since 1889. He was born on the Island 
of St. George, Azores, March 22, 1873. His father, Antone Bettencourt, was 
a man of extensive affairs in St. George Island, for besides being a large 
farmer and stockraiser there he was engaged in importing coffee from Brazil 
and was a successful business man. 

Sam Bettencourt grew up on his parents' farm in St. George, and re- 
mained there until 1889, when he came to California. The advantages for 
obtaining an education in St. George were meager. So on his arrival here 
he endeavored to make up for this lack by hiring an instructor. In this way 
he obtained' a good knowledge of English and in a short while he was able 
to read and write the language of his adopted country as well as his native 
language. His first employment was in San Mateo, Cal., working on a dairy 
farm there for about six years. With the means which he had saved in the 
meantime he started in the dairy business for himself. In San Mateo he 
leased ranches and milked from one hundred fifty to two hundred cows while 
in that county. Later he ran a dairy in Santa Clara county, where he had a 
dairy herd of one hundred milch cows. In September, 1914, he came to Hum- 
boldt county and leased the Dr. Felt ranch, where ever since he has engaged 
in dairying. Here he has one hundred ninety-three acres on Freshwater 
creek, where he has ample pasture and feed for his herd, numbering one 
hundred twenty-five head, of which about seventy are milch cows, fine 
registered Jerseys, in fact the best Jersey stock in California. This gives 
him a splendid quality of milk which is well received by his customers. He 
has a retail milk route in Eureka which he serves regularly each day. He 
has a splendid arrangement for cooling the milk, which is delivered in ex- 
cellent condition. 

Mr. Bettencourt was married in San Mateo, Cal., to Cora Borges, born 
near Virginia City, Nev. They have three children, Manuel, Mariana and 
Adelina. Fraternally he is a member of the I. D. E. S., while politically he 
is a Republican. 

EMILIO PERACCA was born in Pelio, Province of Como, Italy, July 
4, 1883, the son of Pietro and Catherina (Borgio) Peracca, farmers of that 
place. Emilio was the oldest of seven children and after completing the public 
schools he assisted his parents on the farm. Having heard of the opportunity 
of good wages and steady employment for industrious young men in Cali- 
fornia, he concluded to come hither, and in November, 1902, he came to 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1231 

Sonoma county, Cal., where he was employed on a dairy farm until 1903, in 
that year coming to Humboldt county. Here he worked for Joe Moranda, a 
dairyman at Loleta, for three years, and when Mr. Moranda removed his 
activities to Areata, Mr. Peracca still continued in his employ, remaining on 
the dairy at the latter place for two years. Returning to Loleta, he entered 
the employ of Mrs. Mozzini, continuing on her dairy ranch for two years, when 
he concluded to engage in dairying on his own account. For this purpose he 
leased the Jim Moranda place, where he operated a dairy for three years. In 
October, 1914, he formed the present partnership with Emillio Bettigieo and 
leased two hundred sixty acres, on which they are conducting a dairy of 
eighty cows. The ranch is well adapted for dairying and stock raising, the 
rich bottom land yielding an abundance of hay and green feed. 

Mr. Peracca is an enterprising and progressive man who is ever ready 
to contribute of his means to worthy enterprises for the upbuilding and im- 
provement of the community. 

JOHN MILLEN SIMPSON.— As president of the Eureka city council, 
and one of the men whose faithful and untiring efforts were instrumental in 
having the city purchase the water system which supplies its mains, John 
Millen Simpson is recognized as an important factor in the life and develop- 
ment of Eureka and the surrounding country. He is a native of this city 
and is descended from one of the old and highly respected pioneer families 
of the county. His father, James Simpson, was born in New Brunswick, 
Canada, and was a ship carpenter by trade. He came to the United States 
when he was a young man and served on the Union side during the Civil war. 
In 1868 he came to California, locating in Eureka, where he engaged in ship 
carpentering. Later, in 1876 or 1878, he opened a shipyard of his own and 
for several years conducted this with great success. After this he was en- 
gaged in contracting and building and was well known in this line in Eureka 
and vicinity, following this line of occupation until he retired from active busi- 
ness several years ago. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Hickey, a native 
of Maine, and both he and his wife are at present residing in Eureka, where 
they are well known. 

Mr. Simpson was born in Eureka, Humboldt county, Cal., January 25, 
1874. He passed his boyhood days in his native city, attending first the public 
schools and later matriculating at Phelps Academy, where in due time he 
graduated. After being employed in Eureka for a time he entered the employ 
of the Iron Mountain Company, Limited, proprietors of the smelter at Kes- 
wick, Shasta county. He began his service here as bookkeeper, but worked 
his way up until he became manager of the local company store. He apphed 
himself very closely to his work, and this, in connection with the fumes of 
the sulphur and arsenic from the smelter, made serious inroads on his health, 
forcing him to give up his position and return to Eureka to recuperate. His 
health was soon regained and he shortly entered the employ of the Pacific 
Coast Steamship Company, at San Francisco, as freight clerk, soon after- 
ward being promoted to the position of purser, and for eight years continued 
in this capacity in the coasting vessels between San Diego and Victoria, 
B. C. In 1900 he left the sea for good and returned to Eureka, where he 
became local agent for the North Pacific Steamship Company, holding this 
position until 1911, when he resigned to become resident agent for the 
Western Pacific Railroad until this agency was given up. In December, 



1232 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

1(912, he was elected secretary of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., and has 
held this office since that time. During- this period the order erected the 
present magnificent Eagles' Home at Eureka, a large three-story brick 
structure, 60x110 feet, and one of the finest lodge buildings in the state, and 
thoroughly modern in arrangement and appointments. The aerie has a mem- 
bership of nine hundred fifty and is the largest in Humboldt county. 

Mr. Simpson has been very prominent in forwarding the best interests 
of Eureka, and for many years has taken an important part in all municipal 
affairs. In 1907 he was elected a member of the city council and was re- 
elected to succeed himself in 1909, 1911 and 1913. He was chosen president 
o'f the council in 1909-11 and again in 1913-15, being in that responsible posi- 
tion at this time. As the chairman of the finance committee, chairman of 
the street and alleys committee, and similar capacities, he has been active 
for public improvements. In his connection with the city council he used 
all his influence for the cause of city ownership of the municipal water system 
and so ardently did he plead for this with the aid of fellow-workers in the 
council, that the day was finally won and an election called which voted bonds 
for the purpose of taking over the city water system, a thing that is now 
accomplished. Eureka being one of the cities to lead in municipal ownership 
in the state. 

The marriage of Mr. Simpson took place in Berkeley, Cal., October 25, 
1898, uniting him with Miss Agnes Esson, a native of Bay City, Mich. Mrs. 
Simpson has borne her husband five children, all of whom are well and favor- 
ably known in Eureka. They are Millen L., Nathelle, James, Jack and Wayne. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Simpson are deservedly popular among their many friends 
in Eureka and San Francisco, and Mr. Simpson is particularly prominent in 
fraternal affairs. Besides the Eagles, of which order he is recognized as one 
of the leading members, he is a member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652, 
B. P. O. E., and Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W. In his political affilia- 
tions Mr. Simpson is a stanch Republican, but is far bigger than any mere 
party, being an advocate at all times of those principles and measures which 
stand for the best growth and development of the city, county and state, 
and never fearing to desert party lines when the welfare of the community 
demands it. He is a member of the Episcopal Church of Eureka. 

ROBERT H. BOHMANSSON.— The superior advantages afforded by 
the Stockholm College of Pharmacy gave to Mr. Bohmansson an early and 
adequate training in the occupation to which he has devoted himself from 
young manhood. Descended from an old Scandinavian family, he was born 
in Sweden, April 19, 1865, and received a common school education prior to 
taking up pharmaceutical studies under special instructors at the capital city. 
On the completion of his course in the college he came to the United States 
in 1889 and proceeded direct to Nebraska, where he found employment in 
Omaha. Two years later he came to California, which since 1891 has been 
his home and the center of his business enterprises. As a clerk in a San Fran- 
cisco drug store he gained the experience necessary for the management of 
a business of his own. It was not long before he availed himself of an oppor- 
tunity to acquire a business and established a drug store on the corner of 
Folsom and First streets. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1233 

Coming to Humboldt county in 1900, Mr. Bohmansson opened a drug 
store at Areata. From the first he received a fair patronage. Later he estab- 
lished a branch at Blue Lake and still later opened a drug store at No. 301 
F street, Eureka, the latter being now the only one in his possession, although 
for a few years he owned and managed all three establishments. During 1910 
he removed to Eureka, where with his wife, formerly Amelia Rundblad, a 
native of Sweden, and their children, Elsa, Greta and Ruskin, all Californians 
by birth, he has established a comfortable home and entered into affiliation 
with the social life of the community. His time is given almost wholly to 
the management of his store and he has taken no part whatever in politics 
or local affairs, nor is he connected with any of the fraternities excepting 
the Scottish Rite Masons and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

GEORGE HILLER. — A native of France, George Hiller was born in 
Alsace-Lorraine, January 1, 1832. When a lad of fifteen years he came to 
the United States with an older brother and sister in 1847 and settled in 
Buffalo, N. Y., where their brother Jacob had preceded them. In that city 
he learned and for several years followed the shoemaker's trade. His brother 
Michael, who had come with him from France, in 1851 made the trip to 
California via Cape Horn, whither he was followed two years later by George, 
who came west via the Isthmus of Panama. Before leaving for the west, 
however, he had the satisfaction of seeing his parents and younger brothers 
and sister settled comfortably in a little home in Lancaster, Erie county, 
N. Y. For eleven years thereafter George Hiller was occupied with gold 
mining in Shasta county, Cal., in which he made a very good start in life. He 
came to Humboldt county for the first time in 1857, and thereafter his sum- 
mers were passed here in farming, while during the winters he followed 
mining in Shasta county. During his early residence in Humboldt county 
he advanced money to John C. O'Connor and took security on the farm at 
Alton. O'Connor defaulting, Mr. Hiller had to foreclose and thus secured the 
land. He came here to settle in 1864, having that year married in San Fran- 
cisco Miss Charlotte C. Joerrs, a native of Hanover, Germany, who had come 
directly from that country to America by way of the Isthmus of Panama and 
landed in San Francisco December 25, 1863. The young couple made ex- 
tensive improvements on the farm, engaging in grain and stock raising and 
hauling the produce to Bucksport with ox teams, a distance of twenty-two 
miles. Besides this property Mr. Hiller owned two hundred forty acres at 
Alton purchased in 1862, was also the owner of two farms at Grizzly Bluff 
and one at Dow's Prairie in Humboldt county, and about twelve hundred 
acres of stock and timber land. He used to kill his own hogs and put up a 
brand of bacon known as the Eel River Bacon, which was in good demand 
at mines and lumber camps. On June 30, 1910, his residence was destroyed 
by fire, after which he built a substantial and attractive farm residence in 
the bungalow style on the old Hiller homestead near Alton, and here his 
widow makes her home, keeping house for three of her sons and making 
frequent visits to San Francisco, where she has warm personal friends and 
old-time acquaintances. 

Mr. Hiller had helped to organize the Eel River Lodge No. 210, I. O. O. F., 
at Rohnerville, Cal., and was the last of its charter members to die, having 
been connected with this lodge for fifty-five years. For about sixty years 



1234 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

he was a Mason, belonging to the Eel River Lodge No. 142 at Fortuna, and 
he was buried in Rohnerville Cemetery with Masonic honors by that lodge, 
his death occurring at his home in Alton, June 27, 1914, at the age of eighty- 
two years, five months and twenty-seven days. 

Besides his widow, George Hiller left seven sons, two children, a son and 
a daughter, having died in childhood. Named in order of birth the children 
are as follows : George, Jr., who died at the age of eight years, in 1873 ; 
Philip Alexander, born December 26, 1867, now a resident of Alton ; Theodore 
Ferdinand, born at San Francisco, February 10, 1869, now a farmer at 
Grizzly Blufif; Charlotte C, who died at the age of four years, in 1873; 
Frederick M., born June 1, 1872, residing at San Francisco, having been a 
salesman with the Crane Company, plumbers, for twenty-two years ; Henry 
George, born March 27, 1874, now a rancher at Alton ; Charles R., born April 
5, 1876, also on the home farm ; Benjamin Franklin, born May 6, 1878, now 
an attorney, at Ferndale ; and Albert William, born September 15, 1879, a 
physician in Los Angeles. 

Mrs. Hiller was born in Hildesheim, Hanover, September 15, 1838, the 
daughter of Valentine and Bernardina Joerrs, also Hanoverians. The father 
was a blacksmith and also a land surveyor, which latter business he was 
following at the time of his death, while still a young man in his thirties. 
Mrs. Joerrs died in San Francisco at the age of seventy-nine. The only child 
in her parents' family to attain maturity, Mrs. Hiller received her education 
in Hanover, and when about twenty-five years old came to the United States 
in 1863, reaching San Francisco via Panama. She was attracted to San Fran- 
cisco owing to the fact that two uncles, William and Henry Joerrs, resided 
there. In an early day, 1847, they had come here from Buenos Ayres and 
were the pioneer carpenters and builders in San Francisco. 

WILLIAM H. HAW. — The son of a pioneer settler of Humboldt county, 
Cal., AA'illiam H. Haw, whose talents are being devoted to the developing 
and furthering of the resources of this state, is a man of whom California 
may well be proud. The ancestry of Mr. Haw dates back to both Scotland 
and Ireland, his grandparents, Henry and Margaret (Clydesdale) HaAV, hav- 
ing come from Scotland to the latter country, where their son, Robert A., 
the father of William H. Haw, was born May 19, 1827. Three years later the 
family removed to the United States, settling in Brooklyn, N. Y., where 
the father continued to follow his trade of weaver for six years, at which 
time he bought a farm in Steuben county, N. Y., where he died some time 
later at the age of sixty years. On his father's farm in Steuben county the 
son Robert's childhood was principally spent, he attending school from there 
by means of a trail blazed through the woods. After taking up the study 
of the millwright's trade, Robert Haw was employed in that line until the 
year 1854, in which year he removed to California, making the journey by 
way of the Isthmus of Panama, and after settling in Humboldt county, Cal., 
he found the business of millwright a most profitable one in his new home, 
for he was employed in the erection of several mills along the Pacific coast, 
among them being those at Hoopa, Hydesville and Eureka. By his marriage 
with Ruth Ann Hatch in New York state, Robert A. Haw became the father 
of three children, namely : Carrie I., deceased ; Lillian, the wife of Capt. 
Henrv Weber ; and A¥illiam H., who has made a name for himself in the 



4 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1235 

quarrying and contracting business, having opened up and equipped with 
the most modern machinery one of the best quarries to be found in California, 
which quarry he is now operating. 

It may be said that to Mr. Haw much credit is due for the good condition 
of the streets of the city of Eureka and the roads of Humboldt county. The 
stone from his quarry is of the variety known as tachylite, being a basaltic 
lava in a glassy or non-crystalline condition and contains over forty-two 
per cent silica and is now used universally in Eureka for concrete work, for 
the city streets and also for county roads. 

The education of Mr. Haw was received in the public schools and at 
business college, after which he was identified with railroad and lumbering 
interests in Humboldt county, later being elected to the office of county 
clerk of Humboldt county, which ofiice he filled for two terms or eight years. 
His marriage to Alice L. Young took place in Eureka and they make their 
home in the handsome residence owned by Mr. Haw on H street in Eureka. 

It will be seen that the progressive spirit of his father and grandfather, 
who settled and improved the wild districts of new lands, is not wanting 
in W. H. Haw, by whose initiative and industry the native resources are 
being developed and improved in the California county where he makes 
his home. 

CHARLES EUGENE FALK.— A native son of California, and for his 
entire lifetime a resident of his native state, Charles Eugene Falk is today 
a son of whom the commonwealth may well be proud. He knows every phase 
of the lumber industry and every department of the work from the judging 
of the standing timber and the felling of trees to the last detail of the business 
management and office work. It is this thoroughness, together with his 
native ability and application to business that have given him the important 
position of superintendent of the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, which 
he now fills so efficiently. 

Mr. Falk was born in Eureka, August 4, 1869, the son of Noah Falk (one 
of the oldest living pioneer lumbermen of the county) and Nancy N. (Brown) 
Falk, a native of Maine. The mother removed with her parents to Wash- 
ington Territory when she was a young girl, and there she met and married 
Noah Falk. Both parents are still living in Areata, where they have made 
their home for many years. The father is still hale and hearty, although he 
is well past the age of seventy-nine, and takes an active interest in all the 
affairs of his great business interests. A native of Pennsylvania, born about 
1836, he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1852. He 
became interested in the lumber industry in Humboldt county at an early 
date, and it was he who organized the Elk River Mill and Lumber Com- 
pany, and who has been its president and leading spirit down through the 
intervening years, still retaining both the name and the actual position of 
interest and control. 

The boyhood days of Charles Eugene Falk were spent in Eureka, where 
he received his early education, first attending the public schools, and later 
attending the Lytton Springs Military Academy in Sonoma county, for some 
three years and a half. When he was about twenty years of age he went 
to work for the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, and has since then 
passed through every department of this plant. At first he put in three 
years in the blacksmithing department, learning all the details of the work 



1236 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

there and becoming a proficient workman. This company, which is practically 
owned by Mr. Falk's father, operates a sawmill, shingle mill, planing mill, 
and other associated industries, and manufactures redwood lumber of all 
kinds and grades. The mills and shops are all under one roof, and only the 
latest devices and machinery are employed. The company owns a shipping 
wharf at Bucksport, this county, where the product is loaded directly on the 
ocean steamers. There are one hundred sixty men employed on an average 
by this company. In addition to the mills and shipping plants the company 
operates extensive lumber camps and owns its standing redwood timber. 
The company is one of the oldest in the county, as well as one of the best 
known. The officers are: Noah H. Falk, president and manager; W. J. 
Wrigley, secretary-treasurer ; and Charles Eugene Falk, superintendent. 
They sell through J. R. Hanify & Co., at San Francisco, located on Market 
street, and through the Humboldt Lumber Association, in Eureka. 

Both Mr. Falk and his father are men of rare ability and business judg- 
ment. They have been instrumental in the development and upbuilding of 
a splendid industrial enterprise, which has flourished for many years as the 
direct result of their industry and application. They have made for them- 
selves a place in the life and history of their state and county that is worthy 
of emulation, and their record for fair and honorable business methods is 
unsullied and unstained. 

The marriage of Mr. Falk took place in 1893, uniting him with Miss 
Blanche Alice Graeter, of Dillon, Mont., the daughter of August Graeter, a 
pioneer miner of Bannack City, Mont. He was for many years one of the 
foremost men in the Montana mining fields, and it was he who built the first 
electric dredger at Bannack City. He is now retired and still lives in Mon- 
tana. Mrs. Falk has borne her husband three children, all natives of Eureka. 
They are : Muriel A., now a student at the University of California at Berke- 
ley, where she is specializing in vocal music ; Drury Noah and Dorothy Ann, 
the latter two being both students in the Eureka High School. 

Aside from his splendid reputation as a business man, Mr. Falk is well 
known in fraternal and social circles. He is a prominent Mason and an 
influential member of the local Elks, in both of which orders he is A^ery 
popular. In politics he is a Republican, and is interested in public questions 
of all kinds, being especially keen when the issue involves matters of local 
import. He is progressive and a firm believer in the future of Eureka and 
Humboldt county, and is one of the stanchest boosters that the region 
possesses. 

ROCCO AQUISTAPACE. — A successful and enterprising business man, 
liberal and well liked in the community where he resides, Rocco Aquistapace 
has made for himself a fine record in the country of his adoption. His birth 
occurred in his early home in Italy, near Sondrio, Lombardy, on January 
6, 1863. Mr. Aquistapace's father, who Avas also named Rocco, was 
a farmer and dairyman, and the young Rocco was educated in the public 
schools of his native land and assisted his father upon the home farm, learning 
much of the business of dairying, which he was to follow for some years 
after coming to California. At the age of twenty years he enlisted in the 
Fifth Alpine Regiment of the Italian army, served the regular time of two 
years and was honorably discharged. In 1889 he determined to try his for- 
tune in America, and consequently came to California, first stopping at San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1237 

Francisco, and thence removing to Santa Barbara. His first employment 
in this country was three years spent at a dairy in the Santa Maria valley, 
atter which he returned to Italy for a visit to the old home and to see his 
parents, who were then living but have since died. For seven years Mr. 
Aquistapace remained in Italy, his first marriage taking place there, uniting 
him with Amelia Cortoni, a teacher in that country. After her death he was 
married to Celestina Pedroncilli. By his first marriage there were two chil- 
dren, namely, John, who is serving in the Fifth Alpine Regiment in Italy, the 
same regiment in which his father served in early manhood, and Elena, who 
is now Mrs. John Baracca and resides in Eureka, Cal. By his second mar- 
riage Mr. Aquistapace is the father of one son, Henry. Until the year 1899 
Mr. Aquistapace remained in Italy, where he followed farming, but like 
many others who have lived in California, he felt a desire to return to this 
country. So, with his family, he came once more to Santa Barbara county, 
and in July, 1900, removed to Eureka, securing employment on a dairy in the 
vicinity of that city, and later at the Pacific Lumber Company's sawmill at 
Scotia, Cal. In the year 1912 Mr. Aquistapace started out in a new line of 
work, purchasing the old Humboldt House on First street, Eureka, which he 
reopened under the name of Hotel Lombard, in memory of his home in Italy, 
and since that time has met with much success in this new occupation, 
managing an excellent hotel and having a large trade. Fraternally Mr. 
Aquistapace is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, and in his political 
interests he is associated with the Republican party. 

ANDREW P. NELSON, superintendent of shipping for the Eel River 
Valley Lumber Company at South Bay, was born at Tondern, Schleswig-Hol- 
stein, Germany, September 19, 1888, the son of Anton and Annie Nelson, 
who immigrated to Humboldt county, Cal., in the spring of 1889, when Andrew 
was an infant of six months. Here the father followed the lumber industry, 
first in the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company as tallyman and inspec- 
tor and afterwards with the Eel River Valley Lumber Company for seventeen 
years as superintendent of shipping at South Bay, a position which he re- 
signed to engage in the lumber business at Richmond. There he incorporated 
the San Pablo Lumber Company of Richmond, of which he is manager, the 
company being engaged in the retail lumber business there. 

Of the four children comprising the parental family, Andrew P. Nelson 
is the oldest. He spent his childhood at Fields Landing, receiving a good 
education in its public schools. In 1902 he entered the employ of the Pacific 
Lumber Company at Fields Landing as tallyman and continued in that capac- 
ity for a period of eleven years. In February, 1913, he resigned to accept the 
position of superintendent of shipping for the Eel River Valley Lumber 
Company at South Bay to succeed his father, who had resigned. He has con- 
tinued in the position ever since, his many years' experience qualifying him 
well for his duties. He is interested with his father in the San Pablo Lumber 
Company of Richmond. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 
652, B. P. O. E. In his political views he is a staunch Republican. 

GEORGE PATMORE.— Born in London, England, December 12, 1843, 
George Patmore came to California in the year 1861, making the trip across 
the ocean on the steamer Great Eastern, this being the steamer's second trip. 
From New York he engaged passage to California by way of the Isthmus of 
Panama and thence up the coast to San Francisco. His first location was in 



1238 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Sierra county and from there he removed to Yuba county. In that county in 
1868 he was married, and about two years later, in 1870, removed to Humboldt 
county. Locating first at Elk Prairie, now called Fruitland, he drove the 
mail route for a time from Hydesville to Strong Station, and was also em- 
ployed on the neighboring ranches. Later he rented a ranch and engaged in 
ranching for himself, but in 1872 moved to Camp Grant, where he assumed 
active charge of the ferry on Eel river. On account of Indian hostilities he 
was forced to remove from the district, first taking his family to Rohnerville 
and afterwards to Bryan's Rest. What is now Bryan's Rest he located as a 
claim and improved it. He later sold his interests in Bryan's Rest and 
went to Rohnerville. His wife died there February 14, 1876, when twenty- 
five years of age. 

In Rohnerville Mr. Patmore engaged in teaming and hauling up and 
down Eel river valley, driving a four-horse team from Rohnerville to Eureka, 
besides which he also engaged in painting and decorating, a trade he had 
learned in London, England. Later he took up a timber claim, and home- 
steaded and bought land until he had a tract comprising one thousand acres. 
Still later he purchased the old Dobbyn range adjoining his timber land. He 
then engaged in the raising of cattle and sheep, continuing in this business 
until 1900, when he opened a general merchandise store in Rohnerville. Leav- 
ing his ranch to the capable management of his son, Mr. Patmore was enabled 
to remove to Rohnerville, where until his death, August 18, 1914, he spent 
his time looking after his store. His stock originally consisted of books and 
stationery, and to this was added later a supply of groceries and a butcher 
shop was also installed. Still later he started a furniture and hardware 
department and a plumbing and machinery store with a line of agricultural 
implements. From time to time he added to the stock, until it became the 
finest in the town, occupying five store buildings, of which he was the owner. 

Mr. Patmore was married in Brown's Valley, Yuba county, in 1868, being 
united with Miss Elizabeth Wright, a native of Indiana and the daughter of 
Jesse and Sarah Wright. The Wright family crossed the plains with ox 
teams in the '50s and while still on the plains the father died. The mother 
continued the journey to Yuba county, where she remained until she came 
with Mr. and Mrs. Patmore to Humboldt county. At the age of ninety years 
she now resides on the frontier of Alberta with a son. Mrs. Patmore became 
the mother of five children of whom three are living: Mary, of Rohnerville; 
George W., of Dyerville ; and Elizabeth, Mrs. Evers of Fortuna. 

Fraternally Mr, Patmore was a charter member of Onward Lodge No. 
380, I. O. O. F., of Fortuna, was also a Veteran Odd Fellow, while in politics 
he favored the principles of the Republican party and was always ready to 
promote any movement for the good of the community. 

FRED S. BAIR. — The proprietor of Bair's Garage in Eureka and of the 
Three Cabins ranch on Mad river, where he is extensively engaged in sheep 
raising, Fred S. Bair is a native son of Humboldt county, born at Areata, 
October 9, 1881, the son of Thomas Bair, a pioneer and man of affairs in 
Humboldt county, who is represented on another page in this work. Pri- 
marily Fred S. Bair attended the public schools in Areata and then entered 
Mount Tamalpais Military Academy at San Rafael, where he was graduated 
in 1901. Returning to Humboldt county he began ranching and since that 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1239 

time he has engaged in stock raising, making a specialty of raising sheep, 
in which he has met with much success. The Three Cabins ranch contains 
eighteen thousand acres of land in one body, located on Mad river and 
Boulder creek, about forty miles from Eureka at the junction of Butler 
valley with the Korbel road. The ranch is well watered with numerous springs 
and streams, having a frontage of nine miles on Mad river, while Boulder 
creek flows through the ranch from the headwaters to its mouth, where it 
empties into Mad river. It is beautifully wooded with pine, redwood, tan and 
white oak and other varieties of forest trees and abounds in very picttiresque 
scenery. The grass grows luxuriantly and besides ample range and pasture 
for his flock of eight thousand head of sheep and other stock, Mr. Bair 
makes an abundance of hay on which to winter his stock. He has large and 
suitable barns and other buildings and the ranch is well improved for its 
purpose. His flock is high grade and he secures blue ribbon bucks from the 
State Fair at Sacramento to head his flocks. There are also three sulphur 
springs in different parts of the ranch. 

For protecting his flocks from bears, mountain lions, coyotes and wild 
cats, Mr. Bair has a pack of splendid hounds and it is the consensus of opin- 
ion that his kennel contains the fastest hounds in the state. 

Aside from his extensive ranching interests Mr. Bair is also engaged 
in the automobile business in Eureka. In 1915 he built the Bair garage, a fire- 
proof structure, 63x100 feet, of reinforced concrete, on the corner of Sixth and 
D streets — as fine and complete a garage as can be found in the state. It is 
fully equipped with the latest machinery, being the most complete machine 
shop in the county. He has the agency for the Locomobile, Cadillac and 
Oakland automobiles and the Knight & Savage tires. 

The marriage of Mr. Bair occurred in Eureka, uniting him with Miss 
Mabel Mitchell, also a native of Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. Bair are 
well and favorably known and popular among their many friends, not only in 
this county, but throughout the state. Fraternally Mr. Bair is a member of 
Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a 
member of the California State Automobile Association as well as the Ameri- 
can Automobile Association, and prominent in all movements for the upbuild- 
ing and betterment of conditions in the county and state. 

FRANK LAUGHLIN. — An experienced woodsman who has been a resi- 
dent of Humboldt county since October, 1877, and connected with the lumber 
industry since 1880, is Frank Laughlin, foreman of woods for the Hammond 
Lumber Company, having charge of logging operations at Trinidad. He was 
born at Linn, Osage county, Missouri, May 7, 1865, being the second oldest of 
a family of seven children born to John and ' Louisa (Senefee) Laughlin, 
natives of Kentucky and France respectively. The father was a farmer and 
served as sheriff of Osage county during the time of the Civil war. In 1877 
he brought his family to Humboldt county, locating on a farm at Alliance, 
where he and his wife resided until their deaths, 

Frank Laughlin was brought up on the farm in Missouri, where he 
attended school until 1877, when he accompanied his parents to Humboldt 
county, attending school in the Alliance district. When seventeen years of 
age he began working in the woods in the employ of the Vance Lumber 
Company, slinging water on the skids or wetting the logging road, thus 



1240 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUXTY 

making it possible for the big bull teams to haul a string of logs. When the 
Hammond Lumber Company purchased the interests and mills of the Vance 
Lumber Company he continued with them in the same capacity until the 
donkey engine came into use and did away with the old ox teams for logging. 
During winters he engaged in chopping, and logged during the summers, 
and altogether he has been employed in the lumber industry for thirty-five 
years, being with the Vance company and its successors since 1880. His 
close application to his duties and his experience in the different kinds of work 
connected with the estimating, felling, logging and transportation of red- 
wood timber were recognized, in 1906, when he was selected foreman of the 
woods at Trinidad, a position which he has faithfully filled. 

Mr. Laughlin's marriage occurred in Areata, January 13, 1896, when he 
was united with Miss Lizzie Folts, a native of Humboldt county, born in Bay- 
side. Her parents were early settlers of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Laugh- 
lin have been born four children, Austin, Jessie, John, and Florence. In his 
political views Mr. Laughlin is a stanch Republican. 

EDWARD GEORGE KRAMER, owner and proprietor of the Revere 
Hotel at Eureka, while himself a loyal son of the Golden West, is descended 
from the sturdy stock of German parentage. His parents, George and Alice 
(Gries) Kramer, were both born in the Fatherland and grew to maturity on 
their native heath. By way of the Panama route they came to California, in 
1852, and settled in Nevada county, near Nevada City. Here the father 
engaged in ranching and in the merchandise business for thirty yeais, becom- 
ing known as one of the most worthy and respected members of his com- 
munity. In 1884 he removed with his family to Eureka, where he purchased 
the Revere Hotel. He immediately improved this property and erected a sub- 
stantial addition to meet the demands of the city for a first-class hostelry. As 
the genial landlord of the Revere, he presided over its fortunes until 1892, 
when he retired from active business, although he continued to be a well- 
known figure in Eureka until his demise, which occurred in Oakland, Novem- 
ber 14, 1914. 

On the retirement of his father, Edward George Kramer, the oldest son, 
took over the business and has since conducted it. He was born at North San 
Juan, Gal., Nevada county, August 21, 1867, and was seventeen years of age 
when the family moved to Eureka. He attended the public schools of this city, 
and associated himself at an early age with his father in the hotel business, 
and so was amply fitted to take up the entire management when the father 
was ready to lay it down. This long experience has not been in vain, and 
today he is one of the most popular hotel men with the traveling public that 
California boasts, and is the personal friend of half the commercial men on the 
coast. 

Aside from the hotel business, Mr. Kramer has extensive real estate hold- 
ings, and is generally identified with the commercial Hfe of his home city. 
He is a director of the Humboldt County Bank, and part owner in the Puter- 
Dungan tract, an exceedingly valuable water front property. Mr. Kramer has 
just completed a summer home on his place on Reed mountain, near Garber- 
ville and two miles from the highway. It is most complete and modern in its 
appointments and establishes a precedent which others will undoubtedly 
follow. Needless to say, Mr. Kramer is a stanch believer in the future of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1241 

Humboldt county and is one of the most enthusiastic and substantial boosters 
that Eureka boasts. His close association with commercial travelers and the 
traveling public generally has afforded him many splendid opportunities to 
forward the welfare of the city and county, and it is an acknowledged fact 
that he neglects none of them. He has always been identified with all move- 
ments for the advancement of Eureka and has done much for the general 
betterment of the city which is his home. He is a charter member of the 
Eureka Aerie No. 130, Eagles, and a member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652^ 
B. P. O. E. 

In San Francisco, in 1892, Mr. Kramer married Miss Mattie Hardewig, a 
native of that city, and theirunion has been blessed with two daughters, Olive 
and Helen. Other well known members of this family are the brothers of Mr, 
Kramer, Ralph, Herbert, and Clarence, the latter being deceased. 

JOHN HENRY BLAKE was born in Clarkson, Monroe county, N. Y., 
January 31, 1850, the son of Joseph C. and Lucinda Blake of old Colonial and 
Revolutionary stock. His education was obtained in the district school, the 
Clarkson Academy and at the Brockport State Normal, after which he kept 
books in his father's store in Hartford. Next he learned the printing business 
on the Hartford Dayspring, owned and edited by O. D. Hudsell, one of 
Horace Greeley's old students. The newspaper business not agreeing with 
his health he learned telegraphy and worked as operator for the Chicago & 
West Michigan Railroad, now the Pere Marquette ; afterwards as operator for 
the Standard Oil Company in Clarion county, Pa. In 1879 he came tO' 
California, settling in Woodland, Yolo county, where he followed several 
pursuits until 1883, when he came to Humboldt county. He bought a half 
interest with his brother-in-law, C. B. Bryant, in Christmas Prairie and some 
years later he purchased the interest of Mr. Bryant and continued farming and 
stock raising alone. In the fall of 1903 he moved to Areata, where he now 
resides. However, in 1902 he built the pioneer telephone line in Humboldt 
from Christmas Prairie to Blue Lake for his own use ; the following year 
he built lines to Areata, and others followed rapidly until at present 
he has about seventy-five lines and one hundred fifty telephones with two 
centrals, in Blue Lake and Areata. Besides being the sole owner of the Blake 
Telephone Company he owns large timber holdings as well as property in 
different parts of Humboldt county, to say nothing of interests in mines, and 
has achieved success financially. 

Since moving to Areata Mr. Blake has taken an active interest in all 
things for the betterment of the city and county of his adoption, helping 
to organize the first chamber of commerce and the federated commercial bodies, 
serving a year as president of the last named. He is a charter mem- 
ber of the Areata Club and also a member of the M. E. Brotherhood, of which 
he was president for one term. 

On September 1, 1875, Mr. Blake was married to Rosa A. Bryant, the 
daughter of Delos and Mary Bryant, prominent farmers of Coloma, Mich., 
and the present year, 1915, together with their two children, J. C. and M. L. 
Blake, and seven grand-children, celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary. 
Mr. Blake is intensely interested in numismatology and has the largest collec- 
tion of coins in the county, among them both colonial and continental cur- 
rency and coins, and one particular piece, a silver medal made especially 



1242 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

for and given to the Indian Chief Pontiac by King George III of England 
and worn by the former during the remainder of his life, is worth 
thousands of dollars. He also has a cabinet of Humboldt county Indian and 
pioneer relics as well as a large number of guns and pistols, no doubt the 
largest private collection in the state. 

Fraternally Mr. Blake is an Odd Fellow, having joined the order in 1878. 
Politically he is a stanch Republican, but has never been an aspirant for office. 
It is a matter of pride with Mr. Blake that his ancestors date back to the old 
Puritan families of 1630 and members have been represented in all of the 
Colonial wars and the Revolution, with several of the family in General 
Washington's command, and representatives of his family have also been in 
the wars since the struggle for independence. 

WILLIAM HANEN WARD, chief engineer of the Humboldt Transit 
Company, was born in Bathurst, Australia, January 3, 1880, the son of 
William John and Mary (Hanen) Ward, natives of Bathurst, Australia, and 
Oswego, N. Y., respectively. His grandfather, Robert Hanen, who served in a 
cavalry regiment in the Civil war under General Custer, continued in the 
army after the war and served in Indian campaigns. After his honorable 
discharge he went to Nevada, where he was lost track of. The father was a 
farmer in Australia. In 1883 he brought his family to Philo, Mendocino 
county, where he bought a farm in Anderson Valley and continued farming 
there until his death. The mother still resides at the old home. Her brother 
is the Hon. William Hanen, editor of the Point Arena Record and ex-member 
of the State Legislature. 

William H. Ward was the oldest of four children and was brought to 
California by his parents when he was three years of age. He received his 
education in the public schools at Philo. After completing the local schools 
he entered the Vander Nailen School of Engineering in San Francisco, where 
he graduated in 1905. He then came to Eureka and entered the employ of the 
Humboldt Transit Company as motorman. After continuing this for two 
years he became engineer at the power plant, and January 1, 1915, was 
promoted to chief engineer of the company at Eureka in charge of the power 
plant. 

Mr. Ward built and owns a residence at No. 1435 A street, where he 
resides with his family. He was married in San Francisco, being united with 
Miss Stella Cureton,'born in Point Arena, and they have two children, Kenneth 
and Glenn. Mr. Ward is prominent among local stationary engineers, being 
well and favorably known for reliability and integrity. Mrs. Ward is a 
member of the Congregational church. 

ALBERT WARREN WHITE.— Master mechanic of the Humboldt 
Transit Company, Albert Warren White Was born in Battle Creek, Mich., 
October 27, 1876. His father, C. H. White, was born in Michigan and was a 
promoter. Among other things he manufactured Malta Vita in partnership 
with Niel Phelps. C. H. AVhite was married in Battle Creek to Meribah Acker- 
son, and they now reside in Jackson, Mich. Albert W. is the second oldest of 
a family of three children. His childhood was spent in Battle Creek, where 
he was educated in the public schools and at the Krug Business College. He 
followed bookkeeping for a short time, but could not stand the confinement, 
so when seventeen years of age he entered the employ of the Citizens Street 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1243 

Railway of Battle Creek, where he was motorman for five years, and when tha 
Interurban line was completed he entered the shops of the company as a 
helper, learning the machinist trade, and two years later became master 
mechanic in charge of these shops at Battle Creek and at Augusta. He held 
the position until 1902, when he resigned and removed to Sault Ste. Marie, 
Mich., as master mechanic for the street car line, in charge of shops at Sault 
Ste. Marie, Mich., as well as Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. 

Resigning his position in October, 1903, Mr. White came to California 
and was soon in touch with the Humboldt Transit Company. Accepting the 
position of master mechanic with the company, he came to Eureka on October 
22nd of that year and assumed his duties and has held the place ever since. 
When he came to Eureka there were only three cars and about three miles 
of track and nine men in the employ of the company. Now there are over 
thirteen miles of track and seventeen cars and about fifty men employed. The 
car barns have been at the corner of Third and A street, but the company is 
now building new car barns and shop on Harris and J streets. In addition to 
the shop and track he has charge of the over-wires for carrying the cur- 
rent. 

Mr. White was married in Battle Creek, Mich., to Miss Bessie J. Bradish, 
a native of Augusta, Mich., and they have five children, Harold, Eldon, Lorena, 
Carroll and Margaret. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, 
Fraternal Order of Eagles, and in political views is a stanch Republican. 

ROBERT COPLAND. — A substantial citizen and enterprising man who 
has been a resident of Eureka since August, 1883, Robert Copland was born 
at Douglastown, on the Miramichi river, Northumberland county, New 
Brunswick. His father, David Copland, was born in Dumfriesshire, Scot- 
land, and as a young man served on a man-of-war in the English navy under 
Lord Nelson. He immigrated to New Brunswick and became a contracting 
stevedore at Douglastown. His business, however, was not limited to that 
section, but also extended into other cities in the Dominion. While in 
Quebec on a large contract loading ships he died. The mother, Mary Mc- 
Allister, was also born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. When she was a girl 
she saw the "Scotch Grays" come home from the battle of Waterloo. With 
her parents she came to New Brunswick, where she married Robert Cop- 
land. After her husband's death the mother reared her family in Douglas- 
town, afterwards moving to Newcastle, where she died. 

Robert Copland was the youngest of a family of six children and is now 
the only one living. He received his education in the subscription schools 
of that period. From the time he was twelve years old he assisted his 
mother in obtaining a livelihood for the family. At the age of fourteen he 
apprenticed himself to the shipsmith trade in the shipyards in Newcastle 
and followed it for a number of years, when he entered the employ of Brown, 
Brooks & Ryan to work as a blacksmith on the construction of the bridges 
over the Miramichi river along the International Railroad, continuing with 
the firm for six years. He then began work in the lumber industry as chief 
engineer at the Fish mill, Newcastle, afterwards becoming foreman of 
the mill. At the time of the boom in Winnipeg, in 1882, he resigned his 
position and made his way to Manitoba, where he worked as a blacksmith 
in the Canadian Pacific Railroad shops. In about five months the boom had 



1244 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

subsided and he accepted a place with his old employers, Brown Brothers, 
who were engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements in Belleville, 
Ontario. For many years he had had a strong desire to come to the Pacific 
coast, and particularly to Humboldt county, and when leaving New Bruns- 
wick in 1882 for the west it was with the intention of eventually visiting 
Humboldt county. After six months with Brown Brothers he resigned his 
place with them and in August of 1883 he arrived in Eureka, landing from 
the steamer Chester. Two days later he accepted the position of chief 
engineer with McKay & Co., lumber manufacturers and proprietors of the 
Occidental Mill in Eureka. His previous experience had fitted him for the 
position and he enjoyed not only his place but this cHmate and its people. 
It is needless to say his services were appreciated, for he was retained until 
his resignation in June, 1908, to retire from active work. All this time, for 
a quarter of a century, he held the position of chief engineer in one place, and 
in that time had but one vacation of seven days to attend the Knights Templar 
Conclave in San Francisco. 

In 1908 Mr. Copland made a trip back to his old home in New Brunswick, 
returning to the coast by the Canadian Pacific Railroad, stopping at Calgary, 
Alberta, where he became interested and purchased city property. Return- 
ing to Eureka he has since lived retired, his only care being the oversight of 
his property, which consists of several residences and lots in this city. He 
has much faith in the future prosperity of Humboldt county and is progressive 
and liberal, being always willing to aid movements that have for their aim 
the improvement of the city and county and the betterment of the condition 
of its citizens. 

Mr. Copland was made a Mason in Northumberland Lodge at Newcastle, 
New Brunswick, and since coming to Eureka has been affiliated with Hum- 
boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M. He is also a member of Humboldt Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M., and Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T. 

LEWIS BUONCORE KINGSBURY.— A man who is highly respected 
for his honesty of purpose, sterling qualities and integrity, Lewis Buoncore 
Kingsbury has been a resident of Humboldt county since February, 1875. He 
was born in Boston, Mass., February 25, 1851, the son of Reuben and Eliza- 
beth (Buoncore) Kingsbury, natives of Dedham and Boston, Mass., respec- 
tively. They were farmers near Lexington, the first battle ground of the 
Revolutionary war. 

Lewis B. Kingsbury received his education in the schools of Lexington 
and remained on the home farm until sixteen years of age. At that time 
he was apprenticed as a tanner and currier in Woburn, Mass., continuing 
there for eight years. Having a desire to come to the Pacific coast, he came 
to San Francisco in December, 1874, and in February, 1875, he arrived in 
Eureka. March 1, 1875, he began working in the Occidental Mill piling lum- 
ber in the yard, and later he ran a planer. He has continued in the employ 
of the mill ever since with the exception of eighteen months when he was 
with the Jones Mill on Gunther Island. Since 1883 he has been with the 
Occidental Mill steadily as head planerman, and this, too, without any inter- 
ruption except in 1893, when he had a vacation of two months. During this 
time he visited the World's F'air in Chicago. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1245 

Mr. Kingsbury resides at No. 223 West Cedar street, and also owns 
other property in Eureka, where he is well and favorably known for liberality 
and kindliness of heart. He was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, 
F. & A. M., in 1882, and since 1887 has been a member of Humboldt Chapter 
No. 52, R. A. M. He is also a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , I. O. O. F. 
Politically he has always been a stanch Republican. 

JOHN EDWARD JOHNSON.— Trainmaster of the Northern Division 
of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Eureka and a resident of Humboldt 
county since May, 1900, John Edward Johnson was born in Engelholm, 
Sweden, December 4, 1880. His father died when John Edward was a babe 
and he came with his mother to the United States in 1883. They lived a 
short time in Ogden, Boone county, Iowa, and then removed to Pilot Mound, 
that county, where he received his education in the public schools. When 
fifteen years of age he began to earn his own livelihood by working in a 
grocery store at Harcourt, Iowa, continuing to clerk there for a period of 
five years. In the spring of 1900 he came to San Francisco and in May of the 
same year came to Eureka, where for the first three years he clerked in a 
grocery store. When the Santa Fe took over the old Eel River & Eureka 
Railroad the road was called the San Francisco & Northwestern Railroad. 
It was at this time that he entered the employ of the company as assistant 
station agent at South Bay, afterwards becoming agent at the same place. 
He continued with the road and was agent at different stations, mostly on 
the south end, excepting one year passed in Eureka. In 1910 he was made 
train dispatcher with headquarters in Eureka, and later on was promoted to 
chief dispatcher, the road in time becoming the Northwestern Pacific. In the 
spring of 1914 he was made trainmaster, a position he has held ever since. 
When he first became dispatcher the road ran only to Shively, but since the 
through trains have run to San Francisco the Northern Division, of which he 
is trainmaster, has been extended from Trinidad to Willits. Mr. Johnson 
applies himself closely to his duties and thus renders efficient service both 
to the public and to the company. 

Mr. Johnson was married in Eureka April 19, 1907, being united with 
Miss Agnes Smith. She was born in Eureka, the daughter of Robert Smith, 
a pioneer of Humboldt county and an expert accountant. Mr. and Mrs. 
Johnson have one child, Robert Edward. Mr. Johnson was made a Mason in 
Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of which he is now junior deacon. He 
is also a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , I. O. O. F., and the Encamp- 
ment of same, and with his wife is a member of the Rebekah Lodge, of which 
Mrs. Johnson is past noble grand. She is a member of the Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Johnson is also a member of the Woodmen of the World. In his 
political views he believes firmly that the principles of the Republican party 
if carried out would be of the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people. 
- JACK B. TAMBOURY.— The superintendent of ranches for the North- 
ern Redwood Lumber Company at Korbel, Jack Tamboury, was born in 
Basses-Pyrenees, France, November 9, 1878. He came from his native France 
to Humboldt county, Cal., with his parents, J. P. and Annetta Tamboury, 
in 1883, the family locating in Blue Lake, where the parents still reside. Jack 
Tamboury was educated in the public schools of Blue Lake, and after com- 
pleting his work in the local school was employed on ranches near Blue Lake 



1246 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and learned farming and stock raising, in time becoming proficient in both 
branches. In 1901 he began working for the Riverside Lumber Company 
on their ranch at Riverside, continuing there after the company bought the 
.Korbel plant in 1903. The company name was then changed to the Northern 
Redwood Lumber Company, at which time he became second foreman on 
their Riverside ranch. When the company purchased the old Norton ranch 
about 1905, he became foreman on this ranch and continued in that position 
until 1909, when he was made superintendent of ranches, looking after all 
the livestock, such as horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, and also having charge 
of the slaughter houses for the company. There are three large mountain 
ranches, besides the Korbel ranch, a large stock ranch where the cattle are 
fattened, also the dairy ranch at Blue Lake, consisting of over two hundred 
acres, which is devoted to dairying. The buildings are large and modern and 
give ample room to the one hundred milch cows in the dairy herd. 

Mr. Tamboury was married in Blue Lake to Miss Adeline Merriam, born 
in Nova Scotia, the daughter of Judge J. E. Merriam, of Blue Lake, and they 
have one child, Annetta. Fraternally Mr. Tamboury is a member of the 
Ancient Order of Foresters and the Knights of Pythias at Blue Lake. In 
politics he is a stanch Republican. 

JOHN HENRY HUNTER— A typical representative of the name he 
bears, John Henry Hunter is a man of notable physical proportions, six 
feet, four inches in height, and very strong and active. His father, John 
Henry Hunter, settled in Humboldt county in 1867, and his uncle. Walker 
Sanders Hunter, some years previously. They had large families, and many 
of their descendants continue to reside in the Upper Mattole district, where 
the Hunters have always been known for a high order of citizenship, capa- 
bility, sterling worth and honorable independence. 

John Henry Hunter, the elder, was born in Missouri, in which state he 
passed his early life. Coming to California in 1850, he returned to his native 
state a few years later, married there, and not long afterward moved west 
again, settling in the Sacramento valley. He mined on the Michigan bar 
until his removal to Humboldt county, in 1867. Acquiring possession of a 
nice farm in the Upper Mattole region, he devoted the remainder of his active 
years to its improvement and cultivation, and as one of the old-time settlers 
of this section should be given due credit for his share in converting it from 
its primitive condition to its present state. He died at Upper Mattole, aged 
seventy-six years. In Missouri Mr. Hunter married Miss Elizabeth Brown, 
of that state, and there the eldest of their seven children. Judge George W. 
Hunter, of Eureka, was born ; Eliza, John Henry, Sophronia and Lydia were 
born in Sacramento county ; and the other two daughters, Emma and Minnie, 
were born on the Mattole, in Humboldt county. All but one survive. 

John Henry Hunter was born in 1860 in Sacramento county, the second 
son and third child of his parents, and was seven years old when the family 
removed from the Sacramento valley to Humboldt county. They brought 
all their worldly effects on packhorses. Schools were few and far between, 
and the boy was still very young when he became familiar with the care of 
stock as his father's assistant. After he began work on his own responsibility 
he bought and sold several properties in the Elk Ridge country and the 
Mattole river valley, living upon them as convenient and operating them 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1247 

while they remained in his possession. About 1905 he bought his present 
ranch, four hundred eighty acres, several miles down the river from Petrolia, 
the old Benton place, which he runs principally as a dairy ranch. He is also 
raising fruit, having set out about two hundred apple trees, besides which he 
has a fine family orchard. Mr. Hunter is well known in this region as a 
stockman and drover, and his capacity for hard work and level head for 
business management in all his undertakings have brought him a generous 
measure of success. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party. 

Mr. Hunter was married May 16, 1889, to Miss Annie Duckett, who was 
born at Ferndale, Humboldt county, one of the eight children of William 
and Susan (Zelmon) Duckett, the former a native of Michigan, the latter 
of Oregon, where they were married. Mr. and Mrs. Duckett came to Hum- 
boldt county in 1869 and took up land near Miranda, where he died at the 
age of sixty-two years ; she passed away when fifty years old. Two of their 
sons reside in Oregon; one son died in infancy; one daughter, Mrs. Moses 
Hunter, lives at Petrolia, Humboldt county; two live at Eureka, this county, 
Mrs. Maggie Hanks, a widow, and Queenie, wife of Delphus Lambert. Mrs. 
Hunter has spent all her life in Humboldt county. No children have been 
born to her and her husband, but they have adopted a daughter, Laura, who 
is now the wife of Alonzo Smith, of Miranda, Humboldt county. 

ARCHIE A. PEPIN, manager of the F. W. Woolworth Co. store at 
Eureka, is a young man showing marked business ability and acumen. A 
native of Wisconsin, he was born at Eau Claire in 1892, the second oldest of 
a family of six children born to T. W. and Phile (Monroe) Pepin, natives of 
Marquette, Mich. The father, an electrician by trade, was formerly super- 
intendent of the street railway in Eau Claire, but is now residing in Seattle, 
Wash. 

Archie A. Pepin was educated in the schools of Eau Claire. After grad- 
uating from the high school in 1910 he entered business life, beginning his 
career in the F. W. Woolworth store in his native place. Coming to the 
Pacific coast in that year he continued with the same firm in Seattle, becoming 
assistant manager. Afterward he held the same position in the company's 
stores at Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. He was then 
selected by the company to open new stores throughout Utah, Montajia 
and Idaho, and thus established for himself a record for reliability and trust- 
worthiness. 

When the company decided on establishing a store in Eureka, Mr. Pepin 
was chosen for the position of manager, which he accepted, coming hither 
immediately and opening the new store July 3, 1914. The store is located 
on the corner of F and Third streets and is complete in its five, ten and fifteen- 
cent specialties. It is well patronized and it is safe to state that more people 
visit this store than any other in the city. Mr. Pepin takes an active interest 
in the affairs of Eureka. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the 
Eureka Development Association and the Humboldt Club. 

JOHN M. CONNICK. — One of Humboldt county's most prominent 
industries is logging and its kindred interests, and its well-wooded hills and 
dense forests have yielded many million feet of the finest lumber. When 
this industry was still in its infancy John M. Connick heard the call of the 
woods and decided to try his fortune with the men already engaged in the 



1248 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

logging business. He was born in Charlotte county, New Brunswick, Decem- 
ber 2, 1855, and received his early education in the district schools, attending 
faithfully for a number of years. In his early youth the woods exerted a 
wonderful fascination for him, and several seasons were spent in the woods 
in the east. In the summer, the camps being closed, he was employed on his 
father's farm, and thus acquired a general knowledge of farming which he 
put to use in later years. In 1874 he came to Humboldt county and for ten 
years worked in logging woods around Humboldt Bay. In 1884, with his 
brother Fred, he engaged in stock-raising at Fruitland, continuing this for 
nine years. After selling their stock John M. Connick rented the ranch and 
it is still in the hands of a tenant, although Mr. Connick still owns it. The 
ranch comprises fifteen hundred acres, well located on Eel river near McCann 
station, and is devoted to stock-raising. 

Later farming again engaged Mr. Connick's attention, and in 1893 he 
purchased twenty-seven acres of partially improved land near Metropolitan 
upon which he located. At the time of purchase .fourteen acres were im- 
proved and he immediately began to put the remainder in condition for crops. 
With several head of fine graded cattle he established the nucleus of a dairy 
business that has grown with the passing of years. The land and stock have 
both improved until he now has one of the finest places in the community. 
A part of the place is in alfalfa, and a fine orchard completes the beautiful 
ranch. Every modern improvement has been made and he has spared no 
expense to reach the high standard that he originally set for himself. 

Mr. Connick is a member of Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., of which 
he is Past Master, also member of Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M. He 
was married July 5, 1893, to Elizabeth Davis, a native of Humboldt county. 
They have an adopted boy, Lyle Preston Connick, and are educating him to 
be a credit to them. Mr. Connick is a thrifty, industrious farmer, and one of 
the most successful men in the county. His financial success and his honor- 
able name are solely due to his own untiring labor and unceasing efforts, and 
he is well liked by all with whom he comes in contact. 

ADOLPH FISHER, SR.— Born in a little village on the shores of the 
Baltic Sea in 1849, and for many years a wanderer over the face of the earth, 
following the forttmes of the sea to escape a hated service in the German 
army, from which he had deserted, and for which offense he later served a 
short term of imprisonment, Adolph Fisher has lived a life full of action and 
excitement, the quietest part of which has been the years that he has spent 
in Humboldt county, especially those since he became a tiller of the soil. For 
almost forty years he has made his home in this county and is widely known. 
Although a typical German in speech and manner, Mr. Fisher is a true Ameri- 
can at heart and a loyal son of the country and state to which he swore 
allegiance many years ago. 

The birthplace of Mr. Fisher was the city of Danzig, Prussia, where he 
was born July 9, 1849. For a few years he attended school at Danzig, but 
at the age of twelve years he gave up his schooling and Avent to work. For 
three years he carried mortar for masons. At the age of fifteen he took up 
the carpenter's trade in ship building and served three years as an apprentice 
in the shops. The following year he went to sea to complete his apprentice- 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1249 

ship, serving as the ship's carpenter, and at the age of twenty he had mastered 
his trade of ship builder. 

At this time Mr. Fisher was notified by the German government that he 
must serve in the national army, there being at that time war with Denmark. 
He therefore returned home and served for six months, and then deserted 
and again went to sea. For seven years he followed the fortunes of the sailor, 
during all that time being the only support of his widowed mother. He was 
first a common seaman, but steadily advanced and was finally given the 
berth of first mate. At one time he left the sea temporarily and worked on 
the government docks in India, having many interesting and unique ex- 
periences there. He traveled all over the world on various ships, visiting most 
of the famous seaports at various times. 

When he finally returned to Prussia Mr. Fisher was at once informed 
that he was being sought by the government as a deserter. The offense 
was punishable by some twelve or thirteen years' imprisonment, and Mr. 
Fisher determined to buy himself ofif if possible. He had saved about $1,200, 
and with this he went to the proper officials and gave himself up. .Some 
time previous to this he had met with an accident and suffered a broken leg, 
which disabled him from active service in the army. For this, and other 
reasons, a very light sentence was imposed upon him, and at the end of a 
month he was discharged. 

Soon after this Mr. Fisher was married in Hamburg, but his wife lived 
only a few years. Following her death he again took up the life of the rover, 
this time shipping on a vessel bound from Prussia to San Francisco, coming 
around Cape Horn. Arriving at San Francisco he secured employment in 
the ship yards, remaining for several months, and later was employed by the 
California Bridge Building Company, by which he was sent to Humboldt 
county to construct a bridge across Mad river. While engaged in this work 
he was offered the position of superintendent of construction by the Korbel 
Company, and so remained in the county and for seven years was with this 
company. During that time he built the wharf, sawmill and depot at Korbel. 

In 1887 Mr. Fisher returned to Prussia and was married a second time, 
later returning with his wife to California. Here he purchased property in 
the Areata bottom and engaged in farming. He cleared and improved this 
tract, but was later obliged to sell because of illness in the family. He then 
purchased his present home place on Dow's Prairie, in 1900, which at that 
time was all unimproved land. He has cleared and brought the entire tract 
under a high state of cultivation, and today it is one of the best properties 
in the vicinity. He is engaged in diversified farming and dairying, and is 
meeting with the greatest of success. At the present time Mr. Fisher's two 
sons have charge of the place, their father having recently retired from the 
active management of his affairs. 

The second marriage of Mr. Fisher w^as solemnized in Danzig, uniting 
him with Rosa Stine, who was born in Prussia March 24, 1865. Upon their 
arrival in New York City they were married again by a Catholic clergyman. 
Ten children were born of this marriage, seven sons and three daughters. 
Named in the order of their birth they are as follows : Theresa, Adolph, 
jr., Julius, Rose, Fred, Harold, Homer, Dora, Elmer and Marcus. Although 



1250 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

nearing the seventy mark, Mr. Fisher is still hale and hearty, and delights to 
recount the interesting experiences of his younger years. 

GEORGE F. REYNOLDS.— A native of California, and descended from 
one of the oldest and best known of the early pioneer families of the state, 
George F. Reynolds is today one of the influential citizens of Hydesville, 
and one of the most highly respected farmers of that district. He has spent 
his entire life time in Humboldt county, and his friends are the friends of 
his boyhood. He has always taken an active part in local affairs, being both 
broadminded and progressive, and is keenly alive to the best interests of the 
community, believing in laying a firm foundation for permanent progress and 
advancement along lines of education and development. 

Mr. Reynolds was born on the old home place near Hydesville, June 3, 
1873, the son of George W. and Susan (Kennell) Reynolds. His father was 
a native of New York and came to California in 1859, and in the fall of that 
year settled at Hydesville, where he took up a government claim and im- 
proved it for a home. Here the son, George F., was born and reared, receiv- 
ing his education in the public schools of Hydesville. There were four other 
children in the family, all girls, and all well known in this vicinity, where they 
were reared and educated. He assisted his father with the care of the farm 
and early learned the practical details of farm work. He spent twenty-fotu" 
years in Jackson county, Ore., engaged in mining, and then returned to Cali- 
fornia, and after his mother's death he purchased the interest of the other 
heirs and is now the owner of the old Reynolds homestead, where he was 
born, and here, too, his children have been born. 

The marriage of Mr. Reynolds occurred February 10, 1903, uniting him 
with Miss Helen A. Fawcett, a teacher, and a native of Cuddeback, Hum- 
boldt county. Of their union have been born three children : Erla, Susan 
and Muriel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are well known socially in Hydes- 
ville, where they have many friends. Mr. Reynolds takes an active interest 
in the development of the farming industry of the county, and is an active 
member of the Carlotta center of the Humboldt county farm bureau. 

GEORGE W. REYNOLDS.— One of the early settlers of California, 
who traveled westward across the plains with prairie schooners, experiencing 
attacks from hostile Indians on the way, was George W. Reynolds, who 
arrived at Hydesville, in Humboldt county, in October, 1859. 

Mr. Reynolds' parents were born in Vermont, his grandfather and an 
uncle both having served in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Reynolds himself 
was born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., in 1834. While a lad he went to 
Walworth county. Wis., with his parents, where he was reared and educated, 
and where, March 10, 1859, he was married to Miss Susaft Kennell, who was 
born in Seneca county, N. Y., of an early American family. Immediately 
after their marriage, in fact on the following evening, they started on the 
journey to California, coming to Hydesville. On the journey west Mr. 
Reynolds contracted chills and fever. He finally recovered, after being sick 
several years, but his illness prevented him from serving in the home militia 
against the Indians. He still owned his farm in Wisconsin, but, having used 
all of his available cash, he found employment on ranches. 

On account of the Indians the lives of the settlers were very insecure. 
It is related by old inhabitants at Rohnerville that the soldiers at Fort 



i 



HISTORrY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1251'. 

Humboldt did no duty as far as Rohnerville and Hydesville; accordingly 
many men and boys were shot and killed by the Indians, and the early, 
settlers got no respite from the ravages of the Indians until they formed them-- 
selves into a home militia and drove the savages away. 

With J. F. Myers, Mr. Reynolds purchased a farm at Hydesville, they 
being partners for fifteen years, when Mr. Reynolds bought out Mr. Myers 
and became owner of two hundred sixty-five acres, and, being a hard worker,' 
he improved his farm, erecting buildings, fences, etc. He brought into 
Humboldt county one of the first threshing machines ever used in this part 
of the country. With Mr. Myers, he ran this machine in partnership for- 
fifteen years, and the money obtained from threshing was the means of his 
getting a start. 

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. Clara, the eldest,- 
on November 13, 1881, became the wife of C. H. Bannister, a rancher of 
Hydesville, and they have four children: Leonard C, deputy sheriff and 
jailer at Eureka; Mabel, wife of W. R. Boyce, who resides at South Fork 
of Eel river and is station agent for the Northwestern Pacific at South Fork 
and recent candidate for sheriff, their children being Charles, Clara, Robert 
and Blaine; George D., living at home and learning the carpenter's trade; 
Rae, learning the butcher's trade at Shively. C. H. Bannister was born in 
Missouri, July 31, 1859, came to Hydesville when eleven years old, and now 
owns a ranch on the Van Dusen about two and one-half miles from Hydes- 
ville which he rents to a tenant ; Mr. Bannister is a Progressive, and belongs 
to the Lodge of Independent Order of Foresters at Fortuna ; he and his 
wife are members of the Christian Church at Hydesville, Mr. Bannister being 
a trustee of said church and Mrs. Bannister an active worker in the Sunday 
School and the Ladies' Aid. Annie, the second child of Mr. Reynolds, resides 
upon the old homestead. Ellen, the third daughter, became the wife of A. 
L. Walker, a butcher of Hydesville, and has three children, Jesse, Merle and 
Curtis. George F., the fourth child, is represented in a separate sketch. 
Jessie, the fifth child, is head bookkeeper for Daly Brothers, Eureka. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds were members of the Christian Church and 
brought up all their children in that faith. He was a friend of education, and 
helped to build the first schoolhouse, also both the Christian and Congrega- 
tional churches at Hydesville. Mr. Reynolds was a public-spirited man, and 
his wife was generous to a fault. She died in 1905, aged sixty-eight years. 
Mr. Reynolds died in 1903, on the George W. Reynolds homestead in Hydes- 
ville, the large farm of almost three hundred acres which is now owned and 
occupied by his son, George F. Reynolds. 

FRANK JOSEPH FLECKENSTIEN, one of the successful dairy 
farmers in Humboldt county, was born in St. Marys, Iowa, a village some 
twenty miles from Des Moines, on March 19, 1878. When he was a lad of 
but five years he came to California with his parents, who settled at Eureka. 
He received his education in the public schools of Eureka and his friends 
are the friends of a life time. At the age of fifteen years he began to work 
for his father on the ranch on Dow's Prairie. For a number of years they 
were engaged in clearing and improving the land, after which they devoted 
themselves to farming:. 



1252 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Frank J. Fleckenstien remained with his father on the home farm up 
to the time of his marriage in 1901, when he started in business for himself. 
For a number of years he contracted for teaming and hauling, but later gave 
this up and returned to the home place to engage in farming and dairying. 
This was in 1909, and Mr. Fleckenstien now has one of the most valuable 
small farms in the county. There are twenty-five acres of bottom land, all 
under cultivation. At the time of its purchase only one-half of the land was 
improved, the remaining half having been cleared since that time, and is now 
a splendid monument to the industry of its owner. The entire farm is 
especially improved for dairying purposes, and it is in this that Mr. Flecken- 
stien has specialized. He is particularly interested in improving his Jersey 
herd and has a number of head of registered stock, and is constantly adding 
to this number, as well as improving his herd generally by breeding. 

Mr. Fleckenstien, however, has not devoted himself exclusively to 
dairy-farming. He has been in the employ of the county for eight years 
as overseer for the building of roads, superintending the building of the road 
from Dow's Prairie into Light's Prairie, as well as several others. Needless 
to say, he is an enthusiastic booster for all good-roads movements, and is 
doing his full share to make Humboldt county noted for its splendid 
highways. 

On May 25, 1901, Mr. Fleckenstien was married to Emily Gladys Spald- 
ing^ a native of Portland, Ore., and born September 3, 1880. She came to 
California with her parents when she was three years of age. For a year 
the family resided at the Jolly Giants Mill, Humboldt county, and then moved 
to Areata. Here Mrs. Fleckenstien received her education and passed her 
girlhood, remaining at home with her parents until her marriage. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fleckenstien are the parents of five children, Eunice, Irwin, Lewis, 
Donald and Elaine, and the entire family are communicants of the Catholic 
Church. 

Aside from his personal business integrity, Mr. Fleckenstien is known 
as an energetic and progressive man, keenly alive to all that is of interest 
to his section of the state, and is widely and favorably known. His aged 
father, George Fleckenstien, still resides on his ranch on Dow's Prairie, while 
the father of Mrs. Fleckenstien, Shepard Spalding, is living in Areata. 

AXCEL KJER. — It is a well-known fact that, while the world at large 
is much agitated over the "back to the soil'^ movement, Humboldt county has 
all the time been quietly practicing it ; and in every part of the county are 
to be found prosperous farmers who have left their country homes for a 
period of years to engage in the pursuits of the city, and have later returned 
to take up the occupation of their fathers and are now happy tillers of the 
soil. One of these is Axcel Kjer, well known in Areata and the surrounding 
country as one of the progressive young men of the valley. He spent several 
years in clerical occupations after completing his education, both in the 
southern part of the state and in Eureka, but in the end decided in favor of 
the farm, and returning to the place of his birth, rented the old home place 
of his father, and is now one of the most prosperous farmers in the com- 
munity. 

Mr. Kjer was born on his present place near Areata, Humboldt county, 
February 7, 1887. He received his education first in the public schools of his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1253 

district, and later graduated from the business college in Eureka, in 1905. 
That same year he removed to Southern California and was employed by 
the Sun Drug Company in their Redlands store, remaining with this company 
for a year. He then returned to Eureka, where he entered the service of 
C. B. Jackson in a clothing store. By the end of a year he had tired of the 
clerical life and was ready to "return to the soil." There was a place for him 
on his father's ranch, and there he went to work. Together father and son 
were engaged in dairying and farming for a few years, meeting with much 
success. In 1912 the father retired from active business and Mr. Kjer, Jr., 
assumed full control of the farm. At the present time (1914) he is engaged 
in dairying and farming, having made a specialty of the former. He has a 
herd of twenty-three milch cows and is also interested in general stock-raising. 
The ranch consists of forty acres of improved land, which has been brought 
under a high state of cultivation, and the place is now one of the best improved 
and thoroughly up-to-date in the valley. 

The marriage of Mr. Kjer took place February 15, 1913, uniting him with 
Miss Anna N. Thompson. Mrs. Kjer, like her husband, is a native of Hum- 
boldt county, having been born in Ferndale March 17, 1890. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Kjer are well known in Areata and vicinity. Mr. Kjer politically is a 
Republican, but has never sought office, although keenly interested in all that 
pertains to the general welfare of the community. 

MADS KJER. — One of the many pioneers of Humboldt county who 
are now retired from the duties of active business life and are enjoying the 
rest and quiet to which many years of profitable labor have justly entitled 
them is Mads Kjer, well known throughout Humboldt county as a successful 
farmer. He resides on his ranch about six and one-half miles north of the 
thriving little city of Areata. He also owns his original ranch of forty acres 
fotir miles northwest of Areata, which is under the management of his son, 
Axcel Kjer, who is one of the rising generation of thrifty, successful farmers. 

Mads Kjer is a native of Denmark, born in the town of Hadeslev, Sles- 
wick, May 7, 1850. This section is now a part of the German Empire, having 
been ceded as the result of the great war between the two nations, when 
Mads Kjer was a boy. His childhood days were spent on his father's farm 
and his early education was the best that was then afforded by that district. 
At the age of sixteen he went to work with his father and gained a practical 
knowledge of farming and dairying, his father being very successful in these 
lines. In 1874 he left Germany and came to the United States, hoping to find 
greater opportunities than those offered in his native land. He came directly 
to California, and for the first year was employed on a ranch in Alameda 
county. In the fall of 1875 he came to Humboldt county, locating 
first at Rohnerville, where for a few months he was employed 
on a farm. The following year he removed to Areata, where he resided 
for a time. The next year, with his brother, he purchased the place which 
he still owns, it then comprising eighty acres of unimproved land. The work 
of clearing and improving so large a tract consumed several years, and 
later forty acres of the ranch were sold. Subsequently Mr. Kjer bought out 
his brother's interests, and he now owns forty acres, the ranch being operated 
by his son, Axcel Kjer. For a time Mads Kjer engaged in general farming, 
but later took up dairying and gave especial attention to this enterprise, 



1254 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

meeting with great success. In addition to this place he has other valuable 
property, including ninety acres upon which he resides, but which is leased. 
He is also interested in the United Creameries of Areata, being one of the 
stockholders in this enterprise. 

Aside from his business activities, Mr. Kjer has always taken a keen 
interest in all matters of public concern. He is a Republican in politics, but 
has never been especially active in party matters. He is also a prominent 
member of the German Lutheran Church in Areata. 

The marriage of Mr. Kjer took place in Ferndale, Humboldt county, 
March 5, 1883, uniting him with Cecilia Catherine Pohler, a native of Den- 
mark, born April 11, 1858. She has borne him four children, all of whom 
are living. They are: Christian Kjer, a farmer of this vicinity; Maria 
Katherine, Mrs. Minor of Riverside, Cal. ; Ann Sophia, Mrs. Hadden, residing 
on the home farm; and Axcel, managing the old home farm. They are all 
well and favorably known in Humboldt county, where they were born and 
where they received their education. 

CHARLES W. WOOD.— A native of Garberville, and one of the promi- 
nent citizens of that thriving little burg, and also of Briceland, where he 
owns real estate interests, is Charles W. Wood. Mr. Wood is the owner and 
operator of three telephone lines centering in Garberville and connecting with 
outlying points of interest, and also having connection with the Pacific Tele- 
phone and Telegraph Company, and so with the outside world. He is a 
builder and promoter of the best type, and wherever he interests himself 
in the welfare of a town or a community, such interest is certain to redound 
to the good of the general public and to the progressive improvement of the 
locality. He is a hustler, and a splendid business man, and in addition to 
his telephone lines and real estate and property interests he conducts a drug, 
notion and stationery store in Garberville. 

Mr. Wood was born in Garberville, Humboldt county, June 11, 1871. 
His father was James E. Wood, a pioneer of California, having come to 
Humboldt county in 1859, and being one of the earliest settlers in this locality. 
He was a native of Whitehall, Greene county. 111., and came first to California 
in 1858, mining in Plumas and Nevada counties, and later becoming a hunter, 
supplying provisions to the government. He came to Garberville and engaged 
in the stock business on the south fork of the Eel river, owning and operating 
a splendid ten thousand acre ranch one and a quarter miles south of Garber- 
ville for many years, which is still known as the Wood ranch. It is now 
owned by the Tooby Brothers. This is one of the handsomest properties in 
the region, and its loss, during the hard times in the panic of 1893, was a 
severe blow to Mr. Wood, and also to his son, a respected citizen of Garber- 
ville. His wife, and the mother of Charles W., was Laura Webb ; she survives 
him and now resides at Rohnerville, with one daughter; Mr. Wood passed 
away in 1910, at the age of eighty years. Of their union were born seventeen 
children, and there was one son, Wilson, born to Mr. Wood by his first wife, 
making a family of eighteen children in all. They are: Wilson, the half 
brother; Julia; Charles W. ; Mary Elizabeth; Alice, living in Rohnerville with 
her mother ; Olive and Ella, residing in Petrolia ; George, who died when 
two years old ; Nancy, who at her death left three children ; Nellie, who died 
when a baby ; Louis, who died when ten years of age ; John, residing in San 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1255 

Diego ; Delia, who died at Petrolia, at the age of fifteen ; Leora Edna ; Edith, 
residing at Hardy, Mendocino county; James, residing in Humboldt county; 
Frank, residing in Rohnerville ; and Frances, residing in the state of 
Washington. 

Charles \\\ Wood grew to manhood in Garberville, and received his 
education in the public schools of that district. The family resided on the 
ranch, and at the early age of six Charles was given a pony and learned to 
ride, assisting with the care of the sheep and cattle. He grew up in close 
association with the business of the great ranch, and from early boyhood 
assumed his share of the duties and labors thus entailed, and so has all his 
life been familiar with the details of the cattle business. 

The marriage of Mr. Wood took place in Ukiah, December 3, 1896, uniting 
him with ]Miss Lena Linser, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., the daughter of Fred 
and Caroline (Weinkauf) Linser, both well known residents of Humboldt 
county, and California pioneers. Mrs. Wood has borne her husband six 
children, two daughters and four sons, all natives of Garberville. They are: 
Leona, Ernest, Earl, Ray, Bernice and Vern Linser. 

Mr. Wood was at one time extensively interested in a multitude of 
affairs in Garberville and Briceland and the surrounding country. He is 
still interested in a store and livery in Briceland, and, until it burned down, in 
1914, he owned and ran a hotel there. 

Three local telephone lines with their central office in Garberville are 
owned and operated by Mr. Wood, and have been constructed by him. They 
are the lines connecting Garberville and Blocksburg, Garberville and Harris, 
and Garberville and Briceland. He also owns the building where the central 
office is located. This office does more business than any other office in the 
county save those at Eureka, Areata, Ferndale and Fortuna, and sometimes 
the Garberville office turns in a greater number of calls even than the 
Fortuna office. 

Aside from his extensive business interests Mr. Wood possesses a wide 
circle of social friends and acquaintances, and is very popular wherever he 
is known. He is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias at Garber- 
ville, and is chancellor of the local lodge. In politics he is a Republican, but 
he is not a strong party man, rather voting for the principle which is involved 
in the issue before the people, and to secure the right man for the place. 

JAMES WILLIAM HALE.— The general manager of the Humboldt 
Transit Company at Eureka and a man of many years of experience in the 
operation of street railways, James William Hale was born at Elk Falls, Elk 
county, Kan., May 29, 1876, the son of George W. and Mary (Harold) Hale, 
natives of Indiana. The father came to Kansas when a youth with his 
parents, locating in Coflrey county. When a lad just past seventeen years 
he enlisted in Troop I, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, serving in the 
Civil war. After the war he was engaged in stock raising in Elk county, 
Kan. It was about 1881 that he removed to Missouri, where he was engaged 
in farming and stock raising at Medoc. There the mother died in 1889, and 
the father now resides in IMuskogee, Okla. 

Of the seven children in the parental family, James W. Hale was the 
fourth oldest and is the only one living on the Pacific coast. From the age 
of five years he was brought up in Missouri, being educated in the local 



1256 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

public schools. His mother died when he was but thirteen years of age, and 
he then started out to earn his own livelihood, working on farms during 
summers and attending school through the winters until he was nineteen. 
He then proceeded to LeRoy, Kan., where he was employed at stock raising 
until May, 1898, and later he came to San Francisco with his regiment. While" 
engaged in the occupation of farming and stock raising the Spanish-American 
war broke out and he volunteered his services, enlisting in Company E, 
Twentieth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, May 2, 1898. Coming to San Fran- 
cisco with his regiment October 27, 1898, the regiment sailed for the Philip- 
pines on the transport Indiana and took part in the campaign of the Twentieth 
Kansas in the battles from the outbreak of the revolution, February 4, 1898, 
until San Fernando, June 25, 1899. He was mustered out at Manila July 28, 
1899, and honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. He reenlisted in 
Troop A, Eleventh United States Cavalry, and as sergeant continued serving 
in the Philippines, doing scout duty and participating in the several engage- 
ments of the regiment, viz. : Battle of Montalbon, December 27, 1899 ; San 
Antonio, August 4, 1900; Pagsanyan, August 20, 1900; defenses of Pagsanyan, 
September 24 and October 7, 1900. He was mustered out in San Francisco 
March 13, 1901, and received an honorable discharge. After a brief trip to his 
old home in Missouri and Kansas, he returned to San Francisco in JNIay, 1901, 
and on May 20 he entered the employ of the old Market Street Railroad. 
Feginning as conductor, he worked his way rapidly upward to motorman, 
then inspector, dispatcher ; later was in the law department, supervising and 
operating the department and becoming assistant to the general superin- 
tendent. 

November 25, 1914, Mr. Hale resigned his position to accept the office 
of general manager of the Humboldt Transit Company at Eureka. He arrived 
on November 29, 1914, and since that time he has managed the companj^'s 
affairs and traction line here. Aside from the general management of all 
the car lines in the city the company also represents the Union Oil Company 
of California, Mr. Hale handling all of that company's fuel oil sold in Hum- 
boldt county. 

Mr. Hale was married in San Francisco, being united with Miss Violet 
I. G. Jackson, a native of Honolulu, and they have one child, James W., Jr., 
a native son of Eureka. 

Mr. Hale was made a Mason in Pacific Lodge No. 136, F. & A. ^L, San 
Francisco, and is also a member of Lodge of Perfection No. 10, Scottish Rite. 
He is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In his political 
views he espouses the principles of the Republican party. 

CHRISTOPHER JOHN WEBER was born in DyerviUe, Dubuque 
county, Iowa, March 29, 1873, the son of Valentine and Barbara (Christoph) 
Weber, who were prosperous farmers in Newwine township. The father 
was township assessor for thirty-five years and there both parents passed 
away. The mother's brother, the Hon. John Christoph, was a member of 
the Iowa State Senate for two terms, and was the owner of several large 
farms in that county. 

Christopher J. Weber was the second youngest of a family of seven 
children and was reared on the Iowa farm, receiving a good education in 
the public schools and the Dyerville high school. On completing his studies 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1257 

at the latter he became employed in the sash and door factory of Farley & 
Loetchers in Dubuque, Iowa, running various machines for them for about 
four years. Hearing of better opportunities and wages to be obtained in 
the new land of California, he determined to see the Pacific coast and July 
11, 1895, found him in Visalia, Cal., where he was employed on farms for 
about two years. 

In 1897 Mr. Weber came to Eureka, Humboldt county, and was first 
employed by the Eel River Valley Lumber Company of Newberg Mills. 
Afterwards he engaged in farming on Table Bluff for two years, when he 
moved into Eureka and entered the employ of McKay & Co. at the Occidental 
mill. He has continued with the company ever since, for the last eight years 
holding the position of yard salesman, in which capacity he has established 
a good record for accuracy and reliability. He is optimistic for the future 
growth of Eureka. He has built three different residences in the city, all 
of which he has sold, besides which he owns other property here, and is 
now improving a ten-acre ranch on the Areata road at Walker's Point. On 
this property he is engaged in intensive farming and dairying. His small 
dairy herd comprises full-blooded Jersey cows. He makes his home on his 
ranch, which lies about six miles from the city, and he makes the trip morning 
and evening in his car, thus obtaining the keenest enjoyment from country life. 

Mr. Weber was married in Eureka to Miss Ella Keith, a native of the 
state of Maine, and they have one child, Mary Louise. In his political views 
Mr. Weber has always been a Republican. 

WILLIAM HENRY COLWELL was born in Princeton, Washington 
county. Me., July 29, 1855, the son of William and Dorcas (Bonney) Colwell. 
The father, who was a farmer and lumberman, died at the age of seventy-six 
years, while his wife lived to be ninety-six years of age. 

William H. Colwell was the youngest of twelve children. He received 
his education in the public schools and from a lad worked on the farm and 
in the woods with his father, continuing this until he came to California 
in 1877. He followed lumbering for the Sierra Flume Company in Tehama 
county for three summers, and then decided to try his hand at mining. In 
Tombstone, Ariz., he began prospecting, -locating and opening the Bradshaw 
mine, which proved to be a rich silver property. After about six months 
he sold it for a large sum. Following this he made a trip back to Maine, 
remaining about six months, when he returned to Tombstone, Ariz., and 
again began prospecting, but this time he did not meet with much success. 
In 1881 he proceeded to Lake Valley, New Mexico, where for three years 
he prospected and mined and did very well. 

In March, 1884, we find Mr. Colwell in Sonora, Mexico, whence three 
years later he went to Chihuahua, remaining there for seven years. Next 
he spent two years in Durango, then a like period in Costa Rica, South 
America. His next location was in El Oro, Old Mexico, where he was fore- 
man of the Esperanza mine, and while thus employed he was the victim of 
an accident that caused the loss of his left arm. By the caving in of rock 
he was buried underneath the debris. Inasmuch as a brother, Charles, and 
a sister, Mrs. Laura A. Farrar, resided in Eureka, he concluded to come to 
Humboldt county and arrived here in November, 1901. He engaged in 
teaming and ranching until June 21, 1915, when he was elected city superin- 



1258 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

tendent of streets of Eureka, and assumed the duties of his office July 12, 
1915. Since that time he has given all of his time and attention to the care 
of the city's streets. 

Mr. Colwell was married in Eureka December 12, 1906, being united 
with Miss Eva Burwell, born in Zanesville, Ohio, the daughter of Samuel 
and Malinda (Brown) Burwell, who took their family to Judsonia, Ark., and 
afterwards to Humboldt county, Cal. Mr. Burwell is now living retired. He 
served as a drummer boy in an Ohio regiment in the Civil war. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Colwell have been born three children, as follows : Ruth, John and 
Homer. He is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, L O. O. F., in Eureka, 
and is also a member of the Encampment. Politically he is a Socialist and 
it was on that party's ticket that he was elected to his present position. 

MARTIN GROSS.— Foreman of the woods for the Northern Redwood 
Lumber Company of Korbel at Camp No. 12, and a resident of Humboldt 
county since 1885, Martin Gross was born December 2, 1863, at Flekkefjord, 
Norway. His father, Edward Gross, was a native of Germany, but went to 
Norway, where he was superintendent of a manufacturing plant in Chris- 
tiansand until his death. Martin's mother was Martine Christensen, a native 
of Norway, where she was married and spent her entire life. Of her two 
children, Martin, the eldest, spent his childhood in Flekkefjord, receiving a 
good education in the public schools. When fourteen years of age, like the 
majority of the lads of that seaport town, he too went to sea, following it 
for six years and sailing to many foreign ports. On his last long voyage 
from Savannah to Liverpool in the barque St. Lawrence, owned by parties 
in Arndal, Norway, the ship was wrecked off the coast of Fleetwood, England, 
being lost, but the crew was saved. Returning to Norway, Mr. Gross followed 
the coasting trade for a time, then concluded to come to America to try his 
luck in a new country. From San Francisco he came immediately to Eureka, 
arriving May 1, 1885, and went by stage to Trinidad, where he worked in 
the woods for Peter Hansen. After continuing with that employer for two 
years he was for one year with the Excelsior mill in Eureka, and then with 
Cutten & McDonald, shingle manufacturers, a year. Following this he 
accepted a position as foreman of the bolt camp with Ole Hansen at 
Walkers Point. 

During these years Mr. Gross purchased his present ranch of fifteen 
acres near Indianola, where he built a residence and improved the place with 
a family orchard. In 1901 he resigned his place with Mr. Hansen to accept 
a place with the Northern Redwood Lumber Company of Korbel as foreman 
of the woods, and has continued with the company ever since, being now in 
charge of Camp No. 12. 

Mr. Gross was first married December 2, 1893, to Miss Mary Mullen, a 
native of County Cork, Ireland. At her death she left three children : Anna 
M., Martin E. and Ralph. Mr. Gross was married in Eureka Alay 10, 1901, 
to Miss Mathilda Nelson, also a native of Flekkefjord. After coming to the 
United States she spent nearly eight months in Wisconsin and in 1901 came 
to Eureka. Mr. and Mrs. Gross have one child, Edwin Selmar. Fraternally 
he is a member of Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., and also a member 
of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., and the Sons of Norway. In religion the 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1259 

family are Lutherans, having been reared in that faith. In politics Mr. 
Gross is a stanch Republican. 

ABRAHAM LARSEN has become prominent in the upbuilding of 
Eureka and in developing the resources of Humboldt county, being engaged 
in the manufacture of shingles, besides which he is interested in the real 
estate business. He was born in Flekkefjord, Norway, September 21, 1863. 
his father was a successful boat builder and house carpenter. As a youth 
Abraham Larsen received a good education in the public schools of his 
native place, continuing his studies until fourteen years of age, and then, as 
was the custom and ambition of lads of that seaport town, he went to sea, 
running on boats engaged in the lumber trade. During the two years that 
he followed this business he entered various European ports, and at the end 
of thi-s time concluded to come to America. The first year in this country 
was passed in Cedar Falls, Dunn county, Wis., and from there he removed 
to Eau Claire, following the lumber industry until 1884. In that year he 
came to Humboldt county, Cal., having an acquaintance here. From Eureka 
he proceeded to Trinidad, where he was employed in a shingle mill for Peter 
Hansen. Thereafter he worked in different shingle mills around Humboldt 
bay. Desiring to engage in business for himself, in 1896 he formed a partner- 
ship with four others under the name of Trinidad Manufacturing Company, 
which built a shingle mill in Trinidad with a capacity of 150,000 shingles. 
Mr. Larsen was superintendent of the mill, which was operated for seven 
years, or until 1903, when, having used up all the available timber, the 
proprietors sold out and dissolved partnership. 

Returning to Eureka, ]\Ir. Larsen engaged in the real estate business. 
He laid out the Buena Vista addition of ten acres on Hodgeson street, much 
of which has been sold and built up. In 1913 he again became interested in 
shingle manufacturing. A^'ith others he incorporated the Freshwater iNIanu- 
facturing Company, of which he is secretary. The company owns eight 
hundred seventy acres of land on Freshwater creek, where the mill is located. 
Mr. Larsen was also one of the incorporators of the Waldner Fruit and Land 
Compan}^, which owned four thousand acres of land near Fort Seward suit- 
able for horticulture, Mr. Larsen being secretary of the company. 

In Eureka in 1906 Mr. Larsen was married to Miss Mary Glatt, a native 
of Eureka and the daughter of Bartlin Glatt, a pioneer and prominent up- 
builder of Eureka. ]\Ir. Glatt was born in Baden, Germany, January 2i, 1834. 
On coming to the United States, in 1849, he went direct to St. Louis, Mo., 
where he had an uncle living. In March, 1852, he crossed the plains to Cali- 
fornia in an ox-team train, walking all of the way but one hundred miles, and 
paying the head of the train $80 for his passage. He mined for several years 
and met with good success. Returning to Illinois, he was there married to 
Henrietta Hotzen, also a native of Germany. Following their marriage they 
came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and for three years 
]\Ir. Glatt followed mining. About 1865 he came to Humboldt county and 
invested his money in real estate in Eureka. Later, selling his city property, 
he purchased one hundred sixty acres south of town, then covered with 
timber. The latter was logged and when the city expanded he laid out 
the land into blocks and acres and sold it. Most of the property is now built 
up, the forty acres remaining forming the beautiful Sequoia Park. ]\Ir. Glatt 

55 



1260 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

died in March, 1913, and his wife in April, 1915. They had a family of eight 
children. Mrs. Larsen is a graduate of the Eureka High School. 

Mr. Larsen was made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., and 
is also a member of the Sons of Norway. In religion he is a Lutheran and 
in politics a stanch Republican, always taking an active part in county politics. 

JAMES CAMPBELL COPELAND.— The foreman of the woods for 
the Elk River Lumber Company and a resident of Eureka since December, 
1883, James Campbell Copeland was born at Durham, Ormstown, Province 
of Quebec, March 6, 1860. His parents, Donald and Elizabeth (Campbell) 
Copeland, were natives of Scotland, coming to Ormstown when they were 
young folks and where they were married, rearing their family on the farm. 
They continued to make that their home until their demise. 

Of their ten children six are living, James C. being the third oldest. His 
childhood was spent on the farm, attending the local public schools and 
receiving a good education. He assisted his parents on the home farm until 
he was twenty years of age, when he resolved to come west and located in 
Carson City, Nev. There he had his first experience in the lumber industry, 
working in a sawmill and becoming edger man. In December, 1883, he arrived 
in San Francisco and from there came on immediately to Eureka, Humboldt 
county, landing from the steamer City of Chester. He at once found work 
with the Vance Lumber Company, which was then logging near Essex, and 
he continued with the company for four or five years. Next he went to work 
for McKay & Co. on Ryan slough, continuing with the company for seven 
years as head swamper. He resigned this position to accept a similar one 
with the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company and devoted his time faith- 
fully to the building of roads until May, 1903, when he was made foreman 
ot the woods, and since then has had charge of the selection, falling and 
logging of the timber. For eighteen years without interruption he has been 
with the company, doing his duty faithfully and well. 

Mr. Copeland makes his home in^ Eureka, where he built a residence at 
No. 1737 Fourth street. His marriage occurred in Eureka, where he was 
united with Miss Anna McGowan, who was born in New Brunswick and 
came to Eureka when a child with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have 
three children, James Leland, Zelda and Elinore. In his political views Mr. 
Copeland believes in the principles of the Republican party as being for the 
best interest of the greatest number of people. 

WILBUR P. WEST. — Another of the prominent dairymen and stock 
raisers of Humboldt county is Wilbur P. West, of Waddington, where he 
owns a d^iry farm of ten acres and operates twenty-three acres, making up 
in care and application for the deficiency in acreage, and is making a success 
of his undertaking. He also owns a ranch of one hundred sixty acres in the 
hills near Ferndale, which he devotes to the raising of live stock. He is a 
man who has always been noted for his close attention to his business affairs, 
and for practically his entire life he has been associated with dairy enter- 
prises and the breeding of stock, in both of which lines he is proficient and 
well informed. He considers the dairy industry the safest in which one can 
engage, and also is certain that Humboldt county is peculiarly fitted for this 
industry. He is very popular among his neighbors and friends, much loved 
by the members of his family, and respected by all who know him. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1261 

Mr. West is a native of California, born in Marin county, December 17, 
1870. His father, W. O. West, who was then engaged in dairy farming in 
Marin county, came to Humboldt county in 1873 and settled at West Point, 
Pacific township, and for nine years ran a part of the Russ ranch known 
as West Point. A native of Bangor, Me., during his earlier years W. O. 
West followed the sea, commencing as a cabin boy as soon as he was old 
enough to hold such a position, and when he was thirty-five years of age he 
was made captain of a sailing vessel. He plied up and down the Atlantic 
coast and to the A'Vest Indies, and at one time owned a half interest in a 
sailing vessel of which he was first mate. This vessel was wrecked, and with 
it went the fortune that the young mate had accumulated, as there was no 
insurance. He died in Humboldt county in 1907, at the age of seventy-four 
years. The mother was Miss Mary J. Bishop in her maidenhood, and a 
native of St. Johns, New Brunswick, and now a resident of Eureka. There 
were five children in the family, Wilbur P. being the second born. Of the 
others, E. B., the eldest son, is a carpenter in Eureka ; E. C. is a street car 
conductor, also living in Eureka; W. O. is employed in the Libby, McNeill 
& Libby creamery at Loleta ; and Bertha E. is the wife of John Reynolds, a 
teamster, of Fortuna. 

The boyhood of Mr. West was spent on a dairy farm and he early 
mastered the details of the business. Practically his entire life has been 
passed in Humboldt county, and he has always been more or less closely 
connected with the dairy and stock business. He is classed among the well 
informed men in the community, and his opinion on questions pertaining to 
this industry is worthy of consideration. In 1911 he purchased the property 
on which he now resides. His wife owned five acres at this place, and he 
bought another tract of the same size, and also rents an additional tract 
of thirteen acres. Besides caring for this ranch, on which he has eight cows, 
he manages his foothill stock farm, near Ferndale. 

Mr. West and Mrs. Emma Frost were married in Eureka in 1906. She 
is the daughter of John Reynolds and was born in Amador county. By her 
first marriage she was the mother of one child, a son, Robert Frost, of 
Ferndale. Both Mr. and Mrs. West have many friends in Waddington and 
vicinity, where they are well and favorably known. Mr. West is a member 
of the Modern Woodmen of America at Fortuna. In his political views he is 
a Republican. 

C. S. EPPS. — It would be impossible to make extended mention of either 
the Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia or the Holmes Eureka Lumber Com- 
pany, whose extensive holdings are in this county, without considerable 
reference to C. S. Epps, whose association with the former great corporation 
lasted for twenty-three years and was conducive to the profitable develop- 
ment of the holdings of the company. Since 1910, however, he has been 
foreman of the latter company, whose saw and shingle mills are located at 
Eureka, while the lumber lands and camps are near Carlotta. His intimate 
association for so many years with the lumber industry of the count)^ has 
enabled him to be of great value to his company, whose extensive interests 
he looks after with such profitable results. The Holmes Eureka Lumber 
Company have a private track running from their camp to the mills, which 
conveys the logs on cars. Everything about the camp is neat and methodical ; 



1262 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUx\TY 

the sanitary conditions are of the best and indeed the entire plant contains 
such modern improvements as reflect the systematic and orderly oversight 
of Mr. Epps. The laborers are comfortably housed and during the busy 
season they are able to care for one hundred fifty men in their snug bunk 
houses. Mr. Epps is a man who is never idle, occupying his quiet moments 
with reading the best current magazines and daily newspapers. A man 
broad and charitable in his views, he has aided every movement for the 
advancement of education, morality or the well-being of his community. He 
is very optimistic as to the future of Humboldt county and is the owner of 
twenty-four acres of fertile land, set out to fruit ; owns a quarter section of 
valuable timber land and a most comfortable residence at No. 1206 M street. 
Eureka, where he resides with his family. 

It was but natural that young Epps should show skill as a woodsman 
when a mere lad, for he was brought up to a thorough knowledge of the 
business by his father, Philo Epps, a prominent logging contractor of New 
Brunswick, where C. S. was born at St. George, August 20, 1862. His first 
work in the woods was in his native place, where he was employed by his 
brother Henry, who for eighteen years was foreman of the river drive. 
Although the youngest man in the camp he was a hard worker, and the 
practical experience which he gained was of great value to him in later 
years. The parental family numbered ten children, five sons and five daugh- 
ters, of whom C. S. was next to the youngest. The father lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-two years. 

Mr. Epps came to California in 1886, locating in Humboldt county, and 
from the years 1887 to 1892 scaled logs for the Pacific Lumber Company. He 
became an expert in thus preparing the logs and was advanced from time 
to time until made foreman of the company, which he served in this responsi- 
ble position for over twenty years. The lady who became his wife, in 1887, 
was Miss May Donaldson, a native of Ottawa, where her father, Robert 
Donaldson, was foreman of a flour mill for twenty-five years. To them have 
been born four children. Franklin P. married Ethel Zane and makes his 
home in Eureka, where he is employed in driving the Smythe auto bus south 
from Fort Seward. Irene is still at home with her parents. A. Bryan, who 
was graduated from high school with the class of 1911, is running a logging 
donkey in the camp of which his father is foreman. Donald, the youngest 
of the family, is prosecuting his studies in the schools of Eureka. 

HON. THOMAS HENRY SELVAGE.— The life of ex-Senator Selvage, 
of Eureka, now assistant United States Attorney, with headquarters at San 
Francisco, affords the interesting and admirable spectacle of a straightforward 
adherence to principles of right and -justice, making possible a rise from 
obscurity into political and professional prominence. Exemplifying in his 
career the lofty ideals characteristic of generations of ancestors identified 
with the early upbuilding of New England, he has the heritage of rugged, 
positive mental traits that form the foundation of all permanent national 
progress. The sterling qualities that were his by inheritance became deepened 
and broadened through his own early experiences of self-denial and privation 
amid the rigorous climatic conditions existing along the northern boundaries 
of Maine. It was not until seventeen years of age that he left Aroostook 
county, that state, where he was born April 22, 1857, and came with his 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1263 

parents to the more genial climate of the Pacific coast. Thus his identifica- 
tion with Humboldt county dates back to 1874. For a time he studied in the 
Areata public school and later he attended St. Louis College in British 
Columbia. 

An ardent desire to take up the study of the law was delayed in its fulfill- 
ment only until the necessary expenses could be met by personal efforts and 
protracted continuance at other employment as a means of raising the little 
fund of capital. Having studied law in the office of J. D. H. Chamberlain 
of Eureka, Mr. Selvage passed a very creditable examination and was admit- 
ted to the bar in March, 1888, since which time he has practiced in the courts 
of the state. During his active association with the Eureka bar he was first 
in partnership w4th Denver Sevier as a member of the firm of Selvage & 
Sevier, then with Judge C. H. Connick under the title of Selvage & Connick, 
and lastly with Charles P. Cutten as Selvage & Cutten. He entered pro- 
fessional work with a mind well equipped by thoughtful study of the law. 
In the later handling of many cases he acquired a grasp of legal technicalities, 
a quickness in reasoning and a breadth of knowledge that easily place him 
in the foremost ranks of the attorneys of Northern California. 

From the outset of his professional career Mr. Selvage has been a party 
leader among the Republicans and from 1887 to 1891 he served as secretary 
of the county central committee, while in the latter year his party elected 
him to the offfce of district attorney in Humboldt county. Again in 1899 
he was the choice of his party to represent the first senatorial district in the 
state senate. Elected by a fair majority, he served with such zeal and 
efficiency that he was chosen to be his own successor and thus continued in 
the office for two terms. Meanwhile in 1902 he had carried his county as 
a candidate for congress, but had suffered defeat in other parts of the district. 
The period of his service in the senate stands out for devotion to the interests 
of his constituents. To him was due the credit for the passage of bills for 
improving the condition of the lumbermen in the California redwoods. The 
credit also belongs to him of introducing and securing the passage of the 
bill for the building of the Trinity highway. The first appropriation received 
in California for river improvement was secured by him in the interests of 
Eel river improvement, and he also merits the credit for the passing of the 
bill for the survey of that stream, and for the protection of its banks. Resigning 
from the senate in 1906, he accepted the office of postmaster at Eureka and 
continued in that capacity for five years. In 1912 he was appointed assistant 
United States attorney and has since filled that office, making his head- 
quarters in San Francisco. 

No measure for the permanent advancement of Humboldt county has 
lacked the hearty cooperation of ex-Senator Selvage, who has the distinction 
of having organized the Chamber of Commerce of this county and also of 
officiating as its first secretary. Not the least of his interests is that of 
horticulture. Recognizing the adaptability of the soil to fruit-growing, he 
has made a special study of the kinds of fruit best suited to the land and 
by his intelligent efforts along this line has promoted the welfare of the entire 
county. Other resources of the county also have been studied by him with 
the intention of putting them to practical use, should they prove available 
for profitable development. By his marriage in 1890 to Luna May Shattuck, 



1264 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., he has two children, namely: Merle M., 
born in 1891, and Eugene S., in 1896. His fraternities are the Elks and Odd 
Fellows of Eureka. The qualities that have brought him prestige in public 
life have made him a conspicuous figure in fraternity organization and have 
led to his selection for the important office of grand master of the grand 
lodge of Odd Fellows in the state of California, a post in which his splendid 
qualities of mind and heart, his ability in organization, his tact as a leader 
and his skill as a parliamentarian and executive have been brought into con- 
stant and successful use. 

• MONTE LUCAS. — As one of those who has wrested a competence and 
standing out of his own appreciation of opportunities, Mony Lucas, as he 
is familiarly called, is entitled to the credit so readily accorded by all who 
are familiar with his earlier struggles with adversity. He was born December 
29, 1893, at Scotland, S. Dak., and there remained with his parents, Jacob 
and Catherine Lucas, until their removal to California, at which time they 
located at Santa Rosa. They are residents of Sonoma county at the present 
time, where the father is the owner of a valuable vineyard. 

When in his teens Monte Lucas temporarily suspended his education 
m the public schools, because of the necessity of beginning to think about 
his own support. He therefore started out to learn the carpenter's trade, and 
after completing the same continued to work thereat for five years. During 
this time he was employed by his brother, who had the contract for building 
a Carnegie library. While on a hunting trip Mr. Lucas and his brother-in- 
law, L. E. McConly, visited Humboldt county, and so favorably were they 
impressed with the opportunities offered those engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, that Mr. McConly purchased a tract of two hundred acres, near Blocks- 
burg, and engaged Mr. Lucas to manage the same. This he did with un- 
qualified success for one year, when he came to Blocksburg and entered the 
employ of the Helmke Mercantile Company in the capacity of clerk. His 
upright business methods and high regard for the success of his employers 
have won for him an enviable standing and many friends. In March, 1915, he 
was made manager of the company's office at Fort Seward, a promotion 
which demonstrates the regard in which he is held by his employers. He is 
associated with the Fraternal Order of Eagles, holding mernbership with the 
lodge at Santa Rosa. His marriage with Miss Nola Canon, of Trinity county, 
was celebrated July 1, 1914. 

FREDERICK A. TUTTLE.— One of the most interesting ranches in 
southern Humboldt county is the Tuttle place, about ten miles northeast of 
Harris, developed by Lucius C. Tuttle, who still retains the ownership 
though he lives retired at Eureka, the management being now in the hands 
of his son, Frederick A. Tuttle. This extensive estate comprises about five 
thousand acres, well improved as to buildings and equipment, but little cul- 
tivated, most of the land being devoted to grazing purposes for the four 
thousand sheep usually pastured there. 

Lucius C. Tuttle was born April 29, 1837, at Brockport, N. Y., and was 
only about four years old when his parents moved out to Illinois, settling 
at Plainfield, in Will county. He obtained his education in the common 
schools and academies there, and in young manhood learned the carpenter's 
trade, which proved extremely useful in his later experience in California. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1265 

On May 29, 1860, he married Miss Leah J. Rutan, a native of New Jersey, 
born August 17, 1837, and in 1862 they started across the plains to California. 
After working at his trade a short time Mr. Tuttle engaged in farming along 
the Cosumne river. .A few years later he removed to Mendocino county, in 
March, 1865, settling on a stock ranch of five hundred forty acres there, where 
he continued to make his home for the fifteen years following. Meantime, in 
1867, he was appointed postmaster at the Sherwood Valley office in Mendo- 
cino county, being the first to hold the office at that point. When he. moved 
riprthward into Humboldt county he spent a number of years in the improve- 
ment of the valuable property he had acquired, moving to Eureka when he 
retired from its active 'management. The buildings on this place, all con- 
structed under his direction, are notably substantial and convenient in 
arrangement, so well finished that they have needed little repairing in all 
these years, and so suitable for their various purposes that they attract the 
attention at once as eminently fitting in every particular. They have been 
erected on solid stone foundations, and the forethought and extreme care 
which Mr. Tuttle gave to their proper construction have been more than 
repaid in the years of service already had, and the many years for which 
they will undoubtedly be sound. The large frame barn, built of hewn native 
timbers, and splendidly framed, mortised and joined together with wooden 
pins (after the fashion of Mr. Tuttle's New Jersey ancestors), is the principal 
farm building, and has its full complement of ranch buildings, sheds, smoke- 
house, etc. ; the sheep shearing, wool compress and ware house, all one large 
building, is most commodious, having room for ten shearers to work at once. 
The dwelling house is roomy and equipped with modern plumbing through- 
out for hot and cold water service, supplied from a nearby spring which was 
walled up and provided with a hydraulic ram, throwing an abundance of 
pure spring water into a large tank, whence it is drawn for household uses. 
The surplus water is diverted to the vegetable and horticultural gardens, 
which aft'ord a luxuriant supply of berries of all kinds and choice vegetables 
for the home table. In this mountain section cherries, peaches, apples, plums, 
grapes and pears reach an exceedingly high standard of flavor and color, and 
the forty acres of the ranch under cultivation yield abundantly. 

About four thousand sheep is the average amount of stock kept on the 
Tuttle ranch, and large quantities of wool and mutton on the hoof are sold 
annually. The bountiful provisions for home comforts as well as business 
arrangements on this place are reminders of the old days when ranchmen 
were dependent almost entirely on the products of their own estates. The 
choicest home-cured hams and bacons are on hand all the year round, and 
it is not uncommon for the host to treat his visitors to a feast of venison, for 
deer in considerable numbers still frequent the vicinity. 

Frederick A. Tuttle has lived on this place for the last thirty-one years. 
He was the only child of his parents, born February 18, 1863, in Sacramento 
county, and was very young when the family settled in Mendocino county, 
where he grew to young manhood on his father's stock ranch. He had the 
advantages of the local public schools, attending high school at Ukiah, and 
rich practical experience in the work which he has adopted, having been 
familiar with ranch operations from boyhood. As his father's assistant for 
years he had the benefit of thorough training under a most successful stock- 



1266 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

man, so that his capability is as much the result of education as inheritance. 
His faculty for keeping things in "apple-pie order" is a large item in economy 
of operative labor as well as expenditure, and he has shown extraordinary 
executive ability in facilitating work at the seasons best adapted for its 
accomplishment. Personally, Mr. Tuttle is a man of honest opinions and 
generous nature which have attracted many friends to him in the course of 
his busy life. 

Mr. Tuttle married Miss Florence Torrey, of Eureka, Humboldt county, 
daughter of the late A. W. Torrey, one of the most popular public men of 
that city, where he was twice elected mayor, serving with distinguished 
ability. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle reside at the ranch. 

LUTHER DRURY GRAETER.— Humboldt county has her share of 
selfmade men, prominent among whom is L. D. Graeter, a native of Vermont, 
having been born in Highgate, Franklin county, July 28, 1862, the son of 
Augustus F. and Emily Munson (Drury) Graeter, born in AUentown, Pa., 
and Highgate, Vt., respectively. The grandfather, Augustus Graeter, a native 
of Germany, settled at AUentown, Pa., where he married Sarah Hoffman, a 
native of that place. They removed to Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, 
where Mr. Graeter improved a farm on the Western Reserve, upon which 
he and his wife spent their last days. The place is now a part of the city 
of Warren. The maternal grandfather, Luther K. Drury, was also a native 
of Vermont and was a farmer there all his days. He was descended from 
an old Massachusetts family, which migrated from England to the colony in 
its early settlement. 

Augustus F. Graeter was reared in Ohio. Soon after his marriage to 
Miss Drury he went to Denver, Colo., where he followed mining, and about 
a year later found his way to the new mining region of Alder Gulch, Territory 
of Montana, crossing the plains with ox teams. Later, in 1864, his wife and 
little son Luther joined him, making the trip by steamboat from St. Louis to 
Fort Benton, the head of navigation, being about five weeks en route, thence 
by ox teams to Alder Gulch. In 1865 they removed to Bannack, Mont., where 
the father mined and also engaged in merchandising, being the junior partner 
in the firm of Smith & Graeter, until Mr. Smith's death, when the business 
was sold out and the partnership dissolved. He then continued mining and 
ranching in partnership with his son Luther. This has been his life work, 
being still interested in mining though he now lives retired in Dillon, Mont., 
at the age of eighty-two years. His wife died about 1881, at the age of 
forty-two years. Of the children comprising their family two attained 
maturity and are now living, Luther D., the subject of this sketch, and 
Blanche Alice, Mrs. C. E. Falk of Eureka. 

Though he was born in the Green Mountain state, the early life of 
Luther D. Graeter was passed at Bannack, Mont., where he was taken by 
his mother at the age of three years. The facilities for an education in a 
mining territory are far from the best at any time, but fifty years ago they 
were meager indeed. It was under such conditions that L. D. Graeter under- 
took to secure an education, but notwithstanding the unfavorable outlook 
he made the most of the opportunities offered. When thirteen years of age 
he went to Syracuse, N. Y., where he attended Putnam College, from there 
going to the Warren (Ohio) High School for about one year, after which he 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1267 ' 

attended Notre Dame College at Montreal, Canada, for a year. Later he 
was privileged to attend the Pennsylvania Military Academy at Chester, Pa., 
for one year, going from there to AVorthington University at St. Louis, Mo. 
He was in the latter part of his second year when he was called home on 
account of the death of his mother. His business career began at this time, 
when he took up mining and stock raising with his father, they owning a 
large cattle ranch on Horse Prairie. 

L. D. Graeter carried on mining in their old properties in Bannack under 
the title of the Pioneer Ditch Company, operating by hydraulics until the 
property was reorganized as the Chicago Gold Dredging Company, in which 
he and his father retained a large interest. They installed not only the first 
successful gold dredge in that state, but the first installed anywhere that made 
a success of saving the gold. The dredge was named the A. F. Graeter and 
continued in operation until the ground was all worked. During these years 
L. D. Graeter was superintendent of the property, giving up the position only 
when the work was all accomplished. In the meantime, in 1885, he had made 
his first trip to California and in 1886 he came to Humboldt county. For a 
time he was in the employ of Isaac Minor of Areata at the Glendale mill, 
later becoming manager of the Glendale & Warren Creek mills, a position 
which he held for a period of ten years. 

During this time Mr. Graeter was married in Areata, January 13, 1887, 
being united with Miss Bertha Augusta Minor, the daughter of Isaac Minor, 
the pioneer lumber manufacturer of Areata, whose sketch appears elsewhere 
in this work. Mrs. Graeter was born near Areata and received her education, 
in the public schools of that city and at Mills Seminary at Oakland. 

After ten years in the lumber business Mr. Graeter retired to Montana 
to resume mining, which resulted in the dredging of the ground as stated 
above. After completing it he engaged in merchandising in Dillon, Mont., 
under the name of the Graeter Grocery Company. He continued in the 
management of this business for eight years, when he resigned to return to 
Humboldt county, retaining his interest, however, until 1913, when he sold 
out. Meantime, in 1906, he returned to Humboldt county and engaged in 
merchandising and farming at McKinleyville, continuing in business there 
for nine years, when he sold both mercantile establishments as well as the 
farm and located in Areata, where he now resides, finding his time fully 
occupied in looking after his interests. He is still interested in mines in 
Montana, as well as Alaska. His farm at McKinleyville ultimately became 
one of the show places of the county, a specialty being made of horticulture 
and poultry. The poultry yards were the most extensive and modern in 
the county. 

Mr. Graeter was made a Mason in Areata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M.,- 
in 1888, and is a member of Eureka Chapter No. 53, R. A. M. He was raised 
to the Knights Templar degree in Santa Rosa Commandery, afterwards was 
a member of St. Elmo Commandery at Dillon, Mont. He is now a member 
of Eureka Commandery No. 39, K. T., and a life member of Islam Temple, 
A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco. He is further affiliated with Lodge No. 
652. B. P. O. E., at Eureka. With his wife he is a member of the Episcopal 
Church at Areata. 



1268 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

To Mr. and Mrs. Graeter were born six children, as follows : Emily 
Drury, who died at two years of age ; Fred Saxe, an apprentice machinist 
with the United Verde Copper Company at Jerome, Ariz. ; Margaret Bertha ; 
Lucile Drury ; William Keith, and Luther Augustus. 

ALBA G. ROBINSON.— One of the venerable residents of Humboldt 
county is Alba G. Robinson, who has been settled on his farm in Hydesville 
township for thirty-five years. He has made a thorough success of its im- 
provement and cultivation, and has long been regarded as one of the sub- 
stantial citizens of his section, where his industrious life and integrity of 
character command universal respect. 

Mr. Robinson is a native of Livingston county, N. Y., born August 4, 
1829, son of Richard and Charlotte (Green) Robinson. His parents were 
both born in Vermont, but moved from that state in early life, the father 
following farming and the lumber business in New York. He had every 
promise of a successful career when death took him, in his prime, at the 
age of forty-five. Alba G. Robinson remained at home until eighteen years 
of age, when he began farming on his own account, having been trained to 
that vocation from boyhood. He was thus engaged in New York state until 
1856, in which year he moved to Illinois, locating at Rockford. From that 
place he enlisted, September 2, 1862, in the Union service, joining the Seventy- 
fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was attached to the command of 
Gen. J. C. Davis and saw service in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and 
Alabama. Mr. Robinson was with his company in its various operations in 
this territory, and among the important engagements in which he took part 
were those at Nashville, Franklin (Tenn.) and Stone River. Receiving an 
honorable discharge he returned to Illinois, but did not remain there long 
afterward, disposing of his holdings and moving to Iowa. There he made a 
settlement in Story county, where he lived until shortly after his marriage, 
he and his wife coming to California almost immediately thereafter. They 
at once took up their residence in Humboldt county and have since been 
citizens thereof. During the first two years Mr. Robinson had a hotel at 
Blue Lake, whence he moved to Rohnerville in the fall of 1873. Six years 
afterward he purchased the property in Hydesville which has since been his 
home, a tract of one hundred fifty-six acres in the vicinity of Scotia, pro- 
vided with comfortable improvements and well adapted to general agricul- 
ture, to which all but the four acres set out in fruit is devoted. Mr. Robinson 
has attended strictly to his work and to his private affairs, but though his 
disposition has made him prefer a quiet life it is through no lack of public 
spirit, for whenever occasion offers he is ranged on the side of right and 
good government. His integrity and honorable dealings in his relations 
with his fellowmen are sufficient to entitle him to be classed with the 
worthiest citizens of his community. Politically he votes with the Republican 
party, but takes no further part in its activities. 

Mr. Robinson was married in Story county, Iowa, to Miss Mattie E. 
Ward, who was born in 1839 in Ohio, daughter of James L. Ward, who died 
in 1855 in Ohio, where he had settled in young manhood ; he was a native of 
Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have had four children : William A. ; 
Minnie C. ; Hattie. who married U. Steward; and Georgia, who inarried 
William Holton. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1269 

JAMES A. YOUNG, M.D.— Among the younger generation of physicians 
and surgeons who have achieved success in northern California is James A. 
Young, M. D., of Alton, Humboldt county. Dr. Young was the descendant 
of eastern forebears, and himself was a native of that section, his birth occur- 
ring in Boston, Mass., September 20, 1869. He was primarily educated in 
the common schools of that city, and subsequently graduated from the 
Latin scientific course of the East Greenwich Institute in Rhode Island, 
receiving his diploma in 1890. For some time he had cherished a desire to 
take up the medical profession as his life work, and it was following his 
graduation from the institution just named that he set about his medical 
studies in earnest. He was fortunate in securing as preceptor Dr. J. M. 
Solomon, a physician of high repute in Boston, and after studying under him 
for some time he entered the medical department known as Tufts Medical 
School in Boston, a branch of Tufts University in that same city, and in 
June, 1897, he completed his course and received his diploma. 

Dr. Young's first professional work was as examining physician in the 
Spanish-American war service, stationed at Boston, and later he was sent 
west and examined for the service in different towns in Colorado and Wyom- 
ing, and still later was sent to the Presidio at San Francisco for examination 
also. The test proved satisfactory and he became a surgeon in the marine 
service. During the time he was in the service, from 1900 until the latter 
part of 1904, he visited Central and South America, Mexico, Japan, Honolulu, 
the Philippine Islands, Hong Kong, China, and all sections of eastern Asia. 
After resigning from the service in 1904, he took up private practice, locating 
in San Francisco and continuing there for about nine years, during which 
time he built up a large practice. It was following this that he came to Alton, 
Humboldt county, which has since been the scene of his professional labors. 

In 1904 Dr. Young was married to Mrs. Florence (Morris) Berringer. 
In the line of his profession Dr. Young is affiliated with the Humboldt County 
Medical Association, the State of California Medical Association, and the 
Americal Medical Association. His fraternal affiliations include membership 
in the Druids, Knights and Ladies of Security, Daughters of Liberty, and the 
United Order of American Mechanics. Mrs. Young is a member of the 
Rebekah Lodge at Hydesville. 

While in San Francisco Dr. Young became interested in a drug store, 
the St. Ann Pharmacy, at Twenty-ninth street, and he still retains this 
interest, his partner, however, having the entire management of the store. 
Not all of Dr. Young's interests have been mentioned until something has 
been said regarding his accomplishments in the matter of fire protection to 
his home city. He it was who organized what is known as the baby fire 
department, the name indicating that it was the first attempt at fire protec- 
tion in the city, and he was also instrumental in organizing a company at 
Hydesville. Each company comprises about twenty members, and each 
company is fully equipped with hose. Still another enterprise that has 
materialized through the efiforts of Dr. Young is the Eel River Valley 
Chamber of Commerce, which was organized in 1914. 



1270 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

CLARENCE JOHN McCONNAHA.— Born in Areata, Humboldt county, 
January 6, 1877, Clarence John McConnaha received his education in the 
public schools of his native village, graduating from the grammar school, and 
afterward, there being no high schools in the county, taking a course in a 
business college in Eureka. Here he graduated in 1895, and immediately 
started out for himself, his first employment being vv^ith the shingle mills of 
the Humboldt Manufacturing Company. This work was congenial and 
profitable, and young McConnaha remained with this company for ten years, 
being promoted several times and otherwise receiving acknowledgment of 
the confidence which was reposed in him by his employers. He did not feel 
content, however, to remain indefinitely in the capacity of a hixed employe, 
and in April, 1904, he resigned his position and opened a general merchandise 
store in Trinidad. This he owned and operated independently for a number 
of years with great success, but in October, 1909, he entered into partnership 
with his brother, Burr P. McConnaha, the firm since being known as Mc- 
Connaha Brothers Company. The business has since been enlarged and 
extended and many improvements made, until at the present time it is one 
of the largest and best equipped general merchandise stores in the county, 
with a thoroughly up-to-date stock of goods in every department. The 
brothers, both of whom are natives of Humboldt county, have many interests 
in common, and together they are accumulating a vast amount of property 
which is constantly increasing in value. They are joint owners of a livery 
business which is one of the most flourishing, as well as one of the largest, in 
the county. In connection with this they own and operate several stage 
lines, all of which are profitable investments. Together they have built, 
own and operate a shingle mill which is one of the most modern and complete 
plants of its kind in the county, in connection with which they also own and 
operate an aerial cable line which runs from Trinidad into the woods. 

One of the most valuable pieces of real estate owned by Mr. McConnaha 
and his' brother is a ranch on the Klamath river, which they purchased in 
May, 1909. Here they originally engaged exclusively in stock raising, but 
at the present time a tract of one hundred acres is under a high state of 
cultivation. As an experiment, and one which is being watched with great 
interest by horticulturists all over this part of the state, two hundred walnut 
trees were set out in 1912, and dairying is also followed on a small scale. 
The entire property is of great value, and rapidly becoming more so. 

On March 18, 1900, C. J. McConnaha was married to Miss Rose Cakasch, 
in Areata, then the home of the bride. Mrs. McConnaha was born in the 
town of Salmon Creek, Humboldt county, July 22, 1881, and in September 
of that same year her parents removed to Areata, where she resided until 
the time of her marriage. She has borne her husband one child, a daughter 
named Greta. 

Mr. McConnaha has always been interested in all matters that pertain 
to the public welfare of his community. In politics he is a Republican, but 
in practice he is first of all a good citizen, placing the welfare of the public 
before all other considerations. For some time he has served ably as a 
school trustee in his district, and is also a member of the town board of 
trustees, and is now president of that body. Another phase of social activity 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1271 

which appeals strongly to Mr. McConnaha lies in the affairs of the local 
parlor of the Native Sons, of which he is a charter member. 

LEONARD A. ROBERTSON.— Though still a young man, Leonard 
A. Robertson has been managing the large sheep ranch owned by the family 
in southern Humboldt county for the last twenty years, during which time 
he has maintained the best traditions of the name, which has been synony- 
mous with success in the sheep raising industry from the early days. Owing 
to his father's untimely death, Mr. Robertson assumed the responsibilities 
of the large property at an early age, and proved equal to its many demands. 
Now he has one of the model estates of the region, he and his neighbor, Mr. 
Tuttle, being looked, up to as the leaders in their line in this section. A 
p.umber of ranchers have abandoned sheep raising as unprofitable, but Mr. 
Robertson has found local conditions exceptionally favorable, as his prime 
stock shows. He produces high-grade wool and mutton in large quantities. 
The improvements on the ranch, which comprises fifty-five hundred acres 
particularly valuable for grazing purposes, are so in keeping with all the 
requirements, and so complete in their provision for the comfort of the family 
and facilitating ranch operations, that even the casual visitor is impressed. 

The Robertson family is undoubtedly of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Robert- 
son's grandfather settled near Bridgeville in the early period of the develop- 
ment of Humboldt county, became a large landowner and engag-ed exten- 
sively in sheep raising. His son Alexander Robertson, father of Leonard 
A. Robertson, was born at Crescent City, Cal., and died at the age of 
thirty-five years. By that time he had succeeded in laying the foundations 
of the substantial possessions which his wife and children now have in the 
ranch in southern Humboldt county, having commenced the improvement 
of the tract and the raising of sheep. He had married Miss Belle Ferrier, 
who still survives with the five children born of their union : Leonard A. ; 
Margaret, wife of Thomas Tobin, of Garberville, manager of the Garber- 
ville Mercantile Company ; Gertrude, who is unmarried and lives with her 
mother at Santa Rosa, Cal.; Clara, unmarried, who is a teacher at Santa 
Rosa ; and Florence, wife of A. E. Connick, manager of the Russ meat 
market at Eureka, where they reside. 

Leonard A. Robertson was born January 18, 1876, on the ranch where he 
now resides, and spent his early years here, beginning his education in the 
public schools of the home district, later attending at Rohnerville, and 
then taking his high school course at Oakland, whither his mother removed 
to give her family high school advantages. He graduated in December, 
1894, since when he has been giving his time to the management of the 
Robertson ranch, which he owns in partnership with his mother and four 
sisters. It is a little over three miles east of Garberville, on the Harris 
road, and eighty-three miles south of Eureka, the county seat. Three 
thousand grade sheep. Merinos, interbred with Shropshires, is the average 
grazed upon this property, and nothing is left undone to keep them in 
proper condition to insure wool and mutton of the best quality. The pasture 
is all that could be desired, the sheep yards and shearing pens are well 
arranged, and there are all the conveniences that modern ingenuity has 
devised and prosperity makes possible, the whole making an independent 
establishment complete of its kind. Being a mechanic of considerable ability 



1272 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

and practical attainments, Mr. Robertson has probably paid more attention 
to such details than the average agriculturist, having tools and shop for doing 
carpenter and ordinary blacksmith work. Like his father and grandfather 
he is noted for integrity in all his transactions, and he pays the strictest 
attention to everything that concerns his business interests. 

The Robertson ranch is well equipped with buildings, including a fine 
residence and barns. There are a fine family orchard and vegetable garden, 
as well as other conveniences which contribute to make the place delightful 
as a residence. On September 14, 1905, Mr. Robertson married Miss Grace 
Orcutt, who was born at San Francisco and reared at Oakland, and they 
have two children, Leonard and Claire. Mrs. Robertson has spent all her 
life in California, was educated at Oakland, and is a representative "native 
daughter," her generous, lovable character and sensible womanliness attract- 
ing many friends in the locality where her married life has been spent. She 
is thoroughly devoted to her home and family, but also interested in the 
social life of the community, where her many fine traits gained her a warm 
welcome. Mr. Robertson is a member of the Knights of Pythias, belonging 
to the lodge at Garberville ; he is a Republican on political questions. 

NEWELL M. PALMER. — A member of the board of education in 
Eureka, president of the Eureka trades council, and a resident of Humboldt 
county since 1889, Newell M. Palmer was born in Alton, 111., January 5, 1855, 
the son of John Allison Palmer. The latter was born in Kentucky and immi- 
grated to Greenfield, Illinois, with his parents. By trade he was a lumber- 
man near Alton and ran a sawmill, in which he manufactured hardwood lum- 
ber until his death in 1861. Mr. Palmer's mother, Melissa Caswell, was 
born in Kankakee, 111. She died in 1867, leaving two children, Newell M. 
and George, the latter now a farmer in Curry county. Ore. 

Newell M. Palmer was left an orphan when twelve years of age, after 
which he lived with an uncle, John Caswell, in Alton, until he was eighteen, 
in the meantime obtaining his education in the schools of that city. He then 
went to work in a sash and door factory owned by Martin & Bowles and 
worked his way upward until he became foreman of the plant. In 1889 he 
came to Eureka and found employment in the old Lincoln mill on L and 
Second street, in the sash and door department, continuing there for a period 
of five years. When J. A. Cottrell, who was superintendent of the mill, 
started a planing mill of his own, Mr. Palmer resigned his position with the 
Lincoln mill and accepted the place of foreman in the sash and door depart- 
ment of Cottrell's new planing mill and continued with Mr. Cottrell as fore- 
man until 1906. The many years of close application and the fine dust of the 
planers ultimately proved very injurious to Mr. Palmer's health and it became 
necessary for him to have out door employment. To obviate these conditions 
Mr. Cottrell gave him his present position, having charge of delivering the 
manufactured product. 

Mr. Palmer's first marriage occurred in Alton, 111., uniting him with Mary 
Gotleib, a native of that place. She died in Eureka, leaving one child, Florence, 
now Mrs. Cornwell of Eureka. His second marriage occurred in Eureka and 
united him with Mrs. Clara L. (Callahan) Roberts, born in Trinidad, Hum- 
boldt county, of an old pioneer family. She had one child by her first mar- 
riage, Jack, in the employ of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. In 1898 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUi^TY 1273 

Mr. Palmer was elected a member of the Eureka board of education, ren- 
dering efficient service for four years. His interest in the cause of education 
continued unabated and in 1911 he was elected a member of the board from 
the Second ward, and at the expiration of his term, was reelected, in June, 1915. 
He is chairman and a member of the finance committee and was a member 
of the board when the new high school bonds were voted and during the build- 
ing of the new high school on a site of eleven acres on J street at a cost of 
$160,000. In politics he is a Socialist and for four years was chairman of the 
county central committee. He is now serving as president of the Eureka 
trades council. 

C. G. McKEEHAN was born in Harrisburg, Dauphin county. Pa., 
the son of Capt. Frank and Margaret (Bealor) McKeehan, also natives 
of Pennsylvania, born in Perry county. At the opening of the Civil 
war Captain McKeehan raised a compan}^ of volunteers and was commis- 
sioned captain of Company E, Two Hundred and Eighth Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers, serving over three years or until the close of the war. During this 
time he rendered valiant service and participated in all the battles in which 
his regiment engaged. After the war he was engaged in farming on the 
Tennessee river in Tennessee for a while, after which he was a merchant at 
Juniata, Pa., and finally a farmer in Perry county, that state, until his death. 
Flis widow now lives in Harrisburg. 

To Captain McKeehan and his wife were born twelve children, all of 
whom are living, C. G. being the sixth in order of birth and the only one 
on the Pacific coast. His boyhood days were passed on the Perry county farm, 
and he received his education in the public schools and at Bloomfield academy. 
On completing the academic course he learned the printer's trade in New 
Bloomfield, Pa., afterwards following his trade on various papers in Penn- 
sylvania. 

Having a strong desire to visit the coast Mr. McKeehan came to San 
Francisco in 1888 and thence came to Eureka, Humboldt county, when for 
more than five years he was a compositor on the Humboldt Standard. During 
these years he became so favorably impressed with the county and the people 
that he resolved to locate permanently and engage in business. 

Associating himself with Mr. Lambert, the firm of Lambert & McKeehan 
was launched in 1894 by the purchase of the small printing plant of Tom 
Howard on Fourth street, where the proprietors continued in business for a 
year, then moving to their present place on Third street, between E and F. 
Since then their printing establishment has been greatly enlarged and mod- 
ernized until they have one of the largest and most complete printing, job and 
book establishments in the city. 

Mr. McKeehan was married in San Jose, being united with Miss Annie 
M. Smith, a native daughter of Humboldt county, born in Eureka, and to 
them have been born three children. Porter, Willard and Helen. Mr. Mc- 
Keehan was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and with 
his wife is a member of Camelia Chapter, O. E. S., of which Mrs. McKeehan 
is past matron. She is also a member of Centennial Lodge of Rebekahs. 
Mr. McKeehan is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , I. O. O. F., as well 
as Redwood Burhl Camp, Woodmen of the World, and the Ancient Order 
of Foresters, while his public spirited interest in the welfare and progress 



1274 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

of the city is manifested by his membership in the Chamber of Commerce, 
Eureka Development Association and the Humboldt Club. Politically he is 
an ardent and stanch Republican. 

ALBERT L. FEARRIEN is a native of Marion county, Ind., born October 
15, 1867, the son of Thaddeus M. and Mary (Washburn) Fearrien, born in 
Kentucky and Indiana respectively. They were married in Indiana, and two 
children, A. L. and Alzena, were born there. In 1871 the father brought the 
family to Humboldt county, locating on the south fork of the Eel river three 
miles above Garberville, where he took up a homestead and bought land. 
Here also he built the first sawmill in this section and manufactured the first 
lumber. After running the mill for sixteen years he sold the mill, ranch and 
stock and moved to Oakland, Cal., where he died. The mother died near 
Garberville. 

There were four children born in California, making six children in the 
family, of which Albert L. is the oldest. He was reared on the ranch near 
Garberville and educated in the public schools. Until he was twenty years 
of age he assisted his father on the ranch, in the mill and at teaming. At this 
time he was married in Garberville to Ada Yates, born in Colusa county. He 
then went to AVestport, Mendocino county, in the employ of Dave Gill, for 
whom he worked in the woods for two years, when he returned to Garber- 
ville and engaged in ranching for five or six years. Following this he engaged 
in getting out tan bark, a business that proved remunerative and engaged his 
attention for fifteen years. 

He handled from 2,500 to 3,000 cords a year. At first this was peeled 
and hauled to Needle Rock, but afterwards he hauled only to Briceland for 
the Wagner Leather Company. Such was the experience gained during the 
years passed in the tan bark business that he could make an accurate estimate 
of what the timber would yield in tan bark to the quoter, and he had the 
reputation of being the closest estimator of tan bark in the county. During 
all these years, after the bark season was over, he would go hunting for bear 
and for the purpose kept a few hounds. His success in killing bear was noted 
in the local papers. Thomas Bair, Jr., who was engaged in stock ranching 
on his Redwood ranch and was annoyed by the ravages of the bears and 
other wild game, after reading of Mr. Fearrien's success, got in touch with 
him and induced him to accept the position of superintendent of his ranch 
and also to rid the ranch of bears as much as possible. Mr. Fearrien assumed 
his duties in March, 1909, on the Redwood ranch and continued there until 
the sheep were sold some eighteen months later. He then entered the employ 
of Fred S. Bair on his Three Cabins ranch, and the combined acreage of the 
Three Cabins and Redwood ranches is being devoted to sheep and cattle 
raising. There are over nine thousand head of sheep in his flock and he is 
making a specialty of raising sheep. He now has a large pack of hounds, 
with which he hunts bears whenever he can spare the time. He has killed 
one hundred five bears on the ranch in the last seven years. One summer, 
however, he killed thirty-six bears. He has also killed fifty-three coyotes, 
one hundred three wild cats and eleven panthers. He has studied the habits 
of the animals and it is interesting to hear him relate reminiscences and 
experiences he has passed through while hunting wild game. He devotes all 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1275 

of his time to the superintending and caring for the two ranches, comprising 
thirty-four thousand acres. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fearrien have three children, Wilmoth, Mrs. O'Hara of 
Eureka ; Neetia; Mrs. Brownlow of Washington ; and Newton, who assists 
his father in his manifold duties. All three of the children are graduates 
of the Eureka high school and the Eureka Business College. While living in 
Briceland Mr. Fearrien served as school trustee for a term of three years. 
He is a public spirited and liberal citizen and always ready to help all worthy 
enterprises. P'raternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World 
at Blue Lake and politically is a strong Republican. Mrs. Fearrien is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. 

THOMAS ARTHUR GROOM.— The superintendent of the Flumboldt 
Cooperage Company and an enterprising and progressive young man of 
Areata, Thomas A. Groom was born in Muskoka, Ontario, May 15, 1878. His 
father, John Groom, was a native of London, England, and a carpenter and 
builder by trade. He migrated to Hamilton, Ontario, and was there married 
to Theresa AVilliams, who was likewise born in England. After following 
contracting and building in Hamilton the father moved with his family to 
Muskoka, where as a pioneer he cleared and improved a farm from the forest. 
In 1880 he took his family to Chicago, 111., where he was in the restaurant and 
hotel business, besides which he did contracting and building at various times 
up to the time of his death, which occurred in Antigo, Wis., in 1905. His 
widow now resides in Livingston, Cal. 

Of their family of six children Thomas A. Groom is the fourth oldest. He 
was reared in the city of Chicago. After completing the grammar schools 
he entered the Lake high school, where he was graduated in 1897. For an- 
other year he continued his studies in the Lewis Institute in Chicago, and then 
entered the employ of Swift & Co., working in the receiving department for 
about one year. Next he became a representative for the western department 
of the Delaware and Reliance Insurance companies of Philadelphia, continu- 
ing with them for four years. 

In 1900 Mr. Groom came to the Pacific coast and after a few years 
spent in Oregon and various parts of California located in Areata, January 29, 
1904. He immediately entered the employ of the Humboldt Cooperage Com- 
pany, beginning at the bottom as a laborer and working up through each 
department, advancing with the growth of the establishment both in the 
manufacturing and office work. One season he spent operating the woods, 
also the mill. In 1911 he was made superintendent of the plant, a position he 
has filled ably ever since. He owns a comfortable home on Eleventh street, 
Areata, where he resides with his wife, Edith (Fischer) Groom, a native of 
Chicago, and they have one child, Chester Fischer Groom. Fraternally he is 
a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 185, I. O. O. F., at Areata, of which 
he is past grand, and with his wife is a member of Empress Rebekah Lodge. 
He is also a member of the Areata Club. 

GEORGE EDWARD CORNWELL.— Among the young men who are 
making a success of their chosen occupation in Eureka we find George 
Edward Cornwell, who was born at Cherry Creek Canon, near Denver, Colo., 
February 28, 1876. His father, Nathaniel Ephraim Cornwell, was born in 
Canada and learned the trades of stonemason, bricklayer and plasterer. 



1276 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Coming to the United States, he located for a time in Rockford, 111., and later 
in Kentucky, following his trades. He was married in Louisville, Ky., Decem- 
ber 22, 1869, to Joalla H. Crouch, who was born in Lexington, Ky.,' October 
2, 1843, the daughter of a Methodist minister. About 1871 they removed to 
Colorado, where Mr. Cornwell was engaged in saw-milling and' later in con- 
tracting at his trade in Denver and Pueblo. In 1881 he came to Oakland 
and in 1883 located in Eureka, where he carried on contracting and building 
until he retired. Two years had also been spent in the same line of business 
in Republic, Wash. Upon retiring from business he returned to Eureka, 
where he made his home until he died, March 19, 1914, the mother having 
passed away September 23, 1911. To them were born ten children, five of 
whom grew up, as follows : Rose Mary, Mrs. Welch, of Areata ; Maggie M., 
Mrs. Wood, of Eureka ; George E., of whom we write ; Laura, Mrs. Rooney, 
of Ukiah; and Alma, Mrs. Landgren, who died in 1913. George Edward 
Cornwell, the only son living, was reared and educated in the Eureka public 
schools. After completing the tenth grade he engaged in contracting lathing 
for a period of four years, and then began working as a plasterer in Republic, 
Wash., completing the trade and that of brickmason in Eureka. Subsequently 
he spent four years in San Francisco and Oakland, working two years of this 
time as a bricklayer and the same length of time in contracting brick and 
stone work and plastering. Desiring to return to Eureka, he came back in 
October, 1909, and has engaged in contracting here ever since. In 1913 he 
formed the present partnership wdth Charles Christiansen under the name 
of Cornwell & Christiansen. Together they have done some of the finest 
work in their line in Eureka and Areata, among the jobs being the Minor 
Theater and Minor Bank in Areata, the Carson, E. Cousins and Mallory 
residences, the Brown bungalows and others in Eureka. They have done 
some of the finest and best work in their line in the city. Mr. Cornwell is 
very careful and painstaking in the performance of his contracts, and as a 
result his work is always satisfactory. He OAvns and makes his home in the 
old Cornwell residence at No. 1231 Myrtle avenue. 

Mr. Cornwell was married in Eureka December 18, 1902, being united 
with Miss Florence Palmer, born in Alton, 111., and coming with her parents 
to Eureka when ten years of age. She is the daughter of Newell M. Palmer, 
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Cornwell have 
one child, George Palmer. Fraternally Mr. Cornwell is a prominent member 
of Humboldt Lodge No. 11 , I. O. O. F., being the present Noble Grand, and 
is a member of Mount Zion Encampment of Odd Fellows, and also a member 
of the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of the Maccabees. Mrs. 
Cornwell is an active member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Corn- 
well are very liberal and kind hearted and ever ready to help those who have 
been less fortunate. In political views he believes in the principles of the 
Republican party. He is an exempt fireman, having served six years in No. 1 
Engine Company and one year in Hose Company No. 4. He also served 
seven years as a member of the Fifth Division of Naval Militia, the only 
military company here, being mustered out with the rank of coxswain. 

STERLING P. ARNHART. — Persistent endeavor toward perfection in 
his chosen line of work has brought merited praise to Mr. Arnhart as a 
builder wherever his handiwork is seen. He has been a resident of California 
since 1873, coming from Barry county. Mo., where he was born May 14, 1862. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1277 

He is the son of Wesley and Caroline (Morris) Arnhart, born in Nashville, 
Tenn., and later farmers in Missouri. In 1873 the parents came to California, 
locating in Woodland, Yolo county, where they engaged in farming for three 
and one-half years. Subsequently they returned to Nevada City, where the 
father has been residing ever since. 

Sterling P. Arnhart, who was next to the oldest of the seven children 
in the parental family, was reared in Missouri until he was eleven years old 
and was educated principally in the public schools of Yolo county and in 
Woodland. While in Nevada City he picked up the plasterers' trade, and in 
1883 he went to San Francisco to complete his trade, working at it until 1887. 
In that year he went to Tulare county, and with headquarters in Visalia con- 
tracted for plastering. His contracts covered a wide range of country, extend- 
ing from Bakersfield to Fresno. From plaster contracting he branched out 
into contracting and building. 

In 1903 Mr. Arnhart located in Eureka and engaged in contracting and 
building in his line, cement, concrete, brick and stone work and plastering, in 
which he has engaged ever since, doing some of the largest and finest jobs 
in the city. He did the work on the Fort Seward Hotel, Elks Hall, Eagles 
Ilome, Bank of Eureka and hundreds of residences. 

In San Francisco Mr. Arnhart was married to Miss May E. Kennedy, 
who was born in Michigan, and two children were born to them, Clarence, 
employed in San Francisco, and Leila. Fraternally Mr. Arnhart is a member 
of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. ; Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F. ; 
Mount Zion Encampment, and the Rebekahs. In political views he is a 
Republican. 

CHARLES CHRISTIANSEN.— A native son of Humboldt county, born 
in Eureka March 23, 1882, Mr. Christiansen is the son of Charles and Christene 
(EUison) Christiansen, natives of Opsal and Vermland, Sweden, respectively. 
As was the custom and ambition of the boys in that Swedish seaport, the 
father went to sea and followed it for many years. In 1854 he came around 
Cape Horn to San Francisco, and being pleased with the outlook decided to 
remain. Here he followed the coasting trade and ultimately became captain 
of a schooner. Coming to Eureka in 1876, he became captain on Humboldt 
bay steamers. After his marriage in Eureka he determined to settle down 
and therefore in 1882 "bought twenty acres on Myrtle avenue, where he 
engaged in farming, making a specialty of raising hogs. His demise occurred 
at his home when he dropped dead January 3, 1903. His widow afterwards 
sold the twenty acres, which has since been laid out into city lots. She makes 
her home in her comfortable residence built on a part of the former ranch. 

Charles Christiansen is the third oldest of a family of four children and 
is the only son. He was brought up on the home ranch on Myrtle avenue 
and received a good education in the public and high schools of Eureka. He 
learned the plasterers' trade and followed it until 1913, when he entered into 
partnership with George E. Cornwell under the firm name of Cornwell & 
Christiansen, since which time they have engaged actively in contracting in 
their line. Both are energetic, wide-awake young men, and are making a 
success, having done some of the finest and most artistic work in Eureka. 
Mr. Christiansen owns a comfortable bungalow at No. 1237 East street, 
where he resides with his wife and her two children by her first marriage, 
Gladys and Adrian. Mrs. Christiansen was formerly Mrs. Dolly (Jones) 



1278 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Robinson, a native of Missouri, and is a cultured and refined woman. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Christiansen are popular and have many friends who enjoy 
their hospitality and good cheer. He is a charter member of Hose Company 
No. 7, Eureka Fire Department, which was organized in March, 1908, he 
being president from the organization and first foreman of the company. 

CLARENCE E. HILL. — A young man of ability and perseverance, who 
has become well and favorably known through his traits of honesty, industry 
and straightforwardness, is Clarence E. Hill, who was born in Calais, Me., 
July 10, 1881. He came to Eureka when about five years of age with his 
parents, Charles H. and Isabella (Wright) Hill, both natives of Maine, and 
was reared and educated in the public schools of Eureka. From a youth he 
learned the plasterers' and bricklayers' trade from his father, and he has 
followed this trade for about twenty years. Thirteen years ago he began 
contracting, specializing in concrete, brick and stone work and plastering, 
and in this time has done some of the finest work in the city. He had the 
contract for Nazareth Convent and Academy and with Mr. Arnhart did the 
work in their line on the Eagles Home, the Harpst, Leach, Wilson and many 
other beautiful residences in this city, as well as in different parts of Hum- 
boldt county, among others the Hotel Fort Seward. Mr. Hill built his com- 
fortable residence at No. 1183 Myrtle avenue, where he resides with his wife 
and daughter. 

The marriage of Mr. Hill occurred in Eureka December 25, 1902, when 
he was united with Miss Edna G. Gardner, a native daughter of Humboldt 
county, born in Eureka, the daughter of M. F. and Mary E. (Allen) Gardner, 
natives of Hadleys Lake and Calais, Me., who came to Humboldt county in 
early days, the father being a prominent rancher and stockman in the Mattole 
valley. 

Mrs. Hill is a cultured and accomplished lady and was for three years 
engaged in teaching in this county. Of their union one child was born, a 
daughter, Audrey L. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have numerous friends all over 
Humboldt county, who admire them for their worth, enterprise and many 
kindnesses. Fraternally Mr. Hill is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , 
I. O. O. F., while politically he is an ardent Republican. 

WILLIAM J. HUNTER has for many years been superintendent of the 
Southern Division of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad with headquarters 
at Sausalito, Cal. On the completion of the road and the driving of the golden 
spike at Cains Rock, October 23, 1914, with through trains between San 
Francisco and Eureka, he became superintendent of the Northern Division 
of the same road, with headquarters in the city of Eureka. For years 
Mr. Hunter had been looking forward to the time when he would 
be able to ride into Humboldt county over an extension of the road with 
which he has for so many years been connected, and it is a great pleasure 
for his old comrades in the county to know that he is to have personal 
supervision of the welfare of the Eureka extension, especially so since the 
project has been recently constructed and is therefore in need of a guiding 
hand, such as Mr. Hunter's, not only to make the road a financial success, but 
also to assist the people of the county to obtain all the benefits possible 
therefrom. 

A native of Canada, Mr. Hunter was born at Kemptville, Ontario, in 
October, 1853, and received his education in the little stone school house near 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1279 

his home, and in the high school of his native town. His parents were 
Anthony and Martha (McFarland) Hunter, the former born near Belfast, 
County Antrim, Ireland, the latter in Ontario. The father, being the son 
of a shoe merchant, learned that business in boyhood but also fitted himself 
for the profession of teaching, which he followed for some time after removing 
to Ontario, and in which he was employed at the time of his marriage, later 
being engaged as a shoe merchant. Both he and his wife died at Kemptville, 
having brought up a family of nine children, of whom William J. Hunter 
was the oldest. Early in the year 1873 William J. Hunter came west to fill 
an engagement with the old Chicago and White Stocking baseball club of 
that city, but instead of joining the ranks of professional baseball players, he 
continued the journey westward, coming to Healdsburg, Cal., in April of 
the same year, and two years later taking up his residence in Areata, Hum- 
boldt county, where for some years he was a shoe merchant. An athletic 
young man of magnificent physique, Mr. Hunter became the captain and 
pitcher of the Areata baseball team in the western state where he made his 
home, and it was this team that won nearly every battle in those days, so 
that Air. Hunter could easily have won a national reputation had he cared 
to make a business of this pastime. But he chose a railroad career instead, 
having started railroading in Ontario on the Grand Trunk. On coming west, 
from 1873 to 1875 he was assistant agent at Healdsburg and Cloverdale, and 
from 1875 until 1883 he was engaged in business in Areata. In 1883 he began 
as a brakeman on the old Donohue road, becoming a conductor in 1884 and 
continuing in that position until 1899, when he was made superintendent of 
the Southern Division of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, which had 
absorbed the Donohue and the North Shore roads. December 1, 1914, he 
took charge of his duties as superintendent of the Northern Division, with 
headquarters in Eureka, this being the new road from Eureka to Willits, 
and he is always alert to the successful maintenance and operation of the road. 
The marriage of Mr. Hunter took place in 1875 in Healdsburg, Cal., 
uniting him with Miss Emma L. Gladden, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., 
whence she had come with her parents to Healdsburg. She was educated 
in the Indianapolis Normal School, and the San Jose State Normal School in 
California, and until her marriage taught school in Healdsburg. Mrs. Hunter's 
father, W. N. Gladden, was an early settler in Healdsburg, and the pioneer 
horticulturist of that region, being the first man to set out a commercial 
peach orchard there, and has devoted his time to horticulture since first 
coming to California in 1871, in which line he gained much prominence in 
Sonoma county. In Indianapolis he had been a teacher, and a schoolmate 
and associate editor on the Indianapolis Journal with William Henry Har- 
rison, afterwards president of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter during 
their honeymoon were passengers on the steamer Coquille, from San Fran- 
cisco to Eureka, and through the influence of a fellow passenger, the late 
C. B. Stone, then residing at Areata, the young couple were induced to make 
their home in that town, in which place, as well as in Eureka, they soon 
gained a large measure of popularity in both social and musical circles. The 
two children of Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were born in Areata, by name William 
C. and Walter G. The former, a graduate of the University of California, 
was engaged as a mining engineer at the time ol his death, which was acci- 



1280 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

dentally caused by the explosion of a blast, on June 11, 1915, while he was 
examining and experting the Washington mine near Nevada City, Cal. The 
other son, Walter G., like his brother, is a graduate of the University of 
California, and is well known as a civil and electrical engineer, having been 
city engineer of Stockton, and now holding the office of consulting engineer 
in charge of an extensive highway project in Arizona, with headquarters 
at Yuma. 

The story of the life of William J. Hunter is one from which young 
men of today will derive a valuable lesson, and which they will do well to 
emulate, learning thereby that the qualities of honesty, strict attention to 
business, temperate habits and readiness to assist others are the character- 
istics which will help a man to acquire success in whatever line of life he 
has chosen. Beginning at the foot, Mr. Hunter has gradually worked up 
to the important position he now so ably fills, and this entirely through his 
own merit and'^endeavor, and the enthusiasm with which his return to Hum- 
boldt county was received by all who know him testifies to the high regard 
in which he is held. For by his sincerity and business integrity Mr. Hunter 
has won for himself scores of good friends in this section of the state. His 
fraternal associations are with the Knights of Pythias, he having been a 
member of this lodge at Areata for thirty-seven years. Politically, he has 
alwajs been a strong Republican, his belief being that the principles of this 
party are for the best interests of the entire country. 

FRANK O. ENGSTROM. — A successful business man and proprietor 
of the California Street Market, Frank O. Engstrom was born in Jonkoping, 
Smaland, Sweden, October 4, 1869. The son of a farmer of that place, 
he was educated in the schools of that locality. From the age of ten until 
thirteen years he worked in a moulding mill and then took up farm work 
which he followed until he concluded to try his fortune in the land of the 
Stars and Stripes. Coming to the United States, he landed in Austin, Texas, 
September 21, 1890, and found employment in the cotton fields and in the 
cotton gin. He followed this employment for two seasons, having a con- 
tract for baling the cotton. In November, 1891, he arrived in San Francisco, 
Cal., and at Healdsburg was employed in the fruit district until March, 1892, 
when he came to Eureka, Humboldt county, where he has since made his 
home. His first employment was in the Scotia woods for the Pacific Lum- 
ber Company for eleven months, then in the Harpst & Spring shingle mill at 
Areata, where he did teaming for a few months. Next he spent a year with 
the John Vance Company loading lumber, after which he was employed at 
the Edward Vance mill at Samoa, beginning there when the mill was started 
and saw the first log placed on the carriage and sawed. He continued there 
for two years in the trimming and in the planning departments, after which 
he spent two years working on the government jetties in Humboldt Bay. Fol- 
lowing this he became a longshoreman, continuing as such for a period of 
eight years. 

In April, 1908, Mr. Engstrom purchased the California Street Market at 
No. 1909 California street, and since then has engaged in the butcher busi- 
ness. By his square dealing and courteous treatment of his customers he has 
acquired a large trade. However, this does not represent all of his interests, 
for he is a stockholder in tht^Waldner Land & Fruit Company that own about 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1281 

four thousand acres near Blocksburg and is also a stockholder and director of 
the Eureka Cooperative General Merchandise Company that has a large 
general store on the corner of California and Twentieth street, Eureka. He 
built and owns a comfortable residence at No. 2329 Fairfield street, where 
he resides with his family and also owns other residence property in this city. 

Mr. Engstrom was married in Eureka to Miss Alma Larsen, born in 
Vestrejotland, Sweden. She is sister of Charles A. Larson, manager of the 
Eureka Cooperative General Merchandise Company, who is represented on 
another page in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Engstrom have four children, Ruth, 
Edward, Edith and Roy. 

After an absence of twenty-two years Mr. Engstrom, in April, 1912, 
with his family visited his old home in Sweden and also other important 
cities in that country. He had purchased tickets to cross the Atlantic on the 
Titanic, but when that vessel went down on her maiden voyage to New York 
he took the Cedric of the same line. On returning to California he was well 
satisfied to continue making this city his permanent home. Although he has 
traveled extensively in the United States and been in most of the states, he 
likes the state of California best. Fraternally he is a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Red Men, Loyal Order of Moose and Foresters of America. 
Mr. Engstrom is a self-made man, having worked his way to success by his 
own perseverance and ability and is highly respected as a man among men. 
With his family he is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church, of which 
he is an active and prominent member. He is serving as deacon and secretary 
of its board of trustees. 

WILLIAM ELMER LINDOW.— A sawyer at the Samoa mill of the 
Hammond Lumber Company, William E. Lindow was born at AA^abasha, 
Minnesota, January 24, 1870. His father, AVilliam Lindow, who was born in 
Alsace-Lorraine, France, came to America, and was a very early settler in 
Minnesota, where he followed lumbering. Next he went to Michigan, where 
he followed farming ; a part of the farm which he owned now forms a 
part of the present site of Saginaw, Mich. After selling this he purchased 
timber land in Minnesota, Avhere he engaged in logging and lumbering. After- 
wards he moved to Black River Falls, Wis., where he farmed until he died. 
He was married in Minnesota to Minnie Long, who died in that state. 

Of their family of six children William E. Lindow is the third eldest and 
was reared on the farm in Minnesota and received a good education in the 
public and high schools. When seventeen years of age he began in the lumber 
industry, working in the woods and at river driving on the East Fork of 
Black river, the Kettle and Tamarack rivers. His father ran a portable saw- 
mill for many years. There the son learned to saw and run the stationary en- 
gine. Afterward he was employed with the Goodyear Lumber Companv at 
Goodyear, Wis. He then went to Duluth, where he was employed in the 
Clark & Jackson mill, becoming sawyer, and continued with them for three 
years. Later he was with the Hubbard & Vincent mill for one year. He then 
went to Albuquerque, New ^Mexico, where he found employment with the 
American Lumber Company as sawyer, leaving there two years later, to 
enter the employ of the Hume Bennett Lumber Company at Converse Basin, 
near Millwood, Fresno county, Cal., where he filled the position as sawyer 
for one season. On February 15, 1907, he accepted his present position of 



1282 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

sawyer at the Hammond Lumber Company mill at Samoa and has held it 
ever since, operating the double cut band saw which with favorable logs 
and orders has cut as high as 207,000 feet in ten hours. 

In Winona, Minn., Nov. 16, 1898, Mr. Lindow married Miss Matilda Staack, 
born in Winona, the daughter of Mathias and Mary (Petersen) Staack, the 
former a cabinet maker by trade and later a grocer until he retired. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lindow have one child, Florence. Fraternally Mr. Lindow is a member 
of the Modern Woodmen of America, of which he is past officer, and also the 
Redmen. Mrs. Lindow is a member of the Royal Neighbors. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Lindow are members of the Episcopal church in Eureka. In national 
political views he sides with the Republicans. 

CAPT. HENRY H. BUHNE.— That he was one of the first white men 
to arrive in Humboldt county is evidenced by the fact that Captain Buhne 
sailed through the bar into Humboldt bay on the 9th of April, 1850, and by the 
further fact that he piloted the Laura Virginia into the bay not long after- 
ward, this being the first American vessel to cross the bar. Although still a 
young man at the time he first cast anchor at Eureka, already he had sailed 
the high seas into practically every part of the world and had gained much 
experience in whaling expeditions that took him over the Southern Pacific 
waters. As a boy he had been trained in maritime pursuits under his father, 
a seafaring man whose skill in carrying his craft through stormy seas de- 
scended to the son and impelled him to enter the same occupation. Practically 
all of his youth was passed in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, then a part of 
Denmark, now a German province, his birth having occurred there June 27,. 
1822, and his schooling having been secured in its institutions of learning. 
At the age of sixteen he secured a post as a cabin boy on an ocean-going steam- 
ship. The benefit of his training with his father soon became apparent and 
led to his promotion the following year. A cruise on a whaler took him into 
the south seas and it was not until early in 1845 that he returned to the old 
home in Denmark. 

Appreciating the necessity of more thorough training in navigation, the 
young sailor entered a school June 7, 1845, and continued his studies until 
October 20, of the same year, when he was awarded his diploma. Through 
this course of practical study he was able to secure a berth as first mate 
on a whaler that sailed for the south October 28, 1845, and during that event- 
ful voyage he suffered shipwreck on the Cape Verde islands, but was for- 
tunately rescued with his companions in danger and in May, 1846, he arrived 
safely at Hamburg. Later he shipped on the whaler Clementine for the 
Arctic ocean. In the course of this voyage he landed in San Francisco for the 
first time in November, 1847. The town was very small, for it was before the 
discovery of gold and the cosmopolitan throngs soon to enter its port had 
not yet been attracted by the lure of the supposed fortunes in the mines. 
With the advent of mining as the chief industry the Captain retired from the 
sea and tried his luck at Auburn, Cal., where, however, he found nothing to 
repay him for his trouble. Returning to the life of the sailor he came to Hum- 
boldt county and piloted vessels across the bar with a whale-boat, besides 
being in charge of the tug boat Mary Ann. In addition to many years of 
experience in piloting he engaged in the lumber business in the early days, 
acquiring tracts of cheap lands and later built up a large hardware business in 
Eureka. Of his children five are now living, namely : Henry H., Mrs. ^^^ P. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1283 

Pratt, Georgia, Mrs. Kenneth Newitt and Alexander H. In the early develop- 
men work he was a leading spirit, devoting a great deal of time to furthering 
sound projects that were calculated to be of the greatest good to the city 
and community. With his death, October 26, 1894, there passed from the 
county one of its earliest settlers and most loyal citizens, a man whose splendid 
business ability had been utilized in the amassing of a valuable estate and who 
was generally regarded as one of the most substantial business men in this 
section of the state. Possessing extraordinary individuality and mental power, 
he rose above every handicap of poor educational advantages, unfamiliarity 
with the customs of the people of America and a stranger even to the lan- 
guage, and out of poverty he gleaned independence and prominence. Such men 
as he formed the basis of the present prosperity and growing influence of 
Humboldt county. 

OSCAR JEROME GATES.— The father of Oscar Jerome Gates was 
Schuyler S. Gates, born at Wallingford, Vt., January 22, 1805, a nephew of 
General Gates of Revolutionary fame. His mother was Mary A. (Pratt) 
Gates, who was born at Montpelier, Vt., December 13, 1808. The couple were 
the parents of six children, namely : Oscar Jerome, born March 8, 1830, at 
Rutland, Vt., and died in California in 1895; LeRoy J., born July 20, 1831; 
Arabella D., born February 18, 1833 ; Lena M., born June 20, 1835 ; Irene R., 
born in November, 1836, now Mrs. Irhman, of Perris, Cal. ; and Gertrude E., 
born September 5, 1845. 

The son Oscar received his education at Albion Academy, Erie county, 
Pa. In 1849 the family removed to Adams county, Wis., where, wages 
being high, the young Oscar went down the Wisconsin river on a raft which 
he steered with swinging oars for $4 per day. When he reached his des- 
tination a tooth began to ache and he went to a dentist to have it pulled, 
for which he was charged $1. The boy then and there resolved to go into 
the dental profession, declaring "I will go into the dental business; that 
beats running the river." Accordingly he bought a kit of tools and started 
home afoot along the AVisconsin river, stopping at every house to see if the 
inhabitants were in need of the assistance of a dentist. He was successful 
in getting many jobs and pulled many teeth, so that, though inexperienced, 
he had his pockets full of money when he reached his father's home. 

Still pursuing his new profession, Dr. Gates came to California in 1852, 
locating first in Trinity county, where he practiced dentistry at Weaver- 
ville and among the surrounding camps, going even as far as into Josephine 
county in Oregon. In 1854 he came to Humboldt county, Cal., but his stay 
here was short, as he soon returned to Trinity county, where he remained 
a number of years. Coming back to Humboldt county, he located in Eureka 
in the early '60s, and ever afterwards was a resident of this city, continuing 
to practice his profession here until the tirne of his death, many years later. 
Of the pioneers of northern California, Dr. Gates was one of the best known, 
being a character in his way. Not only was he a talented man, but he was 
a genius as well, and a splendid workman and a dentist of marked ability and 
originality. In the early days he made money in plenty, and with it was 
generous to a fault. Fearless and unhesitating, he on more than one occa- 
sion proved his courage and physical ability. "Doc," as he was familiarly 
called, was a stanch friend and had no enemies. 



1284 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT .COUNTY 

Dr. Gates was first married in Rohnerville, Humboldt county, in 1870, 
to Mrs. Ann E. (Hook) Nelson, and by this union he has one son, Leroy 
Morton, who resides in Eureka. His second marriage occurred in Eureka, 
June 16, 1879, with Mrs. Isabella M. (Drew) Gosselin, of Eureka, a lady of 
good family and the union was very harmonious. The Doctor held member- 
ship in Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., of Eureka, of which he was 
Past Noble Grand; in Lincoln Lodge No. 34, K. P., of which he was Past 
Chancellor; and in the Ancient Order of United AVorkmen of Eureka, 
wherein he was Past Master Workman. All these lodges held him in high 
esteem and passed resolutions of condolence and respect upon his demise. 

His death occurred unexpectedly at Perris, in Riverside county, Cal., 
April 15, 1895, while visiting his sister, Mrs. Irene Irhman of that city. The 
Doctor had gone out with a pleasure party and was incidentally inspecting a 
mine, when he was stricken by heart failure. His remains were sent back to 
Eureka, where they were interred at Ocean View Cemetery amid an abun- 
dance of floral tributes, the offerings of friends and neighbors. From the 
Daily (Humboldt) Times of April 27, 1895, we quote : 

"The loss of Dr. Gates will be keenly felt by many in this community 
who were close enough to be acquainted with his charitable work and good- 
ness of heart. They will join with his bereaved relatives in mourning his 
departure. The loved and loving husband, father and friend died in the 
prime of manhood. While yet in love with life and raptured with the world, 
he passed to silence and the pathetic dust. Yet, after all, it may be best — 
just in the happy, sunny hour of the voyage, while eager winds are kissing 
every sail — to dash against the unseen rock and in an instant hear the billows 
roar. This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock, but 
in sunshine he was vine and flower. He sided with the weak, and with a will- 
ing hand gave alms ; he was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed ; 
he added to the sum of human joy and could everyone for whom he did some 
loving service bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep beneath a laby- 
rinth of flowers. There never was, there is no gentler, stronger, manlier 
man." 

FRANK E. HERRICK.— Activities far-reaching in effect give to Mr. 
Herrick prominence in his native county of Humboldt and add to the prestige 
of a family name already highly honored in the efficient and public-spirited 
services of his father and mother, Rufus F. and Martha (Gist) Herrick, 
pioneers in the work among the Indians of Northern California. It was dur- 
ing the residence of the parents on a farm four miles from Areata, on Mad 
river, that he was born February 10, 1861, but he did not remain long enough 
on his native ranch to retain any vivid recollections of the place, the services 
of his father as Indian agent causing the temporary residence of the family 
on Indian reservations, at Smith River, Del Norte county, while later a home 
was established on the island near Ferndale on Eel river. AVith the coming 
of the family to Eureka in 1872 the son was sent to the town schools and also 
studied for a time under a private tutor. Meanwhile he learned much about 
surveying and civil engineering while helping his father and other competent 
engineers. Thus was laid the foundation of an occupative education most 
valuable to him in later years. From eighteen until twenty-two years of 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1285 

age he served on coast survey, geodetic and harbor improvement in the 
employ of the United States government. 

Settling in Eureka and taking up the work o£ a civil engineer, Mr. Her- 
rick in 1889 was elected county surveyor on the Repubhcan ticket, and two 
years later was re-elected to the office. After an interim of two years in 1895 
he was elected for the third term and in 1897 became his own successor. 
Altogether he has filled the office of county surveyor for twelve years. In 
1899 he became chief engineer for the California & Northwestern Railway, 
serving for two years. Acceding to the wishes of citizens of Eureka, in 1901 
he became city engineer and as such he superintended the construction of 
the sewer system, making all plans and specifications used in the work. The 
city was bonded for $115,000 for improvements of sewers and schools. Under 
the supervision of M^r. Herrick a sewerage system was built that had no 
superior in the state, considering size and amount of money expended. In 
1903 he was re-elected city engineer and again in 1907, so that he filled the 
office for six years altogether. From 1903 to 1907 he also served as deputy 
United States mineral surveyor for California. 

Since leaving the office of city engineer Mr. Herrick has devoted himself 
to special engineering and surveying for a number of lumber companies in 
Humboldt county, doing the most of the railroad engineering for the various 
logging roads. Mr. Herrick is interested in property in the city of Eureka 
and in dairy lands in Eel River valley. 

The family of Mr. Herrick consists of a wife and three children : Ralph 
F., an auto dealer in Eureka ; Frank Leslie, a physician and surgeon, Oakland ; 
and Gladys, now Mrs. McMillan, of Oakland. Mrs. Herrick, formerly Emma 
J. Gish, of San Jose, was the daughter of a pioneer family, her mother, Mrs. 
Aquilla Glover, being one of the ill-fated Donner party in 1846. After Mr. 
Glover's death she married D. E. Gish, of San Jose. 

In politics Mr. Herrick has been a stanch Republican. A charter member 
of Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W., and of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. 
O. E., he was influential in the early history of these prominent fraternal 
organizations at Eureka. 

EDWARD TIMOTHY SULLIVAN.— An old settler having been con- 
nected with the lumber industry since he came to Humboldt county, in 1879, 
Edward Timothy Sullivan was born in London, England, January 12, 1865. 
His father, Cornelius Sullivan, a coal operator, in 1868 migrated with his 
family to Erie, Pa., where he followed the same line of occupation until his 
death. The mother, Ellen (O'Leary) Sullivan, then removed to Muskegon, 
Mich., with her family of three sons and there she reared and educated them. 
She now makes her home in San Francisco. 

Edward Timothy Sullivan, the eldest of the three children, received a 
good education in the public schools, attending the old Third ward school in 
Muskegon. When his schooling was completed he resumed work in the 
shingle mill of F. B. Peck, where he had worked during vacations from the 
age of eleven until fourteen years of age. As a shingle weaver he made a 
good record and soon was at the head with men in that line. In May, 1879 he 
arrived in San Francisco with $3 in greenbacks. He immediately accepted a 
position with the D. R. Jones mill on Gunthers Island, Eureka, and came here 
on the schooner Laura Pike, Captain Hansen, taking seven days from San 



1286 HISTORY OF HUA'IBOLDT COUNTY 

Francisco to Eureka. He reported and at once went to work in the shingle 
mills, continuing with the company for seven years, most of the time as a 
contractor. By 1886 all of the available lumber had been cut and the mill 
closed down. He then entered the employ of McKay & Co. in the shingle 
department of the Occidental mill as filer, then contractor and later foreman, 
continuing in all about seventeen years. 

Resigning his place in 1904, Mr. Sullivan accepted his present position, 
foreman of the shingle department of the Hammond Lumber Company at 
Samoa, and has held the position ever since. It is a very responsible position 
as will be seen when it is known that it is the largest redwood shingle mill 
on the Pacific coast. He operates five shingle machines and one lath mill. 
Personally, he superintends the entire shingle plant and attends to all the 
nammering and filing, as well as the mechanical part, keeping the machinery 
of the mill going. 

Mr. Sullivan built and owns a comfortable residence at No. 1639 Pine 
street and also owns other residence property, and has great faith in the future 
prosperity of Eureka and Humboldt county. In 1883 he joined the Volunteer 
Fire Department and has been an active member ever since, and is today the 
fourth oldest member in the department. He M'as a member of Engine Com- 
pany No. 1, then Engine Company No. 3, then charter member of California 
Hose Company No. 5 and an active member of it since its organization. In 
1904 he passed through all the offices of the company, including foreman, and 
is treasurer of the company. For the last five years he has been captain of 
the police department of fire department, is also captain of the racing teams 
of the department and is permanent captain of the racing time of the Cali- 
fornia Hose Company No. 5, winner of three races out of four that they have 
entered, establishing the fastest time ever made oxi the Pacific coast for two 
hundred yards ; that is, run one hundred yards with hose cart, connect Avith 
the hydrant, run one hundred yards m.ore, then break the hose and put on 
the nozzle and put water through, all in thirty-five seconds, the fastest record 
on the coast. Mr. Sullivan is an exempt fireman of Engine Company No. 3. 
He is a most enthusiastic member of the department, and it is largely through 
the influence and work of men of his caliber,, who enforce strict discipline, that 
the fire department has reached such a high degree of efficiency. 

In Eureka Mr. Sullivan was married to Miss Geneva Tibbetts, born in 
St. Paul, Minn., who came to Eureka with her parents when three years of 
age. She was educated in the public schools. Two daughters were born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, Grace, head saleslady at Jackson & Co., Inc., and 
Geneva, now Mrs. John Dunford, of Oakland. Mr. Sullivan is past chancellor 
of the Knights of Pythias, past chief ranger of the Ancient Order of Foresters, 
and a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Columbus. 
In national politics he is a Democrat, and has served on the grand jury. He 
has taken an active part in all social and public affairs in Eureka, and is 
always in favor of improvements of a permanent character and a fair deal 
for everyone and no favoritism. He believes in good morals and clean govern- 
ment and clean sports. He has ever been ready and willing to do his part 
and gives freely of his time and means to any worthy movement that has for 
its aim the upbuilding of the city and the betterment of the condition of its 
people, and no citizen stands higher in honesty and integrity of purpose than 
does he. 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1287 

ELI A. NORDQUIST.— An experienced man in the construction of 
railroads and track work, Eli A. Nordquist, a prominent and enterprising 
citizen of Eureka, was born in Solvesberg, Blekinge, Sweden, January 3, 1863. 
His father was a fisherman, owning his own vessel, and followed fishing in 
the Baltic sea his entire life. From a small lad Eli learned to navigate a 
sail boat and became handy with nets. After completing the local schools 
at the age of fourteen years, he continued assisting his father in the fishing 
industry until he was twenty years of age. Thinking he could better his 
condition in the land of the Stars and Stripes, he came to Morrison, Whiteside 
county, 111., in 1883, being employed in construction work for the Chicago 
& Northwestern Railroad for a period of three years. He then followed the 
same line of work in iMcHenry and Jo Daviess counties. 111., for two years 
more. Having friends in Humboldt county, Cal., who wrote him of greater 
opportunities and higher wages on the coast, Mr. Nordquist determined to 
come hither, and in I\Iay of 1888 arrived in Eureka. For three months he 
worked in the railroad department of the California Redwood Company on 
Elk river, and then proceeded to Oakland, where he was with the Oakland 
Paving Company for six months. At the end of this time he returned to 
Humboldt county, where he has been content to make his home and rear 
his family. The next three years were spent in the employ of the Eel River 
& Eureka Railroad, on the maintenance of way, with headquarters in Fields 
Landing. He resigned this position to enter the employ of Edward Vance, 
lumber manufacturer at Samoa, on railroad construction, and a year later 
was made foreman, a position he has held ever since. When the Hammond 
Lumber Company purchased the mills and timber he continued with the new 
company in the same capacity, having charge of extensions of the road into 
the woods and keeping them in repair. He is a very careful and painstaking 
man, and it is needless to sslj that his work is accomplished in a satisfactory 
manner to all concerned. 

In 1911 Mr. Nordquist built his present large and comfortable residence 
at No. 1337 Wood street, where he makes his home with his family. He also 
owns three acres in the Glatt Addition, mostly rich bottom land, where he 
raises hay, vegetables and fruits for family use. Mr. Nordquist was married 
in Eureka, being united with Miss Betsey Anderson, born in his native town, 
who came to Eureka in 1890. To them have been born seven children : 
Clarence, Elmer, Oscar, Olga, Selma (deceased), Walter and Alice, all making 
their home under the paternal roof. Fraternally he is a member of the Loyal 
Order of Moose and the Loyal Mystic Legion of America. Both himself and 
wife are Lutherans, having been reared in that faith. 

ULYSSES JESSE NOE was born in AlarysviUe, Iowa, November 20, 
1867, the son of Eli and Phoebe A. (Brown) Noe, natives respectively of Ohio 
and Indiana, who were farmers in Iowa. In 1869 they crossed the plains with 
their two little sons, coming overland with oxteams to California, the journey 
heing fraught with many hardships and privations. Arriving at their destina- 
tion, Humboldt county, the father bought a farm at Table Bluff, which he 
operated until 1882, when he sold the place and removed to Clackamas county, 
Ore. After farming there for twenty years he returned to Humboldt county, 
but spent only four years there when he moved to Oregon once more, residing 
on a farm at Woodburn. The mother had passed away in Eureka. 



1288 HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 

Eli and Phoebe A. Noe had a family of six children, four of whom are 
living, Ulysses being the oldest of all. His childhood was spent on the farm 
at Table Bluff and he received his education in the public schools. When 
fifteen years of age he began working in the woods, packing water for the 
log roads. During the eighteen months he worked at this occupation he 
picked up and became an adept water slinger, wetting the log roads. This 
was very particular work, and he soon became so proficient at it that he was 
considered one of the best and most thorough at the occupation to be found 
in the county and he was never at a loss for a good position. Having saved 
considerable money he determined to engage in business for himself and 
purchased a ranch near Elk River Corners, where he started the Excelsior 
dairy. On his place of one hundred thirty acres he maintained a herd of thirty- 
five cows, having a retail milk route in Eureka for the sale of this product 
and meeting with deserved success. However, in 1905, wishing to retire, he 
sold his route and lands and purchased considerable property in Eureka, 
where he has since made his home. For the last five years he has filled the 
position of engineer and janitor at the Franklin school. 

Mr. Noe's first marriage occurred in Missouri, to Stella Townsend, a 
native of that state, whose death occurred in Eureka. She left two children, 
Myrtle, a trained nurse in Portland, Ore., and Glen, who makes his home in 
Eureka. Mr. Noe was married a second time, being united with Mrs. Celia 
(Moxon) Hayden, a native of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. By her first 
marriage Mrs. Noe has one child, Gordon, who is with the Red Cross Drug 
Company, Eureka. While on the ranch Mr. Noe served as trustee of the 
Bucksport school district for twelve years, being clerk of the board most of 
the time. He was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., 
and with his wife is a member of Camelia Chapter, O. E. S. He is also a 
member of Humboldt Lodge No. 77 , L O. O. F., being a past grand and is 
also a member of the Encampment and the Canton of Odd Fellows. Politically 
he has always been an ardent adherent to Republican principles. 

FRANK ARTHUR RANN.— By those who are qualified to know, it is 
said that Mr. Rann is one of the most adept sawyers on the coast, and his many 
years of experience in this capacity may well furnish grounds for the state- 
ment. He is a native of Oregon and was born at John Day, Grant county, 
September 17, 1876, the son of Charles Rann, a native of San Francisco, Cal., 
born in 1852, the grandparents being very early pioneers of California. Charles 
Rann removed to Oregon and became an early settler on the John Day river ; 
his death occurred at Lovelocks, Nev. Mr. Rann's mother was Martha Harper, 
a native of Missouri. When a little girl she came with her parents across 
the plains in an ox team train. She is now Mrs. Hardin and resides in Shively, 
Humboldt county. 

Of the marriage of Charles and Martha (Harper) Rann were born four 
children, of whom Frank A. is the second oldest. He was brought up at John 
Day and when only eleven years old began riding the range, following it until 
he was fifteen. During this time he attended the local public school, which 
was in session about three months a year. At the age of fifteen he began 
earning his own livelihood. Going to the Willamette valley, he was employed 
on a farm at Crawfordsville until November, 1895, when he came to Hum- 
boldt county, Cal. The first winter was spent working on a farm at Table 



HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 1289 

Bluff, and he then began driving the overland stage between Scotia and Dyer- 
ville, continuing in that occupation for three years. Doubling the road each 
night between Scotia and Dyerville was very tedious and difficult work, 
making a thirty-six-mile drive, rain or shine, over very bad roads, which 
prevailed in those days, and all this for a pittance of $22.50 per month and 
found. Becoming disappointed and tired of the unpleasant night work and 
small pay, he quit stage driving and entered the employ of the Pacific Lum- 
ber Company at Scotia, doing scaling of legs, and continued with the company 
for about three years. 

While at Scotia Mr. Rann Avas married June 7, 1899, to Miss EF.e D. 
Look, a native daughter of ' Humboldt county, born at Hydesville, the 
daughter of Ashel and Mary (Blanton) Look, natives respectively of A'Vis- 
consin and Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Look were farmers at Hydesville for a 
time, later on locating in Eureka, where the mother died. The father is now 
employed as a lumber cruiser. Mrs. Rann was educated in the public schools 
of Hydesville and Rohnerville. In May. ''^'^^, Mr. Rann came to Samoa in 
the employ of the Edgar "Yance Jviill, and continued with the successors, the 
Hammond Lumber Co-npany, starting as a scaler. Soon he ran the splitter 
saw, then became sav^^yer, running the big rig, and later on the double-cut 
saw. Attracted bv larger wages, he resigned and moved to Siskiyou county, 
where he berime sawyer for the McClovd River Lumber Company, continu- 
ing the-e for three seasons, or until the Italian strike, when the mill was 
shut down. At this time he received an offer from the Diamond Match 
Company' at Stirling City, Butte count)', at the same wages, which he 
accepted, operating a saw there for three seasons. Next he accepted a 
position with the Sugar Pine Lumber Company at INIadera. However, he 
did not like the place and at the end of the season he resigned and returned 
to Eureka in September, 1912, since which time he has been sawyer for 
the Bayside Lumber Company. Here he is well liked and highly regarded 
as a very enterprising and liberal citizen. Mr. Rann owns his residence on 
Spring street, near Harris, where he resides with his wife and two children, 
Frances and Golda. Their oldest child, ar only son, Shirley, was accidently 
droAvned at Samoa in 1904, when three years old. Fraternally Mr. Rann is 
a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., while politically he believes 
in the principles of the Progressive party. 

THEODORE MONETTE.— A native of Ontario and descended from 
good old French-Canadian stock, Teddy Monette, as he is familiarly called, 
has been a resident of Humboldt county since 1875. Mr. Monette has been 
eniplo3'ed in the lumbering industry for forty years with the one firm or its 
successor, and has established an excepticinally line record in his line of 
work. He is one of the old timers in this section and is highly honored and 
respected for his splendid qualities of hea h and mind, as well as for his 
enterprise and industr}^ 

Mr. Monette was born at Hawkesbury Mills, on Riviere Le Grande 
(Ottawa river), Ontario, December 28, 1852. His father, Teddy Monette, 
was also born in Ontario and followed lumbehng for Hamilton Brothers until 
his demise. Young Teddy was obliged to attend private schools, as free 
schools had as yet not made their appearance in that section. Being reared 



1290 HISTORY OF HL'-MBOLDT COUNTY 

on the Riviere Le Grande he learned river driving and followed it with 
Hamilton Brothers on the Ottawa, or Grand rivfer (as it is called by the old 
French-Canadian families), from the age of fourteen years, and later for 
.Irunson Brothers. In 1872 he made his way to Michigan on account of the 
inducement for better wages. For a year he worked for Stephenson Brothers 
of Menominee as river driver, then entered the employ of the Calumet and 
Hecla Copper ?\Iincs Company, getting out timber for the mines, continuing 
for two years. Ha\ing a great desire to see the Pacific coast, particularly 
Humboldt county, he came west, and on April 9, 1875, landed in Eureka 
fron; the old steamer Coquille. At Essex he found employment with John 
Y'ance, In charge of the pond, taking care of the logs, after which he came 
to Samoa and worked for Edgar Vance, successor to John Vance, and after- 
ward for the Hau'-nond Lumber Company (which purchased the Edgar 
Vance mill), the presenc large lumber manufacturers in Eureka, and has 
continued with them ever since. As foreman of the pond he has charge of 
the logs until they are delivered ,>, th*- mill. For forty years he has held one 
position with the same firm or iis successoii. Vv'ben he began the work he 
handled only about twelve to fifteen million feet .\ year, while now he 
handles from one hundred to one hundred twenty million feet annually. For 
twenty-one years he made his home in Areata in a large residence which he 
erected and in Avhich he resided until 1906, when he removed xo l-nreka. Here 
he built a large, modern residence at No. 1004 K street, in which hv resides 
with his wife and grandson. 

The marriage of Mr. Monette occurred in Crescent City, Cal., January 
11, 1879, uniting him with j\[iss Annie L. Crowden, born in Portland, Ore. 
Her father, J. G. Crowden, a native of New York, was a pioneer of Portland, 
Ore., coming overland by teams to Humboldt count}-. He was one of the 
first blacksmiths in Eureka and worked for John Carr, the pioneer black- 
smith here, later becoming an engineer in sawmills and still later w^as fore- 
man of a sawmill until he retired. He died in Areata at the home of Mr. 
]\Ionette. INlrs. Monette M'as reared and educated in the public schools of 
Eureka. By her union with Mr. Monette she became the mother of two 
children : Ivy, now ^Irs. Arkerman, of Eureka, who by her former marriage 
had one child, Chester Trac}' Monette, who from a baby has been reared 
and educated by INIr. and Mrs. Monette and makes his home with them; and 
Lillian, who died at twenty-fivfe years of age. j\Ir. Monette is prominent in. 
fraternal orders, being a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., 
in Areata, which he joined in 1882; also of the Knights of Pythias, for the 
same length of time, of which he is past chancellor. He is also a member 
of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and the Hoo Hoos, a lumbermen's 
order. He has always been a Democrat in national politics. Mr. Monette has 
originated several devices for han^tlVi^and dumping logs. Among others he 
invented gillpoking in unloading logs from the cars, using the gill poke in 
unloading logs instead of the iack screw formerly in use. By his pleasant 
and amiable manner as well ao .xis kindness and assistance to those who have 
been less fortunate he has hosts of friends throughout Humboldt county who 
all' admire him aIldeJ5^^^h him well. 



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